west Allen or East plano, murphy, east allen. first time home buyer young couple on budget , please advise? (Carrollton: rent, neighborhoods)

[Patrick_Midwest]

Hello everyone, I and my wife in late 20s recently moved to the area and looking to buy our first house together. Since we are first time buyers and relatively new to DFW , we cannot make up our mind after reaserching and visiting lot of communities and hearing different different feedbacks from friends and collegues. Here is our situation and/or priorities. We do not have kids yet and only looking to buy new houses.

Priority in high-low order
1) Resale value: I think we are just buying a first time to get to the 2nd house in future and avoid paying rents untill we do that. Also, we will stay have our 1st home should situations change and we cannot buy something larger.
2) Schools: This is really more of a desire than a need and priority # 1 is driving this since we dont want to be in less desirable school district and later find poblem selling this or have long DOM. Also we are planning to have kids in a year or two.
3) Staying under budget ( $360K most ): I and my wife both are working and make decent money , we really can quilify and afford expensive new houses but that does not mean we should buy it, we are very risk adverse.
4) Proximity to North Richardson , Carrollton and maybe Las Colinas, preferable commute time less thab < 30 min.
5) Price per sqft: this is more of a question than a priority. We definitely dont want to buy something in our budget but smaller. I think for new houses in today's market i am looking at around $120-140/sq ft, is that accurate?

Based on above, what cities/neighbourhoods or any other advise you would suggest? After visting some communities and some research online , looks like i need to concentrate on Allen ( West Allen from resale and DOM perspective ) , is that accurate statement?
Also, I am looking to stay in 2400 sqft to 2800 sqft range and $120-140 price/sq ft if it is feasible? Some of the communities i liked in allen are on mcdermott road and it looks like i am getting 3-4 bedroom , 3 bath , 1.5 stories in $360s.
Thank you in adavance!

[coltseaver]

I'm sure the Realtors will chime in on #1 (and #5), but I suppose it would be determined on how long you plan to stay there. Murphy's resale value might be higher than the others 10 years from now. My guess would be Allen would give you the higher resale value. With your price range, Murphy/E. Plano probably put your kids in the same schools, at least for now. Either way, both Allen and Plano East schools are good. I would guess the majority would say Allen first, but I assume there will be at least another high school there by the time your kids are that age, so that could change as well. For now, Allen will probably get you to 75 quicker depending on how far east you go, but regardless, 30min. to Richardson should be do-able. You're not getting to Las Colinas in 30 min. during rush hour. If you're further south in E. Plano closer to George Bush, then maybe. West Plano would probably cover your entire list, but not sure what new development is in that price range and though I'm not in the market, I would guess they would have a higher price/sq. foot than any of your other options.

[TurtleCreek80]

1st, it's "my wife and I", not "I and my wife"....Major grammar pet peeve.

2nd, since you're so new to the area, rent for 6-12 months so that you can explore neighborhoods and be confident in your buying decision. It's not throwing away money on rent; it's ensuring that the biggest financial decision you've likely ever made is a great one.

3rd, Do you both have jobs yet? Because you listed three commuting destinations. Based on Carrollton and Las Colinas in the mix, I'd recommend the Castle Hills area of Carrollton. It's zoned to great public schools (Hebron HS) and is poised for prime appreciation due to the Nebraska Furniture Mart development on 121, two new HQ's (Toyota & FedEx) going into the Legacy West development, and Hebron's continued climb up the school rankings. Not sure you could get to north Richardson in 30 minutes, you'd have to drive it and time it via Bush.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

3rd, Do you both have jobs yet? Because you listed three commuting destinations. Based on Carrollton and Las Colinas in the mix, I'd recommend the Castle Hills area of Carrollton. .

Yes during normal drive times this is a very long commute to Las Colinas from the Allen area.

OP also what are you willing to pay in daily Tolls? That can add up quickly.

[Patrick_Midwest]

Apologies for annoying grammar mistake . Wife works from home and I work in Carrollton for now. I mentioned Las colinas and Richardson because there are few employers out there where I might be working in future. Thanks for the adding another option Caste Hills, it seems like less congested and more breathable space.

[Patrick_Midwest]

Originally Posted by Rakin

OP also what are you willing to pay in daily Tolls? That can add up quickly.

I am willing to pay up to 40-50 dollars a month for toll. I go to office 3 days a week for now, but it could get up to 5 days a week in future. If my priorities are met then toll money should not be a big of a hurdle.

[andalusian]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

1st, it's "my wife and I", not "I and my wife"....Major grammar pet peeve.

"I and my wife" is perfectly correct, if less common than "my wife and I." It places more emphasis on the "I," which can be useful in certain applications. "My wife and I" is considered more polite, perhaps, but this is not a grammatical issue. I would agree that "I and my wife" is less appealing to the native speaker's ear.

Apologies for the tangent!

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by andalusian

"I and my wife" is perfectly correct, if less common than "my wife and I." It places more emphasis on the "I," which can be useful in certain applications. "My wife and I" is considered more polite, perhaps, but this is not a grammatical issue. I would agree that "I and my wife" is less appealing to the native speaker's ear.

Apologies for the tangent!

Former English major here -> every style manual agrees that the first person pronoun (I, me) is always placed last in a compound subject or object.

[coltseaver]

There's actually a lot more grammatically wrong with the OP...just sayin'

$50/month in tolls AND a 30 min. commute from Allen to Las Colinas is not possible, (assuming you work in the office 5 days a week.) With a TollTag, you're looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $145-$150/month, (3 days would be $90ish.) You could knock it down closer to $100 by driving through Plano some, but your entire 30 min. would be spent just doing that. If things stayed the same and you worked in Carrollton 3 days/week, you're still probably going to need to budget for at least $100/month in tolls. This all depends on where you work in Carrollton though. If you work over by Hebron, you could avoid the tolls all together. Also consider the use of tollways for non-commuting purposes.

[bamaintex]

Originally Posted by coltseaver

I'm sure the Realtors will chime in on #1 (and #5), but I suppose it would be determined on how long you plan to stay there. Murphy's resale value might be higher than the others 10 years from now. My guess would be Allen would give you the higher resale value. With your price range, Murphy/E. Plano probably put your kids in the same schools, at least for now. Either way, both Allen and Plano East schools are good. I would guess the majority would say Allen first, but I assume there will be at least another high school there by the time your kids are that age, so that could change as well. For now, Allen will probably get you to 75 quicker depending on how far east you go, but regardless, 30min. to Richardson should be do-able. You're not getting to Las Colinas in 30 min. during rush hour. If you're further south in E. Plano closer to George Bush, then maybe. West Plano would probably cover your entire list, but not sure what new development is in that price range and though I'm not in the market, I would guess they would have a higher price/sq. foot than any of your other options.

I wouldn't expect another high school in Allen in my lifetime. (And my kids are in an Allen elementary school.) Maybe our new superintendent will change things, but I have heard no rumors of new schools except for elementary. The only thing I have seen being considered is expanding Allen High School and the Freshman Center. They don't want to dillute the football talent pool and with our stadium situation, I don't think that will change.