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Yes, Murphy is a 20 minute drive minimum if you want to go anywhere in Plano.
By anywhere I don't mean the little houses and apartments in East Plano. That concept is useless unless you know somebody who lives there. Otherwise you would be wanting to get out for entertainment purposes. And for that you would need to go to West Plano. Even Collin Creek mall is a good 15 minute drive, and that is the closest thing to Murphy or Fairview.
Here is an exact quote of mine from my orginal post:
Carrollton would be the more city like, but even that is only relatively speaking. Right next to Carrollton is the Addison area which is very nice and has a vibrant lifestyle perfect for families and young singles.
As you can see I mentioned that Addison is next to Carrollton which makes for great entertainment value.
And while Carrollton itself does not provide much entertainment, there are chain restaurants there. Not just Chilis. Are you sure you lived there?
They have, among other things an El Chico, various BBQ places, various Chineese restaurants, and even a feed bag..I think that is what is called. Up unti recently they had a Sambuca Jazz Cafe....and that is an upscale hangout. The only other 2 in town are in uptown and the other one is in Addison.
In any case, I also do not want to get into a pissing match....who ever coined that phrase anyway?
Oh, and by cowboy boots I truly meant the urban cowboy vairety. In fact I think it has been years since I truly saw a working ranchand with dirty boots around here. Everybody else is the "wannabe" types with their tight wrangler jeans, cowboy hats, brand new pickup trucks with a #3 decal on the back, and shiny new boots.
Many residents of McKinney are of that variety. Of course everyone of them believes they are true cowboys....whatever that means. I'm glad you think all this is funny...but don't try and provoke others on the fourms with LOLs and statements like that. We can keep this conversation normal without having to jab at eachother. If anything the original poster is gaining valuable information from two different view points.
And for that we are winners So lets keep cool my baby... And thank you Sockets I also appreciate your posts very much!
I really appreciate all the info! You all are great!
I wanted to clarify some things in order to help us all out. My husband and I have researched almost every p.d. in the metroplex. He meets the degree requirements, so we narrowed it down to the ones that intrigued us the most. We spent a weekend in the area further narrowing down the list according to what we saw, general cost of living, etc. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to see FB, McKinney, and Plano. (It seems like we saw everyhting else though!).
He is currently employed with the USDA, and we are stationed in a town of 2500 people in west TX. >We both are wanting more career opportunities, education opportunities for our kids, and more fun things to do.
We are looking for a community that offers all this, and yet isn't too fast paced.
I guess the most important factor for now is cost of living. According to the demographic web sites, the median household income for FB, Lewisville, McKinney, and Plano is $54,700; $54,800; $63,400; and $78,700 respectively. The starting pay for these dept.s is $46k, $47k, $42k, and $48k respectively. >Based on some rough figures, our housing budget will be a max of $150k. Can we find good neighborhoods on this starting budget?
***After double checking previous posts on this thread and different demographic sites, I am confused as to what is a true picture of c.o.l.! HELP! LOL***
Again, I really appreciate your help!
~Amanda
With the recent number of foreclosures, you may be able to find a good home in that price range. You would want to make sure you realtor is aware of you budget limitations. Also you may be able to find a good home that needs work in your price range if you're willing to do some renovations yourself.
I did a quick look at what's currently on the market in Plano, Allen, McKinney, Frisco, The Colony, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Ricardson and Murphy.
Moderator cut: website
I looked for home up to $150,000, 3 bedroom over 1500 sq ft. There are 45+ properties in Plano (west of 75) and 55+ in east Plano, 35+ in Allen, 65+ in McKinney, 15+ in Frisco, 65+ in The Colony (but most people will steer you away from there), 50+ in Carrollton (north of the George Bush, but again many people will steer you away), 45+ in south Carrollton and Farmers Branch, 140+ in Richardson, and 10+ in Murphy. That's well over 500 homes to choose from....
Last edited by AustinTraveler; 04-06-2007 at 11:17 AM..
Reason: No realtor websites please.
We calculated this rough budget based on his income alone. I feel confident that I can make more money in my profession in a city, but I have not been able to estimate an average. Depending on home values, property tax, and what I am able to earn, we may be able to go up to $200k.
As far as schools go....my daughter is only 21 months, so we would first be looking for reliable child care and good preschools. If the local schools are questionable, we would probably move again.
A perk with Lewisville p.d is that they help new recruits buy their house (or so we were told).
Hope this helps. You all are crackin' me up with your banter, and helping me out more than you know!
What you said about investors in Mckinney also holds true in parts of Frisco (Grayhawk being one area) as well. These investors aren't the flipper types (they actually help resale, you see more flips in dallas proper and places like Austin). The bad investors are the 'buy a block of homes, put the bare minimal upgrades in, rent them for 3-5 years at a small profit then sell" types. This creates rent districts and tarnishes the image of the area.
In Mckinney, that's why I stayed away from Craig's Ranch - the price vs. rent there is very attractive to investors. In general, there are certain builders that sell out to investors, DR Horton being one of those that is most guilty of this...Bowen is known for this in Frisco as well as DR Horton. There is another area just to the left of Custer north of 121 that's right around the golf course (name escapes me). That area is also known for investor owned properties.
Higher end builders build there reputation (which allows them to in turn charge a premium) around solid upscale and very consistent (i.e. they avoid mixing with builders on the lower end) communities, so they do everything they can to not sell to investors.
Also, in any area if 10% down produces an Interest Only mortgage (plus taxes) that's equal to or less than what rents go for in the area, then you will always run the risk of seeing alot of rentals in the area. Investors love the DFW market for this very reason. Personally, that's why I felt it was necessary to jump up to the next tier of housing that is closer in the 300k range. Once you hit 275-350k, the rental incomes do not pencil out as well on paper. Above that number, you get into luxury/exec rentals and a different knd of investor/renter plays there, so it is not as detrement to the area.
Embraer - Cowboys in Mckinney ???? Where ? I'm there several times a week watching my house get built and Mckinney people don't look much different from those in Allen, Frisco, etc. Heck, my kids keep asking me to see a cowboy and the closest I can get is some kid with gift store cowboy hat in the airport.
There is an article in todays Dallas Morning News about the foreclosures in the Dallas area (you can find it online at dallasnews.com). Be leary of some foreclosures as it is stated in this article and what I've seen firsthand they are not always the best deal. If it is in an area that does not have a HUGE number of foreclosures the banks are not going to undercut the prices by much at all. Some of these homes need tens of thousands of dollars of work just to make them habitibal. I know of one near me that FINALLY sold and for over $100K more than I would have given for it. I've been inside the house and what it was listed for was FAR from fair considering the extensive damage to the home. The fair market price for the home in great condition would have been near $500K. When it first went on the market it was listed at $389K "as is". They finally dropped it to $360K and just recently to $315K. The amount of work needed easily exceeded $100K if one could not do ALL of the work themselves. It was gutted including all cabinets, lights, fixtures, everything and not by taking them out easily as they were yanked out of the walls and ceilings by force and left huge gapping holes in the walls and ceilings. The a/c units were gone as were all the pool equipment and all wiring was ripped from the walls. It was MESS! We had talked about getting it and flipping it but there was just way too much work to be done and the price was way too high to be able to even come out a dollar ahead. Granted this price range is not the norm for most foreclosures as is stated in the article and one can see just by looking online at homes for sale that are foreclosures.
Another thing on foreclosures is you have no knowledge of previous problems w/ the property as there is no sellers disclosure as required for all homes sold since the bank has no knowledge of problems or repairs.
If you can do all of the work yourself and plan on staying in the house for a long time then you may be able to find a foreclosure that will work for you.
What you said about investors in Mckinney also holds true in parts of Frisco (Grayhawk being one area) as well.
In Mckinney, that's why I stayed away from Craig's Ranch. In general, there are certain builders that sell out to investors, DR Horton being one of those that is most guilty of this...Bowen is known for this in Frisco as well as DR Horton. There is another area just to the left of Custer north of 121 that's right around the golf course (name escapes me). That area is also known for investor owned properties.
Also, in any area if 10% down produces an Interest Only mortgage (plus taxes) that's equal or are less than what rents go for in the area, then you will always run the risk of seeing alot of rentals in the area. Investors love the DFW market for this very reason. Personally, that's why I felt it was necessary to jump up to the next tier of housing that is closer in the 300k range. Once you hit 275-350k, the rental incomes do not pencil out as well on paper. Above that number, you get into luxury/exec rentals and a different knd of investor plays there, so it is not as detrement to the area.
So true, so true. A year ago we had a house by use up for lease and I said if they get that price you'll see a "for lease" sign in my front yard FAST! LOL!! We do not have any rent houses at all in our neighborhood and that is one reason, it is the market that is out of most renters price range. If your going to be spending over $5K a month on rent most likely your going to be buying instead. As for the house by use, it did not lease and the guy kept it. He has several houses all over the world and only has this one as he comes to Dallas a few times a year and would rather stay in a home than a hotel. Okay. I know the person that "house sits" the house for him and it is VERY well taken care of so I don't mind this house being by us at all.
Those areas you mention that have been attracting all of these "investors" have really been getting attention lately in the news. Hopefully the developers and builders will wake up to this problem and stop it. I know some areas in Austin and San Antonio don't allow investors to buy in their developments as it only ends up hurting the market. I think a lot of them are finally seeing that they are not making the money they thought they could in rent and ditching them. One guy had something like over 10 houses for foreclosure in McKinney recently. Not good at all. Notice you don't see the "we buy houses" folks as much as a year ago.
Right, they come in and buy 2-3 of them, then try to rent them, when they can't their LLC claims Chapter 11 and another one is opened up to try a new set of houses.
I know about where you live in Firewheel, and that is a nice area. BUT, you can't say all of Garland is that nice....not even a large percentage of it.
Again, people like you prove what I've been trying to say all along. Do not buy the cheapest thing you can find and expect any appreciation. Start in the middle of the pack and try to go up as high as you can until the pain starts.
AmandaLMT - I think you could get some very decent "starter" type homes in either Plano or McKinney. (Other places too, but based on what you've said I think these two might be good choices for you guys.) The houses at that level would probably not be real large but I think you could get something pretty nice. Our last house in Plano was very small (about 1500sq. feet) We sold it for $126,000. This was 3 years ago. Again, it was small but it was about 15 years old, brick, in very good condition, really cute house. (We wouldn't have left it except we wanted something larger!)
We calculated this rough budget based on his income alone. I feel confident that I can make more money in my profession in a city, but I have not been able to estimate an average. Depending on home values, property tax, and what I am able to earn, we may be able to go up to $200k.
As far as schools go....my daughter is only 21 months, so we would first be looking for reliable child care and good preschools. If the local schools are questionable, we would probably move again.
A perk with Lewisville p.d is that they help new recruits buy their house (or so we were told).
Hope this helps. You all are crackin' me up with your banter, and helping me out more than you know!
Amanda
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And thank you Sockets 
I also appreciate your posts very much!
budget
