Cost of living in Dallas (Plano, Carrollton: 2009, rentals, car insurance)

[Cybewinder]

We are probably moving to Texas from Europe in 2009. However, I do not have clue what the cost of living will be. Since I will the only one in our family who has a working permit, my salary will be all we have.

I don't need exact figures, I would be very happy with just a ballpark figure on what to expect (rent, utilities, phone, internet, TV, insurrance, car costs, etc...).

We will be looking for a 4 bedroom house with a nice backyard from about 1-1,5 hours from Dallas FW Airport.

Hope someone out there can help us out. Thanx for taking the effort...!!!

[BstYet2Be]

Originally Posted by Cybewinder

We are probably moving to Texas from Europe in 2009. However, I do not have clue what the cost of living will be. Since I will the only one in our family who has a working permit, my salary will be all we have.

I don't need exact figures, I would be very happy with just a ballpark figure on what to expect (rent, utilities, phone, internet, TV, insurrance, car costs, etc...).

We will be looking for a 4 bedroom house with a nice backyard from about 1-1,5 hours from Dallas FW Airport.

Hope someone out there can help us out. Thanx for taking the effort...!!!

Would like to help you, but you've listed too many general variables to be able to! Give us something a little more specific to work with, i.e., how much you want to spend on housing and what size of house (square footage), what size backyard is a nice size for you, what areas in Dallas you'd be interested in for what reasons (i.e., family-oriented vs. single, inner-city vs. suburbs, etc., as there are many, many very nice areas to choose from) & how large is your family. Your insurance costs for both home and car will be dependent on what area in DFW you relocate to, and the type house and car, as will utilities.

Unfortunately, while there are many programs available that will give you a U.S. city cost-comparison, I haven't found one that gives country-to-country comparison. Maybe someone else knows of one?

[Willys]

Go to realtor.com and search... State > Texas
Watauga, Colleyville, North Richland Hills, Farmers Branch, Grapevine, Keller, Southlake, Roanoke, Flower Mound, Lewisville, Highland Village, Carrollton, Richardson, Plano, The Colony, Frisco, Allen... there's more but you can find them on a google map.

Or just try by counties, Dallas, Tarrant, Denton

Or, go to dallas.craigslist.org to search housing, for rentals.

Public education for the kids is paid for by your taxes. If you buy, you get a county tax bill. If you lease, the taxes will be in the rent. You can research taxes at dallascad.org, or for whatever county you may buy or lease.

Electricity is not cheap in Texas. A 2000 sq ft home may run $200US or more (probly much more) for electricity.

Not sure about water/sewage/trash.

Phone/internet/TV about $75 - $150 depending on packages... how clever you may be or what you're willing to sacrifice. You will NOT pay a TV usage fee to the state.

New cars run anywhere from $12,000 new/economy to 20 or 30,000 or more lux.
Your call. You'll get a loan to buy unless you pay cash. Interest rate will depend on your credit. Anywhere from 3% to exorbitant.

Car insurance is also costly, depending on age, number of cars, county, deductibles. Like 1 to 2,000 per year. The younger you are the more it costs. A higher deductible will result in a lower rate. Dallas county will cost more than Collin or Denton Counties.

Gasoline for the auto is now running at about $3.00 per gallon, depending on location. Not liters.... gallons. You save significantly there, if you're paying with sterling.

[Cybewinder]

Thank you so much for your help...! I am sorry I wasn't too specific, so let me answer you questions.

- We are looking for homes with a rent < $1500 / month

- The size of house is unsure, since I don't know what is average. Just a 4+ bedroom home with a kitchen that is big enough to eat in.

- The yard doesn't have to be huge either. Just has to be a place where my daugther and dog have enough room to play.

- We are looking for family oriented areas with low crime. Since we don't know anyone in Dallas, it would be great to be able to get to know other families in the area. Schools are not really important, since my dauther will only be 2 years old when we move.

- We prefer a suburban area at about 1-1,5 hour drive from Dallas Intl airport

- For a car we will be looking at a used car of about <10k for my wife. I will be driving a company car.

I hope this gives you a somewhat better idea of what we are looking for. All the information you have for me is more then welcome and I really appreciate you taking the time to help us out here...!

[lh_newbie]

One more question:

Do you know which city your office will be in, or are you a traveling worker?

[Cybewinder]

I will be free as where the new office will be established. So obviously that will be some place close to our home

[Pintea]

You need a rather large house for not a lot of money... I would say maybe Allen or McKinney.
You can find a car for your wife in that price range.

[wannabeaTexan]

Not sure how relevant this will be, but you mentioned your daughter has a dog. Since you will be renting, there may be alot of people who won't allow pets. Just something to keep in mind...

[robin2226]

Originally Posted by Cybewinder

We are probably moving to Texas from Europe in 2009. However, I do not have clue what the cost of living will be. Since I will the only one in our family who has a working permit, my salary will be all we have.

I don't need exact figures, I would be very happy with just a ballpark figure on what to expect (rent, utilities, phone, internet, TV, insurrance, car costs, etc...).

We will be looking for a 4 bedroom house with a nice backyard from about 1-1,5 hours from Dallas FW Airport.

Hope someone out there can help us out. Thanx for taking the effort...!!!

My syster live in Paris so I give you some comparision:

- Just ignore 3.5 liter= 1 gallon, 1.6 km= 1 mile, 1UE= 1.4 dollards . thanks Gods the time are the same.

- French: house 5 rooms means Total rooms of the house is 5.
- US: house 3BR rooms means the house has 3 bed room + kitchen + dinning room + living room sometime they also has family room + two car garages . So the US house of 3BD rooms is : 7 rooms + 2 car garage.

- French: inside of each bed room, you have to buy the armor (?), to keep your clothes.
- US: Each bed room come with closet to keep you clothes, the US peple buy the armor just to keep the TV in there not for clothes, nowaday all TV to be flat screen so dont bring in the armor when you move.

- French: refrigirator , washer/dryer machine , TV are small
- US: those thing are big.

- French: CocaCola/Pepsy Cola is in 1 liter bottle
- US: CocaCola/Pepsy Cola is in 2 liter bottle, milk is in gallon bottle (3.5 liter)

- French: water bill is a concern of the family budget.
- US: We take a longger bath with hot water because in US nobody care about the water bill (cause it's too small compare to cable/cell phone bill).

- French: hard to find the parking for your car.
- US: not a problem to find a parking for your car unless you drive a Ferrary.

- French: the food taste very good.
- US: food taste not very good, US wine are lousy. But the US poeple have plenty of meat to eat 21 times a week (breakfast/lunch/dinner). Opps US has the best cigarette in the world Mallboro is made in USA.

...........................

Well come to US, you will not miss anything, your family will live beter,the only thing you miss is Europe's people and landscape.

[galore]

Originally Posted by robin2226

- French: the food taste very good.
- US: food taste not very good, US wine are lousy. But the US poeple have plenty of meat to eat 21 times a week (breakfast/lunch/dinner). Opps US has the best cigarette in the world Mallboro is made in USA.

Not arguing about the excellent French food.

But IMO, food in the USA, especially in a huge metropolis like Dallas, is fantastic. I so cannot confirm that stereotype that lots of Europeans have that the food in the US isn't very good. And I have lived and traveled quite a lot in my life. For my taste, the vast variety of food and the quality of many restaurants here are totally fabulous!