Am I being realistic? On the great home hunt for McKinney/Allen/Frisco etc (Dallas: 2014, rental)

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

International Baccalaureate program offered:
Wylie - NO
Allen - YES
Denton Guyer - district's program housed at Denton HS
McKinney - NO
McKinney Boyd - NO
Plano - district's IB program housed at PESH
Plano East - YES
Plano West - district's IB program housed at PESH

You're forgetting about McKinney's IB school... also open to Frisco, Prosper, Allen, Celina, and Melissa as primary applicants. Plano, Little Elm, etc in the "transfer boundary" are accepted if there are open spots.

Welcome to Imagine International Academy of North Texas | Imagine International Academy of North Texas

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

You're forgetting about McKinney's IB school... also open to Frisco, Prosper, Allen, Celina, and Melissa as primary applicants. Plano, Little Elm, etc in the "transfer boundary" are accepted if there are open spots.

Welcome to Imagine International Academy of North Texas | Imagine International Academy of North Texas

Good point. I was thinking only about ISD or campus run IB programs but obviously McKinney ISD probably won't ever pursue IB because of Imagine's location.

[JTC Mom]

I want to take this seriously but, honestly...your children are living in a dangerous neighborhood full of drug activity, and yet you are reticent to move to a safe neighborhood because the local school only offers two foreign languages?

I applaud you for wanting the best for your children but some of the priorities you describe seem very off. Focus on getting your children to an environment where you and they feel safe. If that means you live in an apartment for awhile, so be it. If you end up having to change schools once...they really will be fine! They are only in kindergarten...so easy to make nee friends at this age.

Your children are lucky to have such a loving parent. Move to a safe environment that works for now and then give yourself time to sort out where the "best" place to live is. Good luck!

[MobiusStrip]

It's a typical poor small Texas town, I guess, and I live in one of the questionable parts. Heck, maybe they are all questionable parts. I also lived here when my little ones were tiny and in the .2 miles between my house and my sister's lived two sex offenders. Husband of a woman I am friendly with is on the registry too (sex with a young teenager when he was in his 20s, I think). The grandkids of the nearby drug dealers play over here often. I guess you adjust to your surroundings. :/ As far as Wylie, I am allowed to think "et tu, Brute?" but am not writing them off. Am just disappointed.


I have moved so many times since having my kids...I hate another move for just a year or so. I hate to keep renting and have to move yet again. This is our fifth home since they were born though the first one they were only in briefly (first 4 months they were in the NICU) as it was foreclosed on during my pregnancy so even if I'd wanted to stay in Virginia, it would have meant moving. Second house was here. Third was the one in Fort Worth I moved to without a lot of time to choose and was not happy in. Moved when lease was up to quiet nice neighborhood. Then was allowed by work to move back here so did a couple of years back because I wanted my mother and children to have all the time they could together. Four moves in five years as a single mom with two kids and too much crap. When I move again, I want to feel settled. Moving is way too disruptive to us all and the thought of a temporary move again is soul-crushing.


So obviously I have to adjust my dreams. Either live further north/east from Plano or consider Boerne, where I can get assistance with buying (why Boerne? Seriously, that one stumps me but maybe someone here can explain) if I can suck it up and move so far from my mother, who has rapidly worsening Alzheimer's but treasures visits from my kids (even if she forgets we were there five minutes later). The thought of Midlothian, Grandfield etc...I dunno. I will have to investigate further.

[TurtleCreek80]

I give up. You're considering Boerne (which is what, a 6 hour drive ffom Wichita Falls and in the middle of nowhere, job-wise) but you won't look at Mansfield and Arlington. This thread defies all logic.

Good luck. You need it.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Once she said she made $100k and couldn't afford a 5% downpayment on a $200k home is when I gave up. I think she's better off renting.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

Once she said she made $100k and couldn't afford a 5% downpayment on a $200k home is when I gave up. I think she's better off renting.

True. And probably not a great idea to take out your first mortgage at age 52 either.

[MobiusStrip]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I give up. You're considering Boerne (which is what, a 6 hour drive ffom Wichita Falls and in the middle of nowhere, job-wise) but you won't look at Mansfield and Arlington. This thread defies all logic.

Good luck. You need it.

Why doesit defy logic? Kendall County is the only one I can get assistance on the down payment and I believe a yearly tax credit as well. So of course that is a draw, and the hill country is too. I grew up nearby. We'd only get to see my mother one a month instead of twice a month but it would be a nice drive. Arlington - no. Never. It's too big and the crime rate is too high. Mansfield I am not sure about. I really prefer to live closer to Plano. Living on the south side and having to drive to Wichita Falls - I doubt I could take that drive more than once a month so surely you can see why Boerne has a greater appeal.

[biafra4life]

Wylie would probably work price wise, but I personally wouldn't buy in Wylie for at least a year. Something like 80% of all homes in Wylie were hit by and substantially damaged by the March and April hail storms. I would wait till all repairs and replacements were complete otherwise sellers may just dump it all in you.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by MobiusStrip

Why doesit defy logic? Kendall County is the only one I can get assistance on the down payment and I believe a yearly tax credit as well. So of course that is a draw, and the hill country is too. I grew up nearby. We'd only get to see my mother one a month instead of twice a month but it would be a nice drive. Arlington - no. Never. It's too big and the crime rate is too high. Mansfield I am not sure about. I really prefer to live closer to Plano. Living on the south side and having to drive to Wichita Falls - I doubt I could take that drive more than once a month so surely you can see why Boerne has a greater appeal.

A coworker of mine who also wants to buy a house says that Plano has some sort of down payment assistance program. Also look into NACA.