Country folk to city? (Dallas, Plano: real estate, to rent, homeowners association) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

Barefoot Daisy · 09-12-2009, 07:05 PM

Well, maybe not TOTALLY country, but I live near Wichita Falls in a small town, and I have to move to the Dallas area for my job. (It's worth keeping) The office is near Dallas North Tollway and Northwest Highway.

I'm moving from a 30-year old home in a up-scale neighborhood: brick, 3 BR, large corner lot, pool, storm shelter, large workshop with extra driveway, small workshop, 2 car garage .. and we have room to park a dump truck (our neighbors still love us though!).

So, considering the dump truck most likely goes with us, and I hope to get another Great Dane after the move, and I don't want to lose our quality of life, and wish for a fairly short commute, and don't want to spend more than $150,000 and really don't want a homeowner's association ..

Any recommendations? Are there any semi-rural spots left within a reasonable commute? I've spent a good number of hours on real estate sites, and haven't seen anything that really fits the bill yet. I'd be thrilled if we're next to livestock .. that's no problem.

Is there an angel out there with the perfect home site for us?

FarNorthDallas · 09-12-2009, 07:20 PM

You job location is in the north central part of Dallas meaning city city city is all around. You are going to have to drive a distance - and quite possibly on a tollway. The southern part of Dallas is a lot cheaper than the northern part. The southern part is also less developed. And by southern part I mean actually south past the Dallas border - Cedar Hill, Mansfield, Midlothian, Red Oak, Ovilla.

You are going to have to make sure you don't get a house with a homeowners association because they will not let you have that dump truck on your property.

Barefoot Daisy · 09-12-2009, 08:03 PM

Wow .. thank you for the quick answer!

nsumner · 09-13-2009, 12:56 AM

You may also want to consider Royse City or Fate, a city east of Dallas, just east of Rockwall. Easy access to I30. You can get a decent home on a half acre lot or more with no restrictions about the dump truck.

Naima

p.s. I love the screen name BTW

kacvb1974 · 09-13-2009, 01:52 AM

I live in Richardson which is very accessible to Dallas, has affordable homes in safe neighborhoods, and very few mandatory HOAs. I know my neighbors have a positively gigantic RV they can legally park in the backyard w/ a simple landscaping screen, so I looked up the city code. But discovered that any dump truck, regardless of size, isn't allowed. I'm guessing almost all the 'burbs truly convenient to Dallas are going to have ordinances against such vehicles... and even areas considered 'way out there' to us city folks may still have surprisingly strict codes in residential-zoned neighborhoods. If you go way rural, you may be facing a rather frustrating commute.

Not sure how familiar you are with Dallas traffic or if your job will require the typical 9-5, but our rush hour is pretty darn awful. Tho everyone's tolerance varies. To avoid compromising on one's ideal home, some folks think nothing of spending 2 hours, M-F, in their car or waking up at the wee hours of morning just to avoid the crunch. So you may get good suggestions on towns that allow commercial/farm vehicles with ample acreage, but whip out Google maps to doublecheck location-- some of these areas could be 35+ miles away, one way. Even with zero accidents or deadlock, I'm guessing these towns may not be your idea of a "fairly short commute".

Perhaps you could get creative and see about parking your truck at a construction firm or some contractor's site? Craigslist can really work too. I know I saw an ad there several months ago that offered cheap storage for buses, trucks and "anything with wheels". If you don't have to accommodate the truck, your options are going to broaden considerably. And if at all possible it's really wise to rent for 6 months to gauge driving times and to explore the metroplex before committing to a mortgage.

Here's an early welcome to town. And hope you can find something that works for you, the dump truck, and the Great Dane(s) without too much compromise. Keep us posted.

GayleTX · 09-13-2009, 04:23 AM

Hey, Daisy.....didn't know you were moving. I'm sorry. The above suggestions for towns have good logic, but would you rather live on the Wichita side of Dallas....easier to get back home for a quick visit without a hour's drive across Dallas on the way? Most of the 'country folk' from here in my rural area who now work in Dallas now have found it easier to live in the notherner edges and then drive in as far as Plano (or wherever DART ends on the north end now) and ride it into downtown. You might want to look up around Melissa/Anna/VanAlstyne....still lots of space but nice reasonably priced homes available, easy access to Central and an easy jaunt over to Wichita. Just a thought......

Best wishes on your move......

Barefoot Daisy · 09-13-2009, 07:49 AM

Great suggestions, all .. I'll find more about my move today .. not quite ready to announce it to the world, but I really needed some information before today's meeting. I'd been considering DART, and that may well be the way to go. I'm familiar with Metroplex traffic/locations, but more from shopping trips, so residential is something else!

Thank you everyone!

FarNorthDallas · 09-13-2009, 10:05 AM

There is not a DART train stop anywhere near Northwest Highway and the Tollway. You might check bus routes and train to bus routes though. But once you start having to transfer from train to bus you are talking a long commute that takes a lot longer than just driving it yourself.

TurtleCreek80 · 09-13-2009, 10:07 AM

One, your office is in the middle of the most expensive 2 neighborhoods in Dallas (Park Cities and Preston Hollow, where former President Bush lives). Avg home cost within a 10-15 min commute is $500k minimum for a small home on very small lot.

You are going to have to look far east, south, or north of Dallas to get your wants. You'll be looking at least 40min+ each way for your commute. Forney or Kaufman County to the east, Desoto or Waxahachie to the south or Anna/ Van Alstyne to the north.

DART is not really an option because the rail currently runs up 75 into south Plano. The stop near Northwest Hwy is about 3 miles from your office.