Compared to California, inexpensive housing and abundant employment (Dallas, Reno: house, landscaping)

[FarNorthDallas]

Californians have been coming to Texas long enough that many of them have already returned back to California.

[Debsi]

Not me and DH, we remember our California roots very fondly, but we are proud to be Texans now!!

[LAnative10]

I would have never left Cali, but circumstance kept me from being there.

I love living in Dallas and its home now. But it was tough to leave the place I grew up. Fortunately, the culture shock in Dallas has been zero. There is lots to do here and all kinds of people here too.

[pappy97]

Originally Posted by nomore07

Here's my perspective... there is more to life than 3000sf houses, home theaters, 100Mbps FIOS, insane commutes, and school rankings.

It's not an insane commute, period. At the very least, "insane" is a matter of a opinion and you are entitled to yours and I am entitled to mine. The thing is, I am sharing my perspective as a CA transplant to other CA transplants, not to people who have been in DFW forever who somehow think 25 miles is an extreme commute.

If I had it my way, I'd have everything I want and live in the SF Bay Area. But right now jobs are not plentiful there and I need to leave. Leave family and friends and the gorgeous bay area, so in that respect we will be miserable. Getting things that we want but would never have in the Bay Area (a house, a big house, a newer house, a home theater, and FIOS internet) eases the pain of being in a place we don't want to be. I don't see why the native DFWers don't understand that.

[pappy97]

Originally Posted by lakehighlands

Why should you stay away from any area that feeds to Garland schools? What is the basis for this statement?

Tons of real estate agents and other people have said stay away from Garland schools. They claim Plano is much much better and Wylie is better. I really don't care because it's a non-issue for me, just telling you what multiple real-estate agents and others have said to me.

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by pappy97

Master = 14 x 16
Bdrm 2 = 16 x 12
Bdrm 3 = 13 x 12
Bdrm 4, 5, 6 = 14 x 12

Plus a room for home theater and 14 x 11 study. Builder was Centrex (Birmingham Farms subdivision in Wylie).

Not bad IMHO. Even better when you consider it's just my wife, myself, and our cat.

I realize this is a personal decision - but I never understood why 2 people need 6 bedrooms and 3600 sq ft. Seems wasteful to me.

My wife and I have 2576 sq ft (cat, too - and he loves every square foot). We struggled with getting even that much home. We were qualified for well over double what we spent - but couldn't really understand why we'd ever need any more than we got. With 4 bedrooms, we have one dedicated to an office, one dedicated to guests (or MIL if that is ever a necessity), one if we decide to have a child and then our master. We won't ever outgrow this house. I couldn't imagine what to do with any more space. Heating/cooling it and furnishing it just so we can spend more time cleaning it seems soooo unnecessary. But, again, that's a very personal choice.

Brian

[pappy97]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

I realize this is a personal decision - but I never understood why 2 people need 6 bedrooms and 3600 sq ft. Seems wasteful to me.

My wife and I have 2576 sq ft (cat, too - and he loves every square foot). We struggled with getting even that much home. We were qualified for well over double what we spent - but couldn't really understand why we'd ever need any more than we got. With 4 bedrooms, we have one dedicated to an office, one dedicated to guests (or MIL if that is ever a necessity), one if we decide to have a child and then our master. We won't ever outgrow this house. I couldn't imagine what to do with any more space. Heating/cooling it and furnishing it just so we can spend more time cleaning it seems soooo unnecessary. But, again, that's a very personal choice.

Brian

As to that issue, yes it's a very personal choice. I just explained our reasons for moving and how we don't really want to move but are doing so for job/career.

In conducting our initial home search, we started with this:
MUST: A/C (but that's everywhere, we know), Verizon FIOS, house built this decade
Really want: Dedicated Home Theater (Media) room
Would be nice: 4000 or more sq ft, pool, gameroom in addition to HT room.
Price: Under $275k ideally, could go as high as $350k

So we found a house that fit that in every respect in Wylie. We found others that fit that in every respect too in Murphy and Plano (but those were in the 300-350k range). We liked those a lot too but decided to go below our means with the Wylie house. Asking $219,900 and the sellers were horrible. They have had the house on the market for almost year, changed agents, and are in no hurry to part with the house since they own it outright (no mortgage) after buying it at foreclosure auction. They don't even live there and never had plans to live there. Tons of offers come and they reject with no counter. Were under contract with another family for $224k but that family got cold feet. (Before you say anything, remember the median income in Wylie is around $75k. People are stretching their budget to live in these homes.)

With us we offered $200k + closing costs and they rejected, no counter. We upped the offer to $220k + closing costs and said take it or leave it. They responded by saying $220k + only half of closing costs and we walked away from them because we are trying to get into the house with as little out of pocket as possible and we were tired of their games.

So our buyers agent gave us a bunch of suggestions and we fell in love with the 3600 sq ft house. No pool, a bit smaller, but still had HT, FIOS and was built this decade. Also lower price was nice and the sellers worked with us.

I know people keep talking about too much house, but if we play that game, nobody really needs mansions either. We saw some nice listings for some mansions all over the DFW metro. But nobody needs that much space. Yet people still want them.

Nobody needs large SUV's either. Nobody needs Escalades and Hummers (civilian use). Nobody needs Ferraris or Lambo's either.

I can go on and on. Point is, most people (including the bashers here I suspect although they may not admit it) don't only restrict everything they use to their bottom line need. We go beyond that. Some of us slave at our jobs so we and our family can enjoy nice things. Some of us want large SUVs or fast cars we don't need.

And others want ridiculously fast internet, a true dedicated HT room and a ridiculously spacious house.

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by pappy97

I know people keep talking about too much house, but if we play that game, nobody really needs mansions either. We saw some nice listings for some mansions all over the DFW metro. But nobody needs that much space. Yet people still want them.

Nobody needs large SUV's either. Nobody needs Escalades and Hummers (civilian use). Nobody needs Ferraris or Lambo's either.

I can go on and on. Point is, most people (including the bashers here I suspect although they may not admit it) don't only restrict everything they use to their bottom line need. We go beyond that. Some of us slave at our jobs so we and our family can enjoy nice things. Some of us want large SUVs or fast cars we don't need.

And others want ridiculously fast internet, a true dedicated HT room and a ridiculously spacious house.

That's why I said it's a personal choice. We have WAY more home that we need also. Sounds like you are living within your means, which IMO is the most important piece.

By the way - we have the best kind of pool.... the neighbor's! LOL!

Hope you enjoy your new place.

Brian

PS: I reallly wish we could get FIOS here - I'd change in a hearbeat. In my professional life, I operate a large backbone network, so I'm a huge fan of fiber optics.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I am not here to get on anyone for wanting to live in a home larger than they need, or point out that a smaller home is better. I know people living in 5,000 square feet 3 story homes on the beach with more room than they will ever need. What ever makes one feel happy, and if they can afford the lifestyle then by all means do what you want. I have enjoyed reading the many comments that were helpfull. Was good to see an example of COL for the area. I do think the house size issue is funny. Always thought that people in Texes were proud of the fact that everything is bigger in Texes. Wouldn't that mean everyone would want large homes. This is just me joking around, because it seems funny to me. lol.

As far as schools go chances are you may have better performing schools than we have in California anyway. Even in California the joke is that if someone does something stupid it can be blamed on the fact that they are a product of the California educational system. I always figured that when the parents were involved with the kids education the kids get more out of it anyway and chances are that even in a poor school the kids will do better with parental involvement.

[Dallas native]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Always thought that people in Texes were proud of the fact that everything is bigger in Texes. Wouldn't that mean everyone would want large homes.

Perhaps some Texans think that way, but that's mostly a stereotype. I'll take a well located smaller house with lower utility bills and less maintenance any day over a McMansion.