Move to Dallas (Plano, Irving, Richardson: houses, neighborhoods, to buy)

[MATX]

Hi,

Need some help/Viewpoint from fellow members.I live with my wife and 2 kids (9 years and 5 years ) in MA.Recently I have got a job offer fromDallas, TX.My office will be in Irving.Since we have never visited TX we are not very sure about the move.Any pointers on the following topics will be a great help-

1) Schools-How are Dallas metro areas school compare to MA?
2) What areas we should consider to live?Assuming we want to buy some property in decent location (good schools) in the range of 300-400K.

Thanks

[tripmom]

The D/FW area has some very good school districts.

Given that your job is in Irving and with your budget of 300-400 I would recommend Coppell. My understanding is that your range is the entry level for Coppell and houses move quickly in that price range.

Assume the company will fly you and your family down to see the area? Best of luck with your decision.

[keribeth818]

Where in MA are we comparing?

The quality of the school districts range considerably, both here and there. The best of the districts here, I would rank with the "very good" there. But probably not on par with your Lexington, Wellesley, Acton-Boxboro, etc. except for a very short list of maybe 3 or 4 individual schools. There's also junior high and high school to think about. Some of the districts have very large high schools with over 1000 kids in each graduating class. Others are smaller and more like the MA high schools.

But then, you aren't paying the same for home prices. Homes here are about half or less what you would pay for a similar home with same number of bedrooms in the better school districts in MA. Im not even comparing square footage because it doesn't come close. What you gain in indoor space though, you lose in outdoor space. Tiny yards (comparatively) with what feels like very little privacy. Lots more parks and public amenities as well as activities for kids and families.

Not knowing what industry you are in, I found the salaries here compare with mine in Boston and Los Angeles at a considerably lower cost of living.

I'm not familiar with the Irving area so I can't give you specifics on communities to choose out that way. Maybe others can help there.

[frisco19542]

Stay away from Irving. Coppell is too small to worry about basing a search.

I would look at Flowermound, Grapevine and Colleyville. In that order. You may also want to look up the 121 to castle ridge and in some cases Plano may be an option if you near the George Bush Turnpike.

[babs7907]

Agree, stay away from Irving; you might also want to look at Keller which is not too far from Irving (depending on where your job is located). There's also Las Colinas, Richardson, Lewisville.... really it all depends just how far you want to be from your job...

[J800]

Edit: Wrong thread.

[tcualum]

Irving is a neighborhood in Las Colinas which has better neighborhoods but you're still in Irving ISD. I wouldn't recommend it if you're going public. What size home do you want? What part of Irving will you work at? DFW is very spread out and the commutes can get really bad really fast.

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by frisco19542

Stay away from Irving. Coppell is too small to worry about basing a search.

I would look at Flowermound, Grapevine and Colleyville. In that order. You may also want to look up the 121 to castle ridge and in some cases Plano may be an option if you near the George Bush Turnpike.

THE 121?!? So you're originally from California, huh?

[some1livesinamerica]

if you are going to work in irving, coppell will be your #1 choice. it is just north of irving, it has a very good school district. but for $300k-$400k, you won't get "the house" by any stretch of imagination. most of the houses in coppell in your price range will be built in the 80s or lately 90s and 2 story with a small lot. Also, coppell is very crowded, lots of indians and asians living there, not sure if thats something you want.
if you don't mind do a little bit of driving, you can look into areas like flower mound, keller, houses there are a little cheaper compare to coppell, the trade off is that you will have to deal with commuting. if you live in keller and take 114 everyday to irving, you are looking at around 25 minutes each way, and you will experience heavy traffic during rush hours.

[some1livesinamerica]

no need to go east of irving, w/ a 300k to 400k budget, obviously op cannot afford west plano. if he wants to buy a house in a decent school district, he is looking at plano, allen or mckinney, which means he will have to take 75&635 or the tollway for his commute. in my opinion, 75&635 is a much worse commute than taking 114.