Leaving Cold Weather (Dallas, Fort Worth, Richardson: for sale, foreclosures, new house)

[jaguar240]

In the summer, we are moving from Chicago to the Dallas area. The Mansfield area has gotten our attention. We want a highly educated rated middle school for our 12 year old son and he plays basketball year round and is currently playing on an elite travel basketball team as point guard. Our budget would allow up to $250,000 for a single story, 3 bedroom home... wife and son are requesting a home with a pool. I am in property management and my wife is a elementary school teacher. We noticed on Zillow, there are a lot of foreclosed homes for sale in the Mansfield area. We would like any helpful information anyone could give us ... thank you in advance for your help.

[ChristieP]

You both need to find jobs before you decide where to live. Like Chicago, DFW is HUGE, and commutes here can be really long. For example, if you got a job in North Fort Worth, or in Richardson, you'd be facing absolutely horrible commutes. There are good places to live all over DFW.

Your wife will need to check on getting her Texas teacher's certificate before she starts applying for jobs.

Mansfield is OK. It started to be developed about 10 years ago, and was just farmland before that. Some of the infrastructure still hasn't caught up with the development, so some roads are too small for the amount of traffic they handle, and traffic can back up at main intersections, etc. The property taxes in Mansfield are higher than in some surrounding areas, which may be one of the reasons there are more foreclosures there than in other areas. MLS too the houses there are less than 15 years old since the area is recently developed. The schools are middle-of-the-road suburban schools. There are better districts, and there are worse.

Buying foreclosed property definitely doesn't come with risks. Remember that the DFW economy wasn't hit as hard as some other areas, so some properties were foreclosures for reasons other than job loss. You can get a relatively new house, but it may not have been taken care of properly and may have foundation problems as a result. If you did find one with a pool, you would want to have that thoroughly inspected to make sure there aren't major problems.

[jaguar240]

Thanks Christie...yes, we are aware of the teacher's certificate requirements. What subdivisions would you recommend near Brooks Wester Middle School boundary lines and do you know of any good travel AAU basketball teams in the Mansfield area? Thanks for your information.....

[ChristieP]

I don't know enough about Mansfield and its school feeder patterns to recommend specific neighborhoods. Sorry.
And I know nothing at all about kids' basketball teams.