buying a house in Dallas - opinions requested

[eagl]

Hi all,

Anyone know anything if the Addison area in Dallas is a good place to live?  My wife is looking at some houses and townhouses in Addison and near brookhaven college because it's near where she expects to be working, but I won't be able to go out and see either place.  There are some colleges and golf courses nearby, and there is even an airport within a couple of miles although I don't know which one it is.

I know there are some AHers in Dallas, so any comments on the area would be helpful.  Thanks in advance!

[jigsaw]

Originally posted by eagl
...and there is even an airport within a couple of miles although I don't know which one it is.
 

That would be Addison airport (KADS).  There's a fairly nice albeit small air museum there and several flight schools.

Addison used to be a pretty transient area made up mostly of apartments and very little houses. Crime was fairly high. I'm not sure what it's like these days.

If you go a bit West into Carrollton,  North into Plano, or East into North Dallas, you can find some better neighborhoods. Depending on how far away from Addison proper you want to get, Coppell, Lewisville, and The Colony are decent areas.

[eagl]

She'll be working at UT Southwestern medical center, so the commute is an issue.  Addison is only about 12 miles away which is why the real estate dude was showing her around there.  Prices aren't too bad, but I'm not sure how to get area crime stats.

I'll pass along comments about nicer areas to her so she can grill the R.E. agent

[Nefarious]

http://www.homesandland.com

Shameless Plug

[Krusher]

Originally posted by eagl
Hi all,

Anyone know anything if the Addison area in Dallas is a good place to live?  My wife is looking at some houses and townhouses in Addison and near brookhaven college because it's near where she expects to be working, but I won't be able to go out and see either place.  There are some colleges and golf courses nearby, and there is even an airport within a couple of miles although I don't know which one it is.

I know there are some AHers in Dallas, so any comments on the area would be helpful.  Thanks in advance!

The Brookhaven area gives you the choice of Addison, Carrollton, and Farmers Branch. All of them are nice areas and would make a good choice. The Dallas property taxes are the highest in the area with Carrollton not far behind although for the money Carrollton/Farmersbranch are nicer towns. IF you browsed gunslingers Texas move thread, you probably noticed property is pretty reasonable in this part of the world. You can get a lot of house for your money.

Addison Airport, Love field and DFW are all pretty easy to find from the Brookhaven area. It takes me less than an hour to make the round trip to DFW once a week and that's in rush hour. Love field is very close to UT Southwestern medical center.

You can get to UT from the Dallas North Tollway or I-35. I like the Tolltag thing besides I-35 can get bad in rush hour. Brookhaven is right off of Midway road and you can pretty much dead end into love field heading south from there.

The Brookhaven country club is close by. The Metroplex has a ton of golf courses and host the Byron Nelson and the Colonial if your in to golf.

[rpm]

Addison, Plano and Brookhaven are pretty pricey areas. But, anything in North Dallas is going to be. Crime is relatively low in all of them.

If you don't want to live in the city proper, look around Wylie. It's close and not completely overgrown yet.

[GtoRA2]

Originally posted by eagl
Hi all,

Anyone know anything if the Addison area in Dallas is a good place to live?  My wife is looking at some houses and townhouses in Addison and near brookhaven college because it's near where she expects to be working, but I won't be able to go out and see either place.  There are some colleges and golf courses nearby, and there is even an airport within a couple of miles although I don't know which one it is.

I know there are some AHers in Dallas, so any comments on the area would be helpful.  Thanks in advance!

So you will be moving out of the land of the most boring people on earth soon?

[eagl]

I am serving a 1 year sentence...er... remote tour...  in Korea and my wife has relocated to my follow-on assignment.  My next base is supposed to be Sheppard AFB (again) but Wichita Falls is pretty small and she had better job opportunities in Dallas, so that's where she'll be working/living.

It's not an ideal situation but it's not really any worse than what other military families have to deal with.

The places in Addison are relatively pricey but no worse on a $/sq ft basis than what we're seeing up in Wichita Falls.  She's found 2 places, a little house and a little townhouse, and she's trying to decide between them.  The townhouse is right at Addison and the regular house is pretty close to brookhaven college.  Both areas seem ok but she didn't get a chance to see or talk to many neighbors.

Thanks for the Dallas comments guys...  They're very helpful 'cause sometimes it's hard to tell whether a real estate agent is telling the whole truth or just saying what he thinks you want to hear.

[RAIDER14]

yeah Addison is one of the best parts of town here:aok

[fartwinkle]

Plano has obscene school taxes

[Debonair]

I would like to meet a graduate of that school

[DiabloTX]

Ugh...living in Dallas...ANYTHING that has to do with Dallas...just the thought of it makes me ill.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by eagl
I am serving a 1 year sentence...er... remote tour...  in Korea and my wife has relocated to my follow-on assignment.  My next base is supposed to be Sheppard AFB (again) but Wichita Falls is pretty small and she had better job opportunities in Dallas, so that's where she'll be working/living.

It's not an ideal situation but it's not really any worse than what other military families have to deal with.

The places in Addison are relatively pricey but no worse on a $/sq ft basis than what we're seeing up in Wichita Falls.  She's found 2 places, a little house and a little townhouse, and she's trying to decide between them.  The townhouse is right at Addison and the regular house is pretty close to brookhaven college.  Both areas seem ok but she didn't get a chance to see or talk to many neighbors.

Thanks for the Dallas comments guys...  They're very helpful 'cause sometimes it's hard to tell whether a real estate agent is telling the whole truth or just saying what he thinks you want to hear.

Sir am I to understand you are going to be commuting from dallas to witchita falls every day or is this just something for the interum?  

FWIW housing up near sheppard is dirt cheap.  I know an E5 that bought a house on 10 acres on E6 BAH pay so if you do decide to buy there there you could make out pretty nicely as an officer.  The base housing that I saw was so-so.  I'm loving lackland and San Antonio but hating the hellish hours that I'm working (about 90-100 a week)  Glad I got a nice house for my wife to enjoy.

I used to work in carrolton and comuted there from sherman everyday.  Carrolton is nice but I allways LOVED driving through plano.  Very nice area imho.

are you at kunson or osan?

[eagl]

I'll be living in Wichita Falls, my wife will be in Dallas.  We'll figure out the details over time I suppose, but neither one of us is going to quit our careers and neither one is going to commute 2.5 hrs each way, so there it is.

I'm at Osan now.

[BigGun]

I have buddy of mine lives in preston hollow area...seems very nice few times I have been to visit him.