D-FW housing market gets bad marks for soaring prices (Dallas: lease, HOA fees)

[stargirl007]

Originally Posted by octo

hyperbole much? There are hundreds of homes for sale below $350k which someone on a 200k income can easily afford.

I also want to note, I have a variable income. I am a salesperson. I bring in on average 120-150K/yr, but it could always change.

As I mentioned in the above post as well.. as many people at my age, I also have student debt to face in addition to a mortgage which can make it more difficult to be approved for a loan at that amount. This is not just me, but many, many people that are looking to be first time home owners, etc. around my age - late 20s/early 30s.

Not everyone wants to be house poor or commute 1 hour + just to be able to find something in that price range. In all honesty, when I did my financing, my bank basically took my salary only instead of my commissions since I only had one year of track record with them. We were only approved to purchase up to 230K, which in my experience, limited us quite a bit considering both of work well west of the DNT and still had a need to be close to central/north Plano since we are starting a family soon and will need to be close to the grandparents for care while we are at work.

But the fact of the matter is, everyone's experiences and needs are different. Needs and budgets are different and can drive people to feel squeezed at current home prices, or they could be perceived by others to afford much more than what they can, etc.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

That's ridiculous and nowhere near what DFW actually is. Plano and Richardson both have tons of homes below $200k, a fair number around $100k, and rental prices are mostly fair and apartments exist all around in tons of price ranges.

DFW, even the areas with decent schools, are a long way from being San Francisco.

^^^This. All these posts about OMG Dallas is getting SO EXPENSIVE, well...

First of all, last 3 years, which everyone seems to be getting bent out of shape over? S&P Dow Jones Indices=

Those are the Case-Schiller Home Price Indices for 20 urban areas (I believe the 20 largest in the US, but could be off slightly). Dallas ranks THIRTEENTH out of those 20 for appreciation over the last 3 years. Just look at the numbers for the CA metros. They're WIDENING the gap. Yes, maybe they'll fall far more the next time we have a housing bust. DFW home prices are less volatile than most other large cities.

Second, I get that this board skews high in income and such, but the idea that at 200K (or whatever) income it's a struggle to find a home...that's ridiculous. Regarding budgeting, a standard recommended percentage of mortgage AND taxes and insurance ("PITI") is 28% or less of income. On 200K annual income, that would equate to a PITI of $4,667/month. OK, someone wants to max out 401K's and put other money aside and not be house-poor, I get that. 20% would be 3,333/month. Quick math, assuming a rather high 2.5% property tax rate, insurance equal to 1% of FMV annually, 30 year mortgage at 4% and 20% down, a 400K home would run just under $2,700 month PITI. For 400K you can get a nice home in pretty much every suburb not named Highland Park, University Park or Southlake. That's hardly restricting.

The fact is that there are MANY homes available for under 200K in many many parts of DFW. Sure, they're not the flashy sexy "it" suburbs that get all the play here, but the overwhelming majority of them are perfectly decent suburbs where people work and play and raise families and drive cars to the stores and grill on weekends and do all the millions of other things that people normally do. The kids go to school, many get good grades, and a lot of them go off to college, some of them even at very good colleges. A few kids in each district make NMSF - no, not 20 or 30 or whatever, but a handful, and the 99.5%+ that don't somehow do Just Fine the vast majority of the time. Try finding a decent house for 150K to 200K in, say, Chicago. Now, for REAL fun, try finding one in the Bay Area. You'd probably find a refrigerator box under a free way overpass for 150K (or 200K if you want a hefty bag on top of it for waterproofing).

I totally get that "six figure income" is not what it used to be, and that even at higher income levels there are still tradeoffs to be made and struggles to be had and it's not just some life of luxury cars and caviar. But seriously, if you're maxing out your 401Ks, you're doing better than a whole lot of people whose entire households might make barely above double the 401K limit.

Take a step back and get perspective. Virtually everyone posting on this forum seems to be doing pretty well, and I don't think it's posturing for the internet, it's just a self-selecting population. Yes, home prices in Dallas are increasing. They're also increasing everywhere else, often faster. And there's still a lot of inexpensive but reasonable housing in the area.

And while we're at it - so maybe 600K or so is the entry to the "affluent" areas? What do you think the price tag is in those other metros? Buy my friend's ~2,500 sf ranch in the East Bay - if you have a spare $1.2 million. And enjoy your one hour commute to The City.

[Pretzelogik]

smeter.net/dallas/audio.php Don't be the last purchaser before...

[Pretzelogik]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi9sLkyhhlE Don' be the last one before...

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

That's ridiculous and nowhere near what DFW actually is. Plano and Richardson both have tons of homes below $200k, a fair number around $100k, and rental prices are mostly fair and apartments exist all around in tons of price ranges.

DFW, even the areas with decent schools, are a long way from being San Francisco, and DFW is currently building almost as much multifamily and single family as the entire state of California.

Richardson (all of it) has 80 listings below $200k.

Filter it down to single family houses and you're left with 67...and some of those are still condos/apts that are misclassified.

Many of them are in less-desirable neighborhoods (think Fox & Jacobs). A couple are being sold for lot value. The ones in desirable neighborhoods are either very small (<1400 sq ft) or are in need of a LOT of work.

People who've whetted their appetite for something out of HGTV would be quite disappointed with what $200k will buy them in Richardson today. Six years ago, you could have gotten something really nice. Not anymore.

[J800]

North Oak Cliff (zoned to Rosemont) had a few steals for under $350K. Older, renovated homes in charming neighborhoods. You'll have to drive through and see a sign in the yard and act fast.

Then again, NOC is desirable to me (location & potential) but it's probably considered "crusty" or "undesirable" to others.

[Sinn]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

People who've whetted their appetite for something out of HGTV would be quite disappointed with what $200k will buy them in Richardson today. Six years ago, you could have gotten something really nice. Not anymore.

And I think this is one of the largest contributing factors of the disappointment. Even 4 years ago it was possible to get the figurative updated HGTV home for around $300k here in a decent area with solid schools. That became the expectation for Dallas and one of the main draws. In just the last two years that has disappeared...

[Dallas12]

So what's the forecast for Richardson? Since there are several projects going on in the northern part of the city, but what about the southern part? Specifically neighborhoods near Buckingham and Spring Valley? Or Plano and Beltline?

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Dallas12

So what's the forecast for Richardson? Since there are several projects going on in the northern part of the city, but what about the southern part? Specifically neighborhoods near Buckingham and Spring Valley? Or Plano and Beltline?

There was this huge drive to rezone the Spring Valley corridor between Coit and 75 in west Richardson, but the problem is that only the north side of Spring Valley is under Richardson's control. The south side of Spring Valley is in Dallas. Since Dallas doesn't like to cooperate with suburbs on things like that, it's been challenging for the city of Richardson to make real progress there. Plus, they have granted a few variances already along that corridor so it makes us (the residents) question the city council's dedication to the project.

There is also a rezoning project for Richardson's downtown area, but that's years away from any real action.

As for east Richardson near Buckingham, I haven't heard anything about any projects there. If I do I'll let you know. There may be stuff going on there, I just don't know about it.

All the action does seem to be in north Richardson at the moment, specifically around "State Farm City" between Renner and 190 east of 75. There are also some new restaurants opening along Campbell between 75 and Coit.

[ufcrules1]

Originally Posted by Sinn

And I think this is one of the largest contributing factors of the disappointment. Even 4 years ago it was possible to get the figurative updated HGTV home for around $300k here in a decent area with solid schools. That became the expectation for Dallas and one of the main draws. In just the last two years that has disappeared...

That's right, for a long time it was almost too good to be true. My wife and I moved here from Maryland back in 2008 and I kept looking for the gotchas because the cost of living was so freaking low and there were plenty of jobs here. I came to find out, there were no gotchas. In reality it was just an awesome place to live and had an extremely LCOL. Hell, we even bought investment properties. Now, I look around and prices are soaring but in reality, the prices are just matching the demand/economy here. Many people have locked in at low rates and have it really good so they don't want to sell their properties. In the meantime the demand is through the roof. The cat is out of the bag in Dallas and well.. that kind of sucks. Glad we got in when we did.