Renting a house in Plano, Farmers Branch, or Addison? (Dallas: for sale, apartments)

[Mr.Bungle]

Sorry for making a new thread. I've been browsing the site for about a week since we found out we're moving to the Dallas area from the Los Angeles area.

My wife and I are in our late 20's and moving due to my wife's job. Her office is in the Farmers Branch area on LBJ Hwy at Dallas North Tollway. We've been looking at Plano, Addison, and Farmers Branch.

We really want to rent a small house for under $1000 a month (impossible out here in the L.A. area!) We're sick of apartment living, but will do it if we can't find a good house and have to deal with apartments for a bit. I guess my main concern is that being unfamiliar with the overall areas, we want to make sure we'd be renting in a good, safe area.

Where are the "sketchy" areas that we should avoid? I don't want to have to worry about my car getting broken into if I park it on the street and things like that. I grew up in the safest city in america for several years, so maybe I'm naive or spoiled. Ideally the shortest commute for her would be nice, but right now she's commuting 30 miles each way, so anything less than that.

Thank you for the input. We will be taking a trip mid november to look at places and we will be limited on time, so hopefully, your input on areas to avoid will make our house hunting trip worth while. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
-Bungle

[loves2read]

check out a crime map for the different cities in that area--you can get a feel for what type of crimes are reported--
some areas are worse for vandalism vs burglary vs theft

you could consider the Mid-Cities which would be a reasonable commute--Hurst/Euless/Bedford/Grapevine--north of 183 is usually considered more desireable area--
Carrollton might also be possibility but some parts of Carrollton have undesireable pockets--my son lived there in apt complex for couple of years--had his car stolen from parking lot

around here we don't usually worry about miles but time factor--drive time to/from work--some drives can be longer but take same time as shorter ones in more congested traffic

realtor.com is site that has rental properties as well as for sale
check it out and see some of the property management firms
you can also check Craig's list for rental homes

the FTW paper has few choices from what I have seen for rental properties
maybe Dallas is better and both are on-line

[UTDGraduate]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bungle

Sorry for making a new thread. I've been browsing the site for about a week since we found out we're moving to the Dallas area from the Los Angeles area.

My wife and I are in our late 20's and moving due to my wife's job. Her office is in the Farmers Branch area on LBJ Hwy at Dallas North Tollway. We've been looking at Plano, Addison, and Farmers Branch.

We really want to rent a small house for under $1000 a month (impossible out here in the L.A. area!) We're sick of apartment living, but will do it if we can't find a good house and have to deal with apartments for a bit. I guess my main concern is that being unfamiliar with the overall areas, we want to make sure we'd be renting in a good, safe area.

Where are the "sketchy" areas that we should avoid? I don't want to have to worry about my car getting broken into if I park it on the street and things like that. I grew up in the safest city in america for several years, so maybe I'm naive or spoiled. Ideally the shortest commute for her would be nice, but right now she's commuting 30 miles each way, so anything less than that.

Thank you for the input. We will be taking a trip mid november to look at places and we will be limited on time, so hopefully, your input on areas to avoid will make our house hunting trip worth while. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
-Bungle

Addison seems match with your age and near the workplace of wife. There are several healthy entertainments and luxury restaurants between Beltline Rd and Tollway. Young people usually converge on this place on weekend for dining out, hanging around, dancing and entertainment.

I recommend stay away from the South side of HW 635 within Dallas city limit if you dont wanna be affected by naughty environment.

[lakehighlands]

Addison is naughty. It's full of naughty things(many bars, drunks, and drugs) I would not feel safe walking down Beltline late at night in Addison. I would stay away from Addison as I don't like naughty things.

[lakehighlands]

But seriously, check out Richardson, specifically the Richardson Heights area. Last I looked, there are a few homes under $1000 for rent in the vicinity. Your wife would not need to get on a major highway to get to work and you would be centrally located to a lot of the Dallas area.

[nsumner]

All 3 cities are pretty pricy when it comes to a decent rental home.

You can't rent a house in Addison for less than 1500 or so. May be get a condo around 1K. Richardson would be very limited too, there are only 3 on the market right now. East Plano has also 3 on the market.

Another place to look for rentals is Craigslist. Many investors manage the properties themselves and don't use a Realtor for rentals. You may get lucky.

Naima