Moving to Irving (Dallas, Lewisville, Flower Mound: apartment, renting, credit)

[jerseyrph]

Hi Everyone!

My husband and I are thinking about moving to Dallas (near Irving area) from NJ this year.

Does anyone have any experience buying homes in Irving (i.e GRAFF HOMES) - How is the neighboorhood and anything else that would be useful to know or if you have any suggestions which other areas are preferred?

Has anyone bought a house within past year and if so, any advice for the First Time Homebuyers?

Thank you

[bambee786]

Hi, just wondering - why Irving?
I'm guessing that's where your job maybe located there...but Irving is not a bad drive from many *nicer* suburbs...

One important thing to know about Irving is that it's divided into 2 distinct areas. North and South. (Take a look at the address for your company building, I am sure they point out its NORTH O'Connor, or NORTH MacArthur) North is referred to as "Las Colinas"...its definitley a nice area of town..and anything in North Irving is a lot more expensive than anything in South Irving - which some may call "ghetto".

What is your price range?
Are you looking for a single family home?
Looking for a suburban or urban feel?

[caligurltotx]

More specifics please. And what Bambee is saying is true but there are some decent areas of S Irving also. I would say the big difference is in Las Colinas and Valley Ranch you get a newer feel. And in South Irving you get a more established older feel, smaller homes, etc.

[jerseyrph]

Thank you for your replies.

My husband's work is in Las Colinas and we are looking for a newly constructed family home (4 bedrooms and approximately between 2400 - 2800 square feet) and our price range is around $250,000.

We briefly looked at Graff Farm houses is a new community (on South Beltline) in Irving, however, we are not sure how the neighbourhood is around that area? Is that part of the town considered "ghetto"? If so, are there any other areas we can look at around our price range?

We just looked at Irving since it is middle of everything (Dallas, Fort worth, etc). We are open to any other areas around Las Colinas our price range.

[WillysB]

jerseyrph, should someone respond to recommend the Graff Farms on South Belt Line then that would be good. Otherwise, you might want to consider following Belt Line in a northerly direction from the LasColinas-Hidden Ridge-MacArthur area. One just needs to exercise some caution when heading south in Irving.

[jerseyrph]

Thank you All

[jerseyrph]

How is Lewisville compared to Irving? What are the PROS and CONS for each (i.e property value, neighborhood, school district, etc)? Any suggestions???

[FarNorthDallas]

The Lewisville school district (ISD) is better than the Irving ISD, but not all of Irving is zoned into the Irving ISD.

[UNT_Eagle]

Hello,

I recently bought a home in South Irving after renting an apartment in the Valley Ranch area. Speaking from experience of living in the southern part, I will say that south Irving gets a bad rap on this forum from folks who just assume that "all" of Irving south of 183 is "ghetto", that couldn't be further from the truth. Frankly, I enjoy the older, more established homes and abundance of trees compared to the Las Colinas/VR area IMO. I live about 1.5 miles east of Graff Farms and that particular subdivision as well as the ones around it are nice. Just like any other older area of town, there are places that are more run down than others, but I think most people would be pleasantly surprised when they travel to this area. Since you mentioned that you are also a first-time home buyer, keep in mind that the $8,000 tax credit is still available.

[bambee786]

Check out Coppell, Flower Mound, Grapevine as well