Relocating from NYC to DFW area (Dallas, Denton: for sale, apartments, to rent)

[Baj2121]

My family and I are planning to move Dfw area in the summer of 2012. We are looking into Keller, or Grapevine. We plan to rent for a short while before buying but i want to rent and buy in a excellent school district. My child will be going into the second grdae in the fall. Which school district is better? I am looking for small town feel and daughter nothing too over crowded. Totally overwhelmed over here. Is there another town I may be dismissing to look int?

[ChristieP]

I think you would be very happy in Grapevine. It really does have that small-town feel even though it is in the middle of DFW. GCISD schools are very well-regarded and many people move to Grapevine just for the schools.

What's your budget for housing?
Where will work be located?

[Baj2121]

Our budget for housing is 120- 135 for a starter home. My husband will be working in Denton and I plan on mental health consulting.

[loves2read]

you should look at a map and see the location of Denton and Grapevine or any other town you consider moving to
there are two main roads into Tarrant county town--I-35 and 377
the commute on I35 is not great--congested and 377 is farm to market rd--2 lanes at some points but usually 4...gets lot of traffic and has few traffic lights--can be difficult to get on/off depending on your traffic pattern

from the Grapevine area I-35E which is from the Dallas side is the likely way and I think it is worse than the Tarrant I-35--

many people think the ISDs in towns south of Denton--like Grapevine-colleyville ISD, Southlake-Carroll ISD, Lewisville ISD, Keller ISD are better/stronger than Denton ISD itself--
but I imagine there are people with children in Denton schools who are happy with their choice...

Denton is growing area but has only 1 hospital
Tarrant and Dallas counties have more obviously
don't know where/how you might be doing mental health consulting or where your husband is working specifically

you can see there are many smaller towns around Denton--some of them have their own ISD (school districts)
they are more rural, smaller (often 3A), but could be viable choices if you really want less-crowded...
many of the ISDs in this area are pretty full

you should decide what type of housing situation you are looking for
lots in DFW area some people moving in from out of state find very small--most homes are on .2 acres or less--and that is for a 2200 sq ft house or more

if you want something on larger lot you might want to look at smaller towns south of Denton like Rhome

TX public schools are rated by TEA but right now a new system is coming in and no new ratings will happen for two years--so school districts/schools will show their ratings from this year 2010-2011

it is much easier for an elementary school to get top rating than for a high school--because there are fewer students and they are usually more uniform in ethnicity/income because they come from local area--unless apartments are included...
EXEMPLARY---RECOGNIZES--ACCEPTABLE--UNACCEPTABLE are the top/bottom ratings

[ChristieP]

Ouch. That budget is way too low for Grapevine. You really need at least $175-180 to begin looking at homes for purchase in Grapevine. There is a small area of older, smaller homes in the Bellaire neighborhood that might be in your price range, but they rarely come up for sale.

You do NOT want to use I-35E to commute from Grapevine to Denton. Traffic is much heavier on the E side through Lewisville, etc. I-35W is slightly longer, but much faster.

Also, Grapevine is about 45 minutes drive from Denton. If he is working in Denton, then you need to look in Denton or in one of the suburbs closer to it, such as Sanger, Krum, etc. There will also be more homes in your price range there, too.

Denton Ryan HS is consistently in the athletics playoffs, so they must be doing at least something right there.

[Guingirl]

Why not try Denton or Decauter? They are smaller and have a small town feel. Denton is home to two local universities (University of North Texas and Texas Woman's) so it definitely has that collegiate feel.

If you want to be closer into the metroplex, you may try Roanoke. If you can, please try to come out for a visit for about a week before you make the big move. Then you can drive around to see what works best for you and your family.

[Baj2121]

Thanks for the information. I am planning a trip soon I just wanted to narrow some areas down. Sounds like I have a lot of good options so far.

[loves2read]

I would say spend a lot of time on the MLS before you come--
find a site and investigate your price point--and be kind of specific about what you want in home--
the lot size, age of house, bedrooms/baths, and narrow down what looks good to you
you can waste days driving around "looking" since where you want to go might be an hour or more from 1 to another--

and you are going to need a realtor to actually look at any homes

once you find an area you like--take note of the realtors LISTING those homes specifically--
see if one or two realtors have more homes than the others--
they are likely more knowledgeable about that local area--
start there
don't sign any contracts