Thinking of moving from Orange County CA to Dallas **please help** (Plano: sales, lease)

[AKgirlinCA]

**Would appreciate any input**

Well here's our story. My husband and I are a young couple pretty much just starting our life ( ie thinking about things like buying a house and starting a family eventually). We moved to Orange County, CA from Anchorage Alaska almost a year ago. We moved here because his work as an RV technician is more year round down here and my Mom also lives here. Plus, we just wanted a change in general. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for the outrageous cost of living in SoCal. The " perfect weather " is not worth it to me. In fact, I get bored by the weather being the same just about every day. I have a friend who just relocated to Allen from Anchorage also. I am very impressed with the cost of housing in Dallas. I do billing for a law firm and I know there are plenty of law firms in Dallas . Put it this way, we are paying $1400 per month for a 1 bedroom 600 sq ft condo!!!! I've also spoken to an RV dealer in Dallas and have discovered that they pay their technicians the same as in California. I believe my wages would be the same also. Also, work for RV technicians seems to be just as year round and in demand as it is here. We've heard that Plano,Allen, and Carrollton are all really nice areas. We're planning a trip out in April to check everything out as our lease is up in March.

Here are the only things preventing me that I need some enlightening on:
1) the awful hot summers - are they really really miserable?
2) snakes and creepy crawlies - how prevalent are they?
3) crime , although we would be living in Plano or Allen most likely
4) tornadoes - ??? how often
5) are there a lot of RV dealers in the Dallas area?

All in all, I've heard a lot of really good things about Dallas and I am very excited about our possible relocation. I have noticed from some previous posts that a lot of people from CA are heading to Texas. I really love the thought of being able to buy a nice house for 150k....Our 600 sq ft condo here goes for over 300k its RIDICULOUS.
ANY INPUT/SUGGESTIONS/ OR ANYTHING WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!!
Thank you for your time!!!

[FarNorthDallas]

Hi - I work in the legal field. Most of the law firms are in downtown Dallas. There are some smaller ones scattered around. (I'm not counting sole practitioners.) If you end up working in downtown the commute from Allen/Plano would be long. Longer from Allen, of course. There is a train you could get on at Parker Road near Hwy 75 in Plano and take it into downtown. It's about a 50 minute ride and cost $3.00 round trip.

[AKgirlinCA]

Thank you, I need all the input I can get. $3 round trip is nothing !! Cheaper than what we are paying here commuting back and forth.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

Here are the only things preventing me that I need some enlightening on:
1) the awful hot summers - are they really really miserable?
2) snakes and creepy crawlies - how prevalent are they?
3) crime , although we would be living in Plano or Allen most likely
4) tornadoes - ??? how often
5) are there a lot of RV dealers in the Dallas area?

All in all, I've heard a lot of really good things about Dallas and I am very excited about our possible relocation. I have noticed from some previous posts that a lot of people from CA are heading to Texas. I really love the thought of being able to buy a nice house for 150k....Our 600 sq ft condo here goes for over 300k its RIDICULOUS.
ANY INPUT/SUGGESTIONS/ OR ANYTHING WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!!
Thank you for your time!!!

Summers are "much" hotter than you're used to, and the humidity can be pretty high too, which makes it feel hotter. That's something you will get used to over time though. (your makeup does melt off your face though)

I moved to Plano in March and haven't seen any snakes yet. If there are any, I'm sure they're more in the rural areas.

Plano and Allen seem pretty safe to me. There are bad neighborhoods in all cities though, so that's something you have to find out.

There are tornadoes from time to time but from what I hear from natives, they have never seen one. They seem to be more prevalent in rural areas too.

I can't comment on RV dealers.

With the exception of housing, the cost of living will be about the same as you're used to in CA. There is no income tax here, but other costs offset it so it's a wash.

[AKgirlinCA]

Thanks so much for your help. I'm curious as to what the other costs are that offset the housing being more affordable? Right now I feel like anywhere is more affordable than OC California

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

Thanks so much for your help. I'm curious as to what the other costs are that offset the housing being more affordable? Right now I feel like anywhere is more affordable than OC California

Property taxes are quite high, homeowners insurance is the highest in the nation here in tornado alley, auto insurance is quite high, and the sales tax is high. Registering your cars is rather high when you bring it in from out of state - probably not quite as high as CA though. Electricity is very high too because your AC will be going 24/7 for a few months during the summer. I haven't spent a winter here yet so I can't comment on the winter months. So far this season, I've only had to use the heat twice.

There are toll roads here that cost $1 about every 4 miles it seems like. Of course, there are ways to get around the toll roads but, if you work in downtown Dallas, there's probably no way to avoid them.

My son lives in Plano and works downtown in Dallas. His average commute time is about 45+ minutes.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

**Would appreciate any input**


Here are the only things preventing me that I need some enlightening on:
1) the awful hot summers - are they really really miserable?
2) snakes and creepy crawlies - how prevalent are they?
3) crime , although we would be living in Plano or Allen most likely
4) tornadoes - ??? how often
5) are there a lot of RV dealers in the Dallas area?

My wife and I moved to Dallas from West L.A. over the summer. Lemme see if I can add anything to the discussion:

1. - It is very, very hot here during the summer. Some people can't deal with it. It's not pleasant but with everythign air conditioned we found we are ok with it. I grew up in Southern California and miss the same nice weather every day

2. - Lots of bugs here, lots of them. Haven't seen a snake yet.

3. - Crime is like any other big city. There are good areas and bad, depends where you are.

4. - Haven't seen a tornado yet. I think this is one of those things that are made to be scarier than they are. It's not like an earthquake or hurricane that could level the whole city.

5. - No idea about Rv's, sorry.

[lpepping]

Tolls can be avoided. It just depends on where you live in relation to downtown.

[AKgirlinCA]

Thanks for all the input. I'm wondering if the high property taxes would make the low mortgage payment not worth it. Well you being from LA understand the high cost of living and other hassles that go along with living in SoCal. Would you move back here or are you going to stay in Dallas? The summer heat kind of frightens me but I guess you just stay inside and deal with it like you do a cold climate, and I was born and raised in Alaska so am familiar with extreme weather. I do like the thought of having seasons and Dallas somewhat seems to have them.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

Thanks for all the input. I'm wondering if the high property taxes would make the low mortgage payment not worth it. Well you being from LA understand the high cost of living and other hassles that go along with living in SoCal. Would you move back here or are you going to stay in Dallas? The summer heat kind of frightens me but I guess you just stay inside and deal with it like you do a cold climate, and I was born and raised in Alaska so am familiar with extreme weather. I do like the thought of having seasons and Dallas somewhat seems to have them.

I am a Southern California native who moved to Northern California in my early 30's to get away from the S CA rat race, then lived there for another 21 years. I then moved to Southern Oregon where I was bored to tears. (lived in Fairbanks a short stint years ago too. )

I would say the Dallas area on the whole is not much different than you're used to as far as a city goes. Dallas doesn't have as many skyscrapers nor the glitz that Orange County has. I think Dallas may be a bit cleaner. It's still a concrete jungle though - the cities all run together until you're much farther north of Dallas.

There are many aspects of California that I love and miss. I don't think I would ever move back though - I don't have anything to go back to.