METAL BUILDINGS, MOBILE HOMES, LAND, AND COUNTRY TOWNS NEAR DALLAS...Wow a lot to take in at once!!! (long) (Austin: how much)

[shanbul]

Hey there,
My hubby and I moved to Texas last year. Austin to be exact. It was a little to busy for us (although I loved the shopping part of it!), so we moved to Waco. We love Waco, but we are finding ourselves even more drawn to the outerskirts of Dallas because we want to be able to take our out of town family (we are Ohioans originally) different places when we visit. My hubby is a Army vet and is getting ready to start police academy, which means it is time to start planning for the future. This thread might have a few too many questions, so please forgive me. We don't know anyone down here and we are looking for any guidance/opinions other people have. We do not want to look ignorant or anything, this is all just new to us.

Areas near Dallas
First, where would you all recommend for a country feel like Waco (Gholson, Elm Mott area if you have ever been there.) We are living on a Farm right now and we love the quietness. We need to get inexpensive land so we can try to start getting our dreams going. Ideally, we want to get 5-10 acres of land and be somewhat near a lake (not on a lake necessarily). We are willing to go out 40 miles around Dallas in an ideal situation. (We will also be looking at small town Police Departments for my husband to apply to when he completes his certificate in Jan. So if you know of any places hiring, please let us know. Texas is such a big place...lol)

Things to Do in Dallas/Fort Worth
Pretty much to the point here. We want to know where we should take our family when they come to visit.

Mobile Homes
We have considered getting a really inexpensive Mobile Home and living on the land at first. When I say inexpensive, I mean around 2000-3000 dollars. I have no idea if this is possible, but if it is what all do you need to do to prepare for a mobile home? (Water, Electricity, Permits???) How much would it cost to move a used mobile home? Is there specific companies that can move them for reasonable prices? Anything else we need to consider when buying one? (My husband is very handy for walls and floors if we need to fix them.) Maybe you have one (or possibly two) we could make payments on while we are waiting for his schooling to be completed??? :-)

Metal Buildings
Another thing we will be looking at is metal buildings for a garage/barn/small efficiency. Has anyone looked into doing this? We are thinking baby steps on everything and moving from the mobile home to the efficiency to building a log cabin (or a log doublewide depending on the money and how the future fares for us) in the future. If anyone has experience in keeping cost down on a decent size metal building, how did you do it? What companies are worth looking at (preferably on the internet)? Has anyone converted one of these building to an efficiency and a garage?

Log Homes/Log Doublewides
Finally, are there any places near the Dallas area that build inexpensive log homes. That is our dream idea, but we are also considering log doublewides and have only found one company that does the indoor and outdoor exterior in wood.

Again, if you have any advice in any of these areas, please put the section at the top to keep things organized (if you don't mind). I was a kitchen and bath designer a long time ago and I have found that the more you learn the less you spend. We are about 7 months out to the start of this long process and I value all of your opinions. We are newlyweds with a lot of dreams, including getting our parents down here eventually to help them out. So cutting costs will be necessary to get where we want to go in the long run. My hubby's ultimate dream after serving for 10 years (Air Force and Army) and three tours in Iraq is peace and quiet and a job as a police officer. I think we are on the right track already

Thanks for taking the time out to read this!