Dallas Housing Market (McKinney, Howe, Celina: to rent, established neighborhood, new construction)

[mastershake575]

Originally Posted by Sunbather

My guess is that this poster is very young as it's a quite immature world view. And probably best left at that.

Probably not young but for sure a narrow minded/semi-immature view.

Any person that would turn a basic junior high-level observation ("coastal cities you're paying for factors that aren't directly house related so it's tough to say it's a bad deal") into this overly complicated rant about rich people making better decisions and those that prioritize other things are "literally stupid" simply has an immature view on the world.

What's even funnier is he keeps referring to certain areas as "dump" when a lot of people who come here from the coast have the same view on North Texas. My uncle who's come twice in the last 9 months (both visits related to the PGA HQ in Frisco) literally said dump both times he came. He came in the Winter and it was cold, dry, everything was dead/dormant, everything was flat, area he stayed in was just cookie cutter houses on small lots. "Dump" and "depressing" was how he described it. Wasn't much better during his summer visit. 100+ degrees every day, mosquitos everywhere, awful allergies, majority of the lawns/grass were burnt brown.

You could tell him your entire spiel ("uhh better deals, better bargain, rich people make better decisions, bigger house for less money") and he would NEVER agree to live here. Like I said, your paying for things besides a house when living on the coast. DFW although nice and desirable is not some perfect area and people are not stupid for living elsewhere

[jiping]

What @Cicnod said is partially true. You should invest on nice primary residence if you stay at home a lot. Me and wife lived in an apartment temporarily for some months, working from home, and it was a psychological torture. 2-br condo in San Diego is definitely a dump. $1.5M 2000-sqft condo is the minimum I would live for > 1 year in SD.

Having said that square footage is not everything, but floor plan matters as well. We moved from an old 5000-sqft McMansion to a 3500-sqft new house, and the difference is night and day. We were blown away by high 12-ft ceiling, large windows, and efficient and open floor plan. Good appliances and home services will also improve the life quality significantly.

[Leonard123]

Originally Posted by jiping

What @Cicnod said is partially true. You should invest on nice primary residence if you stay at home a lot. Me and wife lived in an apartment temporarily for some months, working from home, and it was a psychological torture. 2-br condo in San Diego is definitely a dump. $1.5M 2000-sqft condo is the minimum I would live for > 1 year in SD.

Having said that square footage is not everything, but floor plan matters as well. We moved from an old 5000-sqft McMansion to a 3500-sqft new house, and the difference is night and day. We were blown away by high 12-ft ceiling, large windows, and efficient and open floor plan. Good appliances and home services will also improve the life quality significantly.

It's funny. I cannot find any new construction houses that have as tall ceilings or large windows as my old house now, at least not in a comparable size range. Mine is quite long in the tooth, and they go up to 16 feet with a full wall of windows. I would have to double my lot size and nearly double the home size or go two story to get that new. Regardless, unless you have a large family or have lots of guests over, I cannot fathom why anyone would want a house that large.

[spacecitytx]

Originally Posted by Leonard123

It's funny. I cannot find any new construction houses that have as tall ceilings or large windows as my old house now, at least not in a comparable size range. Mine is quite long in the tooth, and they go up to 16 feet with a full wall of windows. I would have to double my lot size and nearly double the home size or go two story to get that new. Regardless, unless you have a large family or have lots of guests over, I cannot fathom why anyone would want a house that large.

Meh...my wife and I just purchased a fairly big new construction here in the Houston area, and it's literally just us two. I suppose not everyone buys things based on "the general need" for it (if that were the case, luxury and exotic cars wouldn't exist, as no one "NEEDS" a $300k two-door car that literally serves no purpose other than to show off how much money you have, lol). My wife and I simply like "space". Some people might view purchasing a 4 bedroom 3.5 bathroom home with no kids as an "economically unsound" decision, and that might be right under some circumstances...but again, everything isn't about general need.

Some people just want stuff.

[CamThomas]

Originally Posted by spacecitytx

Meh...my wife and I just purchased a fairly big new construction here in the Houston area, and it's literally just us two. I suppose not everyone buys things based on "the general need" for it (if that were the case, luxury and exotic cars wouldn't exist, as no one "NEEDS" a $300k two-door car that literally serves no purpose other than to show off how much money you have, lol). My wife and I simply like "space". Some people might view purchasing a 4 bedroom 3.5 bathroom home with no kids as an "economically unsound" decision, and that might be right under some circumstances...but again, everything isn't about general need.

Some people just want stuff.

It's whatever you're comfortable with. If you can afford it, go for it. Always noticed size seems to be a big deal to Texans and most southerners. It's not the same on the coasts of course.

Also, the 300k car has a purpose.

[Leonard123]

Originally Posted by CamThomas

It's whatever you're comfortable with. If you can afford it, go for it. Always noticed size seems to be a big deal to Texans and most southerners. It's not the same on the coasts of course.

Also, the 300k car has a purpose.

I don't know. It seems those coming from other states expect big houses too. It's likely that people just want to impress other people.

Based on what I've seen of modern floor plans, the only extra "space" people want seems to be a large open kitchen island. The modern floor plan is typically one giant square with no walls or corners and a kitchen sink in the dead center. They make it where you need crazy amounts of space just to fit a couch. Bathrooms have actually gotten much smaller in proportion, another trend I don't get.

[spacecitytx]

Originally Posted by Leonard123

I don't know. It seems those coming from other states expect big houses too. It's likely that people just want to impress other people.

Based on what I've seen of modern floor plans, the only extra "space" people want seems to be a large open kitchen island. The modern floor plan is typically one giant square with no walls or corners and a kitchen sink in the dead center. They make it where you need crazy amounts of space just to fit a couch. Bathrooms have actually gotten much smaller in proportion, another trend I don't get.

With me, I was more concerned with backyard and patio space, since I love to grill and host backyard get-togethers and whatnot. My wife (being a typical woman) is the one obsessed with kitchen space and looks, bathroom fixtures, sink options...all crap that I could care less about. The garage, backyard, and media room is all I cared about.

[ThomasCrown]

If we didn't have a big house during the pandemic our quality of life would have been reduced drastically. Normally, my wife and I entertain quite a bit, and as spacecity said, housing decisions are based on more than just general need. It was great not to have the kids and ourselves on top of each other in 2020, the kids have their own room, we have a game room, and a media room. If we lived in a smaller house with everyone going stir crazy and constantly being in each other's way I think there would have been a lot more arguments and stress going on. As it was, living with two teenagers wasn't exactly pleasant when they couldn't go anywhere or do anything.


When I retire we will probably downsize a bit, but I think we'll still need 3k+ sq ft, to have at least two guest rooms for my children and their spouses someday. Then you think about grandkids... maybe we won't downsize after all.

[TheOverdog]

When I retire we will probably downsize a bit, but I think we'll still need 3k+ sq ft, to have at least two guest rooms for my children and their spouses someday. Then you think about grandkids... maybe we won't downsize after all.

I haven't seen my brothers and sisters for years because there isn't room at my parents' house for all of us, so yeah, if you do any thinking about the future and can support some room for kids, then IMO it's a smart choice. I guess we could stay in local hotels, but that's a pretty big expense for more than a day or two, and we spend more time in the hotel than hanging out with my siblings, so that also sucks.



My relatives live in CA in a 3 bedroom, and it royally sucks to stay for very long in the tiny amount of space, and the beach ain't that great to make up for the small houses.

[Titus Pullo]

I wanted to thank all those who replied. Sorry it took a while for me to respond.

I've always been a frugal person and in retirement I plan to remain that way. I'm looking for no more than 2K square feet of house. From what I have seen by the posts, taxes and auto insurance is about the same as any other place (which is surprising since I always thought NY was the leader in lightening your wallet).

However, 'Mastershake' touched on this briefly and I too have wondered about the water situation in North Dallas. Summers are getting hotter in Texas and from those who live in Collin County, how serious is this problem? With all the transplants moving there and population boom, how will this impact water shortage in the near future? Is the traffic any worse?

According to my calculations, financially I will be fine. The only issue I will have is the lack of health insurance since there are no doctors in North Texas who will take my plan. So I will have to buy into the marketplace or think about getting a job for this purpose.

Anybody here pay for their own health insurance (non-medicare)?