Relocating from Canada... (Dallas, Plano, Richardson: custom home, neighborhood, buying)

[TheCanucks]

My company is asking me to relocate to the DFW area. The office is located in Richardson - by I-75 & George Bush Turnpike. I'm trying to figure out where to consider living.

I'd like to be relatively close to work (maximum ~30 minute drive). We have 2 little kids (4 & 2), so somewhere safe, family oriented, with good schools would be important. The ideal house would have a decent sized yard, swimming pool, 5 bedrooms (for when guests come to visit), and 3 car garage (I understand that people use the 3rd space for storage since there are no basements). The house should have good curb appeal, and preferably newer as I'm not interested in big renovations - the move from Canada will be stressful enough. Price-point would be up to $450k.

I'm looking for some opinions of locations which might be suitable, in order to narrow down the area we look at when we come down to check things out in person.

Any input will be appreciated.

[jeffari-al-texani]

Richardson should fit your needs...75082 zip code...

[MurphyPl1]

Agree - east Richardson would fit that. So would Murphy. Plano schools, larger lots, and easy access to that part of town.

[FarNorthDallas]

Richardson, Plano, Sachse, Parker, Murphy, Allen.

McKinney and Frisco would be further than 30 minutes, but they are popular destinations for relocators.

[jimithing78]

West Plano is going to be your best bet.

East Richardson (75082) has some nice newer houses, but it's actually in the Plano school district and the East Plano elementary and middle schools aren't great. If you plan on having your children attend private schools then it's not a big deal, but I highly suggest you give this aspect some thought.

The Canyon Creek neighborhood in Richardson has some very nice homes that you might consider. They're older custom homes, but they're generally very well taken care of and quite a few of them have already been updated.

Allen is newish, but IMO it's filled with mostly cheaply built track houses. I think you could do better with $450k


Two other options are Stonebridge ranch in McKinney and Frisco. These are definitely newer areas, but they're outside of your 30 minute radius.

[MurphyPl1]

East Cluster Plano schools are good solid schools. There's a whole lot of parents here in Murphy and East Plano that are seriously involved in their kids' education and wouldn't settle for "not that great."

By the time the OP's kids need them, the new elementary school, middle school and 9-10 HS will be built. And if you don't think that's a group of parents who care, keep in mind that while Murphy is about 3% of PISD's registered voters, it was 13% of the recent bond election.

Elementaries Serving Murphy and East Richardson:

Boggess - Exemplary
Miller - Exemplary
Hunt - Recognized
Schell - New - no rating available yet
Stinson - Exemplary

Middle Schools serving Murphy East Richardson, East Plano:

Murphy - Recognized
Armstrong - Recognized

[canuckmom]

Originally Posted by TheCanucks

My company is asking me to relocate to the DFW area. The office is located in Richardson - by I-75 & George Bush Turnpike. I'm trying to figure out where to consider living.

I'd like to be relatively close to work (maximum ~30 minute drive). We have 2 little kids (4 & 2), so somewhere safe, family oriented, with good schools would be important. The ideal house would have a decent sized yard, swimming pool, 5 bedrooms (for when guests come to visit), and 3 car garage (I understand that people use the 3rd space for storage since there are no basements). The house should have good curb appeal, and preferably newer as I'm not interested in big renovations - the move from Canada will be stressful enough. Price-point would be up to $450k.

I'm looking for some opinions of locations which might be suitable, in order to narrow down the area we look at when we come down to check things out in person.

Any input will be appreciated.

We are fellow Canucks, but have lived stateside going on 13 years. This is our second time living in the DFW area. Hubby also works in Richardson, off Campbell Road (near 75).

Our criteria was similar to yours - but we have school aged children - so needed good schools now. Also wanted newer house w/pool.

Main cities we considered - MURPHY, PLANO, ALLEN, RICHARDSON, MCKINNEY & FRISCO.

* McKinney & Frisco - nice, new - but wanted shorter commute.
* Richardson - some newer areas, but older overall - schools hit/miss,
more ethnically diverse
* Plano - west plano considered best - more $$, houses 15 years old & up,
* Murphy - liked Murphy a lot - high school issues kept us from buying there (this will not be an issue for you/people with younger kids)
* Allen - this is where we ended up - lots of new and newer houses west of 75. Good schools. 20 - 30 min. commute to Richardson. Look at homes in Twin Creeks, Star Creek, Waterford Park, Waterford Trails etc...

Good luck with your search! I am happy to answer any other questions you might have.

[harishv]

Make sure u factor in property taxes at 2.xx% of 450K for the area u choose, to make sure that u r in good shape......

[AnnieBrown]

Hi,

I am here to tell you that basements CAN and ARE being built in Texas. All the hype you hear about shifting soil and clay and drainage are all opinions that people have made, they are not absolutes.

The ground below does NOT shift, shifting occurs in the upper levels of soil. Consider this, when you dig a hole... the deeper you get, the harder it is to dig. Also, when a home DOES have foundation repairs, what is the solution? To place beams, deep into the earth, for stability.

There are a zillion reason WHY you should build a basement in new construction, and if you are insterested in learning them, e-mail me and I will go into further detail.

FYI - the reason that everyone up North has basements, is because you have to build your foundation, below the freezing line, so your home does NOT shift. Since the ground in Texas does not freeze, there is no NEED for basements. THAT is why people in Texas don't have basements. :-)

Annie Brown
[EMAIL="annie.brown@corporatepurchasing.net"]annie.brown@corporatepurchasing.net[/EMAIL]
Corporate Purchasing LLC

[$DFW8$]

Originally Posted by FarNorthDallas

Richardson, Plano, Sachse, Parker, Murphy, Allen.

McKinney and Frisco would be further than 30 minutes, but they are popular destinations for relocators.

McKinney would be more than a 30 min commute but Frisco wouldn't. From Frisco to 75/190(GBT) is 15.9 miles, which would take about 25-30 min w/ traffic. McKinney is also exactly 15.9 miles from 75/190 but w/ traffic going down 75, it would probably be more than a 30 min commute. Frisco is definitely one of the best places in all of DFW. It's very family-oriented, has a TON of new housing developments, every store you can think of, and it has excellent schools.