Buying in DFW Are now? (Dallas, Fort Worth: real estate market, apartment, rental)

[jsjs]

I currently live in San Diego, CA and love it there. Don't mind paying state taxes since I know it's a luxury to live in a place li *****. I am a veteran and currently working in Afghanistan as a Contractor which has allowed me to save some money. I am looking to buy a house in Arlington because it's located between Dallas and FT. Worth and I don't know yet where in DFW I'll be working in 2-3 years.

I'm looking to buy in OCT/NOV time-frame and would like to rent the house out for 2 years until I'm done being overseas. Would buying now be the right choice or should I wait 2-3 years? Will housing price go up in the Arlington Area? I'm buying now, not really because of interest rates but don't want to pay more for housing in 2-3 years.

Thank you!

[ChristieP]

Rent to own in Texas is usually a scam. You would do better to just rent another house or an apartment, and then buy what you want. It's hard to say what the real estate market will do in the next 2-3 years, or even what your own financial situation may be like then.

Yes, Arlington is centrally located, but that still doesn't make it a good choice for commuting throughout DFW. If your job is located in Plano, or the Alliance area, commuting from Arlington will be awful. Arlington isn't known for the best public schools, either.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Rent to own in Texas is usually a scam. You would do better to just rent another house or an apartment, and then buy what you want. It's hard to say what the real estate market will do in the next 2-3 years, or even what your own financial situation may be like then.

Yes, Arlington is centrally located, but that still doesn't make it a good choice for commuting throughout DFW. If your job is located in Plano, or the Alliance area, commuting from Arlington will be awful. Arlington isn't known for the best public schools, either.

You read OP's post backwards. He/she wants to BUY a house now and rent it out until he/she moves to DFW in 2-3 years.

OP, I would recommend NOT proceeding with this plan for a number of reasons:
1.Being an out of state (or out of county) landlord is incredibly tough. You'll need to 1) hire a management company to handle day-to-day maintanxe issues with your tenants and collect rent and 2) feel 110% comfortable that your tenant isn't trashing your future home and that your property management company is 100% on top of things. Property management companies usually take about 10% of your rent as payment.

2. You don't live in TX now and there's no guarantee you'll actually move here or get the right job here in 2-3 years time. It's not worth the gamble to *maybe* save $10-20k on a house.

3. Arlington IS smack in the middle of Dallas and Fort Worth, but it's really far from a lot of the DFW job centers like Richardson's 75 corridor or the Legacy corridor in North Plano. If you ended up living in Arlington and commuting to one of these two areas, your drive would be approx 50-75 min each way, every day, plus expensive tolls ($100/mo). Wait until you 1, have a job and 2, know where it is and how long you want to drive every day before buying anything.

The reward is simply not worth the multiple risks in the scenario you proposed.

[jsjs]

I was looking to work for Dallas or Ft. Worth PD? Wouldn't the drive me around 30 mins each way? Would it be worth to save on State Taxes?

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

There is no state income tax in TX. Property taxes are pretty high compared to many places. Traffic is a nightmare at the usual commuting times. Forget what google says is the time to drive anywhere.

[RonnieinDallas]

Originally Posted by jsjs

I was looking to work for Dallas or Ft. Worth PD? Wouldn't the drive me around 30 mins each way? Would it be worth to save on State Taxes?

The Horseshoe Project is about to start, and the Dallas sub stations are scattered all over. The commute from Arlington to Dallas could take a really long time depending on accidents and construction delays. It also depends on what shift your assigned too. Some Police Departments have residency requirements, Fort Worth is one of them. Dallas Swat also requires you to live within 25 minutes of work. I wouldn't buy a house in Arlington unless it was in excellent condition and WAY below market value, the schools aren't great and it's far away from the major job centers in the north side of the Dallas metro.

[ChristieP]

I agree with TC and Belle that this is not a good idea.

Sorry i read your situation backwards. If you want to use a VA loan to buy that house, you may NOT use it for a rental property. That's prohibited, and you can be forced to refinance to a conventional loan if you are caught! Also, you always have to be prepared for the potential of the tenants trashing your property.

Yes, PDs require officers to live within 30 minutes of their station, so Arlington likely won't work for either Dallas or Fort Worth PD as it is certainly more than 30 minutes away from NE and SE Dallas, and from north, west and SW Fort Worth.

[jsjs]

Thanks for the help!!!