Help with Mansfield, TX (Dallas, Arlington: appointed, HOA, mobile home)

[htd75104]

Hello Everyone!

Our family is thinking of moving to Mansfield and need help with details on the goods and bads of the city and location. We lived in S. Grand Prairie for 8 years until we sold our home this past summer. We've gone back and forth for several years on whether or not we wanted to move to the Flower Mound/Coppell area. Our girls (7 and 11) have attended Private school in Arlington since Pre-K and thought that once we sold our house, we would be ready to move to a nicer area of the metroplex where the public schools are well recognized; however, after a few years of 'looking' and 'not finding anything' we've come to realize its because we're not ready to leave our family and friends who live in this side of town. Thus, we've directed our search to Mansfield.

Ideally, we'd like to keep the girls in their school through 8th grade until they attend High School. I had heard great things on both Mansfield and Legacy High, but it was more on the basis of opinion and less so on fact. I researched the school/district rankings from Schooldigger.com and the test results listed on the TEA website and was rather disappointed at the results.

Help! Which Mansfield High Schools are better and why? What subdivisions should I be looking at? We like the Twin Creeks area but the drive leading up to the subdivision is scattered with mobile home parks . Twin Creeks is appealing because of the large lots (up to ~1/3 acre), wide streets, newer homes, and price point (<$350K).

Any insight on the schools, future zonings, etc. would be helpful. Also, what does it mean if a home/property does not have to pay 'city taxes'? Are they speaking of property taxes?

Thanks in advance All!

[Squirl]

Have you also checked the property taxes? I lived in Mansfield many years back and the property taxes were about the highest to be found. If you are planning on using public schools, go to the mid cities.

[htd75104]

Property taxes are quite high in Mansfield. However there are homesites on the outskirts of Mansfield that are exempt from paying 'city taxes'. I'm not exactly sure what 'city taxes' are and was hoping someone would be able to explain this to me.

[loves2read]

if you had a home in Grand Prairie--you paid tax to the city of Grand Prairie, the ISD of Grand Prairie, your county--which I guess was Dallas, and other tax entities

go to the Tarrant county or the Dallas county appraisal district and check any address to see what the current valuation for that property is and what the tax rates/entities area

if you live in an UNENCORPORATED area of the county you did not pay city taxes -- but you do not get city services either
no city fire dept or police or EMTs--no city trash collection or city water/sewage--you get either volunteer services or contracted services and likely have a private water system (which in that area could be problamatic) and might have an aerobic septic system vs a sewer system...

there are areas around Mansfied--especially to west--where there have been flooding in past
the roads also are more rural because they are county planned/maintained--
open bar ditches, two lane vs four lane--stop signs vs traffic lights

[MeanGreen04]

I can help with this. We moved here from the Flower Mound area and we have been sorely disappointed. The schools are not par with FM, and the city is so poorly planned-many of the neighborhoods don't have sidewalks and I don't think any have alleyways-meaning that trash is picked up on the curb and they are so very VERY lax about when you can put it out. Some neighbors put it out one whole day before trash day-gross. Because city code enforcement is so lax (trash is permitted to be kept outside without a lid, large trailers can be parked in front of houses, etc) you must rely on a good HOA, which makes the high property taxes so annoying bc then you need an HOA and their fees to make sure your investment is protected. (Can you tell we have a problem with trash?? It's everywhere!) Choosing a neighborhood is tricky bc so many of them are adjacent to questionable ones-nice neighborhoods are near "big box" houses filled with 20 or so people. We got greedy and bought a house here that would have cost us half a million in FM...it's beautiful, but it doesn't make any difference since the community is not even close to FM. I would stay in FM, obviously.