Dallas RE Question for Charlie

[haha]

Charlie, or other Dallas residents- what would a smallish house(if there are such ) in one of the Park Cities cost? Townhouses?

Are there other close in neighborhoods with similar characteristics that may be cheaper?

Thanks Charlie,

Mikey

 

[charlie]

Mikey,

I would stay away from the Park Cities area,
especially Highland Park. People are paying outrageous prices for small homes to tear down
and build McMansions.

There are some older neighborhoods in University
Park with modest homes buit in pre WWII that
are more reasonable I think.

The prices are more reasonable and even modest
in the burbs farther north. Plano, Allen, Prosper,
McKinney, Frisco and Celina to name a few are
booming .

For example, my daughter recently bought a new
brick, 3BR, 1800 sq ft home in Celina for $134k.
Her house is in a new development and has a lot
of nice features for the price. These developments
are springing up like wild flowers all over N. Texas.

Another example is my own 3000 sq ft home in
far North Dallas that is worth about $250k.

Sorry I can't be more specific. I don't track the RE
market very closely here.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

[haha]

Mikey,

IThe prices are more reasonable and even modest
in the burbs farther north.  Plano, Allen, Prosper,
McKinney, Frisco and Celina to name a few are
booming .  

For example, my daughter recently bought a new
brick, 3BR, 1800 sq ft home in Celina for $134k.
Her house is in a new development and has a lot
of nice features for the price.  These developments
are springing up like wild flowers all over N. Texas.

Another example is my own 3000 sq ft home in
far North Dallas that is worth about $250k.

Charlie, thanks. I'll look up those places you mentioned on MapQuest.

Mikey

 

[John Galt]

I was tempted to weigh in on this, but waited for Charlie
first. I agree with his numbers. Having lived in the
Las Colinas area of Irving for 4 years, and being a real
estate junkie, his reply sounds right on to me. My ex-wife wanted me to buy a home there and keep on working.
Buying the home was more appealing than working.
What can be had, even in the Dallas Metroplex, is
cheap, cheap, cheap, compared to many other parts
of the country.

JG

 

[kayelem]

Mikey:
I lived in Dallas about 8 years ago. I wanted to live in University Park, but couldn't/wouldn't afford it. We ended up in the REAL North Dallas (before such areas as Frisco started calling themselves North Dallas), around Preston and Forest Lane. Just north of UP. We really liked it there...our house was a 3 Br Ranch around $170 K, think we sold for about $200 K. Lots of trees, safe neighborhood. Easy to get to LBJ, Toll Road, Love Field, White Rock Lake, etc. Not sure what prices have done there since, but we really liked the area.

It was one of my favorite neighborhoods, but I have not kept track of prices.

 

[John Galt]

Hello kayelem and Mikey. Yep, that's a nice area, if you
don't mind living in the Metroplex. Know it well. Also,
I have a good friend who used to live in that area and
she really liked it too. Speaking of Frisco calling itself
"North Dallas", eventually Sherman will be suburb
IMHO

JG

 

[kayelem]

Well, I didn't mind the Metroplex that much except for the pretentiousness (sp?) of the name!

I wouldn't choose to live there if it wasn't necessary for job or family reasons. But the neighborhood was friendly, and easy to get around the rest of Dallas. In fact I worked in the Las Colinas area, and really just zipped to work down Royal Lane, so never really had a traffic issue either.

The thing I miss the most is the great old oak and pecan trees we had (although I cursed the pecans in the fall). DH was into making pecan pies from the nuts in our yard so we had to gather up every one and there were a lot! It's ironic to think we had better old growth trees in Dallas than I do on my property here in Virginia.

 

[haha]

Thanks Kayelem. My sister-in-law took me to lunch at a restaurant in in Highland Park Center about 10 years ago. I thought the shopping area looked a lot like Rodeo Drive, and the restaurant with a nice outdoor court reminded me of Southern Cal too.

It looked like a nice place to live. I'll check out the area you suggested when I am there later this spring.

Mikey

 

[lauraf13]

I live not far from Highland Park and really like the area. Park Cities is very over priced, but some of the surrounding areas are nice with out the extreme price. If you are into fixing up old houses, the M streets area is good. Check out Lakewood and surrounding neighborhoods (zip code 75214), also Forest Hills. The houses will be more expensive than the suburbs. I live within walking distance of White Rock Lake and there are people raising horses nearby. It's like living in the country with the advantages of the city.

Laura

 

[Craig]

Well, I'll apologize up front, and there are many things I like about Texas ... but real estate is not one of them.

We had a home in Plano, and were da*n glad to see it close escrow in late December. I don't think TX is a great place to invest in real estate.

There is a reason those homes are cheap, cheap, cheap ... the real estate taxes are high, high, high. In Plano, about 2% of market value. Watch magazines like Kiplinger that report on real estate appreciation ... TX cities will not even be listed. Some of the lowest appreciation in the country, as I recall.

I believe the state is trying to do something about those real estate taxes, but for now they remain an issue ... nice to have no income taxes, but the real estate taxes must have an impact on appreciation.

Tennessee, on the other hand, has very little income tax, plus low real estate taxes ...

 

[saigonrat]

folks, considered our neighbors up North lucky. Houstonians pays 3-3.5% of market value. Ouch!

 

[JOhn Galt]

Well I wouldn't live in Tennesee. No accounting for taste, right?

Back to real estate taxes, here in Illinois we pay about
1.6% of market value. The Texas condo is about 1.9%.
Not too bad.

Getting back to the "Metroplex", Dallas is easily my fav. big city now, although I still avoid it most of the time
as I really hate the traffic. Not that Dallas is any worse than other big cities. PLus, you do not have to worry about the weather except for maybe 2 days out of a typical year. Las Colinas is a real nice area (way inside
the Metroplex for those of you who are unfamiliar).
When I moved there in 1994, there was about a 100 acre
horse ranch right across the road. Beautiful, but an island in the midst of traffic, hotels, restaurants, office complexes, etc. They still had horses, buffalo, etc.
a real odd situation. Over the years since, they have been selling off pieces, bit by bit. I just got back from Texas and the
ranch is still there but the horses are gone and the entire remaining acreage is for sale (75 acres I think).
I am quite sure the price would boggle your mind.
Anyway, there are similar situations around, but this
owner (owners?) held out a long time. I'll bet it is at least 20 miles north until you finally
clear the suburbs and get into the country. And another
thing. IN 1994 I thought "holy mackeral!" they are building and expanding everywhere I look. Now, 11
years later it is just the same. Non-stop economic
activity. Contrast that with some of the northern cities that
are in the crapper. Every time I go down I can't help but notice how prosperous everything looks.

JG

 

[Craig]

Yes, to each his own re: taste.

Slightly off topic, but the point remains ... why is there so little appreciation in TX real estate vs. other southern / sun belt metropolitan areas?

 

[Jarhead*]

Yes, to each his own re: taste.

Slightly off topic, but the point remains ... why is there so little appreciation in TX real estate vs. other southern / sun belt metropolitan areas?

More avaliable land for building, relatively high property taxes, and low wages. Exact opposite of what high appreciation areas have.

 

[Craig]

Agreed ... there is huge supply in TX ... very, very little public land, and a huge supply of developable private property. Point remains ... nice place to live in many ways, but appears to be a tough place to build wealth in real estate.