Visting Dallas for a week to get a good feel of following areas - Need advice (Plano: crime, houses)

[keribeth818]

Your desired lot size eliminates a lot of these communities entirely and if not, then your budget. A big lot here isnt as necessary as it is in the east since there are so many amenities close by such as neighborhood parks and often pools. Adjusting to the small lot areas took some time but we have gotten used to it and now it's nice to be able to outsource the lawn care and not worry about huge watering bills.

Edit to clarify: a lot that large in these areas would cost more than your desired budget.

[FruitSalad]

Quarter acre is most common lot size for Plano.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by FruitSalad

Quarter acre is most common lot size for Plano.

For some reason I thought they had listed 1 acres to .5. If they are fine with .25, that options their options much more.

[Rollingon]

Thanks for everyone's resonse. Pleasantly surprised at the number or helpful responses.

Someone pointed out my list came off DMN and thats true since didnt have much to take off from thus used the list.

Wife's job will take her to Irving while I will be working uptown.

Another good suggestion was to take off University Park and Lucas. Researched a bit and I agree they dont fit my criteria.

As mentioned my friend who is now a resident for the past 2 years prefers Frisco and has been suggesting McKinney. But I want to live in the more established areas which have better community feel, stable neighbourhoods which I think have their own advantages.

Forgot to add proximity to walking/biking trails is important also other places that offer activities for the kids are high on the list. For those of you familiar with Reston in VA thats my frame of reference for what its worth.

[FruitSalad]

If you'll be commuting to Irving and Dallas then I can't think of any reason for you to live in Mckinney. Another humble advice is to not put too much emphasis on out of town visitors while picking a house. You'll probably have them over for total 7 months over a period of 10 years but you and your family would have to live there every day for 10 years excluding may be 10 months of vacation. A guest room and full bath should be good enough. Look for things which suits your lifestyle, not ones that suits visitors, HGTV or potential buyer.

[bencronin04]

With those locations I would suggest Colleyville, Southlake or Coppell.

You should be able to find something within your budget, both you and your wife's commutes would be much better than Frisco or McKinney and all of them have top notch schools.

[FruitSalad]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

With those locations I would suggest Colleyville, Southlake or Coppell.

You should be able to find something within your budget, both you and your wife's commutes would be much better than Frisco or McKinney and all of them have top notch schools.

Good advice.

[mSooner]

With those locations I would suggest Colleyville, Southlake or Coppell.

You should be able to find something within your budget, both you and your wife's commutes would be much better than Frisco or McKinney and all of them have top notch schools.

Agree, though even Colleyville & Southlake are going to be rough commutes to downtown. Coppell is probably your best bet, but you are most likely not going to find a home on 1/2 acre there. Lot sizes tend to be pretty small.

[PlanoGirl]

With those work location, forget Collin County for the most part. Agree that Coppell might be best fit.

[WorldKlas]

An older home in Coppell will give you the lot size. For your work locations and the community it provides that would be my first suggestion.

Second suggestion: Colleyville

I think the Northeast burbs would cause you both traffic misery vs. Northwest burbs would just put you in traffic Hades.