Preston Hollow, Dallas

Preston Hollow is the North Dallas area most people picture when they think of big lots, tall trees and custom estates along Preston Road. Developer Ira P. DeLoache started carving lots from farmland in 1924, the area incorporated as its own town in 1939, and residents voted to join Dallas in 1945. Today it mixes original 1930s to 1950s homes, ranch houses on wide lots and newer custom builds of 6,000 square feet or more, which makes it a fit for buyers who want space and privacy inside the city limits, and for sellers who own the land those buyers want.

The lesson here is that the lot often matters more than the house. Preston Hollow has a long history of ranch teardowns, so a 1950s home on a large, well-shaped lot can be valued by builders for the dirt, while a newer home on a smaller lot is valued as a finished product. Whether you are buying or selling, I separate land value from improvement value with recent comparable sales on similar lots, so you can see the price from both a homeowner's and a builder's point of view.