Guys, this question was Oct, 2007!

Susan,
It is A GREAT TIME TO BUY. The prices have decreased overall by a few persentage points depending on neighborhoods etc. There are foreclosures and short sales that make for a better purchase price in some cases. Thirdly, money is on sale at a great rate too! If you are a first time buyer the $8,000. government incentive is a nother good reason to buy now. Once housing starts begin improving as they seem to be doing, and the exixting homes start increasing in value, the rates will have snuck up so you will be paying more for money and for the house. If you have good credit scores, go for it. There are many people out there who can not take advantage of the good situation we are in now, because they do not have good credit scores........Remember do not OVER BUY. But do not underbuy either Both are costly mistakes. For more Free information that may be priceless call my Grapevine office 1-800-433-4003 , and ask for Dolly.

If you have not selected a buyers agent. Let me throw my hat in the ring. I am a newer agent and can easily run you a market analysis on any area in Grapevine you want to look at and help you determine if it is a good buy. Best of all I give 20% of my net commission to you cash after closing.

RJ Avery
214-682-0598

Hi there,

Based on when you posted this question, it looks like your original time frame for buying is around now. Are you still thinking about these same areas, or have you narrowed it down a bit?

There are some great deals to be had out there! We've been watching homes in those areas for other clients and have been finding some great deals. Also, the Dallas Morning News just reported that home prices are down 4% in the D/FW area.

The school district is an extremely important factor - IF you have school age children going to public school. If you are looking in the $150 range, that's probably going to be the case. If you are looking in the $500 range, it's a debatable issue if there are good private schools nearby. If the community has a pool, park, playground - probably going to attract more families. If there are tennis courts, golf course and country club, probably less important to have blue ribbon schools. These are also just generalities - there are of course specific cases where the opposite could be true.

As far as the tax rate... live where you want to live. Live where you are comfortable and what speaks home to you. There is always the right buyer out there for each home - you just have to find them. The tax rate will play a factor in your mortgage, but it will not be all that significant. You can talk to our preferred lender at http://www.katiesparkman.com or 817.807.5367, ksparkman@houseloan.com. She can run a good faith estimate for you to find out what price range you'd qualify for, the difference between different types of loan programs and if you'd like to see what one tax rate over another is - she'll show ya. :)

Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Terri Hayley

It is a buyers market and I would be glad to help you. I can email you some information if you would like. Thank you

I have lived in the Grapevine, Colleyville & Mid Cities area since 1990. I have 3 sons who went to school in this area. 2 went to GV / Colleyville School District and 1 went to HEB school (specifically LD Bell HS ). GV-Colleyville schools are definitely ranked higher than HEB schools; although they are all very good schools. I can find you a home in your price range and school district you want to be int.

To me these are 3 completely different areas for the most part. Probably the biggest difference is price point. For example the average sales price this yeas as of August in Euless is about $156,000, in Bedford $166,000, Grapevine $240,000 and Colleyville $532,000. All nice locations, but depends on how much you want to spend. If you want to buy in the $150s then there will be lots of options in Euless and Bedford, very limited in Grapevine and almost no choices in Colleyville. The reverse is almost true as well. If you are thinking of spending in the $400-$600,000 range then many people would focus more on Colleyville and perhaps Grapevine versus Euless. Tax rates for the cities are not significantly different. It depends on exactly where you live, but Euless rate is approx 2.73, Grapevine 2.58 and Colleyville 2.57. Taxes can vary depending on many factors such as what school district taxes the property. In Euless there is HEB and for some parts of North Euless Grapevine. Same for Grapevine. I think most of Grapevine is Grapevine-CV ISD, but some north west parts may be Carroll ISD. Overall prices are up some over last year. In Colleyville avg sales price is up about 13% over last year. Sales are up in CV, but down in Euless and Bedford. Please call me if I can provide you more detailed information or if you need assistance walking through the decision making process. My office is in Colleyville at Glade and CV Blvd.

I live in the Mid Cities area and have for more than 20 years. Usually Grapevine and Colleyville school district (taxes) are higher than HEB. I am surprised that you found them higher. Check out http://www.greatschools.com. As far as resale goes, it's no problem in any of these areas in a good market and better than most in a bad market. Hope this helps. TC, Realtor Prudential Tx Properties