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Old 11-29-2013, 02:47 PM
 
26 posts, read 101,542 times
Reputation: 11

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My family and I are headed down to the Dallas area next summer. I will have a HS freshman and a 6th grader...schools are very important. Been reading ad-nauseum about the "snobs" of Plano West. We have friends who had children attend Plano West recently and can confirm the competitiveness. I want my girls to make friends and enjoy school, but get a great education. We visited this summer and I loved McKinney! We are looking to spend around 300k for a 4br, 3ba home. I know most are new construction...but I do want to be able to install a pool in the backyard. We are also looking for a single story or a "1.5" story.

What say you all?? If we lived in Plano, it would be Plano West and I know it would be hard to find a home there for 300k and not have to do a ton of work on it, which I do not want to do. Also, I hear the shopping is the best in Plano...but how about McKinney??

Let me have it...
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Old 11-29-2013, 03:35 PM
 
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both are good but i live in mckinney and love it. it has a lot of nice areas and a great downtown. mckinney has a great small town feel but it still is minutes from everything. shopping is 10 minutes away so dont let that make the decision for you

plano is good but you wont get anything decent for 300k.
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Old 11-29-2013, 03:46 PM
 
26 posts, read 101,542 times
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Thanks for the reply. I see so many homes in McKinney, but they are built right on top of each other and most, if not all, do not have backyard pools. If we do move to McKinney, then we want McKinney North or Boyd. What are the best areas to look for housing?
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Old 11-29-2013, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Earth
794 posts, read 1,664,768 times
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It depends on what matters more to you, education or housing. If you want pool then better look for a house with existing pool, that would save you upto $50,000 or more. In your shoes, I would look for a basic house with a pool in a good school district near my work and upgrade or remodel gradually. You'll get a good resale value when its time to sell. YMMV.
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Old 11-29-2013, 04:12 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,151,573 times
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Where will your office(s) be, OP? That would be the primary factor in my decision. West Plano and McKinney can easily be 25+ minutes apart in traffic.

As for Plano, I highly encourage you to NOT get caught up in the "West Plano or bust" mentality. All three of Plano's high schools rank in the DFW area top 10 high schools based on average SAT scores. All three are absolutely outstanding schools with accomplished students and competitive athletics and other extracurriculars. You may have better luck finding something you like in your budget if you expand to Plano Sr and Plano East zones, including eastern suburbs that feed to Plano schools like Murphy. You'll find significantly larger lots in Murphy, fwiw.

McKinney has plenty of access to shopping. In western McKinney, it's hard to tell when you're driving through Frisco / McKinney/ Plano as it all looks the same (new and heavy on the strip malls). Closer to 75, there is everything under the sun @ Stacy Road (about 2 exits south of McKinney)- Super Target, Home Goods, Whole Foods, Macy's, JC Penney, Dillard's, tons of smaller specialty stores and restaurants, movie theatre, outlet mall, etc. Downtown McKinney is absolutely charming and full of locally owned shops & restaurants.
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Old 11-29-2013, 04:13 PM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,127,872 times
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You could even throw Richardson into the mix. Pearce is an excellent high school, you'll easily find a house in your price range, and many already have pools in the backyard.
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Old 11-29-2013, 04:25 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,151,573 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek View Post
You could even throw Richardson into the mix. Pearce is an excellent high school, you'll easily find a house in your price range, and many already have pools in the backyard.
Good suggestion! A quick look through MLS shows its near impossible to find anything decent with a pool in either the Plano or McKinney ISDs for $300k & under. Op may be pushed out to Wylie/ Melissa / etc (bad schools / bad location / big cheap houses ), so Richardson is a great option if their office(s) are anywhere from downtown north to Plano. And better public schools than McKinney anyway!
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Old 11-29-2013, 04:36 PM
 
26 posts, read 101,542 times
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I will not be working...need to find a new job. Hubs works from home.
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Old 11-29-2013, 04:41 PM
 
Location: Earth
794 posts, read 1,664,768 times
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If OP wants Plano schools then Richardson's 75082 has homes within his budget that feed to PISD.

Richardson Real Estate - Richardson, TX Homes for Sale - realtor.com®

Here are homes from $275k-$350k in Plano.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...-275000-350000
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Old 11-29-2013, 04:46 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,151,573 times
Reputation: 13125
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovinOutIn2013 View Post
I will not be working...need to find a new job. Hubs works from home.
You won't be working? Or you'll be looking for a job when you get here? You kind of said two things...

If you will be working and you aren't in a generic field (ie, nurses can work anywhere, retail workers can work anywhere, etc) then be mindful of how far out you look. The major employment centers are downtown / uptown Dallas, Las Colinas/ Irving, Preston Center and Dallas Galleria (both in central/north Dallas), 75 / Bush interchange, and Legacy cooridor in northwest Plano. Of course, jobs are everywhere but the bulk of office clusters are in these areas = lots of jobs.
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