Moving to Dallas Area- Good places to find acreage?? (Fort Worth: house, employment)

[nhebert]

My husband and I are moving to the DFW area in a few months. We are looking for areas that are not too bad of a commute but that we could find a house with 15+ acres for under $400k with good school zones.

[ChristieP]

Commute to where? The DFW area is HUGE, and a good commute to downtown Dallas would likely be horrible if you were driving to downtown Fort Worth.

I can say that you aren't going to find anything in Dallas or Tarrant Counties with that much acreage within your budget. You are going to have to look in the outlying counties, such as Parker, Wise, Johnson, Ellis, Kaufman, Rockwall, northern Denton, or far eastern Collin Counties.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by nhebert

My husband and I are moving to the DFW area in a few months. We are looking for areas that are not too bad of a commute but that we could find a house with 15+ acres for under $400k with good school zones.

Good schools and semi-rural (which is where you will find 15 acres for $400k) don't typically go hand in hand. DFW is a major metropolitan area with 7 millions residents and lot size of .25 acre or less on average. ChristieP gave you a good list of counties outside the metroplex with acreage; you'll need to do due diligence on the schools though.

"Not too bad a commute" is very vague. How long - in minutes- do you want to drive each way?

And the all-important question: to where are you commuting? DFW covers a huge land mass. It can take 2 hours to drive clear across the heavily populated parts in rush hour. A zip code or cross streets for your office(s) is needed to give the best advice.

[Restrain]

Agreed. You can find acreage to the southeast, south easier than acreage to the north, commute is better. Conversely, if working in the Fort Worth area, out towards Springtown gets you acreage. In north Dallas, up in Collin County, east of 75 there are homes on acreage. Also north Denton County, and western Denton County. But again, you have to consider the commute.

[dallas89]

For that amount of acreage, you will have to go out to areas that are 1+ hours away from Downtown Dallas and the schools may not even be great.

[Threestep2]

You will have to set your priorities. Draw a circle of what you consider reasonable commute from place of employment and start your search. Do not rely on maps as DFW resembles a Praerie dog colony as far as construction and road construction is concerned. What looks like 15 miles can take an hour or more. Ask here.

I have been looking for 10+ acres and 30 minutes to Alliance for four years by now. 750k, schools no issue.

[unknown00]

Oh man...another thread & new person to Texas that thinks the stereotype of Dallas having big land for cheap prices is still true...

[dch526]

Maybe take a look at McLendon-Chisolm Area that is zoned to Rockwall ISD.

It's about 30 miles to Downtown Dallas from there. 1hr+ commute during rush hour or 30-45 minutes during non-rush hour depending on how close you are to highways.

If you need to be on the Fort Worth/Alliance side then look at something zoned to Argyle ISD

If you need to be in Collin County (Plano/Legacy, Frisco, Allen, McKinney) then maybe you can find something North if US 380. Anything zoned to Mckinney, Melissa or Prosper should be ok for schools (Celina wouldn't be bad either)

To get what you want in your price point you will have a 45+ minute commute during rush hour. If you don't have to deal with rush hour traffic then you may find a few places to keep it under 30.

The Argyle-Alliance combo would be the shortest commute by far but I'm skeptical on finding 15 ac w/house under 400k

[DallasFloridian]

Originally Posted by unknown00

Oh man...another thread & new person to Texas that thinks the stereotype of Dallas having big land for cheap prices is still true...

Oh the horror! Get over yourself.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by DallasFloridian

Oh the horror! Get over yourself.

Easy there Florida. He's just stating something that we see all too often from new comers.