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Thanks for your reply Wittgenstein's Ghost. We also have seen some fairly reasonable home prices in the Ft. Worth area with schools ranking 6 and higher, which is why I made the post to begin with. You are correct about the conservative part.
In response to Angie682, Minnesota schools might be ranked higher but they also force feed the kids liberal ideology and these days the kids don't know their gender and think everything and everyone is "racist" so that type of education I will pass on.
If you think DFW is a conservative mecca - it's not. There are more transplants here than native Texans now...Many of which have brought their "liberal ideaolgy" with them.
We also have Black Lives matter and transgendered people too. Most schools have LGBTQ clubs. It's not 1950 anymore -- and that's a good thing.
The property taxes on that house are almost $7700.00 a year and will keep going up every year because people keep moving here.
Neighborhoods at lower price points tend to go downhill much faster and are usually full of rentals. Also check sex offender mapping. You will be shocked. Any school district with lots of apartments or rentals and at lower price points will have all kinds of problems. We fled Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD after we saw a drug bust in the high school.parking lot on a Sunday.
You'd have a hard time finding anything in Keller ISD for 200k, unless it was in Summerfields (76137).
The mid-cities is like a time warp to the 1970's/1980s.
Honestly none of the school districts in Fort Worth or Tarrant County are particularly that impressive. My advice would be those school ranking websites don't really give an accurate picture of what is really going on in the school or district. You might be very surprised when you are actually living there. Since your housing budget is low you might not have many options to move once you're here.
My house has appreciated so much I could not afford to buy it in today's market. The payment goes up every year due to taxes increasing. My payment has gone up $300.00 a month since I bought my house.
If you are a single income family I would look at other states. No state income tax is totally negated by the high property taxes for single income families with an average income. Also auto and homeowners insurance are significantly more expensive here.
For *excellent* schools and *low crime*, $225K is indeed very low. There is a reason homes are more expensive in places like Keller and Grapevine.
The house linked above is in a multiple offer situation. Houses like that, at that price point, will often be in bidding wars, because they are uncommon. You should be aware of this before you relocate.
There are a lot of people who are looking to move to Fort Worth who don't necessarily want to live in Keller, Grapevine or Southlake. That budget is enough to buy a house in the HEB school district, and HEB has some very good schools.
I have noticed a trend on this forum where someone mentions that they have $200-300k for a house and would like good schools but people tell them that isn't enough because Keller and Southlake are more expensive than that. When it's pointed out that there are actually houses for sale in Keller for $250-275k, the response is that those houses are older or smaller.
So what should be said instead is that, if someone wants new construction in one of the most desirable parts of Tarrant County, $250k is too low. But we shouldn't assume that someone is in that spot. Many people are fine with a 1,500 sq. ft. 3/2 built in 1978 -- in fact, they may even prefer it. After all, probably 5% of Tarrant County residents live in new construction homes in Keller or Southlake. You can't say that $250k is too low for this area simply because it won't buy a new house in the best areas.
There are good school districts outside of Keller and Southlake, and $250k can buy a house sufficient for a family in those areas.
OP: I'm not trying to be rude, but it might be easier to become more enlightened on those issues than to move. I can promise that, regardless of area of the country, there is only going to be a greater recognition of transgender issues (for which there is already significant evidence) and racism moving forward. The pockets of the country where kids are going to be taught that genitals=gender and racism only includes blatant, intentional acts of racism are quickly diminishing.
There are a lot of people who are looking to move to Fort Worth who don't necessarily want to live in Keller, Grapevine or Southlake. That budget is enough to buy a house in the HEB school district, and HEB has some very good schools.
I have noticed a trend on this forum where someone mentions that they have $200-300k for a house and would like good schools but people tell them that isn't enough because Keller and Southlake are more expensive than that. When it's pointed out that there are actually houses for sale in Keller for $250-275k, the response is that those houses are older or smaller.
So what should be said instead is that, if someone wants new construction in one of the most desirable parts of Tarrant County, $250k is too low. But we shouldn't assume that someone is in that spot. After all, probably 5% of Tarrant County residents live in new construction homes in Keller or Southlake. You can't say that $250k is too low for this area simply because it won't buy a new house in the best areas.
There are good school districts outside of Keller and Southlake, and $250k can buy a house sufficient for a family in those areas.
Pardon me, but I am the one who recommended HEB to begin with. (See post #4.) Nor am I the one who said that houses at that price point are older or smaller. I never recommended Keller or Southlake. Geez. Furthermore, I routinely point people towards Birdville ISD, Northwest ISD and other districts.
Your house example at $240ish has received multiple offers and will most likely sell over asking and/or be an all cash offer. It doesn't help anyone to use that as an example.
I know you *used* to live here, but you don't currently live here, nor do you have children attending any schools in the area, so maybe you can hold off on correcting those of us who actually live here.
Pardon me, but I am the one who recommended HEB to begin with. (See post #4.) Nor am I the one said that houses at that price point are older or smaller. I never recommended Keller or Southlake. Geez. Furthermore, I routinely point people towards Birdville ISD, Northwest ISD and other districts.
Your house example at $240ish has received multiple offers and will most likely sell over asking and/or be an all cash offer. It doesn't help anyone to use that as an example.
I know you *used* to live here, but you don't currently live here, nor do you have children attending any schools in the area, so maybe you can hold off on correcting those of us who actually live here.
1. A simple visit to realtor.com would show that my example was one example of many. There are TONS of three bedroom houses for less than $250k in the HEB district. Here's another one for $242k that has had a price drop and is 1900 sq. ft. with a pool: https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...4_M77171-42501
Sometimes I wonder if you actually look to see whether there are houses for sale in the areas you recommend at these price ranges or if you simply look at average sold prices and don't realize that half of sold houses will be below that figure.
2. The OP specifically asked for people who used to live in DFW to chime in, and the things I disagree with you on are things that are objective and available to anyone with internet access. Living in the Fort Worth area doesn't make you more likely to know whether $250k can buy a house in a certain area. You and I both will only know that by actually looking at real estate listing sites. So, no, I'm not going to stop correcting you on information like that simply because you still live there. If someone asks whether the construction on Pipeline is still bad, sure, I'll keep quiet. But the information you give regarding housing costs is often objectively wrong.
3. I have actually had a "kid" go through HEB schools. We moved to the HEB area from Fort Worth because a younger cousin came to live with us, and she went to school in the HEB district. That was only five years ago, too.
Did I or did I not recommend HEB in post #4?
Where did I even mention Southlake?
All of the rest of your argument is unnecessary.
Please read post #4.
And yes, that is a low budget, because $250K might get OP or anyone else something better/nicer with better schools and overall quality of life in another city or another state.
Did I or did I not recommend HEB in post #4?
Where did I even mention Southlake?
All of the rest of your argument is unnecessary.
Please read post #4.
And yes, that is a low budget, because $250K might get OP or anyone else something better/nicer with better schools and overall quality of life in another city or another state.
My comments about a Southlake/Keller perspective were a general comment about a trend I see on this forum -- I never said you specifically didn't mention HEB.
The "rest of my argument" was a direct response to your last post. If it was unnecessary, why did you bring it up?
The fact that $250k can go further in another city is true at any price point. $700k could go further in some other cities. That doesn't mean $700k is very low for DFW.
I think lots of investors are also snapping up the lower priced properties too as rentals -- so competition is fierce.
There have been lots of stories in the news over the last couple.of years about lack of affordable homes under 250k in DFW. Some people have just given up. Builders are not building starter homes here anymore and are focusing on much higher price points.
1. A simple visit to realtor.com would show that my example was one example of many. There are TONS of three bedroom houses for less than $250k in the HEB district. Here's another one for $242k that has had a price drop and is 1900 sq. ft. with a pool: https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...4_M77171-42501
Sometimes I wonder if you actually look to see whether there are houses for sale in the areas you recommend at these price ranges or if you simply look at average sold prices and don't realize that half of sold houses will be below that figure.
2. The OP specifically asked for people who used to live in DFW to chime in, and the things I disagree with you on are things that are objective and available to anyone with internet access. Living in the Fort Worth area doesn't make you more likely to know whether $250k can buy a house in a certain area. You and I both will only know that by actually looking at real estate listing sites. So, no, I'm not going to stop correcting you on information like that simply because you still live there. If someone asks whether the construction on Pipeline is still bad, sure, I'll keep quiet. But the information you give regarding housing costs is often objectively wrong.
3. I have actually had a "kid" go through HEB schools. We moved to the HEB area from Fort Worth because a younger cousin came to live with us, and she went to school in the HEB district. That was only five years ago, too.
While I do agree that posters have a tendency to go for the more expensive areas, I will say that the housing market has changed a lot in the last 5 years. If you've been gone that long your info is out of date. For example, I've seen whole neighborhoods go up in less than a year near where I live and this isn't only area where that's happened. Have you been to Walsh Ranch? Just Chisholm Trail has completely transformed Fort Worth during that time.
While I do agree that posters have a tendency to go for the more expensive areas, I will say that the housing market has changed a lot in the last 5 years. If you've been gone that long your info is out of date. For example, I've seen whole neighborhoods go up in less than a year near where I live and this isn't only area where that's happened. Have you been to Walsh Ranch? Just Chisholm Trail has completely transformed Fort Worth during that time.
I completely agree that the housing market has changed in the last five years.
The vast majority of this transformation has been places moving upmarket, not down market. I don't think I've ever argued that places are not as nice as another poster is suggesting. Rather, I am typically saying that there are houses at a certain price point (usually in the $200s) when another poster is saying that isn't enough. This sort of information is available to all on sites like Realtor.com -- being on the ground doesn't matter.
Lots of people that move here from out of state have the misconception they are going to move here and pay 200k, buy a McMansion and be in a fabulous school district because Texas is "cheap." That is NOT true anymore. It used to be a long time ago.
FWIW - I bought a brand new DR Horton house in Alexandra Meadows off Western Center 15 years ago. It used to be a very nice area back then and was quite rural at that time. That area has exploded and completely changed. The neighborhood even with an HOA turned to complete crap in less than 5 years after low income apartments were built down the street. During the Great Recession lots of folks from the Rust Belt like Detroit moved here and people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
All the teachers fled Chisholm Ridge Elementary (which used to be rated exemplary) because of all the apartments that were built and the demographic changes occurred. Lots of kids with behavioral problems. My neighbors moved after their car was stolen out of their driveway.
The houses in Summerfields used to cost 40-60k less than 15 years ago and honestly were the ghetto back then. Now those same homes are selling for 200-250k...lol. You could not pay me to live there again.
The hard truth is 200-250k ain't much anymore in DFW. Houses in east Fort Worth are selling for that.
OP wanted "safe and excellent schools". That is not going to at 200-250k in Dallas or Fort Worth.
OP - try Wyoming.
Last edited by Angie682; 03-15-2020 at 02:45 PM..
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