Possible Future Declining Areas (Fort Worth, Denton: low crime, houses, to buy)

[Koshka2]

Thanks, all. This is super helpful.

ChristieP - Yes, I had noticed that about Bedford. I actually went to an open house and it was right across the street from an apartment house which I didn't really like. I don't mind some apartments but I don't really want to be right across the street.

On Grapevine - I don't mind doing some updating. We will probably do it before we move in to make it easier. I don't really want to have to move walls unless it is a property in an exceptional location. But, we are prepared to do some work. We are prepared to go above listing price to an extent, just have to look at the individual value.

Where is the Bellaire neighborhood in Grapevine? I've heard/read about the Mustang Drive area and apartments and trailer parks but don't where the Bellaire neighborhood is. Given our criteria - 1 story, not more than about 25 to 30 years old (prefer built in 90s or newer but might consider late 80s) - what areas of Grapevine would you recommend.

loves2read - Pets are super important to me. I am of the viewpoint that I will never be without a pet if it is at all possible. We may change our mix of pets as time goes on. We have 2 dogs now, but they are older and probably won't be here for many more years. At that point, we will go all cat. My main criteria is that I want to live in a city that allows at least 4 cats. We don't have that now, but would like to have the option in future. This is why we don't consider some of the cities such as Fort Worth that allow up to 3 dogs and 3 cats but you can't have 0 dogs and 4 cats (which makes no sense to me, but there it is). Everywhere on my pet list will allow at least 4 pets.

The history about Bedford is interesting. From what I have seen I think there may be more in northern Hurst that would possibly work for me.

hal2814 - That is very interesting about Euless. It is useful in helping me to know what areas to look at (or not). Colleyville and Grapevine are definitely high on the list. I am not worried about decline in Colleyville. I probably know more about it than some areas because I have family/friends who live there. The main problem with Colleyville is budget. I can find something within the top end of my budget if I go above $400k, but it may be a bit of a waiting game for the right property that isn't too old (or possibly is older but has already been updated). Grapevine - I know less about. I've driven through it a few times but not much more than that.

As for Flower Mound and Trophy Club - I have more concern about Flower Mound than Trophy Club. I am concerned about the getting in and out of Flower Mound. That was why I had crossed it off my list. But, I do like the amenities in Flower Mound itself and did see a number of houses that met our needs. Do you think there are any area in Flower Mound more or less likely to experience decline? My main concern was the area that was on the east closer to Lewisville as the houses seemed a bit less well kept.

Treasurevalley92 - I guess it depends on my lifetime. I could be here another 30 years... I am unlikely to buy the biggest house on the street. In fact, in the house we are selling we definitely fall in the category of smaller house, less expensive in the neighborhood (not the absolute bottom but definitely in the bottom quartile). We have done that in the past and have found that it usually works out pretty well for us.

[ChristieP]

Bellaire is behind the old police station and the Post Office. Border streets are 114, Main, WDTate and Dallas Dr. It's easy to not even notice there are houses back there. Unless you get lucky and find a tear-down that has a new construction home on it, the houses will be too old for your criteria.

I live off Heritage, south of Mustang and north of Timberline, in the Town Park neighborhood. We have had zero crime issues with the nearby trailer park residents in our neighborhood, and other than getting a ton of kids trick-or-treating at Halloween, we hardly ever see them. Our house was built in 1989 and is a single story, and my neighborhood is definitely in your price range. We had to do some painting, changing light and plumbing fixtures, and replacing appliances to update our house. I do know the elementary school that our neighborhood feeds into isn't as good as others in GCISD because it has a lot of ESL kids.

[loves2read]

Re the "lasting value" of real estate

That all depends on the pocketbooks of people to continue to pay current/higher prices for homes when they go on the market

I think we all know there was a situation where very aggressive home pricing was totally stopped in its tracks within the last 10-12 years
All due to factors that didn't necessarily come because one area went into decline for local reasons...but there were neighborhoods with foreclosed homes that definitely showed blight
Rather it was forces OUTSIDE any area on a national level that caused a market collapse which rolled over into other areas of the economy and affected millions of people in the US and then around the world...

Never say never...

[Koshka2]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Bellaire is behind the old police station and the Post Office. Border streets are 114, Main, WDTate and Dallas Dr. It's easy to not even notice there are houses back there. Unless you get lucky and find a tear-down that has a new construction home on it, the houses will be too old for your criteria.

I live off Heritage, south of Mustang and north of Timberline, in the Town Park neighborhood. We have had zero crime issues with the nearby trailer park residents in our neighborhood, and other than getting a ton of kids trick-or-treating at Halloween, we hardly ever see them. Our house was built in 1989 and is a single story, and my neighborhood is definitely in your price range. We had to do some painting, changing light and plumbing fixtures, and replacing appliances to update our house. I do know the elementary school that our neighborhood feeds into isn't as good as others in GCISD because it has a lot of ESL kids.

Thanks, that is all helpful. A house built in 1989 or thereabouts would definitely be something we would consider. Basically looking for something no more than about 30, maybe 35, years old.

The thing that surprises me so much looking at the market up there is that I don't really see a lot of houses coming onto the market this month. I've been following the market in northern Tarrant County and southern Denton County for months. I thought we would see a big jump in listings this month.

We currently live in a county adjoining Houston. In my own subdivision -- just one subdivision -- we have about 12 houses that have come on the market in the last 2 weeks. There weren't many coming on the market before that but now that it is mid-March, lots of houses are coming on the market.

I don't really see that in the areas we are looking it. I don't know if it is because not many houses are being listed or are houses going under contract before being listed? (Our current house went under contract before going on MLS). It just seems like there isn't that much new inventory coming online. I know a lot of them go under option very quickly but even counting those houses, it just doesn't look like there is the jump in listings this month that I would have expected.

[ChristieP]

Good houses in Grapevine usually get a contract within a week! People used to list after spring break, but I think people are waiting a little so their kids will be able to finish out the school year.

[Koshka2]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Good houses in Grapevine usually get a contract within a week! People used to list after spring break, but I think people are waiting a little so their kids will be able to finish out the school year.

That is a good point about people waiting. Our market is not nearly as hot as DFW. I had thought the list around Spring Break time and then hope to get a contract in the first month and then figured I would close in late May or so. But we got a contract much earlier than I expected and the sellers wanted to close quickly so either is moved up. Not a problem for us (our kids are grown), but I can see that being an issue for people with kids in school.

Yes, I've noticed houses going under contract very quickly. Honestly, if I see a house in the listings in the DFW market I am looking at and it has been listed more than a couple of weeks I figure it is either overpriced, extremely outdated, or there is something wrong with it. That may be unfair, but ....

[Austin55]

Funny you mention Oakhurst... I would hold out there. It's the next hot neighborhood in Fort Worth IMO.

[Koshka2]

Oakhurst, of course, has a great location. I've always thought it should be a hot area. The neighborhood itself is fine. And, a lot of the houses have been redone. My mom is in Oakhurst but unfortunately lives on a busy street so her property is not as available. She has a tiny house on a huge lot. And, her house was built in the 1940s and she hasn't updated it at all. When I visit her, I love how close it is to really everywhere. It is very easy to get to places. But, the shopping and dining are very minimal. There is a Walmart and a few fast food places but not much else. There is apparently a proposed development on Race Street that could be helpful though (I don't know much about it but my mom mentioned it to me).

For us, though, I don't want to live in Fort Worth itself...

[tcualum]

I would love to live in Fort Worth around the TCU area in a character home however that's not practical for us since my husband's business is moving to far west Fort Worth and the kids go to school in far SW Fort Worth. I also have a mother-in-law who lives with us. She can't climb stairs so she needs a first floor bedroom. We looked around TCU and had trouble finding a home that met our needs. We also don't want to pay the Tanglewood premium since our kids don't go there.

[Koshka2]

Well, soon we will be on site to be able to look at places. We are about to close on selling our house and are renting a short term apartment in Keller.