Interesting discoveries re real estate in DFW (Grapevine, Hurst: for rent, HOA)

[Squirl]

I was a bit put off by your post, even though there are other parts of the country I would rather live in DFW has been home for 30 years and you sounded critical. There are plenty of areas with rolling terrain that were not created by earth moving equipment. You obviously have not been through much of the southern sector near Cedar Hill or even thru the Las Colinas area! That said, our soil is awful and homes build on slab foundations will become compromised without good maintenance. I prefer pier and beam houses, but they are not easy to find in newer homes or homes under $700k. If you look, you will find 2 story houses with masters upstairs.....but they are not common. I am not a fan of 2- story houses or of having personal swimming pools.....that issue is resolved easily by joining a club, going to the local recreation center or living in a HOA community with amenities. Its more cost effective and less of a PITA that way! Also, that leaves enough space for the dogs or to kick a ball around in the yard. If you get a 2-story house, make sure you have zoned A/C!

[MckinneyOwnr]

Actually, there are plenty of homes that are two story that have the master upstairs. A large number of houses in my subdivision were built like that. In fact, our home technically has all the bedrooms upstairs... but as an option from the builder, a small full bathroom was added to a large room downstairs, making it into a bedroom suite on the first floor.

If you look in McKinney or Frisco, you can definitely find homes like this. Plano tends to have the master downstairs more than you'll find it upstairs, but it generally has older subdivisions. Still, we found a couple that had all bedrooms up in our house hunting search a year or two ago.

Good luck!

[loves2read]

A RE agent can search MLS listings for all beds up or a master up--
not too many RE websites have that option through if you are searching listings yourself--
it is usually master DOWN that is easier to discover

Like I said before--this design is not really so much a builder's decision based on what people ask for--but is just dictated by the lot size (especially width), the sq ft of the plan, and the cost
most builders sell spec homes vs contracted homes from dirt up--
people buy houses all the time that aren't really the plan they WANT because they don't have the time to wait for house to be built from scratch

if you are building a house yourself you might find given those parameters that YOU have trouble getting all 4 bedrooms up with enough bathrooms even though that is what you want...

But at any given time the number of homes available for lease is always less than homes up for sale--so you automatically are looking at smaller sample for what is out there--

[mSooner]

Hackberry Creek has a lot of homes with the Master up. No idea why.

[NCtoTX2012]

Loves2read: That's so funny that you say that because it feels like 8/10 of the houses we've seen online in our price range have that enormous vaulted foyer design going on.

I've also wondered about the cooling costs of two-story homes in a place that's so hot for so long... we have a 1,555 sq foot house in NC and our living room has a cathedral ceiling as does the master bedroom. That definitely drives our a/c costs higher - and our avg summer temps are in the 80s!

[loves2read]

Electric costs are high here--even if KWHs have not gone up so much this year because NG prices are so low
if you are buying a larger home you will likely pay more for cooling--we have long AC season

ask to see year's worth of electric bills during your inspection period for any house you put contract on
owners can get printout from their electric provider if they did not keep them

house we bought has second floor but staircase is off to one side, away from the front entrance--so there is less likelihood of a wicking effect into second floor...house has 10 ft ceilings on first floor and entry has barrelled ceiling that is higher but it is not open to second floor...

[Brookside]

I don't know if you are looking in areas other than Grapevine, but the Watters Crossing neighborhood in Allen has *lots* of homes with all bedrooms upstairs. In fact we grew a bit frustrated because it's a lovely neighborhood, and while there are other floorplans, it seemed these were the only ones that came up for sale. We were/are empty nesters so upstairs master definitively wasn't for us.

Plano has quite a few 1-story homes, but again, they seldom seem to come up for sale.

I think renting is a good idea. We did the same, and the only negative was tying to time our real estate purchase with the end of the lease -- tricky!

Best of luck!

[loves2read]

Seeing so many homes on line with the vaulted foyers--that is because so many neighborhoods were tract built by large developers who used the same plan with exterior modifications for so many homes in same neighborhood
Anytime you see the exterior front door with HIGH window over the door you can pretty much bet the foyer is 2 story vault--
turns your house into a mini-mall effect trying to heat and cool all that air volumn--plus most tract homes have builder basic HVAC design that is not really calculated for the way sun (heat) comes into that house because of N/S/E/W orientation
when those homes were built energy was cheap and people were not interested in spending money to insulate more efficiently or upgrade the SEER of their units or add radiant barrier decking to roofs

fact of history

your price point, your commute--those two factors will be primary in where you decide to move/buy -
since everyone with kids is always looking for best schools, looking for best ISD in that area is taken for granted

[NCtoTX2012]

Originally Posted by Squirl

I was a bit put off by your post, even though there are other parts of the country I would rather live in DFW has been home for 30 years and you sounded critical. There are plenty of areas with rolling terrain that were not created by earth moving equipment. You obviously have not been through much of the southern sector near Cedar Hill or even thru the Las Colinas area! That said, our soil is awful and homes build on slab foundations will become compromised without good maintenance. I prefer pier and beam houses, but they are not easy to find in newer homes or homes under $700k. If you look, you will find 2 story houses with masters upstairs.....but they are not common. I am not a fan of 2- story houses or of having personal swimming pools.....that issue is resolved easily by joining a club, going to the local recreation center or living in a HOA community with amenities. Its more cost effective and less of a PITA that way! Also, that leaves enough space for the dogs or to kick a ball around in the yard. If you get a 2-story house, make sure you have zoned A/C!

Hi Squirl - I believe I explained that I was just sharing my observerations as a total newbie and asking for feedback about whether they were valid. I'm happy to hear feedback that shows me I've been wrong, or that affirms I'm not far off. Either way, it's helpful as we move forward with deciding where to begin looking for a home. I really appreciate everyone's time and insight!

If we didn't think the area was wonderful we wouldn't be uprooting our children and moving 1,000+ miles from our family and the only state we've ever lived.

[LQQKOUT]

My advise what you see online- is not normally the same in person. I shopped online for months while I was in another state. I landed in a City I wasn't even considering or even heard of when I got here.

Make sure your home budget is conservative. If you have a budget of $200K factor in everything that comes along with a 200K home right down two the square footage.

My first home here was a 2 story 3500sq ft home. Open vaulted ceiling. Master on floor level. secondaries up stair, super large game room over three car garage. Windows galore! I loved my home. Until I got the summer electric bill and the year around water bill- then the city and county tax bills came! Along with the HOA changed hands and started getting extremely picky. We steaked a for sale sign on Friday and sold the home Sunday afternoon.

Moved down the street in a single story- older home. 2500 sq ft- NO HOA - 1/2 arce lot with plenty of elbow room. And love life so much more. Good luck to you!