Possible Move (Dallas, Carrollton, Denton: for sale, real estate, foreclosure)

[JoefromLA]

There is a possibility my family may be moving to Dallas shortly. The company I will be working for will be in Dallas by Farmer's Branch and Carrollton. I am being told the area I will primarily be working at is Denton, Texas. In Louisiana a 1100 to 1600 square foot house new costs about 160,000. I see alot of posts looking for 300,000 dollar houses, is that the average? I do not have a house note currently so that is a big factor in my decision making process. Thanks for the input in advance.

[Squirl]

Depends on the area. You can buy a 1200 square foot fixer upper thu the foreclosure route see bidselect.com in Carrollton/FB for less than $70K, or you can pay more than $200K for a 1200 square foot house .....all depends on the finishes and local area. But generally you can find a nice place for $140-160K, fairly easily.

[loves2read]

Taxes are higher here than in LA because we tax for our public schools quality--
in LA when I lived there--taxes were low so that people could really afford private schools since most people did not want their kids in public ones
maybe that has changed since we moved

schools districts are very important when people consider buying a home
and around here--one town can have 2-3-4 different ISDs in its city limits and one ISD can flow into 2-3-4 towns
so make sure you know what the district is for the houses you are looking at--don't assume you know because of the town the house is in

will PM an excellent MLS site to use for some general house shopping

[JoefromLA]

thanks for the input so far.

[loves2read]

also
good info about demographics on most cities and small towns in TX and any state
on the other side of city-data
that is where it gets its name
so you should check out any town for its population info

[pinkgreenmover]

You can easily find a house in the $160-200K range in Carrollton. Have friends who purchased a similar size home, around 1,700 sf, 3 bed, 2 bath for about $158K. Local brokers include Ebby Halliday, Virginia Cook and Ellen Terry. They have very user-friendly sites. Would suggest doing a search on one of those to get a better idea what's available in your target area. If you're working primarily in Denton, you'll find I-35 to be your primary north-south corridor, along with Marsh and Josey lanes. Along with Denton, you should be able to find something in your budget in Carrollton, Lewisville, The Colony, Corinth and Little Elm. Best wishes on the move!

[JoefromLA]

Looking at Real Estate in Lewisville, so whats the catch? Bad neighborhoods, bad schools? What you get for 170K there is like 2 houses here, yeah the yards small but theres a state park close and fishing and just looking for advice.

[pinkgreenmover]

Don't know a whole lot about Lewisville, but doesn't look like 'bad schools' are the reason...
LISD Ratings Information (http://www.lisd.net/lisdschools/ratingsinfo.html - broken link)

[GayleTX]

Easiest way to search real estate is on Real Estate Listings, Homes for Sale and Rental Property Listings

[FarNorthDallas]

Originally Posted by JoefromLA

Looking at Real Estate in Lewisville, so whats the catch? Bad neighborhoods, bad schools? What you get for 170K there is like 2 houses here, yeah the yards small but theres a state park close and fishing and just looking for advice.

Yes, some of the schools are not good and some of the neighborhoods are older with a lot of rentals.