Dallas(Allen,Copell,Frisco) Vs Orlando(Lake Mary or other suburbs) (Plano: real estate, insurance)

[VVV21]

Hi All,
I am planning to move from Princeton,NJ to either Dallas,Tx Suburb Area or Orlando,Fl Suburb Area.We had almost made up our mind to move to Dallas(Frisco,Plano,Allen, Copell) area but one of friend who lived in both Dallas and Orlando visited us last week and changed our mind so we are back in dilemma on our move,so reaching out to you guys to help me decide.

My Professional /Family Background
We are asian indian couple with a kid- who is ready to go to Grade 3rd. I am travelling business/technical consultant who travels Monday to Thursday twice/thrice in a month.

What we are looking for ->
1. Given my travel requirement, i need to be close to airport not more than 30-50 mins and have to have direct flights to most of cities.My client(INSURANCE) base is all over USA and CANADA...majority of them is in North East and Mid West.
2. Looking for a decent size house of around 3000 -4000 sqft under 400-650K
3. Want to buy a house which result in good investment in long and short terms
4. School is definitely our priority but I am ok with decent schools for next few years,given my kid is quite young and we can move to best school district after 5 years in his middle school age
5. I like musical events and outdoor activities Biking, Tennis, Cricket and love beaches which make me more inclined towards Orlando though but no reservations!

Positives on Orlando is it has less expensive houses and less property tax as compared to texas given the area I was targeting so far housing prices have gone up.I am concerned about schools in Orlando though!

Please suggest!!

[jd433]

Dallas is a nice place but I would move to Orlando. It is a more exciting place and growing just as fast. If you live up around Lake Mary you will be closer to the beach as well. Winters in Dallas can be rather cold and you are trying to escape the cold. Yes Frisco is a nice place and Dallas is more of an economic powerhouse than Orlando but there is a heck of a lot to do in Orlando. Plus your not far from Miami(look up the brightline train) and Orlando has all the natural springs. Plus Tampa is nearby. Come on , dont you want to be around those paml trees and sunshine and have a nice warm winter? Thats why New Yorkers love FLorida. Orlando is really a cool and fun place. In Dallas it is more of a corporate scene where jobs and work prevail. Isn't that the same as up there in NY? A bustling City where everyone is focused on work and money? Do you want to go right back to the place you left? But still have less of it?

[fwsavemoney]

DFW would be a more practical choice for you being a consultant. Options for flights and lower travel times would improve your quality of life.

[DFWUser1]

Originally Posted by fwsavemoney

DFW would be a more practical choice for you being a consultant. Options for flights and lower travel times would improve your quality of life.

Yes, lot of direct flights and average little over 3 hours flights to any destination. Not the same from Orlando, say if you have to fly to Seattle. You can always take a vacation to enjoy what Orlando has to offer.

Coppell can be a good first choice, within the 3 options you mentioned - meets all your criteria.
Allen and Frisco also will work, but you need to make sure you are close to 121, so that you have direct access to the airport. The advantage of Allen and Frisco over Coppell is they are little less expensive than Coppell, more home for money and you have more options to a new build or relatively new build compared to Coppell, if that is a preference for you. Schools are good on all 3 towns, but make sure to check the specific schools scores, rankings tied to the homes you are considering. As it can differ.

Drilling down further - few more advantages of Allen (75013) over Frisco - you have easy access to both 121 (toll road) straight forward to DFW and also 75 (free) to Love Field airport (mainly Southwest) or to Dallas. Frisco is huge, so you have to make sure you are close to 121 and have easy access. For Love field airport or to Dallas, only option is DNT, another toll road. May not matter if your company reimburses, but a difference.
2nd is 75013 West Allen has little bit better topography (near 121/Exchange areas), quiet, small town feel compared to Frisco, so you have easy access to Parks, amenities. Another difference is any newer neighborhood in Frisco is majority Indian. Though lot of Indians in Allen also, comparatively less than Frisco, a point to consider if you are looking for any diversity.

All are good options, you can visit personally and see which one suits you better.

[faceoff007]

Based on your requirements (except for beach), I highly recommend Flower Mound (close to DFW airport) as well.

[Soccernerd]

1) DFW Airport is a larger airport than MCO, and American Airlines should have flights to just about every major and midsized city in the Northeast and Midwest with a great number of flights to regional airports. MCO probably isn’t much further behind, but you would have to use low-cost carriers.
2) Any one of those three cities would be excellent. Coppell probably has the best schools of the three, but they’re all great. I would say it should come down to specific houses and preferences.
3) Real estate prices in DFW have been strong since the recession. Keep in mind that property taxes in Texas are high, so a steep increase in your home's value will result in (sometimes disproportionately) higher property taxes.
4) You can probably find public schools or private schools in the Orlando area that match those of much of DFW. Overall, I think you’ll find better school in Dallas dollar-for-dollar than in Orlando.
5) Orlando definitely beats Dallas in the beach department and in terms of family entertainment. I thought within the last year either Frisco or somewhere like Corinth opened a cricket field. The Indian community is probably a lot smaller in Orlando, so you’ll probably have fewer Indian restaurants/grocery stores, Hindu/Muslim places of worship etc.

I think an important question is to ask yourself how much you value going to the beach or Orlando-unique places like Disney. You’re in New Jersey now. Do you go the beach that much? Orlando probably isn’t much closer to Cocoa Beach than Princeton is to the Shore. My cousin purchased lifetime memberships to Disney World. They had this vision of going every weekend and probably only go a few times a year.

[DFWUser1]

Investment wise - prices in DFW already peaked over last few years and starting to stabilize or go low little bit, especially in the $500-$600+ range. So, near term future may not have the price increases and long term also you may break even or see some small increase- but doubt there will be price increases like before. A lot based on economy, potential recession, if it happens how long? etc...

[numbersguy100]

Neither of these places has a definitive edge over the other - it really just comes down to your specifics. Orlando, on balance, is geared to leisure travel so you may have to fly low cost airlines more than you might in Dallas. But if you regularly fly to mid-sized cities in the midwest and northeast, it still might be better than connecting from Dallas. The bigger variable is the beach. If you truly love it and would go a lot, move to Orlando. If you love the beach that much and it's close, you will go orders of magnitude more than you will if you live in Dallas. Dallas is not convenient to any nice beaches unless you strain the word "convenient" such that it no longer has meaning.

[VVV21]

DFWUser1 & jd433 : Are you suggesting Orlando is going to give better returns of my housing investment?

[VVV21]

Originally Posted by fwsavemoney

DFW would be a more practical choice for you being a consultant. Options for flights and lower travel times would improve your quality of life.

Hi fwsavemoney,
I did quick exploration by checking direct flights to several cities from Orlando.Majority of airports are reachable under 2-3 hours.Flights to west coast seem to be naturally painful but We do not have a lot of clients there.