Scoping out Texas! (Dallas, Plano, North Richland Hills: renting, appliances, new house)

[ShaneDoe]

I have been doing my homework for the last 6 months looking for a place to move out of California for and it seems Texas could be that spot. California is pretty expensive, tax crazy, feels rundown in many areas, bad unemployment in many areas, seems to be filled of lazy self entitled people and My family and I just dont like the direction this state has been going.

For the above reasons Texas has been on my radar as a spot that may work well so Next week Ill be traveling to DFW area for 4 days to check it out and see what the feel is. Reading stats and reviews is good but I wanna get a feel for the actual area too. Of course after all the research Plano, Keller, McKinney seem to really stick out from all the high ranks these towns seem to get but it seems there may be some good possibilities elsewhere too. If these are the best areas its hard to figure out what one would fit the my families lifestyle the best. We do have a family friend in Keller that is begging us to move near by and while being within 5-10 mins of him would be nice We wouldn't want to do it if we had to sacrifice alot on this list.

So here are some things we are looking for:

Good house value - 250-300k to spend and need a 4 bedroom 3+ bath 3 car garage would be nice with a decent lot. Looking for newer build to take advantage of the upgraded features / energy efficient appliances and hopefully better windows / insulation etc.

Cost effective Utilities - I'm not sure if the price of Utilities changes much in the greater DFW area but if it does this would be a nice thing to keep at a reasonable price.

Modern Attractions - A basic or decent Mall, Churches, grocery stores, Costco, gym, theater, library, parks, lakes maybe a yearly festivities and farmer markets etc. Some sort of feeling of a town and not just thousands of homes everywhere.

Community College - There will be two mid 20 year olds that will plan to attend a community college most likely. Decent size college would be nice.

Transportation - Some form of public transportation would be nice and also a close distance to a major freeway that would connect us to the greater Dallas area. (Do I have to look out for tolls?)

When it comes down to it money makes things happen and we are not rolling in it so the finance side has to make sense and line up, after that having the basic needs within 10 minutes is highly desirable. On a more style type note new buildings, and roads combined with a nice layout of a city would be a huge plus. High ranking K-12 schools are good for home value / appreciation but we will have no one attending these schools so that is not a #1 priority although looked well on.

Thanks for following this far, this is where I need your help. With all of this information what are some of your thoughts on where we should check out? Know of some areas that my fit this? A perfect spot downtown or housing area with this near by? Maybe we should get accustomed to an attraction near by?

Thanks! See you soon Texas

[Squirl]

I think you want a shiny new burb. Tarrant county isn't going to offer public transportation worth considering. So Keller is out if that's important to you (also NRH & Roanoke mentioned below). That also leaves out Flower Mound, which is a popular burb for people coming here.

Utilities will be the same every place, as far as rates go. Older houses have trees that provide some shade and new houses are alleged to be more efficient..... you have to assess each place based on the house. Community colleges are in all the counties.

The parts of Plano in your price range are not likely to have housing stock that meets your want list.

I would add Frisco and Roanoke to your list to check out. Maybe North Richland Hills, too, as long as you are going to consider Keller.

A big issue in the DFW area is commute time traffic jams. So if you are hoping to find a job here then it would be a fabulous idea not to lock in to any community until you know where the job will be taking you every work day.

[ShaneDoe]

I think the current goal is to check it out and see if we "fall in love" or at least accept the general area. Ifso we will move and most likely start off renting while jobs / more knowledge fall into place. Then we can proceed to purchase based off that info as well.

Although right now it would be nice to see those things that would match so thank you for that! Ill check those places out.

[Aceraceae]

McKinney has a town feel to it. Historic downtown.