Transferring to Dallas - where to build a house? (Plano: 2015, HOA fees)

[Ggoodlife]

Hi all -

As has been asked by many people, I'm looking for opinions on where to build a house.

Ok - background. I am moving to Dallas in the next couple months with my job (white collar mid level exec type) and I am trying to decide where to live (we want to build a house). We inludes me, spouse, 2 kids both under 4.

What we want is nice suburbia golf / master planned / open space type neighborhood where we could be the smallest cheapest house in the neighborhood. But have relatively large house (3,000 sq ft, about $450-500k) on about 1/3-1/2 acre lot potentially backing to golf / lake / park / tree space /woods.

From what I can tell this seems to be Southlake, but I'm not sure if that is too far from my office (Richardson). The park cities would be appealing but are probably too urban / too small of lot and/or house for our price point.

Anyhow, what are everyone's thoughts?

[PrincessKick]

Dont think you can build in Southlake for that price. Even existing homes might be a stretch given your land requirements.

[Big G]

Twin Creeks in Allen would meet just about all your specs except lot size, and would be a reasonably short drive down Central Expressway to Richardson.

You can get bigger lots in Parker and Murphy, but then you're giving up the golf course.

If commute is critical, there is new construction going up in Richardson itself.

[CREW747]

Southlake is great, but a rough commute from Richardson.You will not be able to do a new build in that price range.The next best suburb in that price range and your work location ( especially for a new build,we did the same thing & chose Prosper over Southlake due to job locations in Plano & Frisco ) would be Prosper.Many new builds are currently going up.Check out....

- Gentle Creek ( a golf course community )
- Deer Run
- Whitley Place
- Willow Ridge

[skids929]

Allen is a good suggestion, and depending on where in Richardson you might add McKinney and Richardson to your list. McKinney would be a great place for a new build in that price range and it's downright pretty up there.

[ChristieP]

Southlake to Richardson would be a horrible commute; I'd guess close to an hour each way.

If you were willing to look at existing homes, there are many that fit your criteria in Plano and Richardson. Both of those cities would be a very easy commute. But since you want to build new, you are going to have to look much further out and have a much longer commute.

[Squirl]

Glad you eliminated Park Cities. Even the lots are over your budget, you'd have to live in a tent.
Be sure you can afford taxes on your new home as you plan. Expect to pay about $14,000 a year in taxes and insurance on a $500K home. Then, if you are in golf course community, expect to pay HOA fees. Don't forget to plan for $350 a month on utilities, too.

[mami2emily]

Originally Posted by Ggoodlife

The park cities would be appealing but are probably too urban / too small of lot and/or house for our price point.

Anyhow, what are everyone's thoughts?

You would be spending at minimum $500k just on the LAND to build on in the Park Cities. There are a few empty lots here and there. But we see a lot of the smaller/older homes getting torn down so owners can build new. You are looking at at least $1-$1.5 million for new construction.

[Ggoodlife]

Thanks for all the info so far.

We wouldn't be against buying an existing home, but would prefer to build. The neighborhoods in Parker look nice, but I wonder if they are too far out....of what I'm not sure. Seems like we should try to be within a half hour of three things - downtown, office, and DFW.

If this all sounds contradictory - that's cause I'm not sure what to do. We just want a nice upscale neighborhood with a nice house that is smaller / cheaper than it's neighbor houses

[Squirl]

Originally Posted by Ggoodlife

Thanks for all the info so far.

We wouldn't be against buying an existing home, but would prefer to build. The neighborhoods in Parker look nice, but I wonder if they are too far out....of what I'm not sure. Seems like we should try to be within a half hour of three things - downtown, office, and DFW.

If this all sounds contradictory - that's cause I'm not sure what to do. We just want a nice upscale neighborhood with a nice house that is smaller / cheaper than it's neighbor houses

Since you are interested in a house smaller/cheaper than the others I am suspecting someone has given you advise regarding resale. If you are in fact concerned about buying a house that will be most likely to be attractive for resale, I suggest you also consider:

*Location -- strongest driver of resale in the DFW area
*School District -- 2nd strongest driver
*Commute -- our traffic is so difficult you really need to understand the impact on your lifestyle so pick carefully