Southlake confirmed! (Dallas, Irving, Grapevine: real estate, leasing, low crime)

[NutsMum]

Hello, it's a while since I've been on here....... we are relocating from the UK in early June. Originally my husband was told he would be working in Irving..... but we've now had it confirmed that it is in fact Southlake.

Same list as before..... great schools, nice neighborhood, low crime and things to do with the kids. I was getting alot of good pointers leaning me towards Coppell, but now we know it's Southlake?? my head hurts!
Opinions on Southlake, Colleyville appreciated, I know these are expensive, so any other suggestions that side of the lake would be great!
Information also on Trophy Club and Keller...... don't know alot about these areas.

We are flying over on April 2nd and we have exactly ONE WEEK to find our school!! Any help would be wonderful!

[Eric S]

I don't see any reason that you should or would need to look outside of the Southlake area for your ideal home situation. Southlake, Colleyville or Grapevine provide everything you're looking for and the drive to and from the office wouldn't be a big deal at all. Those three places keep you on the south side of the lake. Those are the places I would choose to live were I in your shoes.

Welcome to NE Tarrant County!

-Eric

[jcamber]

you didn't provide a budget but if you can get into Southlake then I wouldn't be looking anywhere else. While there's a stigma about Southlake kids being spoiled I think school-wise you couldn't do better. Also, lots of good people live in Southlake and it's in general a good environment.

Moving somewhere else will just add to your commute and like I said, no guarantee that you'll be better off...

[5stones]

Agree if you can afford Southlake then live there. Has everything you want, safe, kid friendly, excellant schools, and a GREAT commute!
Coleyville is $$$ as well and has Great schools too.
Grapevine would be another place to look, it's busier than Coleyville and less $$$ but has the same school district.

IF your budget wont get you what you want in Southlake, Colleyville then look in Keller.
But stay in Keller propper, no need to coss 377 since your commute is to Southlake. Keller shares it's east boarder with Southlake.
Schools in Keller are Great as well. Keller HS is the only other HS (beside Southlake) to get an Exemplary rating from TEA. Lots of price ranges in Keller from around 200k - 1million+

Also look at the north part of NRH that section feeds into Keller schools and Keller HS.

Trophy club is nice and has great schools as well. It's more insular than the other towns. They have a new HS that is just beautiful, haven't had a graduation class yet.
Depending on your price it's hit or miss. When we were looking the houses fromn 250-300 were either old in need of lots of updating or were just poor construction. They have some new BEAUTIFUL custom homes that have gone in in the past few years. $$$
Commute is no biggie straight shot down 114 and since your husband is working in Southlake he will get off before the bottleneck at Grapevine.

Basically ALL the areas you mention are great family places with very good schools and low crime. Price will probably dictate where you buy!

Good Luck and hope this helps!

[NutsMum]

Thankyou for your replies.... really helpful.

We are going to be renting and initially due to the fact we still have a house in the UK, our budget is $2,500.00 a month. Southlake/Colleyville too expensive?

Which are the better areas of Grapevine? It just seems very close to DFW Airport. Is NRH North Richmond Hills? Haven't looked into that at all!

Also, looking on Realtor.com and Trulia...... hardly any rental houses. Where else should I be looking or am I best just contacting a real estate agent? If anyone can recommended one I would really appreciate the details being mailed to me.

Thankyou guys!

[ChristieP]

See my post on the Dallas forum...

[loves2read]

the local re offices that we can't mention probably know about rental homes
I know that my realtor in colleyville knew about rental properties when owners would consider leasing if home would not sell fairly quickly but don't think they listed those on their re site

NRHills has some good and some not so good area--new construction with some rental property via builders and owners
just depends
good schools in birdville isd
nice neighborhoods specially in higher 300-400K homes
bike trails, parks, youth sports, close to southlake shopping and NE Mall or DFW airport or downtown ftw--
just depends on what you want to spend

you should go MLS check for local RE firms that have listings that appeal to you
those are most likely to know neighborhoods that you like and have info about homes to lease
MOST newer homes that are for lease by owner are not going to be leased through the same type of mgmt company that does perpetual lease home management
you probably want a home that is in new neighborhood and is likely just not to have sold as quickly as owners want and they had to move and leave it vacant--
now it still has not sold and they need to lease it to cover their bills