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Old 09-26-2016, 02:19 AM
 
4 posts, read 6,124 times
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Stumbled upon this website tonight.

I'm looking for some advice on the style and spirit of these three cities.

In looking online, and talking to our relocation assistant, these communities are an easy commute from my husband's office right at 360 and 183.


Keller seems to be the most house for the money, not sure why it's cheaper. But I'm guessing location, it seems harder to get to, but it could just be that he's coming from the wrong side of town.

Southlake seems to be a little much for me. We're shopping around 600K for our home and there's not much at that price point. Everyone also keeps talking about the athletics and we're not into athletics at all. But I like the Town Center area and good schools.

Colleyville seems older, rural, more yards, a relaxed vibe, but not very big with a lot of amenities, and it shares a school district???


Also are these considered a suburb of Dallas or Fort Worth?

My husband and I are in our mid to late 30's and have a daughter who's 8. We're moving from North Carolina, we are hoping to find someplace with young professionals near our age, good schools, and where we'll fit in driving our civic instead of a benz. Would like a walkable area too, with shops and restaurants we can stroll through on the weekends. something with character.

We would probably live in like an Uptown Dallas area if we didn't have any kids, and if his corporate office wasn't in Fort Worth.
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Old 09-26-2016, 05:37 AM
 
Location: Kaufman County, Texas
11,819 posts, read 26,681,429 times
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Price range for a house? That's going to make a big difference.

Why are you not looking at Grapevine? Yes, it shares a school district with Colleyville. School districts in Texas are Independent ISDs, so they do not follow city boundaries. If you live on the south side of Grapevine, his commute would be a breeze! There are MANY American Airlines employees who live in Grapevine.

Keller is cheaper because of the location. It's too far away to commute to Dallas unless you like sitting in traffic!

About the only walkable areas in NE Tarrant County are Southlake Town Square, downtown Grapevine, and (kind of) Colleyville downtown.
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Old 09-26-2016, 06:57 AM
 
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All three are in Tarrant County, and therefore considered suburbs of Fort Worth:

1. Keller is cheaper because of location. Schools are very good but not as good as Southlake. Honestly, considering your price point and other "wants", you can do a lot better than Keller. I'd scratch it from your list.

2. Southlake. I would spend some time there before nixing it. Yes, your price point is on the lower end. Yes, the town really supports its football team. But they are the very best schools in DFW you can get for $600k, and it's a great family community- safe, involved, etc. Southlake Town Center isn't close to being Uptown, but it's the best "lifestyle" center between Dallas and Fort Worth.

3. Colleyville: Another one you should spend some time in. Schools are very good. It's not rural but does feel like a pocket of "wide open spaces" in the middle of a huge metroplex. Biggest con is that you have to drive everywhere because there is little/no commercial space in Colleyville. If you visit, you'll probably have a strong feeling one way or another.


Two other options:
1. Grapevine - you wouldn't need to spend your $600k max budget. Very good schools (shares with Colleyville in GCISD). Charming historic downtown is a respite from the chains that dominate the Dallas burbs.

2. Live in Fort Worth near TCU. Charming & historic residential neighborhoods zoned to FW's top elementary schools (Tanglewood & Lily B Clayton) and ultimately to FW's top high school, Paschal, which parents around the district camp out to transfer into each year. Depending on where exactly you live, your house could actually be walkable to dozens of locally owned shops & restaurants. Plus, just living in FW is awesome with the world class arts district, a great zoo, an exciting downtown, etc. $600k will not get you a big house but *should* get you into the neighborhood somewhere.
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Old 09-26-2016, 07:25 AM
 
Location: 89052 & 75206
8,097 posts, read 8,239,272 times
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I would consider in this order -- all good schools. I would not want to do the commute from the Tangewood area in ftw to 183/360 -- the drive is a big traffic jam.

Southlake
Grapevine
Trophy Club
Colleyville
Coppell

You might like the Las Colinas section of Irving. It is a very short commute and is chock full of young professional families. However the public schools there are not on par with the list above so, if you lived there you'd would want to consider private school for your child.

Southlake and Coppell are slightly higher rated school districts over Grapevine Colleyville, and Trophy Club is in the Northwest ISD which is pretty close to GCISD

Last edited by WorldKlas; 09-26-2016 at 07:38 AM..
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Old 09-26-2016, 09:40 AM
 
Location: Kaufman County, Texas
11,819 posts, read 26,681,429 times
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Sorry I didn't see your price point earlier.

$600k in Southlake is going to be very tough in this market. You might get lucky and find a smaller/older home on the market, but there will likely be a bidding war for it.

I agree that the commute from Tanglewood to AA would be awful. Traffic in your direction is quite heavy.

Watch out for Coppell's high property taxes. They are among the highest in DFW. You would pay over $1000 more annually for a $500k house in Coppell as opposed to Grapevine. Grapevine just dropped its tax rate this week, and it's now the second lowest in Texas!

If you need more info about Grapevine, just ask. I've lived here since 2002, and I'm a big fan of Grapevine!
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Old 09-26-2016, 03:35 PM
 
Location: Southlake. Don't judge me.
2,885 posts, read 4,624,207 times
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Generally agree with everyone else's comments. One of the rare times I'll disagree with TC80 on one item - I wouldn't want to commute from Ft. Worth to anywhere near 183/360 and/or DFW airport.

Re: Southlake - you'll likely feel somewhat "fish out of water" driving a Civic instead of a Benz. Not that there aren't those people here (hello, waving, I drive a cheap car!) but the car line at the schools will be dominated by Lexuseses and Mercedes and all that.

Last I checked (a few months ago) there are some very nice houses in Southlake at 600K, but they are harder to find and usually go pretty quick. Also, I don't know about NC, but here, a house built in the 90's is "older" (the ones I'm thinking of were built early 90's). We relo'd from Up North, where that would be a "newer" home. Don't know your feelings there.

Agree that Grapevine and Colleyville would be great choices. Homes in your price range, short commute to the airport, GCISD is a very good district overall. Also would likely fit a bit more with your mindset, it seems.

(As an FYI, we considered all 3 of Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake, and only chose the latter because we stumbled into the "best" house there, surprisingly enough. We probably "liked" Colleyville the most out of the three).

There really aren't "walkable" areas anywhere in NE Tarrant, as noted. DFW in general is very car-centric.

I have friends who live in Keller and like it, but A) as noted, longer commute, B) I'm not as impressed with the schools there (they seem to underperform given their demographics). It's not "bad" by any measure, but I think the other choices would be better for you.

Good luck with your move. All of the areas noted here are nice to very nice, and there aren't any "bad" choices. DFW will likely be an adjustment from NC, but hopefully it will go well for you.
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Old 09-26-2016, 04:51 PM
 
Location: Arlington, TX
422 posts, read 537,350 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristieP View Post
Sorry I didn't see your price point earlier.

$600k in Southlake is going to be very tough in this market. You might get lucky and find a smaller/older home on the market, but there will likely be a bidding war for it.

I agree that the commute from Tanglewood to AA would be awful. Traffic in your direction is quite heavy.

Watch out for Coppell's high property taxes. They are among the highest in DFW. You would pay over $1000 more annually for a $500k house in Coppell as opposed to Grapevine. Grapevine just dropped its tax rate this week, and it's now the second lowest in Texas!

If you need more info about Grapevine, just ask. I've lived here since 2002, and I'm a big fan of Grapevine!


I always here people say watch out for the taxes in Coppell. I mean if you're dropping a half a million on a house, is an extra 1,000 dollars a year really a big deal? Lol
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Old 09-26-2016, 05:11 PM
 
168 posts, read 227,597 times
Reputation: 77
Quote:
Originally Posted by AAFlygirl View Post

In looking online, and talking to our relocation assistant, these communities are an easy commute from my husband's office right at 360 and 183.

My husband and I are in our mid to late 30's and have a daughter who's 8. We're moving from North Carolina, we are hoping to find someplace with young professionals near our age, good schools, and where we'll fit in driving our civic instead of a benz. Would like a walkable area too, with shops and restaurants we can stroll through on the weekends. something with character.
My observations, from a home search in DFW area in late 2014

Keller seemed too much gridlock on weekends. It made all those "Best Places to Live" lists in the early 2000's and everyone and their brother decided to move, to, well, Keller and now it is saturated with traffic on the weekend. There is no real "fine dining" mostly AppleBees/Chilis type restaurants and similar stuff.

I would look at Colleyville but more Benz's than Civics there. No Civics in Southlake. Actually everything you described has Frisco/Plano (the "IT crowd") written all over it, but that commute out to Euless would suck.

You might consider Las Colinas area.
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Old 09-26-2016, 05:41 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,118,828 times
Reputation: 13124
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevehanrahan41 View Post
I always here people say watch out for the taxes in Coppell. I mean if you're dropping a half a million on a house, is an extra 1,000 dollars a year really a big deal? Lol
I don't get it either, and it's always the same poster pointing it out. Yes, it should be considered if you're buying at the top of your budget, but for a typical $600k buyer, the difference between a monthly PITI of $3600 and $3800 is not going to break the bank or affect qualify of life in any meaningful way.
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Old 09-26-2016, 05:45 PM
 
Location: Kaufman County, Texas
11,819 posts, read 26,681,429 times
Reputation: 10541
Yes, I do always bring it up. Personally, I loathe paying more taxes than necessary! And when you compare what the city offers for your taxes (library, The REC, activities), Grapevine is MUCH better than Coppell. No, that's not a huge amount of money, but it is a long weekend vacation to Cancun every year....
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