Moving from Torrance, CA to Mckinney. (Dallas, Plano: broker, home, purchase)

[iberanon]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I would be wary of signing up for that kind of commute even 3 days a week on a $70k salary. The fastest route is all tollroads at a cost of $10/day, and it's still going to be at least 60 minutes each way during rush hour. $1500/year in tolls (not to mention extra gas, oil, tire wear, etc) is a big burden on your salary. Can you afford to spend 3-4% of your take-home pay on additional commuting costs?

Also, don't forget AC and heating cost, depending on the house can add another $2000+ easily.

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

I remember a new poster about 3 or 4 yrs ago who moved here from southern India and was sure he would not need a car b/c he was used to heat. Within a month, he was asking for advice on buying a used car. Heat here is brutal at times.

Its nothing like the heat and humidity of Singapore. Even Houston is not as hot or humid as long as Singapore and its not even close.

[JVDZETA]

A lot of great info!

Summers in Philippines were no joke either! Hot and humid and big ol bugs everywhere!

Well the upside is that in maybe 2 years I can be permanent at the Frisco satellite office. I gotta put in my time with the commute.

The sad part here in LA is that even by taking the bus or metro it still takes longer as well.. Theres not even a metro line parallel to the 405 which would easily kill commute times but like Dallas, LA is a car culture...

[iberanon]

Is 70k for two people working? That seem low to me.

[JVDZETA]

Originally Posted by iberanon

Is 70k for two people working? That seem low to me.

Well...my wife is part time to take care of the kids...but we made it pretty well on that income here in California.

And...I didn't iclude my drill pay and disability because we don't even use it to live off...

[sunnyday1001]

We moved here from Southern CA (Ventura County) about 2 1/2 years ago so feel free to message me with any questions. We moved to Frisco for my husband's job and we haven't regretted it for a minute! The only thing I miss about CA are my friends. I think you would really like it here. McKinney is pretty, but I would also look at Frisco. Actually in your price range, you might find more house for your money in Little Elm. There are parts of Little Elm that go to Frisco schools so it's a great compromise.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by sunnyday1001

McKinney is pretty, but I would also look at Frisco. Actually in your price range, you might find more house for your money in Little Elm. There are parts of Little Elm that go to Frisco schools so it's a great compromise.

The problem with Little Elm is that for their budget, they are only going to find homes on extremely small lots, like .12-.15 acre. Frisco was known for being bad about that for a long time, but now with new development springing up everywhere, it makes Frisco's .16-.20 lots look downright big in comparison.

[sunnyday1001]

That's true about the smaller lots. Although my friend was looking at houses there and one of them had a really big lot. I have no idea where it was, except that it backed up to some waterway. But you're right- it's harder to find decent lots there.

[Runnn]

Originally Posted by TheotherMarie

The commute. My husband works in the Love Field area, off hours (not 9-5 Mon-Fri).
We love McKinney. Very pretty area. But he won't move there because, even driving off-hours, the commute could be 1 hour each way.
We're originally from California too. We thought our property taxes were high there.
Here, you can be looking at 2.5-3% as the norm for property taxes. (Look out for PID and MUD taxes. They seem to take the place of Mello-roos, etc., here.)
Summers are a bummer, but do-able. What I miss is the cool evening air in California. It doesn't cool down at night here.

Well stated. I've lived in OH, MI, TN, Houston and now DFW, and the property taxes in TX are the highest of anywhere I've lived. OH has lower property tax, lower housing prices but state income tax. TN has higher sales tax, lower housing prices, lower property tax, and no state income tax. MI has high housing prices, state income tax, lower property tax and lower sale tax. Houston has lower housing prices (compared to dfw), but more traffic, lol.


All things considered, TX is the most expensive placeI've lived besides MI, mostly because of the high property tax, higher vehicle insurance and higher transportation costs. The property tax hit in all the larger metro areas of TX is real and unpleasantly surprises many who move here to chase, supposed, cheaper housing.


Most expensive state for auto insurance: Texas #13
Most expensive state for home insurance: Texas #3
Most expensive state for property tax: Texas #6


We love living in TX as we've been here since 2001, but we don't mind the heat (yes, it is a different kind of heat too) as we came here with eyes wide open! However, NEW residents need to understand that TX is a much more expensive place to live than consistently reported.

[JVDZETA]

So we pretty much took everyone's advice on here and decided on the pros and cons.


We took a week vacation up in Dallas and spent about 4 days looking. At houses and getting to know the Mckinney area during Memorial Day week. My wife and I totally felt at home already!! The realtor we talked to drove us around and just made it feel like home already! We looked at about 15 houses in Plano and Mckinney and we settled in Stonebridge. We just put up an offer for a house and it got accepted and we are happy!

I tried the commute from Love Field to mckinney in the afternoon and to me it was ok. The morning. Commute was bearable as well. It wasn't LA traffic for sure! I just gotta get used to the toll roads...but no biggie. Plano was looking real good but the spouse wanted more of the Mckinney feel in the end.

The heat was what we expected as well but the surprising amount of rain and the change in weather from one morning to the afternoon where it was hot as hell then became a soggy rainy mess....

We move up there starting July so can't wait! I feel like I'm on vacation in California and just waiting to come home!

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice!

And to top it all off my car insurance rates dropped by $40.00!!!

😂😂😂