Jeanie's Real Estate Blog

I recently had some out-of-town clients that came in for a "first look-around the area(s)" house and community search that were considering relocating their family and business from another state in 2011.  They had found my website on google and yahoo on the internet while searching for Lovejoy ISD real estate and Fairview Texas real estate and were interested in getting more information about the Lovejoy Independent School District due to the "Exemplary" ratings by the Texas Education Agency's 2010 Accountability Rating for the entire district which they had also read about while doing their own independent searching online.  We looked at some of the homes and acreage estate lots for sale in those areas and did an overview of the individual Lovejoy ISD schools that served those neighborhoods as well as the latest retail shopping and growth "boom" that has occurred with the expansion and openings of the Village of Fairview and Village of Allen on both the north and south sides of Stacy Road just east of Highway 75.   They were delighted with all the new development of shopping, restaurants, and retail that are close to the areas of Lovejoy ISD in Fairview, Texas, that were in their top choices of locations and subdivisions, and they loved the area, especially the Town of Fairview, Texas, with all its appeal of the large acreage home sites, beautiful executive-style country estate homes and luxury real estate, winding streets, hilltop views of trees and natural wooded landscaping in much of this beautiful and unique town.

 However, due to the lack of availability of  both pre-owned homes and new construction that would meet their large family's needs in their desired price range of approximately $500,000 to $650,000 at their top choice location and neighborhoods in Fairview, they decided they would like to preview other larger cities of Collin County that might also be able to offer the best "Exemplary" schools and district for their 4 school aged children, and they were also expecting another addition to their family in six months that they needed to plan for as well.  Also, they decided that building on a vacant estate lot in Fairview on one of the minimum one-acre lots that were available, with prices starting at the low end of approximately $150,000 to $160,000 and others that they liked more were priced even higher, was not a feasible and realistic option, even at the top of their desired price range, in being able to meet their family's housing needs without sacrificing a lot of living space and special amenities they had hoped for and really felt they wanted. 

 They also came to the conclusion after our housing search in the Fairview and Lovejoy ISD areas, that they were primarily more interested in putting a larger portion of their purchase budget into the actual construction of the house to be able to achieve the extra storage, more bedrooms and living space, and desired house amenities that were desired for their large family, than investing 30% to 35% of their total investment into the acreage home site plus the cost of the preparation of the lot to get it ready to start the house construction.   In addition, waiting for the completion of a custom home to be built, which several custom  home builders they talked to had indicated could most likely take a minimum of 9 months and possibly even as long as a full year, depending upon the weather, potential shortages of some building materials, and the deed restriction limitations that might have to be addressed once they selected a home site and neighborhood.  As this was not want they were hoping to find to make their relocation a smooth transition for all their children and business, they decided a larger school district with smaller lots and lower residential lot prices would more likely be able to provide the best opportunities to meet their family's goals and needs, as well as give them more flexibility to consider the preowned homes and newly constructed  custom homes that were already built or nearing completion, as their preference would be to not to have to wait for a new home to be constructed.

When we reviewed the latest 2010 Accountability Ratings For Individual Schools and School Districts in the locations and areas that were most appealing to them for their family and business, we found that FRISCO ISD is the largest district, not only in Collin County, but the State of Texas to obtain an EXEMPLARY rating for 2010 from the Texas Education Agency.   The absolute standard Exemplary rating, awarded to 72 Texas school districts, puts FRISCO ISD within the top 6 percent of districts in the state.  While Frisco takes the lead in size for this category with 33,757 students, ALLEN ISD is the second largest EXEMPLARY district with 18,086 students.  Once they decided to open their future housing options and choices to consider and view the availability of homes for sale in both of these cities and school districts, that being Frisco ISD and Allen ISD, they were excited and pleased to learn that we were able to find several possibilities of neighborhoods and workable floorplans, as well as a reasonable good selection of preowned and new homes on the market for sale that would not only meet their living space, floorplan and amenity "wish list" needs, but some of these exceeded their expectations and included either a family pool or the neighborhood had within it a community pool and/or park or playground features for the residents that lived in that subdivision, and there did not seem to be any problem finding home possibilities for their family that were well within the desired budget they had set and were both pre-qualified for and most comfortable with.

With the information we gathered through our viewing of homes and properties for sale in Frisco ISD and Allen ISD that best met the future needs of their family, my clients were able to go back home with the assurance that one of these two Collin County cities will provide a smooth transition, great school opportunities for their children, an outstanding home investment, and community lifestyle to share and enjoy for many years while their children are growing and learning in some of the finest "Exemplary" school districts in the State of Texas. 

For more information about the Texas Education Agency's 2010 Accountability Rating System, and the ratings for Frisco ISD and Allen ISD for the 2010 to 2011 school year, visit these links below:

 If you are planning to relocate to any of these areas, please give me a call at 972-612-2277.  I look forward to helping you and your family to find the right home and community for your lifestyle, make memories, grow your family, make a lifestyle change, and establish new friendships and "roots" with your next home purchase.

Jeanie E. Elliott, ABR, Accredited Buyers Representative; CHMS, Certified Home Marketing Specialist; ALHS, Accredited Luxury Home Specialist; SRES, Seniors Real Estate Specialist; SFR, Short Sales & Foreclosures Resource, and TAHS, Texas Affordable Housing Specialist.