Best town for home under $100K? (Dallas, Plano: renting, townhomes, neighborhoods)

[mistyseaocean]

Hello all! I am starting a new thread because I now know my husband will be located in Plano for his new job, but we probably can't live there due to cost. He does not at all mind commuting if we can find the right home. We have decided we would like to find a home in a nice, established community with good schools that perhaps needs some work. We don't mind doing cosmetics but don't want to get into foundation work or anything majorly structural with plumbing, electric, etc. We are willing to do pretty much anything on the interior so paneling, orange carpet or any other Brady Bunch-type style is OK with us. Can anyone suggest an area where we might find such a home within a reasonable (under 1 hour) commute to Plano? We need at least 1500 SQ feet. Thank you!

[Rakin]

It has gotten where almost anything decent runs $120k or more. You might go north of McKinney to Anna and maybe further out to get a good home. Just about any area through there should have a good school district.

[macompt]

Hi, congrats on your upcoming move...I live in Frisco, excellant schools and great place to live but hard to find anything under 150,000 almost all new homes in Frisco...I think you might try Anna or Melissa maybe Prosper...Good luck!

[nsumner]

I just ran a search in the MLS for homes with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, 1500SF and came up with 218 results. I filtered through them and the majority have been on the market 6 months which is an indication that they actually need structural work otherwise an investor would have snapped it. Then I narrowed it down by eliminating those that cannot be financed through an FHA or VA because it's a flag that they also need gutting and are not considered livable. These are the areas that showed some homes that needed some TLC and best value for the buck:

Cedar Hill
Desoto
Glen Heights
Lancaster
Mesquite/Balch Springs
Garland
Irving
Duncanville
Grand Prairie (those didn't look really appealing)
Less than 5 in Princeton/Celina/Anna (combined)

Dallas proper with most of them in Pleasant Grove and south Dallas

Naima

[nsumner]

You really need to make a trip to narrow down the areas that would would meet your likings.

Naima

[MountainPharmD]

Have to go north for that...Try South Dakota or Eastern Nebraska.....Everything here decent is well above 100k. You should think about renting.....

[nsumner]

Originally Posted by MountainPharmD

Have to go north for that...Try South Dakota or Eastern Nebraska.....Everything here decent is well above 100k. You should think about renting.....

Ouch... that's a bit harsh... if she has the time on her side to shop, she will find a decent home without being in gangland... and may be she will have to compromise on commute time etc.

[Rakin]

If your commuting to Plano I would not go south. North or east towards Rockwall and farther out might be the place. It will make the commute much easier.

[MaryS80]

There are a couple different neighborhoods with townhomes in Garland that are under $100k.

The bigger of the two is just north of Beltline, and South of Arapaho. It's also bordered by Jupiter to west, and Shiloh the east. The streets have names like Pegasus, Southern Cross, and Nova. I believe they run $80-120k.

There's a smaller group of townhomes North of Buckingham and east of Shiloh in the Holford Park area.

Keep in mind that townhomes don't have good resale value in Dallas. for some reason people here just aren't that into them.

[ChristieP]

I agree. I'd consider renting. Yes, it is good to build equity, etc., but with gas at $3.50 a gallon, a long commute to an area you can afford really doesn't make sense.