Moving to Fort Worth!! (Arlington, Denton: for sale, real estate, 2009)

[alaskaty]

Hi everyone! I will be starting work at John Peter Smith Hospital (1500 S Main St, Fort Worth, TX‎ 76104) on July 1, 2009. We're looking into good neighborhoods within a reasonable driving distance of the hospital (i'd say within 15 miles, but that's not set in stone). We will be looking to buy, but renting is not out of the question. I went to interview there a few months ago and absolutely loved it!

- What are some good hospitals within 15 or so miles of JPS hospital?

Thank you!!

Jason

[loves2read]

you are working at JPS and want to know names of good hospitals in close proximity for weekend shifts?

cook's children's
harris methodist downtown or HEB
Baylor in Grapevine

[brownie03]

I think you meant neighborhoods and not homes. I'm not too sure of these areas but I've passed through them from time to time. I would say for you to look in the north area of I-35, like Keller, Sagninaw or the Fossil Creek area. Hope this help.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I personally liked living in Burleson which is South down I'35w.

John Peter Smith isn't in the best of neighborhoods itself but just down the road are several other hospitals. If you have the cash the neighborhood adjacent to Hulen and the University is really nice. Some nice old homes on large lots with grown trees.

[alaskaty]

hahaha, thanks for the replies...I meant to write:

What are some good neighborhoods within 15 miles or so of JPS (must have had hospitals on the brain!)

I will have just finished up school and my wife will be going to college, so money is definitely an issue. The only bright side is I'll be a resident at JPS and there are certain lenders that have "doctor loans" and thus will extend themselves a little further. We're definitely not looking to move into the upper crust of suburbia, but a nice safe neighborhood is ideally what we're looking for...basically some zipcodes/areas to refine our real estate search. Again, thanks for the replies.
Jason

[ChristieP]

Look at the Arlington Heights area just west of the cultural district. LOTS of young professionals live there, and the area's cute, older homes are usually very well-kept. It would be a quick drive to JPS.

[loves2read]

where is your wife going to school--

there is public tranport in FTW itself but not in the outlying suburbs at this time

if you have no children for schools to be immediate factor, I would say look at the area around downtown FTW--there are numerous developments/condos/townhouses that might appeal to you and some of them because of the slowdown have reduced prices
downtown FTW has some attractive features for young couples and is very safe--
but you don't mention your price rage--did you?
zip codes don't mean much w/o some price guidelines...

before you buy in areas like Burleson or even the Mid-Cities you really need to get feel for the environment--and your time line
if you are doing a residency--that is not necessarily a life-time commitment

I don't know if you SHOULD buy a house if you think you would set your practice up in another area...

[alaskaty]

Originally Posted by loves2read

I don't know if you SHOULD buy a house if you think you would set your practice up in another area...

My wife will be looking into master's programs, so as of now we're not entirely sure where she'll end up.

Our price range is sub 200k

My residency is 5yrs and depending on where i get a fellowship it could be 6yrs in the same area, that's why we want to buy, that and we have a big dog and NEVER want to get into an apartment again (too many bad neighbors)

We don't have any children, and probably won't start trying for at least a year and a half (if/when we left it would only be 3.5-4yrs old)

[loves2read]

well there are plenty of colleges around depending on what her specialty field is---to me that would make a difference since I would want fairly convenient drive path for going to school--sometimes (like your residency) it could involve night classes and frankly I don't like to see lone women driving at night no matter how capable they are...

how far sub is your budget...
how big a yard do you want---you are going to have no free time to take care of it from what I have heard about residencies--so a normal size yard with parks in the area might be good compromise from an acre lot...

will send you one of the best MLS sites that I have found...
has good map w/birdseye view to see the lay of the land so to speak--and observe the orientation of house/yard/streets...
also has searchable feature by sq ft cost which is valuable when comparing houses in different towns--you can see how much variety there is...

it also gives different neighborhoods in featured towns so you can see at a glance how many houses are for sale in a subdivision--that is helpful if you don't know streets but have read reports about specific areas...
there is feature to search by map if there is specific area where you want to know about available houses...

taxes are listed--
they are probably higher than you are familiar with--we pay no state income tax--so it shows up in other ways...

you can set email reminder to get notices of new listings and search for foreclosures--frankly not all foreclosures are listed in MLS straightforward...and not all houses listed with realtor are listed in MLS--
when a house goes under constract it drops out of this MLS list--mortgage less at closing...

I have never used this realtor--but I think it is a good site to gather info from...

[Awenasa]

Keller area 76248, between Denton Hwy and 35. Lots of houses for sale not sure of price range, could be good deals with the forclosures.

Where is your wife going to school?? UTA?

I agree on Harris in Bedford, Baylor in Grapevine, North Hills in North Richland Hills.