https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 14 Apr 2026 14:09:57 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732136 Wed, 03 May 2017 22:46:51 +0000 Anagram 2732136@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This one is $699--great location. My absolute favorite public tennis courts are just a short bike ride away. <a href="https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6419-Glenrose-Ct-Dallas-TX-75214/26701631_zpid/" rel="nofollow">https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6419-Glenrose-Ct-Dallas-TX-75214/26701631_zpid/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732134 Wed, 03 May 2017 22:44:13 +0000 Anagram 2732134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Look at the adorable Hollywood heights (Lakewood Elementary zone) tudor. Walking distance to Whole Foods and Pacigo gelato and the Lakewood Theater!</p> <p><a href="https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/522-Monte-Vista-Dr-Dallas-TX-75223/26696112_zpid/" rel="nofollow">https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/522-Monte-Vista-Dr-Dallas-TX-75223/26696112_zpid/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732131 Wed, 03 May 2017 22:41:26 +0000 Anagram 2732131@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lighthouse: yes, Lakewood has gotten pretty expensive in the 4 years since I moved away, because the elementary schools have improved so much, it's close to downtown, they've built so much retail there (the Whole foods, tons of restaurants). I can't believe that when I was house hunting there back in 2011, that I almost bought a place right on Lakewood blvd for only $299k!!!! Augh...I'm sure it would be double the price by now, and it was a really small bungalow.</p> <p>But yes, over 3k sq ft in your price range is a no-go for Lakewood. I was thinking more of the over 2000 sq ft range, which is still the low end. And not in Lakewood proper, but in the Lakewood elementary, Stonewall Jackson, or Lee boundaries. And of course, don't forget all the specialty schools you can apply to for k-12 if you are in Dallas ISD. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732118 Wed, 03 May 2017 21:48:41 +0000 MamaG 2732118@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lighthouse: aside from 3k sq ft, what else is important? Pool? Community pool? Single story? Number of rooms? How long is an acceptable commute? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732113 Wed, 03 May 2017 21:23:33 +0000 Lighthouse 2732113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You're all amazing - Seriously, thank you! So looks like it's unanimous that Southlake should be struck out as an option. 😂 We're a little hesitant to buy an older home because our last two homes have been older and they take more upkeep. I guess it would depend on the house itself. We're more homebodies so we don't need to be too close to the action - we don't eat out too often and prefer to wind down at home during the week. However, walkability to park, libraries, schools, etc. would be a bonus! @HummusGirl mentioned staying south of 635? Anything else like that I should keep in mind? Also, a lot of people are mentioning Lakewood, but a lot of what is coming up is either smaller than what we're looking for (ideally about 3k square feet) or costs a LOT more than 625k! 😩😂 OR one or two out of the three schools zoned for the house have terrible ratings. I'll have to keep my eye out though and see if anything pops up! I'd heard about Carrollton before too but forgot about it - thanks for the reminder! Going to go check it out now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732102 Wed, 03 May 2017 20:50:27 +0000 MamaG 2732102@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: I was thinking Carrollton as well or Lewisville. My first home was in Carrollton </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732091 Wed, 03 May 2017 20:38:14 +0000 sarac 2732091@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I grew up in Lakewood! My parents sent me to private school, but I assume the schools are a lot different now. It's a lovely area, for Texas. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732087 Wed, 03 May 2017 20:21:30 +0000 matador84 2732087@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What about Carrollton? Big Asian community and it is centrally located. There is a DART station that you can take to downtown and eliminate the commute. Homes are more affordable than downtown and the schools are great in CFB. To me, Frisco/Plano/McKinney areas are great (I have lived in Frisco and in Carrollton), but the commute would be a total deal breaker for me! Southlake is super nice also, but again--that commute would ruin me. But...there are lots of people who do it daily! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2732071 Wed, 03 May 2017 19:52:32 +0000 Mrs.Pinecone316 2732071@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have family in Mckiney TX and I loved the area when we visited! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731200 Tue, 02 May 2017 07:57:12 +0000 Mrs. Blue 2731200@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Like @hummusgirl: said, there are some really cool areas in Oak Cliff, like Kessler Park, but at least when I lived in Dallas, everyone I knew who lived there sent their kids to private schools because the schools weren't great still, so check into that and see if it's still the same. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731199 Tue, 02 May 2017 07:55:46 +0000 Mrs. Blue 2731199@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>East Dallas area is great and more up and coming. Lakewood is already very nice with good schools. I lived around Lake Highlands &amp; Little Forest Hill areas &amp; loved it. You can take regular streets all the way to to downtown, so it usually took me about 20-25 minutes. You're also right by White Rock Lake, which is fantastic. I think that area has a little more of a funky vibe. I would definitely move back to that area if we were moving back. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731161 Mon, 01 May 2017 22:22:52 +0000 hummusgirl 2731161@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I grew up in Dallas! Would absolutely not recommend Southlake. And luckily, in your price range there are tons of great options much closer in. I'd second Lake Highlands, White Rock area, M Streets, Lakewood and everything in that eastern area. Really cute older houses that have been redone. Families everywhere. </p> <p>If you're *really* looking for up-and-coming, you should also check out Oak Cliff. I have several friends with kids who live there and like it, but it's been seen as the wrong side of the tracks for decades. It's gentrifying and the Bishop Arts District is a nice place to visit. </p> <p>I would try to live south of 635. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731151 Mon, 01 May 2017 20:54:40 +0000 Lighthouse 2731151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Again, this has really been so helpful. Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts/tips! @Anagram - the school options especially were good to know! I'll go over all this with my husband - it'll be nice to feel more knowledgeable about the areas if the move does take place. Thanks again everyone! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731140 Mon, 01 May 2017 20:15:06 +0000 Boopers 2731140@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaG: the market in pretty much all Dallas suburbs and I'd imagine desirable parts of Dallas is hot and continues to increase as more and more headquarters come to the area bringing thousands of employees. With Toyota and other large companies coming to Plano, they've picked a good location for their employees to commute to from any surrounding suburb which is increasing the supply and demand of the market all around. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731139 Mon, 01 May 2017 20:14:24 +0000 skinnycow 2731139@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lighthouse: DH actually grew up in Southlake so I'm very familiar! It's a very nice area with great schools (with a reputation of being a little snooty) but like other posters said, it's a pretty bad commute. You'd get more for your money in other areas! You can definitely find something for $625k in Plano and it sounds like it will fit most of your wants. </p> <p>@mrslibrarian: Small world! We love it here! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731131 Mon, 01 May 2017 19:47:20 +0000 MamaG 2731131@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I live near Southlake and the market is hot here. Depending on your home requirements, $625k is going to go quick. Also, I'm not sure I would recommend Plano with the Toyota headquarters moving in. I would think the market would be getting crazy up there too. I don't work in Dallas so my opinion might not be valid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731104 Mon, 01 May 2017 18:31:22 +0000 Anagram 2731104@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lighthouse: Also, I don't want to overwhelm you with Dallas ISD stuff (I was a teacher in a suburb of Dallas and a lot of my friends teach in DISD), but they have a lot of specialty schools that you can apply to. Not just the TAG schools, but the 2 public Montessori schools that have good ratings, and there's a girl's only "leadership academy" that has great scores, and a new STEAM school that you can apply to for elementary. So if you want to live close to downtown, it's doable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731103 Mon, 01 May 2017 18:30:32 +0000 Boopers 2731103@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As others have said a commute to downtown Dallas from Southlake would be a beating. More and more of the "upcoming" suburbs are being built further and further out, specifically North of existing suburbs of Dallas which would make the commute to downtown Dallas long as well.</p> <p>With your budget you can find a very nice home in Plano, Frisco, McKinney, or Allen. All have good school districts with a tolerable, but not ideal commute to downtown Dallas, but it's the way of life here. </p> <p>I live in Plano and when my husband worked downtown he took the DART (public rail) from Plano to downtown Dallas. If you lived in West Plano that wouldn't be as convenient because you'd have to drive across the city then take the train downtown.</p> <p>ETA: I have a friend that lives in Lakewood in East Dallas and adores it and never plans to move out. It's Richardson ISD, which has schools that are hit or miss depending on the area, but the schools for that neighborhood are highly rated.</p> <p>We used to live in East Richardson and it has an Asian population. The homes are older and wouldn't be the same style as "upcoming" suburbs, but it's established and a nice place to live. We enjoyed living there before moving to Plano. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731101 Mon, 01 May 2017 18:28:24 +0000 Anagram 2731101@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lighthouse: There are also a few areas in Richardson ISD that are closer to downtown and have well-rated schools. I'm just not sure about % of Asians. Check out White Rock elementary and there's another...maybe Hextor elementary? Zillow will let you search by elementary school zone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731100 Mon, 01 May 2017 18:26:18 +0000 Anagram 2731100@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lighthouse: okay, so.....now that I know budget, tell me your other requirements. You mentioned the commute to downtown and "good schools" and preferably a significant (or visible at least?) Asian population. So, one of the best school districts which definitely has an Asian population is Plano. Some people regard it as a pressure cooker atmosphere, and HighSchools are absolutely enormous, but overall, the schools are very good. If you are interested in Plano, there's a whole East vs West conversation, but you can't really go *wrong* in Plano. But the commute downtown isn't going to be super fabulous.</p> <p>Personally, depending on your home requirements, I think you should check out the Lakewood/Lakewood Heights/Wilshire heights area of East Dallas. It's my absolute favorite neighborhood in Dallas and where I used to live. Look at Lakewood Elementary, Stonewall Jackson Elementary, and there's a new public Montessori over there too. Also check out Robert E. Lee. Lakewood and Stonewall Jackson are known great elementaries and Robert E Lee is an up-and-coming dual language program elementary that all feed to the same middle school. The middle and High schools are kind of transitional because all of the best-and-brightest students end up getting funneled to the district's TAG schools (gifted schools) like Travis for middle school and one of the many magnet schools for HS. Dallas has some of the best magnet schools in the country, so although the pubic schools get kind of dissed by suburban people, if your child is bright and can get in, they will have access to amazing schools. Plus, that area of Dallas is just cooler--you can walk/bike to a lot of amazing areas. Lakewood shopping center, Greenville Avenue.</p> <p>My two best girlfriends that still live in Dallas live in those areas and it's close to downtown and you can walk places, but people still have back yards. You won't get a house as big as you'd get in Plano for the same price range, and it's more bungalow style in your range, but they have character. There's a whole foods and a Sprouts in the neighborhood, along with tons of restaurants and the Truck Yard, which is a food truck gathering place. And the lake is right there, too...plus a public pool and playground at Tietze park, a public library, a YMCA....tons to do for families that want a more urban vibe.</p> <p><a href="https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5819-Vickery-Blvd-Dallas-TX-75206/26690152_zpid/" rel="nofollow">https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5819-Vickery-Blvd-Dallas-TX-75206/26690152_zpid/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731095 Mon, 01 May 2017 17:53:51 +0000 Lighthouse 2731095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone, this is helpful! It's not set but ideally we'd like to stay under 625k so that we can put more of our finances to traveling, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731088 Mon, 01 May 2017 17:36:21 +0000 Anagram 2731088@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lighthouse: What's your budget range? Then I can give you tons of recommendations. I lived in Dallas for 12 years before we moved to the NYC area. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731081 Mon, 01 May 2017 17:11:23 +0000 mdf106 2731081@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Lighthouse: I don't know much about Southlake, I am not from here, but looking at a map it looks like the commute would be worse than from Plano. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731072 Mon, 01 May 2017 16:54:39 +0000 mrslibrarian 2731072@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Southlake is quite established compared with Frisco, Prosper and other cities that are North of Dallas. Your husband's commute would be terrible from Southlake. I grew up in the city next to Southlake. I'd suggest Plano or North Dallas, but they aren't really upcoming either.<br /> @skinnycow I live in Frisco as well! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731067 Mon, 01 May 2017 16:45:54 +0000 Lighthouse 2731067@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks ladies for your feedback! The warning about a terrible commute is really bumming me out as my husband's commute is really reasonable right now. :sad: @MDF106 and @Skinnycow - have you guys heard anything about Southlake at all? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731016 Mon, 01 May 2017 14:38:06 +0000 skinnycow 2731016@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You're probably not going to find any up and coming areas with a reasonable commute - most of the areas close to Dallas are already fairly established and more expensive than those a little further out. As MDF106 said, West Plano could be a good option as it is diverse with good schools. We live in Frisco which has a great school system and is very nice in general, but home prices have been rapidly increasing since we bought two years ago. I was working in downtown Dallas until a couple months ago and the commute is killer. An 1 hr+ each way and I actually changed jobs so my commute would be shorter. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2731013 Mon, 01 May 2017 14:32:20 +0000 mdf106 2731013@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Plano is very family friendly, has excellent schools, and a fairly large Asian population, especially in western Plano. I would not consider the commute to downtown Dallas reasonable, but some people do that commute. There are other suburbs that are similar with somewhat worse commutes (Frisco, Allen, McKinney). The real estate market is going up rapidly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2730992 Mon, 01 May 2017 13:56:15 +0000 bhbee 2730992@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Southlake is nice but commute would be ugly I think. Also expensive. We moved here for a job downtown and looked at east Dallas - lake highlands, Lakewood, m streets. Lots of people who work downtown. The real estate market is pretty crazy esp anywhere close to downtown. You can do better as you move out and take a longer commute so you have to weigh that. Most of Lake Highlands is in Richardson schools which many prefer to Dallas (esp for middle/high school). DH actually took a new job near Southlake and has an awful commute from lake highlands but we love it so plan to stay for now since jobs are not forever. The areas I mentioned are full of young families, close to everything downtown and lots to do for kids. Reasonably diverse, you can get a sense from looking at elementary school profiles online that report that. I highly recommend checking out east Dallas! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/where-to-buy-a-home-near-dallas#post-2730980 Mon, 01 May 2017 13:38:22 +0000 Lighthouse 2730980@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>There is a chance we may be moving to the Dallas area in the near future and I was wondering if anyone could recommend areas to look into when buying a home. If the opportunity does become open, we'll have to move quickly so I figured it's best to start looking into the area at least. Our top priorities in terms of real estate are finding a family friendly area with good school districts, but somewhere preferably more "up and coming" so we're not paying a premium. We'd be looking at a commute into downtown Dallas so that would have to be taken into consideration. Lastly, it would be nice for it to have some Asian presence there. Someone suggested Southlake, TX - any thoughts on it and any other recs? Thanks in advance!! </p>