Relocating: Plano or Allen or Frisco (Dallas, Irving: for sale, real estate, apartment)

[DFWfuture]

Hi all,

We are relocating to the DFW area in August and have zeroed in on 3 choices of Plano, Allen or Frisco.

Reasons for Plano:
1. Wife wants a short commute and expects to find many CPA-IT type opportunities.
2. Well-known school district (one kid is in elementary and one kid is in middle school).
3. Older, established area with many restaurants, shopping locations (2 Costcos to boot!) and other services.

Unsure of: how good the houses built in 90s will turn out to be for their styling and options

Reasons for Allen, Frisco:
1. Brand new houses which we can build the way we want.
2. Still close to Plano for work

Unsure of: schools, traffic commute

We plan to live in an apartment for a 3-6 months period and see what we like. Also look at houses in Plano in August and see if we can move in immediately and avoid moving into an apartment altogether.

Questions:
1. Is the housing market down in Plano too and is August a good time to buy there (considering school begins last week of August)? We are looking for a house in the $300K-375K range.
2. How do you compare the schools in Plano to schools in Allen/Frisco?
3. How do you compare the housing in Plano to housing in Allen/Frisco?

Thanks in Advance!

[compSciGuy]

Schools vary by more than just the city, ... you need to drill down further to the specific neighborhood schools.

[TXboomerang]

Where will you be commuting too? Frisco makes for a rough commute if you are looking to drive into Dallas or over to Richardson. Allen would be better if you are looking at commuting to the east side of Dallas, otherwise Plano would be a good choice. That being said, there are a lot of jobs in Plano too, so a commute from Frisco to Plano isn't too rough depending on where at in Frisco.

[unexpected]

Depending where the job is in plano, Allen could be closer.

You say nothing about your budget- I think this will ultimately be the biggest factor here. If your budget is $300-$350k+, I would say move to Plano. If your budget is less than that, I would find the house you like the best, and move there.

As far as schools go, Plano West and Plano I'd say are better than Allen, which is slightly better than Plano East (my alma mater, and it pains me to say that) and they're all better than Frisco. The differences between all of them aren't huge, however. Definitely not a "gamebreaker" in my book.

[cityconvo]

You didn't mention your commute. If that is not an issue then I would go with Plano because it is sounds as though it is closest to your wife's work.

IMO the quality of the houses built in the 90s is about the same as the quality you find in today's new construction with some efforts towards more energy effecient homes today. Although the "Open" design of a lot of the new construction often negates any built in energy saving construction. The important thing to examine is how well the pre-owned home has been maintained/updated and are you willing to do any repairs yourself or go through an extensive remodeling?

[needsomeinfo]

go on realtor.com to check out the styling of the plano homes. I live in a mid-90s neighborhood and people are updating (flooring, granite, landscaping, etc.) we have 4 homes for sale in our neighborhood for $339-$369k. west plano schools (very good at all levels). 10 minutes or less to legacy hqs (jc penney, eds, frito lay, countrywide, cadbury sweeps, mcafee, etc.- all with cpa/it jobs) and very close to the tollway/gb/121.(and, no, my house is not one of the ones for sale.)

point being, check out the styling online and see if it looks "new" enough for you. most of west plano was mid-90s and will look similar. you might need to update a bit, but you can't beat the location and schools. I think some of the homes should be willing to deal, since it is the end of the selling season and some have been on the market all summer. overall, I think prices are down a bit overall.

[DFWfuture]

Thanks for the input so far!

To answer some of the questions - my wife will be looking for a job in the legacy HQs area that needsomeinfo mentioned. She believes that there are sufficient opportunities there. I mostly travel out-of-town on short trips during the week. Also, I did mention that our budget is $300K-$375K.

needsomeinfo, please let me know the zip codes that map to west plano so that I can restrict my search in realtor.com.

Also, I assume that it is OK to receive "Direct Messages" that recommend real estate agents in the West Plano area. If so, I would appreciate if folks can recommend the real estate agents that they have used and found to be great.

Thanks again!

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

Originally Posted by DFWfuture

Thanks for the input so far!

To answer some of the questions - my wife will be looking for a job in the legacy HQs area that needsomeinfo mentioned. She believes that there are sufficient opportunities there. I mostly travel out-of-town on short trips during the week. Also, I did mention that our budget is $300K-$375K.

You might also look at Castle Hills - just West of Plano, it feeds into the same high school (Hebron in Lewisville ISD) that some of West Plano feeds into (most of Plano that is West of the Tollway). It would have easy access to the Legacy area, plus you would get better airport access by being right next to 121. This would also put you closer to the Irving-Las Colinas IT hub. Tell me about Castle Hills in Lewisville

[needsomeinfo]

Originally Posted by DFWfuture

Thanks for the input so far!
needsomeinfo, please let me know the zip codes that map to west plano so that I can restrict my search in realtor.com.

try 75093. I also checked on realtor.com for you, and only 2 of the homes in my neighborhood are still for sale. the others must have contracts but still have the signs up in their yards. 75093 will be mainly plano schools, but once you go west of midway, most will be lewisville, so you would need to check the individual adresses. however, the lewisville schools in the west plano (hebron) area are also good, so I would not rule out a house strictly on the schools.

good luck!

[KittySkyfish]

Moderator cut: referring to a post that has been removed

One thing I find REALLY helpful is to pair up realty search engines with google maps or virtual earth. They have a great 'street view' or 'birds eye view' that you can virtually drive and see the streets and neighboring homes. Keep in mind that the home numbers can be off a house or two - that's the case with my house, but it does give you a good idea of the neighborhood 'feel'.

Web browser and Live Maps are incompatible (birds eye view option)
Google Maps (street view option)