Horse Properties Around $250k (Dallas, Austin: real estate, budget, work)

[Scott927]

Hello all,

I posted a thread earlier about investigating Dallas vs. Austin for us and our horses. It ended up being a quick decision on the DFW area and I was wondering if there were some horse people out there who might be able to give us some direction.

The important stuff:

1) My wife and I are 30 years old, having a couple kids soon and looking for ~5 acres and don't want to spend any more than $250k (maybe $275k if it was light years better than what the average $250k property was). More land is okay, but a minimum of 5.

2) We need REAL trees (oaks, etc) and grass. We're moving from Phoenix and I haven't seen real trees/grass in so long I'm dying for it. We don't want wide open prairies or anything like that. If anyone can recommend good places to look with this sort of feel to it, that would be great.

3) THIS ONE IS REALLY IMPORTANT if we can find it. Trail riding off the property would be wonderful. It won't be a deal breaker if we can't find it, but it would really help. We don't know the area or where to look for nice trails to ride (again, through trees/grass/meadows, etc, not open plains).

4) We don't want to be more than a 45 minute commute from the DFW metro area. We work from home, but should we want to see a Mavericks or Cowboys game or something, we want to be able to get there in a reasonable amount of time. We'd also like to be within 15 minutes or so of daily necessities (grocery, etc).

5) Ideally the homes would be somewhat newer (i.e. less than 15-20 years old). We're not looking for trailers, mobile homes, 1950's "fixer-uppers", etc. Just something we can comfortably live in for a while.

Any thoughts on where we might look would sure be helpful.

Thanks!

[nsumner]

The strictest parameter I see you have is the 45 minute commute to the metro area. That would be difficult to achieve with your budget and land requirements (trees).

I think that realistically the minimum commute for what is on the market right now is about 60-80 minutes.

Moderator cut: real estate agent solicitations are not allowed in the forums

The areas of Poetry/Campbell in Hunt county have wooded areas. Scurry/Kemp in Kaufman county are 2 other places that have wooded areas. And if you go even further out in Mineola and Winnsboro you get a lot more than 12+ wooded acres.

These are counties east of Dallas, if you go in the direction of North Dallas, you would have to go to Grayson county, i.e. Denison to find areas to your liking.

Naima

[Scott927]

Yeah that's what I'm finding as well. As long as we're 30-40 minutes from SOMEWHERE with reasonable restaurant choices, mall, shopping, theaters, etc, that would suffice.

[ChristieP]

My parents live in Poetry. It's a very up-and-coming area, and the city of Rockwall is quickly growing out to meet it! It does indeed have trees, hills, and grass. Plus, it has sandy loam soil, NOT the horrible black clay that most of the metroplex has. (This is VERY important for horse owners!) The only downside is that the schools are either Quinlan or Terrell, neither of which are very good.

[Ballyhigh]

welcome to a lot of hot prairie.

You can try parker. good luck on the trees

[LynnSlaney]

Forney has some wonderful horse property around the 300K-350K range..some sellers are motivated and may reduce. Forney has great access from I20 & I30.

[halleromine]

If it is trail rides you are looking for... Winnsboro Texas is the place. The town's "slogan" is "Home of the Autumn Trails". (Takes place every year in October). I have lived here my whole life. With me growing up here, there isnt another place in the world that I would choose to raise my children. There are very nice resturants in the downtown area, and Crossroads Music Company brings great musical entertainment to the area. It is between an hour to an hour and a half from the Dallas area, and about the same to either Tyler, or Texarkana. I would def. recommend checking out the Chamber's web site: Winnsboro Area Chamber of Commerce - Winnsboro, Texas - 903-342-3666 . (It will also give you a feel of the scenery - nothing near open plains!!)

[Spree]

My hubby's coworker is selling his place in FlowerMound, they had a couple of horses on their property. I'm not sure how much acreage they have though.

[txnlandman]

I work for Shadow Lakes about 35min from Dallas and I think we may have a couple of 5 acre lots left. All the homes there are new and beautiful and if I had to bet, the lot(s) is not over $200k. There are areas for horseback riding on the property and many other amenities. If there is anything that I can do to help, please let me know.

[Rakin]

For the best values head south - Waxahachie, Hillsboro Cleburne. You can still get land that is reasonable and be in good school districts. West towards Weatherford might be a possiblility but pricier.

DFW is about 120 x 120 miles and growing which makes a commute tough. Our economy is excellent and land values are skyhigh.