Why are homes in the suburbs in Texas so affordable compared to so many other suburbs across the country?

Question

My parents are in the process of re-locating (due to my father's retirement) from Illinois to the suburbs of Dallas. They're strongly considering Arlington, Grand Prairie, Ft. Worth and Plano, but they can't get over how inexpensive the homes are and we're all curious to know if the low prices are indicative of something greater. Just the other day, for instance, they were looking at beautiful, new 3,500 square ft. homes for only $280,000, while in illinois they would probably be paying two-three times that much.

My two questions are: why is housing so affordable in these areas and is there anything important my parents should know about these locations (dangerous power plants, bad air, high crime rates, etc) ?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I guess you have never been to Texas or Oklahoma. Both places have homes that are silly cheap compared to most other places.

I am in Oklahoma city and bought 2300 sf, 3 car garage, ten foot ceilings, for 165k.

I moved from San Diego, where my house would cost 750k.

The difference is that Oklahoma and Texas are just flat and mostly boring and have extreme hot temps in the summers.

I miss San Diego as there was always something to go and do inexpensively...go to the beach, the mountains, etc... In Oklahoma and Texas, there is no beach or mountains, just flat dry land.

So, you get what you pay for.

Everyone says Texas property taxes are high..they are a bit, but not much more than anywhere else..but nobody seems to mention that Texas does not have a State income tax. I figured out how much I paid Oklahoma in taxes compared to how much more I would have paid in property taxes in Texas and I would have come out ahead 1700 bucks...

Answer 2

More land between cities. The builders just keep converting farm land to the next big suburb a few more miles out.

Northwest Highway *used* to be north of Dallas and the boondocks. Now it's the inner loop.

From downtown Dallas, going straight north, one goes through the Park Cities (two cities that are separately incorporated from Dallas proper), back into Dallas, into Addison, into Plano, and I think Frisco is the latest, greatest suburb North of Plano.

Unfortunately, the down side is the traffic. Texans often drive 15,000 miles a year.

Answer 3

Zoning and Sprawl.
In a city that is restricted by harsh zoning laws that limit building permits or natural boundaries will have higher prices.
Seattle for example has all kinds of land management laws so you can't subdivide land and if you have more than 5 acres can't use most of it for anything. If you have water you can't use the land within 300 feet. Because we also have a mountain range on the East, large lakes and puget sound we are restricted to a small strip of land. So any lot with a building permit or any existing house will get a good price since we have plenty of jobs.

Answer 4

tons of land, low cost of building a house (remember, we dont have to build them for extreme winters, etc), etc.

And plano is even fairly upscale. Fort worth and arlington are kinda hood for the most part.

depending on the neighborhood/area, crime varies drastically. South dallas has one of the highest crime rates in the nation, but plano has low crime. Good schools in lotsa places too. If youre looking at 3500 sqft houses, I wouldnt worry about being in the hood too badly.

Answer 5

Has your father been to Texas? It is a pretty awful place. It is cheap because no one wants to live there. The weather is miserable, there is ZERO culture (opposite of Illinois), with lots of bugs, high crime and a huge population of welfare recipients.

I even hate stop overs there when traveling.

Answer 6

Important things to know:

High property taxes-in most cities/areas

Low appreciation-most people are disappointed if they need to sell right away.... my neighbor lived in his house 2 1/2 years. didn't make a profit when he sold cuz of competition. I think he broke even w/agent fees, etc, which is ok.

Answer 7

maybe becuse Texas has a "death penalty" enforced?