Mansfield, Red Oak, or Waxahachie? (Dallas, Arlington: property taxes, housing, rent)

[StretchNavy]

Hi all, I have another post on here titled "questions about Keller" moderator, feel free to close it. I have since given up on Keller and set my sights on one of the locations listed in my title. First, I will give a little background:

-Currently living in Maine, originally from WI.

-moving to Dallas within the next month and a half

-Working in northwest dallas, a few miles from Love Field

-Young family starting out, 14 month old boy, looking to buy rather than rent. Reason being, is my work allots me money specifically for housing- $1200 a month, and with house prices why not use the money towards owning?

-I know my family and I will be moving out of the area within 5 years, looking for houses with resale value or potential for it.

-Looking to stay under $125k. 3+ bed, 1400+ SQ FT, 2 car, built after '95. Anything else would be the cherry on the sundae.

Ok, so with all of that said, I have narrowed it to Mansfield, Red Oak, or Waxahachie. Here are some figures:

ISD:

#1 Mansfield
#2 Red Oak
#3 Waxahachie

Crime:
#1 mansfield
#2 Red oak
#3 Waxahachie

Those were just the two biggest figures I looked at. I still have yet to compare property taxes and air quality. so, looks like Mansfield is the forerunner. I know mansfield has a lot of foreclosures, but every town does nowadays, and I will not buy near a lot of foreclosed homes.

I guess what I would like to know, is what do the people who have had experience with these areas think. Do not try to sell me on buying in any other area, frankly I am sick of looking and everyone thinks that where they live is the best, haha. I would also like to know what your opinions are on which area would predictably have the best appreciation rate within the next few years.

And of course any other insights or opinions would be great. Thanks!

[loves2read]

Waxahatchie USED to be a small historic town outside Dallas with cotton fields around it--people went there for the Christmas tour of homes and to see the Scarborough Renaissance Festival...now people are seeing that it is a fairly close commute to the S Loop and Dallas/Arlington/Grand Prairie---I think FTW is little to far for most commuters...land was fairly reasoable 5 years ago--not so much now--there is a large multi-use development planned with homes and retail that will be the first really big planned community and probably have hugh effect on the small town life there.
Waxahatchie had its own feel to it--it was not a clone or a suburb---and as more people come they will start to alter that environment--Grapevine is trying to keep its historical downtown as a draw for tourists and residents...Waxahatchie will probably try for the same...just depend on the city/county board as to how successful they are in planning for the future or giving in to quick-fix-more-taxes growth...

[StretchNavy]

I liked waxahachie too, but there is more, diversity, there, and the crime rate is wayy higher than the national average and the other two cities.

[StretchNavy]

anyone have a good site to maps of floodzones? And where do I go to figure property taxes?

[StretchNavy]

Originally Posted by StretchNavy

anyone have a good site to maps of floodzones? And where do I go to figure property taxes?

And if there isn't a good place that lets me figure out property taxes, can anyone tell me which of the 3 has the highest? Also, I see that Waxahachie has a fairly high crime rate, is it still a safe place to live?

[loves2read]

you can google for the county appraisal district for each town--not sure what county they are in--Tarrant Co (which part of mansfield is in) is Tarrant Appraisal District...
it allows you to see the tax authority and rate for each piece of property in the county...

and you can call the county planning and zoning maybe to see about flood plain info--but remember some people were flooded this spring that were outside the 100 year floor plain...did not do them any good--water when were it went...

[tailoma]

Check this link for all counties appraisal districts. Texas Appraisal Districts Online - Nonjavascript Version

Red Oak and Waxahachie are both in Ellis County. You may have to call each city, school district, etc to find out their tax rate. The Ellis County site doesn't clearly list each the way Tarrant County does.

[gmcyd]

You are going to have one hell of a commute to Love from any of these places. Dallas traffic is a nightmare! Look closer would be my advise.