First job out of college in Grand Prairie, need help (Dallas: apartment, rent)

[mattman10]

Wondering where to live. I'll be buying a house, trying to move fast to take advantage of the tax credit if I can.

I'm curious about commute times. Specifically driving north from Mansfield, Watsonville, and the Joe Pool Lake Area (Mira Lagos, Grand Peninsula). And also driving south from Euless, Bedford, and maybe Colleyville? Any advice on which is better? Driving north or south? Which areas are nicer?

I'll be working right off of 303 (Pioneer), a few miles east of 360.

I'm not familiar with the area at all. I've never lived in the DFW area, and have only visited a small number of times. I've been looking at houses online in the areas I listed above. I've also driven around the Joe Pool Lake area, looking at houses, and I really liked it. I'd just like to know about commute times. It's my first "real" job, but I already know I'm going to hate commuting. So I'm hoping it's not too bad.

Any advice on where to live in terms of which neighborhoods ya'll would suggest would be nice too. I'm looking for something in the 155-175k range, 3 bed, 2 bath, 1700-2200 sqft. Just to give an idea of what's in my head. I may be too particular, but if this makes anyone think, "Oh, yeah _____ would be a great place for you", please let me know. I'm not that big of a partier, so I don't need a huge night life or anything. Just a nice safe neighborhood, preferably houses that are no older than 20 years or so. I'm 22, white, male, like sports, the outdoors, and just relaxing with family and close friends.

Let me know if anything else about me would help ya'll help me.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

[loves2read]

frankly I think buying a house to take advantage of tax credit after you are barely out of college is a little risky--how do you know you are going to be at this job for next few years--what if you get better offer in different part of the country
are you willing to risk taking a loss on selling your house to take advantage of tax credit now?

plus buying a home takes time--yard work and other maintenance--and it puts you into a different demographic--mainly families vs singles
are you ready for that when you are moving to new area where you don't know anyone initially?
buying a home requires a life style adjustment

that being said---
my daughter lived at home in Bedford and taught at Arlington elementary school right off 360 just past I 20 about 5 yrs ago before she married...
that commute took her about 20-30 min in the morning and about the same in the afternoon...
360 can be a beast when there is accident--hard to go around wrecks lots of time and stretches w/o exits
and a lot of traffic going each way pretty much during commute times...and traffic has gotten worse since she stopped making the commute I am sure--no other road to offset the load...

Arlington has lots of restaurants/bars/entertainment with Cowboys and Rangers
Grapevine too
Sundance Sq in FTW is great attraction and certainly driveable for weekend fun as is Dallas
if you are anywhere in the middle of the metroplex
Manfield is close but more limited in what it has to offer

will PM a great MLS site to check houses

[ChristieP]

I agree that you should rent for a few years before buying a house. You might find out that this job isn't so great and decide to change to a new job in North Dallas...and end up with a 1+ hour commute. And, as L2R says, houses require a lot of upkeep and maintenance. Personally, if I was 22 again, I would be renting an apartment/townhome for at least a couple of years!

[Squirl]

Best bet would be driving opposite traffic as far as commute to the location you identified. So, driving south and west in the morning and driving east and north at night is a more favorable traffic pattern. Euless is a good location for you. North Grand Prairie is good for traffic pattern, don't know about investment.....

I'm not your mommy and you didn't ask for advise so no comments from me about if you should buy now or not.

[mattman10]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm certainly not interested in houses just because of the tax credit. I've thought about it for a while, and I really just can't seem to justify paying 1000 into an apartment or townhome every month and have nothing to show for it. If possible I'd like to build up some equity in something. I'm aware that a lot of responsibility comes with a house, and I think I'm ready for that. My older brother bought a house in San Antonio a few months after graduating from college and he's really enjoyed it. We're very similar, in many respects.

Potentially selling the house at a loss just seems like a better option than guaranteeing a loss by paying into something I'll never build equity in (apt, townhome, etc.)

Again, thanks for the responses though. From them, it sounds like living north of GP would be the best bet. 360 also sounds like a mess. Previously, I was looking the hardest at the Joe Pool Lake area. I'll have to expand my search. Thanks for your input Squirl! And I'll check my PM for that link L2R, thanks!

Any other replies would certainly be appreciated!

[Mckellyb]

I understand not being able to justify renting. I understand it 100%. Whenever we've rented, and it's never been for more than a year at a time, it killed me to effectively kiss equity money goodbye.

Be aware, due to the positively stupid lending "practices" of the past decade, unless you're going to put a very large chunk of cash down, on a $170K place, probably putting $70K down, without a decent amount of time on-the-job, you're not likely getting a loan.

We just purchased, two weeks ago, a place for $165K, put down enough to leave us with a $100,001 loan to finance, the extra dollar does make a difference, and even having absolutely no debt, whatsoever, 20 years of work experience, a bachelors, and credit scores in the 800's, there were those who were surprised we were granted a loan because I've worked for my employer only about 9 months. "Those" were people in the lending industry, FWIW.

You're quite correct, 360 is a complete and utter disaster.

[mattman10]

Yikes, the lending business doesn't sound too good. If that's the case, I may be able to have my father cosign for me. I can put down a decent down payment on my own, and I think you can even use the 8k from the tax credit towards a down payment (not sure on that one), but I definitely can't do 60k. Haha.

Thanks for the response! Any additional insight into why/when 360 is a disaster?

[Squirl]

its a nice drive from Las Colinas to North GP now on 161 South! about 7 minutes from 183 to Hwy 30.......

[Squirl]

I think you can only use the $8k at down payment time vs. credit on your 2010 tax return is if you buy a HUD home. Not absolutely certain about that....

[Mckellyb]

Hwy 360 is a mess because it's undersized, the interchange with I-30 dates back to the turnpike days and was never really 'fixed', and because it's the only N/S road between the I-35's. Yeah, east loop 820 goes N/S, as does Walton Walker/Spur 408, but those don't really count because they're so far from the county line (Dallas/Tarrant).