Thinking of buying a home in Hackberry Creek community, Irving - Need advise (Carrollton: HOA fees, lawyers)

[lolli101]

I liked a house in the Hackberry Creek community. Price is right, not too worried about the School District at this point since we have 5 years to go for that.

A huge concern though is resale. I have heard from a couple of realtors that homes in that community are very tough to re-sell. The main reason being the HOA Fees (between $2000, and $3000). Apparently, this house I am planning to buy right now has been on the market for 120 days.

Can someone who is familiar with the locality please tell how true that is?

Thanks in advance.

[sonshinelife]

I use to work at Las Colinas Elementary (CFBISD) which is the elementary that services Hackaberry( a small section is within CISD). Anyway I never knew it to be a hard resale as I had many families that lived there and they moved and some even came back to the area. I'm not sure I would worry about resale. I would just decide if the HOA fees are what I want and if that fits into your plans in general. It is a very nice neighborhood and very family oriented from what I saw and have heard.

[Rakin]

It resales well and it's a nice community. Well maintained and a good HOA if you don't mind paying for the manned gates and extra security.

[loves2read]

120 days on the market is probably about average now that our market has slowed...that is 4 months...some houses in Colleyville which generally has much faster DOM turnover than Las Colinas have been on market for 6 months or more--but there are also homes that come on the market and sell much faster--

surely the RE agent showed you comps for homes that are on the market now in that area and for the ones that sold--
compare YOUR house with the other homes--still listed and sold--what was the AVG DOM --how far off is this house--how does it compare with price per sq ft/size/amenities to those houses....

IF it has been on the market longer--quite a bit longer--ask yourself why (which is what your realtor should have been explaining to you)--was it overpriced compared to other homes in the area, is the location within the development a negative in that it is on a busy corner, has neighboring homes that are not as well-maintained or a turn-off, smaller lot, or just bad interior design/colors/maintenance????
one of the factors in that area of DFW is that many homes can have foundation problems due to the soil quality and construction/design being not as good as it should be...is it possible that this house has either had foundation work done to it or shows signs that foundation might be a problem?
that is a definite turn off for many home searchers...

[sftransplant]

A colleague of mine stays here and has nothing but good things to say about this. I visited his house and have generally positive feelings about this community. If you like the exclusivity of a guarded entrance and a golf course community, you should consider this. Most of my colleague's neighbors are doctors and lawyers or folks with similar backgrounds.

As the other poster mentioned, some stumbling blocks are the high HOA dues and the not so great school district of Carrollton-Farmer's Branch (the elementary school is exemplary though). Also, make sure you get a house with the master downstairs. I've noticed some houses in this community with master on the 2nd floor which are not selling easily (300+ days on the market).

[momof2dfw]

Get a foundation report done on ANY house in that area before you close. The money paid on it can be a huge lifesaver if it turns out to have major problems.

The community has houses in it that were custom and tract builder. One of the biggest tract builders that built in there was D.R. Horton. Back when it was new I worked in that community for a builder. It was nice but I was still leary about some of the work done by some builders when it came to the foundations.

[bookworm2768]

Originally Posted by sftransplant

As the other poster mentioned, some stumbling blocks are the high HOA dues and the not so great school district of Carrollton-Farmer's Branch (the elementary school is exemplary though). .

I have to disagree very strongly with that statement. CFBISD is an excellent school district and, if that is a concern, you can do a search on this forum to learn a bit more about what it offers.

[sftransplant]

Bookworm, I'm sure there are some great schools in the CFB ISD, but in general I don't see it being rated comparably to say Coppell or Grapevine at greatschools.net.
Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District schools - district elementary, middle, and high school information

Coppell Independent School District schools - district elementary, middle, and high school information

However, I agree that my statement is based on general rankings and what realtors have told me. Since resale values tend to depend on the school district, I thought that it would help to point this out to the OP esp since he/she's worried about resale.

[loves2read]

the reason that Carrollton gets knocked down over Coppell is not so much the teaching but the student demographics--lower socio-economic/minorities that don't show up in Coppell because of the housing pricing..there is always a price to be paid for teaching that category of student--even if it is done well...and public perception is often the first casualty...

Grapevine benefits from being paired with Colleyville-but there are similar demographics in parts of Grapevine and those schools within the district are not considered as desireable by parents (they would probably not want their children bussed to one if the district tried it to level class numbers for instance).

[JetDoc1]

I know this is a few years down the road, but it might help if someone else is searching through the threads.
I have lived in this neighborhood for a little over a year now and have recently recieved 2 letters from the HOA for, what I consider, very minor issues. I believe it is on the verge of harrassment, due to the fact my neighbors issues are far worse than mine. I, personally, would not recommend this area to anybody and completely regret buying a house here.