Need Advice - Relocating Please Help (Dallas, Plano: real estate, foreclosures, crime)

[TennesseeToTexas]

I will be be relocating to the Dallas area this summer and working near UT Southwestern. I will typically need to be at work early (~6 AM). I am married and have two young children. I am looking for advice on where to live around the Dallas area where we will be in a safe neighborhood but still be within a roughly 45 minute drive to work. Thank you for any advice you can give me.

[SisterB]

Depends. What is your price range?

[TennesseeToTexas]

Price range $1000 to $2000 per month. Thank you.

[kaykay]

If safety is a big issue with you, I would (as usual) recommend one of the northern suburbs, but you would be in for a bit of a commute. Some others on this forum may have some closer suggestions that would still be "safe."

[hamiltonpl]

If you want your neighbors to have the same red brick house, floor plan, hour long rush hour commute, and scrawny tree by all means please move to the northern suburbs. You may get confused as to which house is yours, but it's worth it because of the homogeneity.

On the other hand, if you want a safe area of town with character, I'd suggest the east Dallas zip code of 75214. Anything in the Lakewood/Stonewall Jackson Elementary school zone is good.

I have friends that have lived in the northern suburbs. Because literally every house looks the same, it took them over one year to sell their homes. It's depressing. In sharp contrast, my neighbors homes usually sell in the first day/week. The longest one has been on the market is 30 days. That should tell you something about resale/appreciation in home values in the suburbs. (I live in the 75214 zip code).

Check out Moderator cut: websiteThey have a great website with all the MLS listings.

[hamiltonpl]

Another area would be in north Dallas near Marilla and Midway. There are many homes around there that are moderately priced. It would actually be a little closer to the medical center.

[GoPadge]

Don't let hamiltonpl's portrayal of the northern 'burbs as a homogeneous wasteland of carbon copy homes dissuade you from considering them. although he and kaykay are correct in that the rush hour commute is rough. You did mention that you would be getting to work around 6am and the northern 'burbs are easily within your stated 45 min commute time at that hour.

I'm not sure why hamiltonpl's friend's home didn't sell. There may have been some extenuating reasons. I know when we looked in the fall, the nice omes in Plano were selling within a week. The only reasons we saw houses stay on the market were when there were numerous issues or the home was over priced. We had 3 homes sell before we could see them on the day they listed, and 2 that sold within a day. We looked at over 55 homes in all, between Denton, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, The Colony, Little Elm and Plano.

The biggest issue for you would be if your hours change. Now if your interested, I made the drive from Waxahachie to the DNT entrance easily in 45 minutes and that was during the peak of morning and afternoon rush hour. Similar commutes should be possible from Cedar Hill and south Grand Prairie especially in the area around Joe Pool Lake.

The surrounding cities have vastly lower crime on average than does Dallas. But I won't knock hamiltonpl's recommendation of the White Rock Lake area, crime was relatively low in that area last year, especially when compared to the surround neighborhoods. Stay within Mockingbird, Abrams and Gaston and your only real issue is residential burglaries.

If you want to consider schools, check www.greatschools.net.

[hamiltonpl]

Sure. Check them all out. See for yourself.

Just give Dallas a fair shot too.

By GoPadge's last post, he never even looked in Dallas! He missed out on the nicest areas in DFW. I've lived in Dallas for 30 years. I've seen it all.

[GoPadge]

Originally Posted by hamiltonpl

Sure. Check them all out. See for yourself.

Just give Dallas a fair shot too.

By GoPadge's last post, he never even looked in Dallas! He missed out on the nicest areas in DFW. I've lived in Dallas for 30 years. I've seen it all.

You are right, I didn't look at Dallas. We initially wanted a rural area, with out the 70mile commute that I already had. Once we looked at what was available in the size home we wanted, and keeping my commute time in mind, we ruled out the rural areas. That narrowing of the field also ruled out east Dallas.

I think I've been fair in my assessments of Dallas. I try to be realistic when comparing it to the surrounding area. While the overall crime in Dallas is much worse that the surrounding cities, I've always commented taht overall statistics are averages, and that each neighborhood is different. I've tried to avoid discussions on areas where I have no knowledge. (Which is why I don't respond much to the single life-style questions, where Greenville Ave is the common answer.) But I also try to paint a honest opinion of the northern suburbs as I see them. And since I work, live, and attend church in Plano, I see it every single day.

I don't doubt that there are nice, safe, affordable neighborhoods in Dallas. It would be nice if everyone were as honest in their opinions of other areas.

[Lakewooder]

You are going to lose money buying a home in a fringe new suburb. Unless you plan on living there for a couple of decades you will have to compete with the builder up the street's new product which will have the latest bells and whistles (detouring your attention from the fact that it was built on a slab foundation with a cheap roof - they keep blowing off- by unskilled immigrants using glue and staples).

Look at older parts of Plano and other aging suburbs. They do not have classic homes that become vintage. They become obsolescent.

In addition the newer subdivisions have high numbers of foreclosures and mortgage scams. See Byron Harris' latest report on wfaa.com on Lake Ridge.

*I am a licensed Texas Real Estate Broker (since 1982) with a BBA from SMU in Real Estate.