Need help deciding where to move from Chicago to the Dallas area or Fort Worth (Arlington: short sales, real estate)

[vinmar4]

Hello,
My daughter is getting merried this summer and she will be moving to the Garland area as her fufure husband is from that area. She will be looking for a position as an English Teacher or bilingual teacher. She will probably stay by Garland or close to it or by Grapevine or South lake . We are moving maybe next summer. My husband will need to get a job as his company just closed here. I'm a nurse, and will be working as a case manager from home, but a big part of my job includes driving to physicians offices and hospitals, so I need to be close to freeways. We would like to move to a nice area with great schools, as we still have an 11 and 5 year old. I love to shop and to have stuff to do with the whole family or just my husband an I. We don't really want to move to area where you never get to meet the paeople that lives next to you. We keep tp ourselfs for the most part, but we like to be friendly and have people over. I have a brother that lives in Mansfield, and I know that we are going to visit often with them as our children love to play with theirs. We could probably buy a home anywhere from 200 to 250 and we would like it to have some land or at least a huge yard. Thanks a lot for your help.

[honu1]

Wow, you're question is pretty broad in that there are sooooo many school districts and suburbs in the DFW metroplex. There are many hospitals throughout the metroplex as well. In Fort Worth, Harris Methodist, Cook Childrens, and John Peter Smith (JPS) are clustered together and there are lots of medical offices in the same vicinity. I have a friend who lives in a nice subdivision by the Ft. Worth Zoo and it is a super easy commute from her house to JPS. In Dallas, a lot of the hospitals are also clustered together, but I'm not so sure of housing right in that area and I'm sure someone else on the board can give you some info there.

Denton is at the top of the metroplex triangle. For reference, it will take you about 30 minutes to get to Southlake, and 40 to Dallas or Fort Worth if traffic is good (not rush hour). There are a few hospitals in Denton, Presbyterian and Denton Regional being the largest. I mention Denton because in the areas between Denton and Fort Worth and between Denton and Dallas, one can often find homes in your price range. Some with larger yards, especially if you're willing to get a slightly older home (as plots for houses used to be much bigger on average than now). As for schools, you may want to google TAKS scores, as that's the state test here, to find out the performance ratings of local school districts. Remember that schools in TX are Independent School Districts, for example Fort Worth ISD, Keller ISD, Denton ISD, etc. Fort Worth falls in Region XI, as you can get some info here:
http://www.esc11.net/8234398102229/site/default.asp?823Nav=|&NodeID=119

Dallas ISD and the surrounding districts are in Region X and some of their info can be found here:R10 Districts Listing (http://www.region10.org/about_r10_districts_map.html - broken link)

[vinmar4]

I guess I was not specific enough. I don't have to live close to hospitals as I will travel all over the place depending on where my patient will be treating. Monst of the time. i try to drive after he rush hour times, as I do in the Chicago area.If we move to the Dallas area, most likely I will get cases around that area, and the same applies if I move the Fort Worth area. More important to us , is to not be to far from Mansfield where my brother lives, to find a good area with great schools and large yards with friendly people as my husband currently coaches soccer, and to not be to far from the Garland area if my daughter moves to that area. I guess I'm asking for the impossible
Thanks again for all the help!

[honu1]

With the cost of gas, being closer to where you work may be a good consideration...but totally your call, of course. Garland and Mansfield are roughly 50 miles apart, so perhaps one of the neighborhoods in Grand Prairie or Arlington would get you just north of Mansfield, but with access to interstates for your travel. Alternately, you could look more centrally around Garland, Rowlett, Richardson, Mesquite, etc. as these will keep you in close access to main highway arteries. Maybe even check out the neighborhood near White Rock Lake. I know someone who lives there too and they have a nice big yard. They just remodeled an older home there. Really, there are lots of 'bubs where you might find a home. I'd say to first find out where you'll be working and narrow down on the school district(s) that you think will be a good fit for your children.

As for being friendly, I find people in TX, well, in the South as a whole really, to be pretty friendly. Some posters have complained that if the garage is in the back of the houses in their neighborhood, they seldom see their neighbors who they'd like to see more. So, that may be something you want to consider when looking for a home. Personally, I wish our garages were in back so I could see mine less!

Oh, I've heard realtor dot com doesn't always have the most reliable information. However, you could pick a few major real estate companies and search their website for homes in your price range. Once you get a few addresses or neighborhoods, we may be able to give you more specific feedback about those communities in terms of schools, recreation, commute times, etc.

Will you get to come down to TX to look around before you have to purchase? Do you need to purchase right away or are you open to renting so you have more time to decide on a home purchase? I ask because 1) there are short sales and foreclosures to be had if you need to purchase quickly, but if you have time, I recommend renting so you have a chance to get a feel for a neighborhood to make sure its really what you want. Maybe even a home lease/purchase plan...

[aceplace]

Yes, there is no such thing as being simultaneously close to Garland and Mansfield.

It's really hard to make a distinction between a "Dallas area" and a Fort Worth area". Transportationwise, there is just one area, with interconnected freeways. For example, Fort Worth is a municipality in Tarrant county, but the eastern Tarrant suburbs are officially commuter suburbs of Dallas county, according to the Federal OMB.

For easing the strain (and cost) of driving around, you might try to get an idea as to which hospitals you will be driving to most of the time, and live nearby. The biggest concentration of hositals in DFW would be near Parkland, northwqest of downtown Dallas, Baylor, east of downtown Dallas, probably Plano and the northern suburbs, etc.

[vinmar4]

Hello,
With my job, I work from home and drive to meet my patients at different locations. When a company hires me , they see where I live and try to give me cases not to far from that area to meet teh patients. I could have a patient that lives in Garland and treats in Fort Worth, so really there is no way for me to know where I will be going at anytime, because I keep a new case open for a few months , and than I get other ones totally different. My employer pays for my gas. I work with people that get injured at work. As a bilingual nurse , sometimes I have to do more travel that the non bilingual nurses. Like I said before, we are looking for a nice, low crime area with good schools, large yards with access to main freeways and not to far from Mansfield. I was thinking Grapevine, because they have a lot of stuff going on like festivals , etc or maybe Keller because is close to Southlake. My daugther will be lloking for a job as a teacher probably also in those areas. She also mentioned an area called Sachse. Does anybody know anything about that area? We are probabley going to rent for about 6 months.
Thanks for taking the time to help me and have a great day!

[Grainraiser]

There is a huge demand for bilingual teachers so finding a job should be no problem. Renting for awhile would be a good idea until you find out what part of DFW is going to be best for you and your family.

[Lakewooder]

Sachse is a long way from Grapevine. I also think you should rent until things are settled.

[honu1]

Grapevine is very close to Southlake, but I'm not sure if there are many houses in your price range there. Keller may have more new development similar to what you seek. Colleyville is also close to Southlake.

[vinmar4]

I think that we will wait and see where my daughter ends up working , visit and than look around. I like Mansfield, but I think that it is too far south and there is really nothing going on ever in that area. Here I live about 30 minutes from downtown Chicago so we like to go to all the festivals by the lake and to eat in the downtown area. There is always something going on , even during the frezzing winter months, but I grew up in El PAso, so I'm used to the hot weather and my kids want to get a pool once we more to TX. My husband is currently looking for a new job in the food manufacturing indutry as they just closed the company here.