moving to Dallas area from rural Ohio (Fort Worth, University Park: buying a home, buying)

[rich and bran]

Our family is looking into a huge move. My husband has been offered a great posistion in his field, but we have to move very very far from family and our hometown. Neither of us are very familiar with the area. We are in dyer need of becoming more informed about the area so we can prep ourselves and our young kiddos.
We will be looking into buying a home with a small amt of land, but we have very little idea of where to even begin other than using realtor.com.
We are curious of the average weather- being from Ohio we are used to warm summers and cold winters- what should we expect in Texas? How about the school systems? Currently we have a prschooler and a 1st grader that go to a small, but excellent public school. Which schools offer small classroom sizes in the Dallas area?
Any information is good information! Thank You!!
Brandi and Rich

[getmeoutofhere]

You can forget about cold winters, and just expect a less-hot version of summer.

Dallas is exceptionally spread out, so people will need an idea of budget, and where his job will be in order to offer suggestions.

[GayleTX]

Do you know where his workplace will be in Dallas? There are a number of small towns that are an easy commute to certain parts of Dallas but not all. What will your budget be for a home?

[FarNorthDallas]

Texas has a law that K-4th grade classrooms can only have 22 kids in them. Sometimes schools apply for waivers to go over that, but it's usually just 1 or 2 kids and it's usually for a good reason.

Consider where the job is located before deciding on an area to move to.

[GuitarPlayr]

A less hot version of summer? Not sure what areas of Ohio you have been to but it is not near as hot as Dallas.

Keep in mind Dallas and Fort Worth are rather large so where your husband works will probably have an impact of where you want to live. Traffic can get a bit busy here.

Winters are nothing like Ohio. Snow is rare but does happen and the city shuts down due to ice. I remember it snowing in Ohio in October and not seeing grass again until March. No worries about that here. Summers are a beat down though. Temps usually above 95 every day with humidity. It is not uncommon to be in the 100-104 degree area for a week before it drops back into the 90's.

Housing down here is cheaper than Ohio from what I have seen. No state tax here but your property taxes will more than make up for that. Expect 1.95%-3% for your property taxes.

[DFWNewHomeSpecialist21]

Where will your husband be working and what is your price range?

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere

You can forget about cold winters, and just expect a less-hot version of summer.

Dallas is exceptionally spread out, so people will need an idea of budget, and where his job will be in order to offer suggestions.

I think the above in red was typed in error. You can expect a much hotter version of summer in Dallas.

The winters don't compare in coldness to Ohio, but it can get cold, in the teens and 20s, although those cold days are short lived. Ice and snow are rarities, but they do happen once in a great while. I love it.

Try the web site, Lands of America.com. It's pretty cool. You can search by state, region, or county (maybe even city/town ... I can't quite remember).

I have a friend who lives near Cleveland. She used to live next door to me and she will tell you she misses Texas because of Ohio's cold winters, but she does not miss Texas because of the brutally hot and often very humid summers we have here.


Good luck to you and may you find Texas to be a place you'll love.

[getmeoutofhere]

I meant that they can forget about a cold winter, all winter here is is a less-hot version of summer.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere

I meant that they can forget about a cold winter, all winter here is is a less-hot version of summer.

Oh, okay. I'm sorry.

[rich and bran]

we are looking in the $150-200,000 range and his office is in town...on Walnut Lane seems to be just north of University Park. thanks for the info and website leads. ill be sure to check em out. also GREAT to know about the student-to-teacher ratio of 1:22 in TX. thx!