Planing to Move to Dallas(Frisco,Plano, Prosper area) from NJ (home, income)

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

My Asian American grandkids live in Little Elm but zoned to Frisco ISD. My son did extensive research b/c he didn't want his kids to be the only "brown faces" in school. There are probably 1/3 non-white kids in their elementary school and middle school. Their personal friends include 2 African Americans, 2 Latinas, and a few Caucasians. His neighborhood is similarly mixed. Texas is NOT the monolithic white south! Drive around an area on the weekend to see who lives there.

[turf3]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

My Asian American grandkids live in Little Elm but zoned to Frisco ISD. My son did extensive research b/c he didn't want his kids to be the only "brown faces" in school. There are probably 1/3 non-white kids in their elementary school and middle school. Their personal friends include 2 African Americans, 2 Latinas, and a few Caucasians. His neighborhood is similarly mixed. Texas is NOT the monolithic white south! Drive around an area on the weekend to see who lives there.

Huh? where is this "monolithic white south" you speak of? Maybe the south of Finland? It certainly is not now nor has it ever been in the Southern USA. Let's see, can we remember the single biggest controversy of the nineteenth century in the USA? Who were the enslaved people and where were they living? Can we work this one out?

[nissan]

Our neighborhood (S. McKinney) has a ton of consultants that do the Sun-Thurs. deal weekly. It's about 30 mins to DFW on Sun. and, depending what time you get in on Thurs., about 30-45 mins. American has a ton of flights, so I usually never hear of my friends and neighbors complain about scheduling or traffic. Of course, there are places that are closer like Grapevine, but if new construction and school districts are pulling you a bit farther out, it shouldn't be burdensome. I mean, traffic here is nothing like what we know in NJ/NY/PA.

Re: home prices and prop tax. You'll still come out ahead vs. NJ. Yes, prop tax is high here like NJ, but you get more house for the money. The bump you'll get from not having a state income tax is meaningful and immediate.

Good luck w whatever you decide.

[Johnhw2]

Ive lived in NNJ (Somerset County, though years ago) and now Plano after years in Houston. We visit my brother who has lived in NYC since 1971 and good friends living in Bernardsville NJ.

The job market here is broader and more robust than around NJ in my experience. NJ was full of pharma companies operations and HQ when I lived there now many of those facilities are downsized or empty. Here we see jobs moving into the area from anti business areas unlike NJ.

Housing market here is stable with the jobs picture. Locations different in terms of drivers of real estate. For example some desired locations are in school districts or locations where new construction is rare as it requires a tear down to build new as no vacant lots are available, other areas are full of new developments and land zoned for single family.

Cost of housing varies a lot by school area here just as it does in NJ. I recommend you use a cost of living comparison tool like Sperling, which will let you compare locations, home price differences are the major driver of differences within the DFW metro area. If you want to use it to compare a city here to your city in NJ, it can help with this too.

Taxes here are significantly less than in NJ. We do not have an income tax on individuals in Texas where NJ has a high one. Our property taxes are high as NJ but generally our property costs are less so check it for your property vs target properties in localisations here. (I am not sure if the cost of living calculator tool takes state income and property taxes into account. I will let EDS who is more expert on this tool than I am.

Welcome to Texas if you come our way. Its a good place to raise a family with some school districts that will match and perhaps exceed your NJ location.

[walker1962]

If you fly regularly, you don't want to be further northeast than far west Plano, and not south of I-30 if in Tarrant county or west of I-35W. Lewisville, Coppell and North Carrollton to the east of DFW airport are good spots, if you don't opt for Grapevine, H-E-B, Flower Mound or north Arlington.

[speedyg]

Originally Posted by VVV21

I loved a new construction house by Grand Homes costing around 620K

No no no, you don't want to do that. Grand Homes is almost universally hated. Probably the worst builder in the region. I had a bad personal experience and I've probably talked to 20 people who built with them. 19 of them had awful things to say. If I was shopping for a used house and discovered the original builder was Grand, i'd just walk out and look at another one.

Some other people's comments : Grand Homes in the 1990s Grand homes elevation issue at construction New construction trouble with Grand Homes
Grand Homes - Northglen

You can find another 25 similar threads if you search.

For that price, you can get a good quality builder easily (e.g. Highland).

[VVV21]

Thanks speedyg!I have dropped my idea to go with Grand Homes now!

[VVV21]

How safe is dallas area n terms of natural disasters as tornado?This came to my attention that Dallas is one of the most risky place to live.Source : Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not ok
I have not heared any bad things from my friends about it but i though i should check this with you experts.

[NP78]

Originally Posted by VVV21

How safe is dallas area n terms of natural disasters as tornado?This came to my attention that Dallas is one of the most risky place to live.Source : Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not ok
I have not heared any bad things from my friends about it but i though i should check this with you experts.

DFW is definitely on the southern edge of Tornado Alley and prone to severe Thunderstorms. In terms of risky places to live, I think that is an exaggeration because Tornado impacts are so much different from Hurricane impacts. Hurricanes impact a very large area, whereas a Tornado is a very small impact area typically. It can certainly be devastating to those in its path, but the likelihood of a DFW resident ever being directly impacted by a Tornado is pretty small, especially compared to the Hurricane risk for a resident of the Gulf Coast.

I wouldn't worry about safety here as it relates to natural disasters, as much as I would worry about cost. High levels of Thunderstorm activity (hail, wind, etc.) result in very high insurance premiums for home and auto.

[OttoR]

Originally Posted by VVV21

Hello,

I am a consultant who travels Monday through Thursday most of the time, makes decent money around 160K excluding bonus.I am in late 30s,my wife is a homemaker and have 1 kid(first grader). Given the nature of my job, I have flexibility to live in any place.There are several aspects what I am considering while thinking to move to Dallas area -

Pros
1. Centrally located Big Airport - which could reduce my travel time in general
2. Lower cost of living in terms of housing(compared to NJ)
3. Good Schools system depending on where you live
4. Good place to raise family
5. Not cold as North-East
6. No State Tax but i wont be able to save much as I will be working from home just for 2 months on average

Crons
1. Real estate seems to be unpredictable,old houses do not see appreciation as there are lot of new construction going on.Other thing what i disliked ,there is very small backyards and houses are very close to each other here.
2. High Property Tax as NJ
2. Job Market : I heard new companies are coming in but not sure how things will be be impacted if we will see another recession as oppose to NJ/NY area where job and real estate market is quire stable
3. Nothing much to do in the area as compared to what tri-state offer

I do have affinity towards NJ/NY area but I want to be practical while making my decision , which give more value to my money and better quality of life to my family.

Since I will not be able to save much as state tax,end up paying similar property tax as NJ and might lose on Reselling house in Texas, I am quite in dilemma in terms of making this move so reaching out to this forum to enlighten me with their wisdom and suggestions.My Budget to buy a new construction house is around $400 -$600K


Any suggestion will be helpful and appreciated!

As a New Englander that moved to Texas, let me give you some solid advice - DON'T MOVE TO TEXAS! It sucks here! You are probably used to natural beauty, trees, four seasons, lots of things to do, etc. Well you won't find that here. You may get "more value for your money" but the quality of life compared to the east coast sucks! I can't wait to move back.