Career opportunity in Frisco

[turf3]

Originally Posted by ACM1987

Thank you, once again, to everyone. It seems like the West Plano area does work best - based on budget, location, amenities and overall quality of life. Yes, it will force us to stretch our budget a bit, but given the alternatives it seems the best available option.

A few questions more, if anyone is willing to answer them;

(1) In case we do end up there, and then I get a job in the area that isn't in the Frisco/Plano area, how bad would the commute be from West Plano to downtown Dallas on a daily basis? I'm always worried when we relocate that while the location might be best for his job, that once I find a job locally also it won't be as convenient in terms of location.

For me, West Plano to downtown by car would be a hell commute. DART does have a couple stations on Central Expressway so if you get there by car and then by train to downtown, while not fast, at least the second half of the trip would probably be fairly low-stress.


But there are so many commercial centers that are not in downtown, and almost all of them north of downtown, that I would bet your chance of finding a job north of downtown would be pretty good.

Originally Posted by ACM1987

(2) It seems like the real estate market and the job market in Dallas have grown interdependently for a number of years. We experienced this in Miami about 15 years ago. It proved unsustainable. Do you guys think the market, specifically on the real estate side, is getting a little top heavy? I'm always worried about buying at the top of a market - you never know if its a bubble.

Yep, it's at the tippy top of the latest bubble. I've seen real estate booms in this town since the late 70s when people would knock on my grandmother's door a couple times a week trying to buy her house. I would guess there have been four of five of them since then.


But if you're going to be moved, what are you going to do? The best you can do is to try to get as reasonable a deal as you can, buy the least expensive house in a better area, and whatever you do, don't buy one of those dogs that sell cheap at the top of the bubble but you can't sell them once it pops (like, faces the highway, Walmart distribution center directly behind, weird floor plan with long sausage shaped dark rooms, etc., etc.)

Originally Posted by ACM1987

(3) If anyone in this forum relocated to Dallas from anywhere else (we live in Kansas City now, Miami before that, and then New York & Boston before that) are there any shock and awe items we should consider or think about? I know property taxes are high, basements are rare, and that traffic can be bad, but I know very little else. We're sort of hoping our next move proves to be our "forever" home, so I wanted to get some local insight while we're considering Dallas.

Only thing specific I can add to this part is that basements aren't "rare"; they're for all intents and purposes nonexistent. Yes, yes, I know, the Greek chorus will now chime in with their examples of that one rainbow unicorn house with a basement in North Texas. Let's be real; if you are trying to buy a house, chop chop, in West Plano, ain't no basements to be had. So just write that one off your "Oh I Hope" list.

[UnfairPark]

Dart can be an easy option from Parker Road Station and Downtown Plano stations and from West Plano as well.

https://www.dart.org/riding/stations...arkandride.asp

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ACM1987

Thank you, once again, to everyone. It seems like the West Plano area does work best - based on budget, location, amenities and overall quality of life. Yes, it will force us to stretch our budget a bit, but given the alternatives it seems the best available option.

A few questions more, if anyone is willing to answer them;

(1) In case we do end up there, and then I get a job in the area that isn't in the Frisco/Plano area, how bad would the commute be from West Plano to downtown Dallas on a daily basis? I'm always worried when we relocate that while the location might be best for his job, that once I find a job locally also it won't be as convenient in terms of location.

(2) It seems like the real estate market and the job market in Dallas have grown interdependently for a number of years. We experienced this in Miami about 15 years ago. It proved unsustainable. Do you guys think the market, specifically on the real estate side, is getting a little top heavy? I'm always worried about buying at the top of a market - you never know if its a bubble.

(3) If anyone in this forum relocated to Dallas from anywhere else (we live in Kansas City now, Miami before that, and then New York & Boston before that) are there any shock and awe items we should consider or think about? I know property taxes are high, basements are rare, and that traffic can be bad, but I know very little else. We're sort of hoping our next move proves to be our "forever" home, so I wanted to get some local insight while we're considering Dallas.

Thank you again to everyone!

I can address your first two questions:
1. Plano to downtown isn’t a great commute (40-90 minutes depending on time of day, weather, accidents) but know that downtown is one of a half dozen or so job centers in the DFW area. I think you mentioned you work in finance / banking. Chase just relocated almost all of its DFW operations to Legacy West in Plano. There are office for several well-run regional banks in West Plano and Frisco (Beal Bank, Origin, etc). Preston Center is about 2/3 of the way downtown and many banks have big offices there as well as multiple family offices, some private equity, etc. Point being unless you are super specialized, there are probably many other job options that don’t require driving all the way downtown.

2. The reasons why real estate prices here exploded post recession are important. They weren’t speculator driven, but people driven. The DFW area has added over a million residents since 2008 and continues to add shout 100,000 each year. DFW is a magnet for corporate relocations. In Plano/ Frisco, the Toyota HQ relo really pushed prices up for a few years. I would say most of DFW is coming in for a soft landing now when it comes to price appreciation. 2019 was expected to be about flat but the second half of the year has been quite strong as far as # of sales and prices will end up a few percentage points for the year.

Barring a major global recession that takes almost everyone out, the future (long and short term) here is bright. And whenever the next recession does hit, the diversity of economies here and all the forward momentum will help pull DFW out early, just like the last one.

Buying a home zoned to desirable public schools, near job centers, and without any negative detractors (ie, not backing up to a Wal-Mart or eight lane road) is a good recipe for strong value retention and potential for future appreciation.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Buying a home zoned to desirable public schools, near job centers, and without any negative detractors (ie, not backing up to a Wal-Mart or eight lane road) is a good recipe for strong value retention and potential for future appreciation.

This.

I will tell you as someone who shopped West Plano from 2005 till 2010 AND always keeps abreast of the inventory and pricing, WP is not a place that has bubbled or dropped in value, even during the recession. Location...

[smsuphysics]

Frisco has been a "top city" to move to for 3-5 years now. McKinney also tops many lists. Home prices soared for the past 5 years as much as 25-40%. They did tail off a little last year but construction in those areas is still expanding as more and more large corporations are moving into that West Plano/Frisco area. Which looks to become the #1 area for jobs in the DFW.

Little Elm and The Colony are older home cities that might be in your price range with the desired commute. But that commute time will continue to worsen for a bit and prices will continue to soar in the West Plano/Frisco area as you're looking at a top 5 place on most "places to move" lists across the US.