Where do I start? Relocating... (Fort Worth, North Richland Hills: truck rental, apartments, rentals)

[threelilpiggeys]

I skimmed through tons of posts. Man I could be on here all day looking! So I'm throwing out my "reloctatin" post as well I guess.

So far I gather that Aledo, Weatherford, Keller, and North Richland Hills are what I may be leaning toward. My husband is in the Financial Advising business so he'll be working in Fort Worth. Don't mind a commute but would hate for it to get past the 30 min. mark. I think it may get there with these cities though.

Schools majorly important to us. We have a 3,4, and 5 yr old. And our 4 yr old needs services for OT/PT which a school has to provide, I just want to make sure they are GOOD. Love some recommendations on good private Christian schools.

We are planning on renting for the first year. We live in Omaha, Nebraska now and I think your prices are comparable. We'd like to stay in the 8-$900 range if possible for a rental home.

I'm up for suggestions! We'll be flying out there once we get the contract on our house finalized so I need to get my act together before then. Thanks.

Oh and we're non-denominational Christians so we'll be looking for a great church too. In our early 30's if you cared.

Rebecca

[Eric S]

I only have a wee bit of advice. I think that if you are financing the move yourselves (not being moved by a corporate office), just try to be fully aware of the costs that you will incur. Moving a family comfortably is very expensive. I'm not going to offer detailed financial advice - since that's your husband's biz - but make an estimate of out of pocket costs and try to have double that amount saved up. If you plan to eventually purchase a home, I'm guessing that you will have much more ready money than you'll need - I hope.

As far as home rentals go, I haven't seen any acceptable 2-bedroom apartments that rent for below $1100 a month. I'm not sure what the home rental picture is. I do know that lots of homes are for rent in the North Richland Hills area, though. I really approve of that town, although I disapprove of 820 which gets you there. I like NRH.

Wow. Good luck on your relocation. For my family, it was a great adventure. It has certainly brought us closer together as a family unit. I moved my wife, toddler son and newborn daughter here from NJ a year ago this coming November. What really sticks out in my mind is the amazing amount of money we went through each month of our time in corporate housing (a company move). We got most of those monies back, but were 100% responsible for paying all the up front costs. Let me tell you it is the most money I have ever spent in my entire life. It was like buying a small car - cash - every month (I still have each and every receipt, including fast food purchases). I would hate to see someone land in such a situation w/o the necessary financial resources. I can definitely see costs spiraling out of control for someone who isn't prepared.

Good luck.

BTW, there's definitely no shortage of churches around these parts....

-Eric

[threelilpiggeys]

I'm not sure I quite understand the costs you are talking about? We will stand to be bringing close to $6K in cash with us easy with our house sale, but even with our rental truck and two months rent that leaves us plenty to stock the fridge, start electricity, etc. I've moved a lot before. Never had problems, even with a lot less money? I'm confused Eric.

I heard great things about NRH. What does 820 stand for?

I've so far seen some really decent houses for $850-$1000 for rent. Seen a few cheaper but not sure about neighborhoods. I should post some addy's on here and see if you guys know if it's a good neighborhood once we get closer to moving. Should be around the end of November, mid December time.

Love the advice, hope to have to keep coming!

Rebecca

[Endzone]

Bethesda Community Church has an excellent school, and the church is located just south of interstate I-820 and Beach Street. I'd insert some pictures, but my photo share site is down right now.

Calvary Academy is also a very good school and is part of Calvary Cathedral International located just off I-35 about 2 miles north of downtown Ft. Worth.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by threelilpiggeys

I'm not sure I quite understand the costs you are talking about? We will stand to be bringing close to $6K in cash with us easy with our house sale, but even with our rental truck and two months rent that leaves us plenty to stock the fridge, start electricity, etc. I've moved a lot before. Never had problems, even with a lot less money? I'm confused Eric.

I heard great things about NRH. What does 820 stand for?

I've so far seen some really decent houses for $850-$1000 for rent. Seen a few cheaper but not sure about neighborhoods. I should post some addy's on here and see if you guys know if it's a good neighborhood once we get closer to moving. Should be around the end of November, mid December time.

Love the advice, hope to have to keep coming!

Rebecca

I'm sure others will chime in here, but I have a couple of comments: 1-I don't think you will find much for $800 to $900 a month, regardless of what you have seen on the net. Are you looking at Renters.com or Craigslist? Please do not depend on anything you see on Craigslist. As for NRH, sorry, I do not share your views. of course if you are putting kids in private school that is different. I still would be more inclined to look in Keller or Roanoak for starters.

Nita

[Eric S]

Originally Posted by threelilpiggeys

I'm not sure I quite understand the costs you are talking about? We will stand to be bringing close to $6K in cash with us easy with our house sale, but even with our rental truck and two months rent that leaves us plenty to stock the fridge, start electricity, etc. I've moved a lot before. Never had problems, even with a lot less money? I'm confused Eric.

I heard great things about NRH. What does 820 stand for?

I've so far seen some really decent houses for $850-$1000 for rent. Seen a few cheaper but not sure about neighborhoods. I should post some addy's on here and see if you guys know if it's a good neighborhood once we get closer to moving. Should be around the end of November, mid December time.

Love the advice, hope to have to keep coming!

Rebecca

Our situation may have been a little different, but not much. It may be the distance we had to travel that made such a difference. Here are some things that we needed to budget for:

Moving an entire household, including two cars and two small children meant that one of us hit the road days in advance to make for a soft landing in DFW. I took the SUV, an overhead storage container, our two pets along with everything that wouldn't be going in temporary storage with me on the road. I needed to make arrangements for keeping the pets, pay for hotels along the way and pay up front costs related to the furnished apartment waiting for us in DFW.

In the meantime the rest of the family had to stay behind to get the house moved into the moving van and final preparations for leaving it on the market there - they also needed a place to stay before boarding the plane and joining me in DFW the same day I would be arriving by car. We didn't believe that small kids over a three day road trip would have made for a comfortable transistion.

There was also the other car that needed to be transported. A friend drove that one for us by another route and I paid for his hotels and air fare back to NJ.

Upon arrival, car ispections and registrations ran about (roughly) $500 (I'm looking at the receipts now). Even transferring my insurance required up front money - even though a lot of it was refunded. That's the way it goes... if you want to do things right.

No matter how much stuff you bring with you, you will need to make a few trips to Wal-Mart and Home Depot to get things in order. Oh, I forgot the maintenance to make sure the cars were road ready!

Fast food - it's easy and convenient and expensive. Between visiting insurance agents, realtors, home builders and kid's naps, we were on the go to prepare the family for days w/o me when I started work and began to need to travel (for the office). For me being safe and secure means planning for every possible contingency (insurance, etc.)... All of this while paying the mortgage and other costs associated with the home we left behind.

Episodic day-care? Emergency room visits (kids)? Holidays (we arrived just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas)?

Your mileage may vary.

I moved several times when I was single. Those moves mostly involved throwing stuff away and moving on. This was my first big move with a whole family and entire household that I was responsible for... and that - no two ways about it - is an expensive undertaking.

Again, we moved from NJ. Your move isn't very distant.

Good luck.

820 is a terrible highway that loops around Ft. Worth. It's nothing but a traffic jam between I-30 and 183/121 where it reaches NRH. There is at least one death on it per week.

Let me leave on a positive note: Once you're settled, you'll never regret relocating to the DFW area.

Be well. Your questions are very welcome.

-Eric

[Endzone]

It is expensive to move--even for a single guy. There were a few times when I would throw in the car what I would need to work in Seattle for a few years. I did this off and on for about 10 years. You figure at least 2,000 dollars you have to front just to get there and pay a months hotel in advance. I know the truck rentals are expensive for long moves.

Regarding I-820, only about 1/4th of it is bad and that is the section north of I-30 on the east side and east of I-35 on the north side. For some reason the city planners in their wisdom have refused to increase that section of I-820 to 3 or 4 lanes like most of the rest of I-820 is. The busiest side of Ft. Worth (NE side) has only 2 lanes. It's been like this for 15 years, and nobody ever seems to question why.

[hypocore]

Originally Posted by Endzone

It is expensive to move--even for a single guy. There were a few times when I would throw in the car what I would need to work in Seattle for a few years. I did this off and on for about 10 years. You figure at least 2,000 dollars you have to front just to get there and pay a months hotel in advance. I know the truck rentals are expensive for long moves.

Regarding I-820, only about 1/4th of it is bad and that is the section north of I-30 on the east side and east of I-35 on the north side. For some reason the city planners in their wisdom have refused to increase that section of I-820 to 3 or 4 lanes like most of the rest of I-820 is. The busiest side of Ft. Worth (NE side) has only 2 lanes. It's been like this for 15 years, and nobody ever seems to question why.

Because we all know why. Basically because none of the cities involved would agree with each other regarding funding, timing and placement and since the government wouldn't fund it either it's just sat there. That whole section you describe runs through....Richland Hills, Hurst, North Richland Hills, Haltom City and Fort Worth. Pretty much the rest of 820 runs through only the city of Fort Worth, so they didn't have to deal with other city governments.

[threelilpiggeys]

Thanks for all the great feedback. We go to Calvary Christian church here. I wonder if Calvary school/church is similar ? Ours is non-denominational. We probably won't be able to get into private school mid year so we'll try for first grade.

We're planning on making the trip in 1-2 days. I don't even know the mileage yet, I'm affraid to look from Omaha to Fort Worth! LOL Thank God for DVD players in vans! We will be doing the Uhaul (or what ever truck) and I'll be driving our van. No third car if we can help it. We're trying to sell it now. Hope it does sell!

Should be the most interesting trip we've ever made that is for sure! The longest trip we've ever taken with our three kids is 4 hours each way, in ONE day!!! I think they'll be okay. I'm praying.

Rebecca

P.S. I called the Ft Worth police dept to get an idea of crime rates, they were no help except to tell me about www.crimemapping.com Man if Fort Worth's crime isn't scary I don't know what is!! We are staying out of the city and only going to the north of it or possibly Benbrook/bedford. I forgot which. Yikes.

[bcody]

I live in Willow Park, just west of Fort Worth and my kids go to the Aledo schools. The Aledo schools are great. I have no experience with special needs in the schools so can not comment on that. There are a couple of private, christian schools in the Aledo area, and a TON of churches. There is not much available for rent, and what I have seen that is is not the best.

Aledo is a great community, BUT it does not have a police department, the Parker County Sherif has one man patrol the area. There are a lot of house break ins, but not much for violent crime. Willow Park, Hudson Oaks and Weatherford have there own police. Weatherford is huge and covers a wide range of space. Depending on where you are it could be a very long commute.

It costs a lot to get a car on the road here, and car insurance was more expensive here then we paid in MA, property taxes are also very high.

Keller is suppose to have excellant schools, just another area for you to consider. I do not know much about that area though.

Good Luck.