New Job w/Southwest=time to move! (Dallas, Irving: real estate market, rentals) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

jenalicious08 · 05-12-2012, 10:11 AM

Hi all- my husband just got a job with Southwest at Love Field. Yay! We are now looking for places to live. I have done quite a bit of research online and have spent only 4 days in Dallas, but liked what I did see. I need help on narrowing down a place to live. We are in our late 30's and have no kids. My husband will be working midnights and I will be attending school either in Farmers Branch or Denton during the day. We would like to rent a home with a yard for our 2 dogs and can spend up to $1200 a month. We like to go out to dinner, but mostly like to hang out in the neighborhood. We would enjoy being able to walk to affordable restaurants and parks. I visited the arboretum and liked the area. I think it's called "M" streets? Would like to keep our commutes down to 30 minutes or less if possible. It would be nice to be close to grocery stores etc... Style of house isn't as important, we like all kinds... new, old, one story or two. Size isn't as important either. We are willing to sacrifice inside space for outdoor as well as a fun neighborhood. Any info would be great!

meechi53 · 05-12-2012, 10:44 PM

Well the "M" streets are quite expensive, you won't find much house with a yard there for under 2000 a month to be honest. The good thing is that the green line train now runs right by Love field so there is always that option. The area right around Love field is cheaper but is not the best area, tends to be a lot of petty crime in that area. You may want to look a little bit further out in Frisco, The Colony or even into NE Tarrant county in the Euless/Grapevine area as that would be about a 30 minute commute for him at midnights and not too far from school for you.

jennifw · 05-13-2012, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meechi53

Well the "M" streets are quite expensive, you won't find much house with a yard there for under 2000 a month to be honest. The good thing is that the green line train now runs right by Love field so there is always that option. The area right around Love field is cheaper but is not the best area, tends to be a lot of petty crime in that area. You may want to look a little bit further out in Frisco, The Colony or even into NE Tarrant county in the Euless/Grapevine area as that would be about a 30 minute commute for him at midnights and not too far from school for you.

Agree with most of this. the M streets area would be great for hubby's commute, but not for you and I think you would be challenged to find something less than $2,000 or so.

can you lock down where you are going to going to school? If you are in Denton, you will probably want to look on the NW side of Dallas- Grapevine, Lewisville, etc. rather than the East side (M-streets). I wouldn't do Frisco as I think that would be a horrible commute for your hubby (but maybe not working midnights)

Good luck with the move.

TurtleCreek80 · 05-13-2012, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenalicious08

Hi all- my husband just got a job with Southwest at Love Field. Yay! We are now looking for places to live. I have done quite a bit of research online and have spent only 4 days in Dallas, but liked what I did see. I need help on narrowing down a place to live. We are in our late 30's and have no kids. My husband will be working midnights and I will be attending school either in Farmers Branch or Denton during the day. We would like to rent a home with a yard for our 2 dogs and can spend up to $1200 a month. We like to go out to dinner, but mostly like to hang out in the neighborhood. We would enjoy being able to walk to affordable restaurants and parks. I visited the arboretum and liked the area. I think it's called "M" streets? Would like to keep our commutes down to 30 minutes or less if possible. It would be nice to be close to grocery stores etc... Style of house isn't as important, we like all kinds... new, old, one story or two. Size isn't as important either. We are willing to sacrifice inside space for outdoor as well as a fun neighborhood. Any info would be great!

There is only 1 rental property in the MLS in East Dallas (that's the greater area between 75 and White Rock Lake, encompassing M Streets and several other popular neighborhoods) at your price point. And it's a duplex, not a house. Yes, it's a neighborhood where many landlords just stick a "for rent" sign in the yard vs officially listing with the MLS, but the bottom line is that your price point is VERY unrealistic for a rental home in East Dallas. I think you could prob find a duplex (1/2 home, either top/bottom or side/side with a shared yard) in some of the East Dallas neighborhoodson your budget - with some searching. But a house is out of the question- think more like $2000-4000/mo.

Also, a word about commuting- East Dallas to Denton is going to be 60-90 minutes, so it doesnt fit your commuting needs at all. Did you do a "test drive" while you were in town?

Places that would give you both a 30 minute commute are north-northwest "inner ring" suburbs like Carrollton, Richardson, & Irving. Honestly, I don't know if you can find a $1200 rental home there either. The cheapest one in Carrollton is $1500 in the MLS. There is one rental home in Richardson - on a major street- that is under contact for $1150 and a town home listed at $800 (but it looks like it doesn't have a private yard). These are going to be far less walk able neighborhoods than what you saw in East Dallas, too.

Bottom-line (and i'm not trying to be a "downer") is that your "wants" are not realistic for today's real estate market in Dallas. I'm not sure where you're moving from, but real estate - especially in really not neighborhoods like thr one you singled out while visiting- is expensive and rentals move quickly (my condo leased out in 1 day last fall, and for full price).

Some questions you and your husband will have to answer on your own before beginning your search:
Can you dig into your budget to get a $1800-2000 budget? That would open some more options in the in-town neighborhoods and definitely get you a nice suburban house.
Are you willing to look at duplexes vs single family homes if it means getting to live in-town?
Are you willing to drive 45-75 minutes each way to Denton? If not, you really can't look in the city neighborhoods.

Just food for thought.....

ChristieP · 05-13-2012, 07:03 AM

You definitely need to decide where you will be attending school. If its Farmers Branch, I'm assuming that means Brookhaven Community College. You would be smart to live in Dallas County to get the lower resident tuition rate. The drive to Denton from anywhere in Dallas is not fun, but at least there is now the A Train so you could possibly take the train to UNT.

I agree that the urban neighborhoods are going to be way out of your price range. You might be able to find a small house in Irving for that price, and it is an easy drive to Love Field.

jenalicious08 · 05-14-2012, 05:27 AM

Thanks so much for insight everyone! We are in Ohio temporarilywith family while we transition, but are from Denver. We are famillar with high living cost. I did do a drivability test, but you know how it is when you are in a new town... your excited, everything is new and everything has a shine to it. I've narrowed my school down to Brookhaven and it sounds like our budget is too low for M streets. Looks like we need to focus on Irving, Carrolton and Richardson. I know the walkability factor is gone for the most part in the suburbs. So are there any parts of these areas that we should focus on? Any parts that we should avoid due to excessive crime? We like diverse and don't need a cookie cutter neighborhood. Looks like we will be moving in by mid August.
Thanks again!

ChristieP · 05-14-2012, 05:51 AM

Take Richardson off. The commute to both places from there will be longer. Irving and Carrollton, and also Farmers Branch will be a lot closer to both work and school.

Squirl · 05-14-2012, 06:57 AM

If you want a house in that budget, recommend you look in Lewisville, Carrollton or Irving. All those will work for Love Field...especially Irving. You can find some rentals listed on our forum sponsor -- the great Realtor.com -- however most private landlords (those who have actual single family houses for rent) use the free sites like zillow or padmapper. I know there are some houses out there in your budget. I rent out houses in that range (no availability, sorry) and I regularly check to see what else is out there. Best of luck!!!

portorro · 05-14-2012, 10:09 AM

You can probably find a house in Midway Hollow just north from Love Field. Great area, safe, clean and maybe 2 minutes from the airport. Homes are 1950s ranch houses. People are walking with their kids and dogs out all the time.

I live there and really like it

BTW, its like 10 minutes or less from Brookheaven.