Being relocated (Arlington, North Richland Hills, Grapevine: sales, buy, construction)

[Texascrude]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Yes, at least 45 minutes each way unless you can work off-hours. There's no reason to make that kind of commute when there are plenty of nice places that are closer. But the bigger issue with Southlake is your budget. You really need at least $400k for entry level there. Even your max of $275 will not buy anything other than a major fixer-upper, if that.

You can do Grapevine, Bedford, Euless, and Hurst easily with that budget. You will still need a good realtor who knows the area, and you must be able to go look at houses the day they list. My friend in Euless sold her house in that price range in 3 days, and my friend in Keller sold hers in 48 hours with multiple offers.

Any opinion on Burleson?

Houses and schools aside, how about local amenities / shopping? My wife will be staying home with our 2nd and 3rd -- do some of these areas have more to offer than the others by way of family entertainment (bouncing places, parks, museums, zoos, malls, Costco, etc)?

I was glad to find y'all have a Chuy's in Fort Worth -- that will definitely make the relo easier to deal with!

[Texascrude]

Is living in Carroll ISD worth the extra money / commute? Is there much difference between the elementary schools that feed into the Carroll High School and the elementary schools down in Burleson or Aledo?

Good elementary schools are our #1 priority, and I'm willing to pay for the more expensive house and put up with the longer commute if it's worth it, but not having lived in the area I'm not sure what's real and what's hype.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by Texascrude

Is living in Carroll ISD worth the extra money / commute? Is there much difference between the elementary schools that feed into the Carroll High School and the elementary schools down in Burleson or Aledo?

Your budget will not buy anything in Southlake except maybe a total fixer upper. You need at least $400k to get into Southlake. Yes, Carroll ISD is one of the best in Texas...

[Texascrude]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Your budget will not buy anything in Southlake except maybe a total fixer upper. You need at least $400k to get into Southlake. Yes, Carroll ISD is one of the best in Texas...

We could do $400k if we needed to in order to get into the right neighborhood. I stuck our original budget at $275k because we usually go for the 15 year mortgage, but if we settled fora 30 year we could up our budget quite a bit and keep a similar monthly payment.

It's been hard for us to get a good feel for the schools out there without knowing a whole lot of people personally. We've been using the school ratings, but I'm guessing not all Exemplary schools are created equal? I see "10" schools (using greatschools) in other districts -- are these much different than those in Carroll? Ugh, so much to decide!

[Squirl]

If you are only going to live in the area for about 3 years and only need elementary schools, suggest you rent a place and use any "10" rated elementary school in "great schools" or any exemplary rated elementary school. If you like a more urban setting, go for Tanglewood or Lily B. If you like a more suburban setting, find Burleson, SW Arlington or Mansfield if you will (tho that's farther than you need to drive).

[Texascrude]

Just an update for everyone who helped. We just got back from our house hunting trip and although we don't have a contract on a house yet, we've narrowed it down to Keller. We seem drawn to Florence Elementary School, so we're looking at the houses that feed into that school.

It's a really cool part of town -- we're looking at a few houses with 1 to 2 acre lots right there in town for ~$300k. Houses are older, but seems that the land is going to be pretty valuable several years from now. Anyone heard anything specific about Florence?

[ChristieP]

Keller is nice, but that commute to downtown is horrid. I have coworkers who live up there, and they say it takes about an hour since 35W is always jam packed. And it's about to get a whole lot worse... I-35W Corridor Project

[Threestep2]

We had to make the drive Keller-Downtown yesterday and it was stop-and-go!

[Texascrude]

Originally Posted by Threestep

We had to make the drive Keller-Downtown yesterday and it was stop-and-go!

Did you take 35? Quite a few people have told me that if you stick to some of the other roads (Davis, Beach, 377) it's a lot better. I did the drive myself during the trip (though not at 6:30am), but I realize that during the summer traffic patterns can be significantly different.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by Texascrude

Did you take 35? Quite a few people have told me that if you stick to some of the other roads (Davis, Beach, 377) it's a lot better. I did the drive myself during the trip (though not at 6:30am), but I realize that during the summer traffic patterns can be significantly different.

Instead of being stop-and-go on the freeway, it's stop-and-go with a bunch of traffic lights, and a few school zones. And when the construction gets started on 35W, those side streets are going to be a LOT more crowded!

Yes, morning rush hour traffic in the summer is a LOT lighter. Evening traffic still seems to be the same, and I have no idea why...