chriscar

iTrader: (24)

Anyone have a good real estate connection in the Dallas area, or know of a house for lease? My wife and I are flying in next Wednesday, Feb 6 to look for a house to lease. I've spoken to a few agents but none seem very enthused to help, I don't know what gives. I was hoping we could hook up with one or two agents and have them show us houses, but I'm not getting any warm fuzzies, so I think we may just need to schedule a bunch of separate appointments.

Here's my boilerplate -
--------------------------------------------------------------------
My wife and I are moving from Long Island to the Dallas area in late March, and we need a 2+ bedroom house with a 2 car garage for 6 months to a year while we familiarize ourselves with the area before buying. A garage is an absolute must. I’m a car nut, and spend my time tinkering. So any house with a large, detached garage will be a big bonus.

Our budget is $1,600 per month, we have 2 grown, house-broken cats, and we're only interested in single family houses, in move in condition, with appliances, and no HOA fees.

A good walkability score would be nice, as well as access to running paths, parks etc. I’ll be working from home 3 to 4 days a week, and going in to the office in Irving right next to DFW the other days, and I'd like to keep the commute to 45 minutes or less.

We're flying in to Dallas on Feb 6, and need a realtor to work with us on Feb 7 and 8.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

And a few houses that look good to us:
3523 Versailles Avenue S Dallas, TX 75209

4131 Herschel Ave, Dallas, TX 75219 - Zillow

551 Brookhurst Drive, Dallas, TX 75218-2190, US

301 Montreal Avenue S, Dallas, TX 75208 - MLS ID 11887159 - Property For Rent

Rental Home at 1506 Westwood Drive, Irving, TX | RentalHouses.com

3802 E Calgary Court Irving, TX 75062-2903

C

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

Honestly, with the housing market as hot as it is in Dallas right now, real estate agents will be focused on buyers. Commission from a lease just isn't worth the time.

I'm not too familiar with things around DFW (I'm about 40 miles SW of Ft. Worth). But I think most of those areas are really similar.

I'll bet Hustler would have some good suggestions.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

BTW, welcome to TX.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Do you have children? If so, you do not want to be in Dallas schools, no way.

karter74

iTrader: (4)

I assume a job is bringing you here, so knowing where you will be commuting will dictate where we can recommend looking for houses.

That said, there are much nicer areas we can recommend.

And Hustler is absolutely right, stay away from Dallas schools.

chriscar

iTrader: (24)

No kids, just the two of us. Office is on Regent Blvd in Irving.

Recommend away!

C

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Look in Grapevine/$outhlake or go NNW off MacArthur. Pretty much anything off MacArthuer from Bethel to 121 is going to be safe. I look forward to you wrenching on my car.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Another good trick I know is to pull up lists of Boost Mobile locations, then you know not to move anywhere near one.

chriscar

iTrader: (24)

Thanks for the advice, and keep it coming.

Any comments on the houses I listed in the first post, or the neighborhoods they're in?

C

hustler

iTrader: (6)

When you are renting, you don't want to deal with the drive from anything that will require you to use 635 (You'll die of starvation before you get to work) and probably nothing south of Northwest Highway near Loop 12.

You basically need to be looking in the neighborhood I described previously, Valley Ranch, Grapevine, Coppell, and maybe Farmer's Branch but even that's a little far. Again, you don't want to deal with living in Dallas unless you plan to never leave your zip-code. Trust me, you do not want to commute from White Rock Lake area to your office, you will blow your brains out. It will make you die.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Even though the house on Calgary Ct looks like ****, that's not a bad area. It's a little pricey for what it is though.

karter74

iTrader: (4)

+1 to everything Hustler said, buy I would also consider flower mound and parts of carrollton. You may have to commute a bit in order to find exactly what you want.

Commuting on George Bush (161) isn't bad, I live in Lewisville and commute to Plano with zero issues, other than tolls.

chriscar

iTrader: (24)

10-4 on the commute. At this point, I'll only be going in once a week, but they could flip it at any time and decide that working from home ain't cutting it, and tell us we need to be in every day.

A co-worker recommended Grapevine, and damn the downtown looks nice. Looking around on the real estate web sites, there ain't much in Grapevine under $2k/month.

C

hustler

iTrader: (6)

The Flower Mound/Coppell/Valley Ranch area is pretty good, I live here for a reason. Excellent grocery stores, traffic is easy, close to DFW (I fly a lot and the airport is 6-miles from my house), and homes are affordable. I can get around pretty easily during rush-hour of at noon on a Saturday.

hornetball

iTrader: (4)

Funny

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

sometimes I forget just how tiny these things are...

ckearns

I'd echo what everyone else has recommended North Irving/Valley Ranch, Coppell, Farmers Branch, Carrollton, even up as far as the south end of Loserville where Hustler lives. Look at McArthur and Beltline as the north/south travel routes, maybe even 121. If you're looking to rent, Dallas schools might give you a price break.

I35 south of 635 is all under construction and will be for a couple more years. Then they'll tear into the 35/635 interchange. Traffic through Grapevine always makes me want to kick a puppy.

My first house in Dallas was in Valley Ranch just a stones throw away from the training camp that was right about the price point you're looking for. There are HOA fees in this area though. I like the Valley Ranch area enough that when I sold that place I bought another house less than 2 miles away.

Full disclosure: I work from home full time.

Best of luck!

chriscar

iTrader: (24)

We're all set. Leasing a fantastic house in Carrollton, starting April 1. Very excited, though we're stuck in Dallas for an extra day, because of Nemo, which is fine by me, because Suffolk County, where I live got SLAMMED.

C

johnwag

iTrader: (3)

Saw you posting on dfwmiata and had to see if if was the same Chriscar. Makes sense now. Welcome!

I live real close to Downtown plano, so i'm not too far away. Hustler, karter74 and I will have to meet up with you soon.

chriscar

iTrader: (24)

Hey John, yes it is I, Chriscar! I didn't realize you were in Plano, that's just a stones throw from me in Carrollton. You should have come out to Flying Saucer last night, it was a good time. I'm loving the active Miata community here, in the short time I've been here, I've been to three get-togethers.

C