Relocating THE COLONY????? (Dallas, Fort Worth, Richardson: HOA, houses, job transfer)

[ms7165]

Hello, my husband got a job transfer and we are moving from North Carolina to Dallas/Fort Worth area. We really like Grapevine and some parts of Keller. The problem is that we are looking for a house on at least a 1/4 acre to 1 acre lot that will allow us to build a garage as my husband is in the middle of a car restoration project and needs a separate workshop from the existing garage. We don't want an HOA neighborhood, we have two children ages 11 and 14. Good schools are a must. My question is.....we found a great, perfect house in The Colony that would meet our needs. The neighborhood isn't the fanciest, but that is not what we are looking for. Can anybody give me any info on the area????? PLEASE..........Thanks

[BstYet2Be]

I'm not personally familiar with it, but here's the community website/forum where I'll bet a lot of local people there could give you first-hand knowledge:

The Colony Texas Community Website - Information about The Colony TX - InTheColony.com

[smh]

I live there. What specifically do you want to know about it?

[nsumner]

You need to check out Rockwall and Royse City. There is some new construction going on where they are building the house with a 2 car garage and another 2 car detached garage. All on about 1.5 acre lot for around 200K

Naima

[ms7165]

Hello, I just wanted to know things like if the area is safe, are the schools good, how far is the shopping (wal-mart, best buy, grocery store etc) what is the traffic like? I read some posts that traffic was a nightmare.

Thanks,
Monica

[momof2dfw]

You can find areas w/ nice homes on large lots that allow a seperate garage in an HOA. We have one. We are actually getting ready to start construction of our second garage (husband collects cars). This will put us at a 5 car garage. YIKES! And they will all be full. I know of MANY people that have homes on acre plus lots w/ huge second garages. One I know of has a second garage that is 3000 sq ft. Yes, 3000 sq ft garage! I WISH we had the room for THAT! Every house in their neighborhood is over $1M and has a second garage/workshop. You almost have to go to a higher bracket to find this as sometimes the ones in the middle the people around freak out when seeing such. Strange but true as we know many car collectors.

Traffic = The Colony. One way in - one way out. Even on weekends. There is a walmart IN The Colony. Frisco is close by but it will take you awhile to get there w/ the traffic. Frisco has every store you will need but it will take you a good 15 minutes just to get across the street from one store to the other. I ONLY go up there for shopping when I HAVE to and have the time.

[ms7165]

Hi, thanks so much for your reply and info.... We can't quite afford $1M....LOL...anyway, we noticed out in Haslet that there were alot of larger lots and several people had built workshops. My husband will be commuting to Love Field and doesn't want a tough commute, so Haslet is out. Our price range is $175,000 - $275,000. If you know of any areas that fit that criteria please let me know. Thanks so much for your help. It is really hard to pin point things when you are out of state, so I do appreciate any help I can get.

Monica

[momof2dfw]

YIKES, Love Field from The Colony. That would be a PITA commute for sure. If you don't mind older homes you might try checking around Richardson in the Heights area as some of the houses have detached garages or second garages detached. One of our friends has a detached second garage there w/ his cars in it. It would be MUCH closer in and in your price range. We were looking this weekend and saw some homes in Murphy on large lots where you could have the garage extended or a 2nd but the prices were around $750K (I want more land if I'm going to move though). You might be better off trying some of the older neighborhoods w/in Dallas to get your price range, extra garage, close to work.

[ms7165]

Thank you so much for your help!!!! Do you know anything on the schools in that area?

[smh]

If the commute to Love Field will be during typical morning/evening rush hours, then yes, the traffic will be bad. A lot of it depends on how long it takes you to get to Hwy 121 from your house in The Colony. Also, the best route to Love Field would be down the Tollway, which is very clogged during rush hour traffic. You'd probably be better off looking for something closer in.

Outside of rush hour, the commute wouldn't be too bad. Without traffic, it's probably do-able in 30 min. or less.

The Colony has a super Wal-Mart and a Home Depot, and construction should soon be starting on a Lowe's and Target. Also, the first Zaxby's in the area is supposed to be coming in this year. Go 7 miles east (to Frisco) or west (to Lewisville) and you can find every chain restaurant and big-box store you can think of. Large shopping malls as well.