Advice for possible relocation from MA to TX - where to look? (Dallas: days on market, transplants)

[loves2read]

many of the girls on any high school team also do club gymnastics
ask your daughter's coach for a recommendation in the north TX area--
even if she is not nationally rankable--Debbie Williams is someone who is a good coach...

agree that Prosper is too far

this part of TX is not "urban"--
it was farm/ranch land mainly until about 12 yrs ago when Southlake and north part of Keller and Alliance Airport/Haslet/I-35 area started to become more retail/commercial friendly and housing began growing...
there is NO public transportation outside of FTW city limits and the DART in Dallas city limits (mainly)
so you husband is going to be driving

look at a map
114, 183/Airport Frwy, 121, North Loop 820 (starting around NE Mall in Hurst to 377) are all road systems that are either under construction and going under construction...
surface roads Hwy 26/Grapevine Hwy is also under construction

there are only two access points in Flower Mound to let residents/travelers in/out into the road systems to other areas--boondoggle decision but one that people who live there have to adjust to

Most people around here would never choose an hour commute if they were making an initial choice--like moving in from out of state
IF they already had a job and the office moved or they got promotion and had to move to different area or changed jobs after buying house--
then the situation would dictate if they continued to live in that particular house vs consider moving closer to work--
two workers in family or maybe having one spouse with special need--like finishing a degree, being by aged parent, or needing particular ISD for some reason can influence a choice made once a house has been bought...

in your situation your best option as long as your husband feels safe/long-term job won't change in foreseeable future, is to pick your house based on the ISD--
you appear to have good income stream (600K+ house) so you have more options than some people relocating that are in the 150K market

RE taxes in TX are maybe higher, school taxes add to your tax bill but you really get what you pay for with school taxes...
most people don't need to choose private school vs public school because most public ISDs are good school districts--not perfect--but good...and some districts have really excellent choices

there is thread on the Dallas forum about towns with best ongoing value--
it is interesting but if you aren't familiar with the specific towns under discussion or some of the history of the areas over the past 10-20 yrs then most of it is going to be Greek to you

Ask your daughter's coach for top 3 recommendations--
see where those areas are on map
if nothing is within north Tarrant county around Westlake then I think you would be better off getting other suggestions/different coaches vs making that kind of commute--driving 1 hr each way after school for practice and then on weekends is death to any kind of family involvement if you have another child doing a sport as well...

this area is not like living in Boston--it looks different--lots might be smaller than what people in suburbs of Boston might be used to (I see people from out of state post about that)
houses for the most part are newer, nicer that what 600K might get in Boston (I watch HGTV and see some terrible choices for the money in areas like Pittsburg, Boston, Philadelphia)...
but it is going to be more difficult to get Italian food like you are used to, easy access to museums, an Irish bar or access to salt water...

[Squirl]

You could also check out Argyle. Have friends who live there and love it. School district is small but highly rated. Liberty Christian is a private school located in Argyle and another friend (who lives in Southlake) sends her 2 children to Liberty and loves that school. However same issue as Southlake, Keller and Prosper......not built out so area still has lots of growth opportunity. After many times living in growth areas, its something I avoid because the community then has to deal with all the decisions and budget challenges that come with waves of growth.. but, again, that's my own bias...

[loves2read]

Argyle is just pretty far out there--and Denton is not that great as shopping/retail site--
pretty isolated IMO and the roads are not that great--mainly two lane and can get congested
lots of people biking in packs on weekends tying up traffic too

and agree that when you buy in area that is under development you can have problems with having people on city council who are NOT forward thinkers, people who don't see benefit in raising taxes to provide better street lights or planning for water needs or more police in a pro-active anticipation of growth/problems...

[ChristieP]

I thought the UIL had prohibited student athletes from doing both club and UIL (school sponsored) activities in the same sport?

Gymnastics at the club level is where the elite competition occurs. School gymnastics is for people who don't want to try for the Olympic teams, etc. I had a high school classmate who was an alternate on the US team, but she never competed for the school team.

[zillow55]

Our gymnastics club won't let the girls do both HS and Club - given that our 12-year old works out 24 hours per week, not sure she would have time.

I haven't even mentioned to her coaches that we might possibly move so from what I can see, there are high-level gyms in Coppell, Southlake, Frisco, Plano and Dallas.

Colleyville, Grapevine (I love wine), Southlake, Coppell, Trophy Club potentially Argyle look like they should be on our list. Are some too far from those gyms? Looks like Grapevine may be the area for hockey. We aren't set on spending 650K - happy to spend less .

You are right, the houses in Texas are nothing like here in Mass. Although our property tax is high - ~10K per year for a 600K house and we have income tax.
What is the equivalent in Texas of a little white cape? That is my favorite house...The thought of having to take care of a 4000sq ft house scares me.

[loves2read]

I dont think you are going to find the same type ad "little white cape".
Look at the MLS sites I suggested
Taxes are listed in MLS info
TAD.org has tax entities and appraised--not market--value for an house in Tarrant co
Other tax districts on line for each county

[RockyJoe817]

There is a gymnastics place between Keller and Southlake.
Crusader All-Stars - Cheer and More
407 South Pearson Lane
Keller
(817) 431-0533

The good thing about living in the metro is most things are close by.

[Mvc]

Southlake would be the best fit for you. Plenty of homes in your range. Many (mostly) transplant population from all over the US including the northeast. Hockey program is one of the best in TX because so many people here from Hockey places like MI, MN. Intermediate and Middle schools are good (relatively small) size. High School and Sr. High are quite large, if you didn't like that there are plenty of private options including the above mentioned Liberty Christian. Look at Timarron development.

[5stones]

For small school size Argyle would be the best fit.
It really isn't that far from Westlake. Just south on 377 about 20minutes. small town and great schools. Not much shopping etc but you are close to Bentonville and Flowernound etc..
All other public schools in the area (except Westlake Academy) will have graduating class size of well over 1000 kids.

North Keller and Southlake would offer you the best commute into Westlake.
There are quite a few gymnastic facilites in the area

[Squirl]

Originally Posted by 5stones

For small school size Argyle would be the best fit.
It really isn't that far from Westlake. Just south on 377 about 20minutes. small town and great schools. Not much shopping etc but you are close to Bentonville and Flowernound etc..
All other public schools in the area (except Westlake Academy) will have graduating class size of well over 1000 kids.

North Keller and Southlake would offer you the best commute into Westlake.
There are quite a few gymnastic facilites in the area

You will also get more house the the $$$ in Argyle. But trade-off is you will have a challenge when it is time to sell a home in Argyle because the area is still growing and there is plenty of land for people to have a house built if they want to live there.