Housing Prices in DFW (Dallas, Austin: fit in, for sale, real estate market)

[Jeremy.Bingham]

Hi... I'm thinking of relocating from the Seattle area. Housing prices and cost of living here, coupled with the terrible weather has me thinking of moving the family. I work from home so commute/local wage scales/etc shouldn't effect me.

I've been looking on Zillow and other sites at houses for sale in the area and am shocked at the low prices I see.... 3500-4000 Sq foot houses, 2005 or newer going for $250K-$350K everywhere. Is there something I'm missing? I know property taxes are higher as well as a few utilities, but it really seems like DFW house prices are 40-60% lower down there.... Too good to be true?

Also, can someone recommend some better neighborhoods to live? I think we'd prefer Fort Worth over Dallas. I see there's several large lakes to the north that look promising. Also, is there maybe an area of DFW that would be considered slightly more "liberal"? I'm coming from Seattle and it's too damn liberal here and it drives me crazy, but I would assume (maybe incorrectly) that a more liberal area in Texas would be considered middle-of-the-road here, which sounds better to me.

Any help is appreciated.

[loves2read]

Your terrible weather involves rain and gloom--our involves dought and excessive heat/sun...
some people feel ours is terrible too since it usually causes high electric bills for most people

what I can say except I think from what I see on House Hunters and some other RE shows that housing costs are excessive for what people get in Seattle/Oregon/PNW
however in this area it is all about location and schools

a 250K house in one area can be a good deal and in another (not that far away) it can be overpriced and a mistake to buy

our ISDs are important factor in desireability of neighborhoods and people's commutes--
meaning that many people have gone away from the job for house with more sq ft and lower price point only to need a bad daily commute
no public tranportation in this area either

you need a good realtor who knows the local market--
even neighborhoods PPSF can be confusing...
it can be very nuanced...

check a map--
those large lakes north of DFW airport (maybe Eagle Mtn and Lake Grapevine) can be semi-remote from a job in sw FTW--
lakes farther north like Ray Roberts and Texoma or even Lake Kiowa (smaller, man-made, private) are not commutable on a day to day basis to FTW for work
and most people wouldn't want to live in those 2 areas full time anyway unless they were retired or ranchers

and at times the dought can dry up the lakes and make them pretty unuseable and stinky...

[Rakin]

There are some nice areas you can buy a nice home for $250K....Keller, Flower Mound, Frisco. You might find a good Real Estate agent who can give you more detail.

Liberal.... I think you'll find most Texans are Moderate - Open Minded on Lifestyles and conservative on financial issues. I'm a conservative common sense Texan with a gay son, a live & let live attitude, very independent and own a few guns. Most people like it here and fit in well.

If you want California Crazy style Liberalism you need to consider Austin.

[Squirl]

Its a bit more conservative on the Ft. Worth side and liberal-ish areas you may like in Fort Worth will have housing above $400K and will be older homes. For homes in the $250-300K range, Ft. Worth burbs of Godley (good prices/schools) Aledo and Burleson will be pretty conservative. More liberal will be southwest Arlington.

On the midcities/Dallas side: Flower Mound is a nice burb with good schools and well priced houses; also lots of green space and walking paths. Highland Village is on Lake Lewisville and I think is a very desirable burb with good schools.

We are in the midst of our boiling season and its a good time to visit. If you like it here now, you will love it here all the time!

[jbb303]

Originally Posted by loves2read

what I can say except I think from what I see on House Hunters and some other RE shows

Watching shows like House Hunters to get a handle on any real estate market is worse than using Survivor to get tips for surviving in the wild. I have a friend that's been on House Hunters. The show is a total work of fiction. The only thing that makes it a reality show is that the "buyers" aren't playing characters.

[ChristieP]

As others will tell you,STOP using Zillow to look at property in Texas. It's notoriously inaccurate since Texas is a non-disclosure state. You can do a search here and you will see several of our regular Realtors telling other people the same thing. I looked up my own house on Zillow,and the info is incorrect!

Austin and some parts of Dallas are more liberal politically. Tarrant County (Fort Worth and surrounding area) is the largest metro area in the state to go republican in the 2008 election, so it is still more conservative. Still, even the liberal parts of Texas won't hold a candle to Seattle, so you will probably be just fine.

[loves2read]

They are still walking people though houses that are on the MLS and the prices are accurate I am sure
I know that the house hunters aren't actually BUYING any of those homes
I would see the same thing if I checked an online site--but you get better visuals from the tv tours

as you read--Zillow here is not good choice

[jbb303]

Originally Posted by loves2read

They are still walking people though houses that are on the MLS and the prices are accurate I am sure
I know that the house hunters aren't actually BUYING any of those homes
I would see the same thing if I checked an online site--but you get better visuals from the tv tours

Wrong again. My friend that was on House Hunters looked at the house that they had already been living in for more than a year and they looked at 2 other houses that belonged to friends of theirs. None of the 3 houses were for sale. And the house that they "picked" for the show wasn't even the one they lived in.