Moving to Dallas Texas - Free Advice Welcome! (1 Viewer)

[culdeus]

And the winner is...Richardson!

Shopped on Friday and Saturday, offered on Sunday, negotiated on Monday and came to terms just before the plane took off for home.

Looking forward to complaining about traffic (joke's on them since I'm coming from Chicago - what traffic? ) and drinking bottled water.

Thanks everyone for all the help in this thread - your advice was invaluable!

Which part?

Northwest, next to Plano. Kids will be in Plano schools.Eta: actually I need to check the boundaries on a map, not so sure it's north.

It where the turnpike meets 75 area.

What elementary are you feeding

 

[ditka311]

This is a great thread. Also currently live in the Chicago burbs and considering moving to Dallas. I would transfer within my company (Big 4 accounting firm) so job shouldn't be an issue. Not quite in the $450k range...hoping $300 to $325 at this point in my life. McKinney, Prosper and Allen have plenty of inventory in that range and would be bigger than my house and much newer. Since I would be going downtown, however, that seems far out. We are also considering Plano I guess based on ISD and commute times. Nothing concrete at this point but will be out there in the spring to check it out.

My question is....are there other locations with good schools I need to look at with a decent commute? I am currently 30 miles outside of Chicago so 50 min on a good day is the best I get and it doesn't bother me. Is McKinney in that range? Other places I should consider? Carrolton, Coppel, Flower Mound, etc?

Also - my kids are 3.5 year and 9 months so school district is huge.

No trying to hijack but rather piggyback on this thread.

Lastly - is there any good beer in Dallas?

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Why will you be drinking bottled water?

Ugh, because the tap water tastes and smells like a mixture of grass and dirt.

Good reason. I can't believe they can't spring for proper water filtration.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

This is a great thread. Also currently live in the Chicago burbs and considering moving to Dallas. I would transfer within my company (Big 4 accounting firm) so job shouldn't be an issue. Not quite in the $450k range...hoping $300 to $325 at this point in my life. McKinney, Prosper and Allen have plenty of inventory in that range and would be bigger than my house and much newer. Since I would be going downtown, however, that seems far out. We are also considering Plano I guess based on ISD and commute times. Nothing concrete at this point but will be out there in the spring to check it out.

My question is....are there other locations with good schools I need to look at with a decent commute? I am currently 30 miles outside of Chicago so 50 min on a good day is the best I get and it doesn't bother me. Is McKinney in that range? Other places I should consider? Carrolton, Coppel, Flower Mound, etc?

Also - my kids are 3.5 year and 9 months so school district is huge.

No trying to hijack but rather piggyback on this thread.

Lastly - is there any good beer in Dallas?

Yep. Try some of these fine Houston craft beers. They should be available at decent establishments.

 

[Psychopav]

And the winner is...Richardson!

Shopped on Friday and Saturday, offered on Sunday, negotiated on Monday and came to terms just before the plane took off for home.

Looking forward to complaining about traffic (joke's on them since I'm coming from Chicago - what traffic? ) and drinking bottled water.

Thanks everyone for all the help in this thread - your advice was invaluable!

Which part?

Northwest, next to Plano. Kids will be in Plano schools.Eta: actually I need to check the boundaries on a map, not so sure it's north.

It where the turnpike meets 75 area.

What elementary are you feeding

Stinson

 

[Psychopav]

Took the wife to the Central Market too. She was impressed. Thanks for the tip!

 

[culdeus]

Took the wife to the Central Market too. She was impressed. Thanks for the tip!

Well, based on what I can gather you are moving in less than a mile from me, maybe less.

Lets get that mother####er Uni and DiscoStu together for a lunch or HH soon. we are all close by.

 

[Psychopav]

Took the wife to the Central Market too. She was impressed. Thanks for the tip!

Well, based on what I can gather you are moving in less than a mile from me, maybe less.

Lets get that mother####er Uni and DiscoStu together for a lunch or HH soon. we are all close by.

HH?

 

[[icon]]

This is a great thread. Also currently live in the Chicago burbs and considering moving to Dallas. I would transfer within my company (Big 4 accounting firm) so job shouldn't be an issue. Not quite in the $450k range...hoping $300 to $325 at this point in my life. McKinney, Prosper and Allen have plenty of inventory in that range and would be bigger than my house and much newer. Since I would be going downtown, however, that seems far out. We are also considering Plano I guess based on ISD and commute times. Nothing concrete at this point but will be out there in the spring to check it out.

My question is....are there other locations with good schools I need to look at with a decent commute? I am currently 30 miles outside of Chicago so 50 min on a good day is the best I get and it doesn't bother me. Is McKinney in that range? Other places I should consider? Carrolton, Coppel, Flower Mound, etc?

Also - my kids are 3.5 year and 9 months so school district is huge.

No trying to hijack but rather piggyback on this thread.

Lastly - is there any good beer in Dallas?

Yep. Try some of these fine Houston craft beers. They should be available at decent establishments.

Yeah i've been impressed with several of the beers ive tried down there. Deep Ellum brewing has some solid options.

 

[bentley]

This is a great thread. Also currently live in the Chicago burbs and considering moving to Dallas. I would transfer within my company (Big 4 accounting firm) so job shouldn't be an issue. Not quite in the $450k range...hoping $300 to $325 at this point in my life. McKinney, Prosper and Allen have plenty of inventory in that range and would be bigger than my house and much newer. Since I would be going downtown, however, that seems far out. We are also considering Plano I guess based on ISD and commute times. Nothing concrete at this point but will be out there in the spring to check it out.

My question is....are there other locations with good schools I need to look at with a decent commute? I am currently 30 miles outside of Chicago so 50 min on a good day is the best I get and it doesn't bother me. Is McKinney in that range? Other places I should consider? Carrolton, Coppel, Flower Mound, etc?

Also - my kids are 3.5 year and 9 months so school district is huge.

No trying to hijack but rather piggyback on this thread.

Lastly - is there any good beer in Dallas?

Yep. Try some of these fine Houston craft beers. They should be available at decent establishments.

Yeah i've been impressed with several of the beers ive tried down there. Deep Ellum brewing has some solid options.

Agree w Deep Ellum being pretty good. Funny hat someone would post about Houston beer in a Dallas thread.

 

[ditka311]

Sorry to derail this with beer talk, I was just curious.

 

[Psychopav]

Sorry to derail this with beer talk, I was just curious.

That's unpossible!

[/ralphwiggum]

 

[Psychopav]

Update: the deal on my house in Illinois fell through at the last minute, so we ended up staying there until the school year ended.

Tomorrow we Move into our house in Plano, right around the Legacy and Coit area.

We've been in a hotel in Addison for the past two and a half weeks and my kids look like little wrinkled lobsters. Loving the area so far.

Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[oso diablo]

just in time for our first set of 100+ degree days!

 

[oso diablo]

My question is....are there other locations with good schools I need to look at with a decent commute? I am currently 30 miles outside of Chicago so 50 min on a good day is the best I get and it doesn't bother me. Is McKinney in that range? Other places I should consider? Carrolton, Coppel, Flower Mound, etc?

Also - my kids are 3.5 year and 9 months so school district is huge.

might also consider Sunnyvale/Heath/Rockwall/Forney to the east

 

[Instinctive]

My question is....are there other locations with good schools I need to look at with a decent commute? I am currently 30 miles outside of Chicago so 50 min on a good day is the best I get and it doesn't bother me. Is McKinney in that range? Other places I should consider? Carrolton, Coppel, Flower Mound, etc?

Also - my kids are 3.5 year and 9 months so school district is huge.

might also consider Sunnyvale/Heath/Rockwall/Forney to the east

Coppell has really solid schools. IB program too, which is nice for high school and prepping for college.

I was educated from 6th grade through college graduation in Flower Mound public schools. I've done alright so far.

Depending on where your office is, commute can be easy or rough. I worked off macarthur for a while and it was like 15-20 minutes away, especially if I left by a certain time. Then I worked downtown, and that commute was heavily dependent on when I was on the road.

One thing I LOVED about being in the FloMo/Coppell area was how easy it is to get to DFW Airport. Really great for travel.

 

[Wrigley]

Is your real name Jim, and did you live in the Plainfield area?

 

[culdeus]

Allen is really getting stupid on the pricing.

Rockwall is getting a lot of buzz lately and seems to be well run and still is a decent value. There are a lot of people that commute pretty far west so Rockwall is off the list for them.

Most of those mid-cities 635 corridor suburbs are super expensive now as well.

It's gonna depend somewhat on your budget, obviously.

I mean for 450-650k Plano and the upper end RISD area is solid

For 350-450 you can hit the 635 corridor easily

For 250-350 Rockwall and Allen are still in the mix

North of 650 then you can start looking into lake highlands area

North of 950 then some of the cottages in park cities are in play now for the first time in awhile.

 

[dhockster]

Update: the deal on my house in Illinois fell through at the last minute, so we ended up staying there until the school year ended.

Tomorrow we Move into our house in Plano, right around the Legacy and Coit area.

We've been in a hotel in Addison for the past two and a half weeks and my kids look like little wrinkled lobsters. Loving the area so far.

Thanks again for all the advice!

Did you watch the Fireworks on Friday night? I was visiting my brother in Plano and we went to a restaurant on Midway right by the addison airport and we watched the fireworks after dinner. Pretty good show.

ETA: Ferrari's was the restaurant which is one of my brother's favorite Italian restaurants. Pretty good food.

 

[Buck Bradcanon]

Good luck on your new start. I love Dallas.

 

[[icon]]

iFratellis for pizza, IMO

 

[The Hardline]

This is probably already in this thread but I will post it anyway.

http://interactive.dmagazine.com/content/best-dallas-suburbs-2014/

Live in Dallas and absolutely love it.

 

[Psychopav]

My question is....are there other locations with good schools I need to look at with a decent commute? I am currently 30 miles outside of Chicago so 50 min on a good day is the best I get and it doesn't bother me. Is McKinney in that range? Other places I should consider? Carrolton, Coppel, Flower Mound, etc?

Also - my kids are 3.5 year and 9 months so school district is huge.

might also consider Sunnyvale/Heath/Rockwall/Forney to the east

Coppell has really solid schools. IB program too, which is nice for high school and prepping for college.

I was educated from 6th grade through college graduation in Flower Mound public schools. I've done alright so far.

Depending on where your office is, commute can be easy or rough. I worked off macarthur for a while and it was like 15-20 minutes away, especially if I left by a certain time. Then I worked downtown, and that commute was heavily dependent on when I was on the road.

One thing I LOVED about being in the FloMo/Coppell area was how easy it is to get to DFW Airport. Really great for travel.

WAZE is phenomenal. I am a traffic ninja here. It has been brilliant.

 

[Psychopav]

Is your real name Jim, and did you live in the Plainfield area?

Me?

No, and no.

 

[Psychopav]

Update: the deal on my house in Illinois fell through at the last minute, so we ended up staying there until the school year ended.

Tomorrow we Move into our house in Plano, right around the Legacy and Coit area.

We've been in a hotel in Addison for the past two and a half weeks and my kids look like little wrinkled lobsters. Loving the area so far.

Thanks again for all the advice!

Did you watch the Fireworks on Friday night? I was visiting my brother in Plano and we went to a restaurant on Midway right by the addison airport and we watched the fireworks after dinner. Pretty good show.

ETA: Ferrari's was the restaurant which is one of my brother's favorite Italian restaurants. Pretty good food.

We watched the Kaboomtown fireworks in Addison, but didn't go into the grounds - I took one look at the insane line to get in and the lack of crowd control/line movement and said no thanks. If I wanted Taste of Chicago people density, I would have gone downtown for the past 20 years lol.

Fireworks show was great though - I'm sure they spend a ton on it every year.

Ate at Ferrari's on Saturday with the family. Two thumbs up.

 

[ditka311]

My question is....are there other locations with good schools I need to look at with a decent commute? I am currently 30 miles outside of Chicago so 50 min on a good day is the best I get and it doesn't bother me. Is McKinney in that range? Other places I should consider? Carrolton, Coppel, Flower Mound, etc?

Also - my kids are 3.5 year and 9 months so school district is huge.

might also consider Sunnyvale/Heath/Rockwall/Forney to the east

We actually went out to the area in April and toured the area with a realtor. We are planning to go back this fall. Right now the area we like is Wylie/Sachse. McKinney was really nice too.

The insane housing market is really what is scaring the #### out of me.

 

[Psychopav]

Yeah, so the house we ended up in was on the market for one day before it was under contract - with a cash offer - for more than the asking price. This was the Tuesday before we flew down to look. On a whim, I asked the realtor to reach out to their realtor to let them know we'd still like to see the house. That Thursday, the cash buyers backed out. We went to see the house, went again Friday morning, and made an offer on Friday afternoon. We had it accepted by the time their open house was supposed to start on Saturday (still showed as under contract on MLS until Sat. morning).

Paid just over asking price.

 

[dhockster]

Update: the deal on my house in Illinois fell through at the last minute, so we ended up staying there until the school year ended.

Tomorrow we Move into our house in Plano, right around the Legacy and Coit area.

We've been in a hotel in Addison for the past two and a half weeks and my kids look like little wrinkled lobsters. Loving the area so far.

Thanks again for all the advice!

Did you watch the Fireworks on Friday night? I was visiting my brother in Plano and we went to a restaurant on Midway right by the addison airport and we watched the fireworks after dinner. Pretty good show.

ETA: Ferrari's was the restaurant which is one of my brother's favorite Italian restaurants. Pretty good food.

We watched the Kaboomtown fireworks in Addison, but didn't go into the grounds - I took one look at the insane line to get in and the lack of crowd control/line movement and said no thanks. If I wanted Taste of Chicago people density, I would have gone downtown for the past 20 years lol.

Fireworks show was great though - I'm sure they spend a ton on it every year.

Ate at Ferrari's on Saturday with the family. Two thumbs up.

Glad you had a good meal!

 

[culdeus]

Yeah, so the house we ended up in was on the market for one day before it was under contract - with a cash offer - for more than the asking price. This was the Tuesday before we flew down to look. On a whim, I asked the realtor to reach out to their realtor to let them know we'd still like to see the house. That Thursday, the cash buyers backed out. We went to see the house, went again Friday morning, and made an offer on Friday afternoon. We had it accepted by the time their open house was supposed to start on Saturday (still showed as under contract on MLS until Sat. morning).

Paid just over asking price.

That's not bad. Mckinney/Allen is wild west. People usually have to offer 10K over just to get a pre OH contract.

 

[Instinctive]

Yeah, so the house we ended up in was on the market for one day before it was under contract - with a cash offer - for more than the asking price. This was the Tuesday before we flew down to look. On a whim, I asked the realtor to reach out to their realtor to let them know we'd still like to see the house. That Thursday, the cash buyers backed out. We went to see the house, went again Friday morning, and made an offer on Friday afternoon. We had it accepted by the time their open house was supposed to start on Saturday (still showed as under contract on MLS until Sat. morning).

Paid just over asking price.

That's not bad. Mckinney/Allen is wild west. People usually have to offer 10K over just to get a pre OH contract.

We're selling right now in FloMo. Insanely great seller's market. Basically the day the house went up, multiple over-ask offers. Still did a showing this past weekend, more offers.

Incredible.

 

[BowieMercs]

Has anyone suggested Redskins swag to endear yourself to the locals?

 

[culdeus]

Has anyone suggested Redskins swag to endear yourself to the locals?

Pro tip: Nobody gives a crap about the redskins here. It's a media generated rivalry. Eagles are far more hated.

 

[James Daulton]

Has anyone suggested Redskins swag to endear yourself to the locals?

Pro tip: Nobody gives a crap about the redskins here. It's a media generated rivalry. Eagles are far more hated.

Wat? What about the whole cowboys and indians angle? That has to generate some serious hate.

Remember the Alamo!

 

[ZenMaster]

Yeah, so the house we ended up in was on the market for one day before it was under contract - with a cash offer - for more than the asking price. This was the Tuesday before we flew down to look. On a whim, I asked the realtor to reach out to their realtor to let them know we'd still like to see the house. That Thursday, the cash buyers backed out. We went to see the house, went again Friday morning, and made an offer on Friday afternoon. We had it accepted by the time their open house was supposed to start on Saturday (still showed as under contract on MLS until Sat. morning).

Paid just over asking price.

That's not bad. Mckinney/Allen is wild west. People usually have to offer 10K over just to get a pre OH contract.

I live in Allen. Maybe we should sell now.

 

[Psychopav]

Kind of a crazy experience going to North Dallas area from Chicagoland where basically you put it up, wait 45 days, and then get an offer for 10% below asking.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Can we expand this thread to talk about the Fort Worth area? I have a 2nd/final interview possibility with a company in downtown Ft Worth at the end of the month.

I'm simultaneously more than interested and gut wrenchingly scared about the possibility of pulling up stakes in Minnesota and moving down there. How can I leave all I've ever known?

 

[culdeus]

Can we expand this thread to talk about the Fort Worth area? I have a 2nd/final interview possibility with a company in downtown Ft Worth at the end of the month.

I'm simultaneously more than interested and gut wrenchingly scared about the possibility of pulling up stakes in Minnesota and moving down there. How can I leave all I've ever known?

Fort Worth has some great benefits, but also some issues. Schools are a big problem. There are a few solid elems but that's pretty much it and the private schools are insane costly and all basically full.

If you have multiple kids then you look to southlake or aledo typically. With no kids then you have tons of great options, none cheap, but you have options.

Fort Worth real estate has really caught up with the metro area in the last 3-4 years. This is mostly due to the price of oil being so high. Now that it's taking a dump I would be cautious buying at least a little bit in FW proper. The hit that town took in the 1980s took nearly 20 years to recover from.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I have one kid headed to college next week and the other one is nearly 16 y.o. but we home school him.

He's probably the biggest concern - he doesn't have a lot of friends other than the ones he hangs out with at Boy Scouts so taking him out of that makes me apprehensive.

On the plus side, my wife has a cousin & aunt that she really likes that both live in White Settlement so we wouldn't be totally alone.

 

[Psychopav]

I have one kid headed to college next week and the other one is nearly 16 y.o. but we home school him.

He's probably the biggest concern - he doesn't have a lot of friends other than the ones he hangs out with at Boy Scouts so taking him out of that makes me apprehensive.

Not sure how far Keller is from where you'll end up, but we really liked that area for schools. Too far from my office to make sense but maybe FW area.

Also, how come nobody warned me about the cost of electricity in the summer? Holy ####!! My first electric bill (July - August) was over $600. Turning the thermostats to 75 now and hoping it makes a dent (and the wife is already crying about that).

 

[culdeus]

I have one kid headed to college next week and the other one is nearly 16 y.o. but we home school him.

He's probably the biggest concern - he doesn't have a lot of friends other than the ones he hangs out with at Boy Scouts so taking him out of that makes me apprehensive.

On the plus side, my wife has a cousin & aunt that she really likes that both live in White Settlement so we wouldn't be totally alone.

White Settlement isn't awful, but it's a little isolated from the community activities that are actually special. If no kids then you have tons and tons of options. Just depends on price range and how old a house you are comfortable with. There's actually more price diversity in the good areas of FW than price diversity in the good areas of Dallas. So if you do fall in love with an expensive area it's usually not too hard to find a fixer. That's not often the case in Dallas as builders buy those homes and flip them.

 

[culdeus]

I have one kid headed to college next week and the other one is nearly 16 y.o. but we home school him.

He's probably the biggest concern - he doesn't have a lot of friends other than the ones he hangs out with at Boy Scouts so taking him out of that makes me apprehensive.

Not sure how far Keller is from where you'll end up, but we really liked that area for schools. Too far from my office to make sense but maybe FW area.

Also, how come nobody warned me about the cost of electricity in the summer? Holy ####!! My first electric bill (July - August) was over $600. Turning the thermostats to 75 now and hoping it makes a dent (and the wife is already crying about that).

Is your outside unit shaded or on the north side of your house?

Will Plano let you air mist near it?

75 is pretty cold. Most people go 80 here during the day. We set to 82 from 1-7pm or so and run ceiling fans and keep the blinds drawn. Never seen one above 250 and we run two AC systems.

 

[BowieMercs]

Has anyone suggested Redskins swag to endear yourself to the locals?

Pro tip: Nobody gives a crap about the redskins here. It's a media generated rivalry. Eagles are far more hated.

This was not always the case. HCs George Allen & Tom Landry built a great rivalry.

The old owners were great, the current owners are BOTH dbags.

 

[[icon]]

Also, how come nobody warned me about the cost of electricity in the summer? Holy ####!! My first electric bill (July - August) was over $600. Turning the thermostats to 75 now and hoping it makes a dent (and the wife is already crying about that).

75 is pretty cold. Most people go 80 here during the day. We set to 82 from 1-7pm or so and run ceiling fans and keep the blinds drawn. Never seen one above 250 and we run two AC systems.

Here in memphis it's not TOO much different temp-wise than the Dallas area... I keep our house at 76-78 during the day while we're gone and it drops to 72 an hour before I get home... then 70 around bedtime.

I can't imagine 82... that would suck. I can't really sleep well when it's 76+

 

[oso diablo]

Can we expand this thread to talk about the Fort Worth area? I have a 2nd/final interview possibility with a company in downtown Ft Worth at the end of the month.

I'm simultaneously more than interested and gut wrenchingly scared about the possibility of pulling up stakes in Minnesota and moving down there. How can I leave all I've ever known?

i grew up in Dallas, and (after being out of Texas for 20+ years) recently moved to Tarrant County (FW's county). Near where Keller/Southlake/North Richland Hills/Colleyville all come together.

Like it much better on the FW side of the metroplex (a blanket term for the Dallas/Fort Worth area).

Ask away.

 

[culdeus]

Also, how come nobody warned me about the cost of electricity in the summer? Holy ####!! My first electric bill (July - August) was over $600. Turning the thermostats to 75 now and hoping it makes a dent (and the wife is already crying about that).

75 is pretty cold. Most people go 80 here during the day. We set to 82 from 1-7pm or so and run ceiling fans and keep the blinds drawn. Never seen one above 250 and we run two AC systems.

Here in memphis it's not TOO much different temp-wise than the Dallas area... I keep our house at 76-78 during the day while we're gone and it drops to 72 an hour before I get home... then 70 around bedtime.

I can't imagine 82... that would suck. I can't really sleep well when it's 76+

Well if you run your AC and the inside is more than 20 degrees off from outside it's basically just pumping money out of your wallet.

 

[[icon]]

Here in memphis it's not TOO much different temp-wise than the Dallas area... I keep our house at 76-78 during the day while we're gone and it drops to 72 an hour before I get home... then 70 around bedtime.

I can't imagine 82... that would suck. I can't really sleep well when it's 76+

Well if you run your AC and the inside is more than 20 degrees off from outside it's basically just pumping money out of your wallet.

The Old 20-degree drop rule doesn't apply if your home is properly insulated and you're not opening/closing doors all day. The true 20 drop rule should be air temp at the in/out points of the system.

My house will hold mid to lower 70's when temps are in the 105 range without too much issue... definitely not a case where the AC unit is running at 100% duty. Bill is usually around ~$200 in peak of summer for a ~2k sqft home.

I guess I could see that being an issue if your system isn't sized properly for your home.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

So what suburbs in the north part of Fort Worth that have easier access not just to downtown, but also to Grapevine (visiting friends/relatives) are desirable?

 

[sbonomo]

Also, how come nobody warned me about the cost of electricity in the summer? Holy ####!! My first electric bill (July - August) was over $600. Turning the thermostats to 75 now and hoping it makes a dent (and the wife is already crying about that).

75 is pretty cold. Most people go 80 here during the day. We set to 82 from 1-7pm or so and run ceiling fans and keep the blinds drawn. Never seen one above 250 and we run two AC systems.

Here in memphis it's not TOO much different temp-wise than the Dallas area... I keep our house at 76-78 during the day while we're gone and it drops to 72 an hour before I get home... then 70 around bedtime.

I can't imagine 82... that would suck. I can't really sleep well when it's 76+

Well if you run your AC and the inside is more than 20 degrees off from outside it's basically just pumping money out of your wallet.

You're kidding right? so in Phx when it hits 115 for 3 months straight you can't get you home below 95. You have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[Major]

Don't move to Dallas. Plastic town that wants to be LA but stuck in an Atlanta/OKC hybrid :rubbish:

 

[oso diablo]

So what suburbs in the north part of Fort Worth that have easier access not just to downtown, but also to Grapevine (visiting friends/relatives) are desirable?

Keller (its school district includes parts of north FW, Watauga, etc)

Southlake

Colleyville / Grapevine

Trophy Club / Roanoke (Northwest ISD) - this might be a stretch for your work commute

also some nice areas in the Hurst/Euless/Beford (HEB) and Birdville school districts.