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House hunting for job near Legacy and Dallas North Tollway

5,691 Views | 60 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by wbt5845
wtelford
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Howdy,
My wife and I are returning to Texas after a 17 year exile in California. We have a 2 and 4 year old. My main goal is the best public education I can find, and as the value there appears to be in the home and not the land, not to buy a house from a shoddy builder (whether we buy new or existing). Our hope is to find a good community for our kids to grow up in with other kids their age.
I will likely be working out of the house, while my wife commutes to Legacy and Dallas North Tollway.
Can anyone recommend areas we should consider?
AgLaw
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What's your price range? Neighborhoods in Plano on either side of the Tollway between the Bush Turnpike and Legacy would fit the bill (Brinker Elem. on the east side and Barksdale Elem. on the west), but you're looking at houses in the $600 range in that area. If you're looking for something smaller/less expensive, you can go into Plano and find older neighborhoods where houses are being remodeled. If you want new construction, you have to go north into Frisco.
cadetjay02
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Budget is the main factor here. Frisco & Plano ISD are your go to school districts. Be aware that the ISD borders don't match the city borders. I live in Prosper ISD, just to the north of Frisco, and would avoid it for a couple years. However, your kids are young and it should work out the growing pains by the time they're in school. I teach in Frisco ISD and can definitely give you some feedback on the intricacies of the individual feeder patterns once you start looking at neighborhoods.

If you need an agent, I would imagine Cody Robinson will be along to chime in. He's a sponsor and a good dude.
wtelford
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Thanks for the responses! I would like to keep it under 750 if possible, but I'm willing to consider other options if necessary to achieve our goals.
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jtraggie99
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wtelford said:

Thanks for the responses! I would like to keep it under 750 if possible, but I'm willing to consider other options if necessary to achieve our goals.

Dude, you'll have plenty of options in West Plano at that price. Almost anything in that area that feeds into Plano West high school, you can't really go wrong. Most of the elementary and middle schools in that area are fairly solid as well (as are Jasper and Shepton, the freshmen/sophomore high schools).
wbt5845
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wtelford said:

Thanks for the responses! I would like to keep it under 750 if possible, but I'm willing to consider other options if necessary to achieve our goals.

You might be bringing a lot of equity with you from a home in CA to be looking in that range (or you may just be rich af). Be prepared to have about $15,000-$17,000 annual property taxes on a $750,000 home. I'm not kidding.
cadetjay02
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Plano West is a great high school, but be aware that there is a big distinction between the Plano ISD high school make-up and that of Frisco. Plano only has 3 high schools with over 4000 students each while Frisco goes smaller with what will be 10 high school and they're capped at about 2100ish. Middle school and elementary are the same basically. Demographics are slightly different at all of these and can meet your needs depending on what you're looking for.
PlanoAg98
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I would recommend something in Plano/Frisco where your wife won't have to get on the tollway to get to work. The tollway traffic in that area sucks as businesses north of Legacy off the tollway continue to build up.
wtelford
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Ha yeah, Definitely an equity situation coming from CA. Thanks for the heads up on property taxes. A 2.6% property tax is still preferable to a 1% property tax plus a 10% state income tax. I'm a much bigger fan of Texas's consumption tax.

On top of that it's a different quality of life. Last home we bought out here cost us more and was a 1700 sqft 2 bedroom built in the 1920's with no garage and a one car driveway. You might be able to guess one of the reasons we are "coming home".
wtelford
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That's great to learn. I'm hearing about how school districts don't necessarily align with city boundaries, and it sounds like Plano might even be adjusting theirs? That makes it challenging to plan for.
wtelford
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If we do end up getting on the tollway is there a better direction to go for the commute?

What about the east/west commute if we look further west?
PlanoAg98
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Quote:

If we do end up getting on the tollway is there a better direction to go for the commute?

What about the east/west commute if we look further west?
I think that whole area is very congested so traffic is going to be bad in any direction. That location is at the intersection of 121 Tollway and Dallas North Tollway. I don't think the traffic is "as bad" on the 121 Tollway but there's still traffic. I was buying 3 years ago and I bought in the central Plano area (north of George Bush Tollway between Preston and 75) as the houses were older custom built with larger lots. The neighborhoods have mature trees and lots of one story homes. One story neighbors are nice so you don't have multiple houses peering into your backyard. Mostly all of the new development in this area is like that.

With your price range, you may want to look in Fairview. It's at 75 and 121 Tollway which should be an easy commute for your wife. Most houses out there are older and on large lots. The location is great as your at the intersection of two major highways. Also, Allen is just north for shopping.
wbt5845
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wtelford said:

Ha yeah, Definitely an equity situation coming from CA. Thanks for the heads up on property taxes. A 2.6% property tax is still preferable to a 1% property tax plus a 10% state income tax. I'm a much bigger fan of Texas's consumption tax.

On top of that it's a different quality of life. Last home we bought out here cost us more and was a 1700 sqft 2 bedroom built in the 1920's with no garage and a one car driveway. You might be able to guess one of the reasons we are "coming home".

Good for you. I had friends move from CA who scaled back what they were looking at for homes when they realized the property tax situation. I too prefer our taxing situation vs. the income tax which punishes working harder.

Your utilities are going to be a lot higher on a larger home in a place that's hot af as well. Be prepared for the $500 electric bill. All being said though, it is good to come home. Good luck.
AgLaw
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wtelford said:

If we do end up getting on the tollway is there a better direction to go for the commute?

What about the east/west commute if we look further west?
The Tollway is busy both directions during the commuting hours. Going east, you get into McKinney ISD and Allen ISD. Growth in McKinney is all headed north and west, so you could get into a brand new home there. Both districts are good.

For $750k, though, you're going to have options that won't require Tollway travel. You could buy a big house with a pool within two miles of Legacy in Plano ISD for that money.

There are lots of good school districts in Collin County. I'm partial to Plano, but others are good, as well.
wtelford
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Speaking of commutes and traffic, what time of day is rush hour in that area? Also what is considered a "bad" commute. My current commute is 50-75 minutes. My wife would be comfortable with anything under 30-35 minutes at peak traffic.
TamuMonica
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I also recommend Cody Robinson and his team. They are wonderful and really know the area/builders to get you exactly what you are interested in and want. We bought in Little Elm 5 years ago and our house has gone up 120k +, we are Little Elm but Frisco ISD.
AgLaw
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wtelford said:

Speaking of commutes and traffic, what time of day is rush hour in that area? Also what is considered a "bad" commute. My current commute is 50-75 minutes. My wife would be comfortable with anything under 30-35 minutes at peak traffic.

Commuting should be significantly better than your current situation. I live in West Plano and work in downtown Dallas. My commute is 35-45 minutes on the Tollway.
wtelford
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Thats fantastic info AgLaw. There is a slim chance that some point in the future I might office near downtown. Its definitely not my preference, but glad to hear its manageable from West Plano.
MGS
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Just note that west of the DNT in Plano, there are some very expensive houses that are in Lewisville ISD.
wtelford
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I'm assuming Lewisville ISD is a bad thing?
wbt5845
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wtelford said:

I'm assuming Lewisville ISD is a bad thing?
Not entirely - it depends on which high school you feed. Unfortunaltey, the better ones are on the west end of the district (further away from your work).

PERSONALLY - I am fond of the Frisco ISD because the high schools are smaller. They're generally graduating classes of about 400-600. The Plano high schools are more like 1500 class size. Frisco Liberty and Frisco High both draw from City of Plano addresses and are both excellent schools. Frisco Centennial is just north of SH 121 and is also excellent.
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LOAD2000
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You may want to check out Austin Waters as well. Great location and feeds to Hebron High School.
plarmigan
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You might also consider far north Dallas zip 75248 (Dallas address but Richardson ISD) which would fit your commute (could prob just take Hillcrest north to avoid the tollway), budget, and "best public education" requirements. Anything that feeds into Brentfield (or Bowie) elementary which are right up there with the absolute best schools in the state. Also you would be fine for a possible commute downtown in the future if needed (around 30 min or so).
cadetjay02
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You are correct about Frisco Liberty, but Frisco High does not draw from Plano nor is an excellent school. Lebanon Trail is the other school that draws from Plano and is an excellent school.
wtelford
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Thank you all so much for the schools info. It's extremely helpful.

Any thoughts on builders to look for or avoid? I don't imagine we'll be building but I am interested in knowing who built what we end up buying.
gig em 02
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Start your search with these borders:
West - Marsh/Plano pkwy
North - 121
East - Preston
South - George Bush

You could live further out but that will put you in one of the most desireable real estate regions in the world. Also there are toll roads everywhere, so the further out you live the more tolls you pay. Nothing wrong with frisco or McKinney or prosper, but also not worth the added commute.

Save money, close enough to work that your wife can run home at lunch time or go to kids school plays without missing too much time in the office. 15 minutes from downtown on a Saturday.
John Francis Donaghy
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Post above is pretty spot on, although I would extend the eastern border to Coit. Lots of great neighborhoods between Preston and Coit.

As far as north vs. South end of that range. That's kind of the grey area where the northern reaches of "the city" transition to more traditional suburbs. South end of Plano near the Bush will be more similar to living in North Dallas while Plano north of Legacy will be more like living in McKinney or Frisco.

Personally, I prefer the Southern part. It's built up more densely, and traffic moves slower, but anything you could want is pretty much within a 1.5 mile radius of home. So even if I have to wait an extra light cycle every now and then, it's a quick trip. I'm very rarely in the car more than 10 minutes at a time. Often less than 5.

Northern part is less dense, and traffic moves faster, but you'll probably be driving farther from your house to get anywhere too. Time wise it's probably a wash, more your own personal preference.

I will say living on the south end of Plano and near the DNT will make a commute to Downtown Dallas MUCH easier than it would be to live north of Legacy. So if you're saying you may eventually end up working near downtown, southwest Plano will likely save you 20-40 minutes in the car each way every day over the more Northern areas. Something to keep in mind.
AeroAg96
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I have a 1 acre lot in Fairview I'm looking to sell if you're wanting to put that equity into a dream home. Just let me know. Fairview to Legacy/Tollway is about 20-30 minute commute depending on the time and route you take.
pathAG04
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based solely on your desire for the best public schools, you might consider going south or west. specifically highland park, coppell, or southlake (carroll isd). highland park would require you to increase your budget, maybe significantly. southlake borders on being too far of a commute to legacy and dnt (30-35min without traffic, but depending on when you make the drive, it might be against traffic). coppell is not particularly close to downtown dallas. all three are highly rated school districts and are strong K-12, at least according to school rating systems.
hatchback
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You could even get into a nice house in Lakewood for that budget. Lakewood ES is one of the best in Dallas. Long MS and Woodrow HS are also good schools. DISD might have some trouble schools, but as a whole it's a good district.
jtraggie99
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pathAG04 said:

based solely on your desire for the best public schools, you might consider going south or west. specifically highland park, coppell, or southlake (carroll isd). highland park would require you to increase your budget, maybe significantly. southlake borders on being too far of a commute to legacy and dnt (30-35min without traffic, but depending on when you make the drive, it might be against traffic). coppell is not particularly close to downtown dallas. all three are highly rated school districts and are strong K-12, at least according to school rating systems.

Why in the world would they do that? Why lock yourself into a commute from Highland Park or Coppell or Carroll when they can afford to live close to Legacy and the Plano schools in that area are great? You really can't go wrong with any of the schools in that part of Plano.
pathAG04
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jtraggie99 said:

pathAG04 said:

based solely on your desire for the best public schools, you might consider going south or west. specifically highland park, coppell, or southlake (carroll isd). highland park would require you to increase your budget, maybe significantly. southlake borders on being too far of a commute to legacy and dnt (30-35min without traffic, but depending on when you make the drive, it might be against traffic). coppell is not particularly close to downtown dallas. all three are highly rated school districts and are strong K-12, at least according to school rating systems.

Why in the world would they do that? Why lock yourself into a commute from Highland Park or Coppell or Carroll when they can afford to live close to Legacy and the Plano schools in that area are great? You really can't go wrong with any of the schools in that part of Plano.
maybe that commute or those locations are not your cup of tea, but my suggestion is not for you. op wants to find the best public education he can. why not consider? those areas, because of the schools, have lots of kids and families.
HomeFinderCody
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Thank you Monica! And to the OP, I'm happy to talk if you like. Cell is 972 365 0432. Email is Cody@MyRobinsonTeam.com
Sponsor Message: Need real estate help in North Texas? Click Here to Save $500
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