Relocating from Tucson to DFW (Dallas, San Antonio: real estate, car registration, insurance)

[mocktrial]

Hello all, I have a job opportunity in the Plano area and had some questions before I scout out the area. A little about me first... Wife and I are in our mid 30s, both college educated and military veterans. We own a horse and appreciate our privacy. My hobbies include shooting, hunting, fishing, camping, offroading, etc. We also enjoy fine art/museums, libraries, learning new things, etc. I work in IT and my wife stays home.

I'm thinking to live more around the FW side than the Dallas side simply because suggestions from friends/co-workers who are TX natives. They say FW has a more "Texas" feel than Dallas, is this true? I'm a huge BBQ enthusiast and usually wear western boots. I have visited Austin a year or two ago and got a very CA vibe from it and it did not feel like we were in TX at all! Not that it was a bad thing, but perhaps my expectations were not correct.

Wife and I are looking for something more rural, but not 2 hrs away from civilization. Our budget would be $400k MAX, preferably $350k and our dream house would be an acre or more so we can have our horse on our property. I'm also willing to commute up to an hour to Plano for work. We have a 5 yr old so decent public school is important, too. We prefer trees and landscape vs flat terrain with no trees.

And please don't mention that it gets hot in TX, we're used to the heat in AZ and during monsoon season, the humidity matches that of DFW or worse. In addition to that, I've been in San Antonio during the month of June and handled it just fine once you acclimate.

Will we enjoy FW? Does what we're looking for exist or is our budget way too low? My only other option is to stay in Tucson, but we're pretty burned out with what Tucson has to offer families. It's stale here and the only things growing are cookie cutter neighborhoods, restaurants, and movie theaters. We're usually forced to make the 2 hour drive up to Phoenix to have fun.

Thank you!

[stan4]

Ok.

Ft Worth to Plano is not a reasonable commute by any stretch of the imagination. I know bc I occasionally have to do it. And there is no good time of day and there is no traffic situation that makes that better.

Rural + horse/acre + good school + not 2 hours from "civilization" + your budget = not going to happen

[mocktrial]

Originally Posted by stan4

Ok.

Ft Worth to Plano is not a reasonable commute by any stretch of the imagination. I know bc I occasionally have to do it. And there is no good time of day and there is no traffic situation that makes that better.

Rural + horse/acre + good school + not 2 hours from "civilization" + your budget = not going to happen

Appreciate your response. If we gave up the 2 hours from civilization, where would be looking? And what if we increased the budget?

Are there any areas ~1 hour from Plano that would suit our needs?

[stan4]

Originally Posted by mocktrial

Appreciate your response. If we gave up the 2 hours from civilization, where would be looking? And what if we increased the budget?

Are there any areas ~1 hour from Plano that would suit our needs?

Several friends of mine have properties like you describe north and east of the Denton area.

Here is a cool site: Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney TX real estate | Horse Property

Gives you some Denton, Collin, and Rockwall County properties.

[mocktrial]

Originally Posted by stan4

Several friends of mine have properties like you describe north and east of the Denton area.

Here is a cool site: Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney TX real estate | Horse Property

Gives you some Denton, Collin, and Rockwall County properties.

Thank you so much for the link!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by stan4

Ok.

Ft Worth to Plano is not a reasonable commute by any stretch of the imagination. I know bc I occasionally have to do it. And there is no good time of day and there is no traffic situation that makes that better.

Rural + horse/acre + good school + not 2 hours from "civilization" + your budget = not going to happen

Agreed. I know about a half dozen people who live in Collin County (where Plano is, OP) and went to work for a competitor based in downtown FW over the years. Only 1 lasted more than a year because of the brutal commute and that 1 person ended up negotiating a relo package to move to FW.

OP, my suggestions are as follows:

1. If your work is located on the east side of Plano (along 75):
- Focus on the stretch east of 75 from north McKinney through Anna, Melissa, and up to Van Alstyne. Schools range from average to above average.
- Also look out east towards Heath and Rockwall though your budget will not stretch as far there. Better school quality though.
- Beware a lot of the small towns. I'm sure it's the same in Arizona, but small town/ rural Texas isn't always quaint and "Texas-y". A lot of the towns east of Plano are very poor and have a lot of drugs flowing through. Princeton is known as a haven for sex offenders- they all congregate there once they're released from prison. Just do your homework.....

2. If your work is located on the west side of Plano (along Dallas North Tollroad):
- Look north up the tollroad to Celina and maybe Gunter.
- Look northwest towards Aubrey & Pilot Point. A lot of ranches up that way along with properties zoned for horses. Aubrey and some surrounding towns zoned to Denton ISD which is going to be stronger than a lot of the rural districts. Not sure how far your budget will go here though.

[mocktrial]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Agreed. I know about a half dozen people who live in Collin County (where Plano is, OP) and went to work for a competitor based in downtown FW over the years. Only 1 lasted more than a year because of the brutal commute and that 1 person ended up negotiating a relo package to move to FW.

OP, my suggestions are as follows:

1. If your work is located on the east side of Plano (along 75):
- Focus on the stretch east of 75 from north McKinney through Anna, Melissa, and up to Van Alstyne. Schools range from average to above average.
- Also look out east towards Heath and Rockwall though your budget will not stretch as far there. Better school quality though.
- Beware a lot of the small towns. I'm sure it's the same in Arizona, but small town/ rural Texas isn't always quaint and "Texas-y". A lot of the towns east of Plano are very poor and have a lot of drugs flowing through. Princeton is known as a haven for sex offenders- they all congregate there once they're released from prison. Just do your homework.....

2. If your work is located on the west side of Plano (along Dallas North Tollroad):
- Look north up the tollroad to Celina and maybe Gunter.
- Look northwest towards Aubrey & Pilot Point. A lot of ranches up that way along with properties zoned for horses. Aubrey and some surrounding towns zoned to Denton ISD which is going to be stronger than a lot of the rural districts. Not sure how far your budget will go here though.

Thanks for the information, that helped a lot!

You're absolutely right about the small/rural towns in AZ and TX. Not exactly welcoming to outsiders and not the best schools.

I just checked the location of where I would work and it is along the Dallas North Tollroad and Sam Rayburn Tollway. I'll check out the places you recommended. If we have to, I can increase the budget to $450-500k, but I'm hesitant to do this since a lot of other costs are unknown, i.e. toll road costs, homeowner's insurance, car insurance, car registration, etc. In AZ we don't have toll roads and all of those other costs are extremely low (except car registration which is insane here) since there are no major natural disasters here besides being in unforgiving heat 6 months out of the year.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by mocktrial

Thanks for the information, that helped a lot!

You're absolutely right about the small/rural towns in AZ and TX. Not exactly welcoming to outsiders and not the best schools.

I just checked the location of where I would work and it is along the Dallas North Tollroad and Sam Rayburn Tollway. I'll check out the places you recommended. If we have to, I can increase the budget to $450-500k, but I'm hesitant to do this since a lot of other costs are unknown, i.e. toll road costs, homeowner's insurance, car insurance, car registration, etc. In AZ we don't have toll roads and all of those other costs are extremely low (except car registration which is insane here) since there are no major natural disasters here besides being in unforgiving heat 6 months out of the year.

Car registration is not that bad. Tolls will add up.

Property taxes for a $500k house can easily be the 5 figures.
Now you can offset that by having a cow, I hear...

I think your bigger problem here is the lack of a really good way to get to DNT and 121 during rush hour from BFE.

[mocktrial]

Originally Posted by stan4

Car registration is not that bad. Tolls will add up.

Property taxes for a $500k house can easily be the 5 figures.
Now you can offset that by having a cow, I hear...

I think your bigger problem here is the lack of a really good way to get to DNT and 121 during rush hour from BFE.

I thought toll roads never have traffic!

Just kidding, I know toll roads are a necessity in TX. When I was in CA the toll roads were literally empty and you could do 100 mph on them all day.

So humor me this, if we sold the horse, what places would you recommend? I'm not against communities, but I am against HOAs. (I know I'm asking for the world here, just testing the waters and seeing what's out there)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by mocktrial

I thought toll roads never have traffic!

Just kidding, I know toll roads are a necessity in TX. When I was in CA the toll roads were literally empty and you could do 100 mph on them all day.

So humor me this, if we sold the horse, what places would you recommend? I'm not against communities, but I am against HOAs. (I know I'm asking for the world here, just testing the waters and seeing what's out there)

To help you budget,
Tolls- if you commute from the north end of the toll road to Legacy exit (1 south of 121), it's $4/day round trip or about $1k per year.
Car registration - about $100/car per year including the required state inspection
Car insurance - depends on your driving record & cars.
Home insurance- budget $2500/year for about $400k of home & contents replacement value
Property taxes- budget $10k/ year for a $400k value home (2.5% of purchase price...some areas are a little lower rates, but 2.5% is a safe estimate for budgeting)

Tollroads are not empty here. Expect bumper to bumper for most of your rush hour commutes. What they are is the only highway option in many parts of the metroplex.

HOA's are almost impossible to avoid as the majority of newer construction neighborhoods (which comprise the majority of Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen & other suburbs within 30-minute commute of your job) are all HOA's. You either have to move closer into the city of Dallas or farther out to rural areas to avoid them.