Northeast of Dallas area schools?

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

I posted to the Dallas schools thread asking about Rockwall or Rowlett school districts, and Janette was great to answer with her thoughts about the schools.

But I guess I need to cast a little wider net to get a decent school district for my kids, and I'm hoping you guys can help.

I know that in general, the North/Northwest side schools seem to be a good pick, but I'm hoping to find an area on the East side with an acre or two of land, a decent school district, and a home under about $300,000. One little thing though: I want a custom-built home. It can be older and could need renovations, but I don't really like the type of house from KB or Pulte or any of those type builders where all the houses are 2 ft. away from one another and all look the same.

Can you give me some decent areas to look at?

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

No one can help?

 

[ahutton]

I have friends and our office has a branch in Dallas, but it has been a very long time since I lived there.

Some of my coworkers live as far out as Frisco and Allen. Frisco is an up and coming type area, but could be a long commute into town. It is more north than east though.

If you are considering a little older and closer in but still nice and not a cookie cutter neighborhood you might look around in the Richardson area. My Dad keeps up on housing in areas we've liked and that is one of them. The schools there are not all new, but they are also rarely, if ever, in the news for something going wrong. Maybe take a look that way?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Ok...I moved here last year with the same notion. What I would suggest to you is to rent or lease a house and look, look, look.

If we could go back we would do that. Getting 1-2 acres of land under 300,000 is very difficult.

How about Denton? Traffic is headache to get home from Dallas but alot of people do it.

 

[janette]

It should be doable if you don't mind a bit of a drive. I know one of my co-workers lives in Parker (it's borders Plano & Allen not sure of the school district) and has land; most of the areas where you have an acre or more will have custom options.

The further you go from Dallas the cheaper the houses will be; Corinth is north not too far from Denton and they would have more country options. The Denton area has many smaller towns.

It would be easier to rent at first and get to know the area. You'll find many options and should be able to stay in your price range if you don't mind the commute.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Have you looked at Murphy? Pilot Point? Little Elm? Celina? Forney? They are all far enough out to offer more land at a more affordable price and more custom builds. I know people living in all of those cities and they love their for their own reasons.

I also recommend renting first and really exploring the area and your options.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Thanks for the info...anyone else?

 

[Planogirl]

You could check out east Plano. That's horse country out there and many of the properties are good size.

Look in areas to the east of I-75 and in the northeastern area of Plano. Avoid the southeastern quadrant because it's not so nice.

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

Wylie is a very good small but growing district. There is still land out there to buy and there's still some areas where you can buy acreage and have your own home built on there. I wouldn't recommend Rowlett because most of it is part of the Garland school district (except for a small part in Rockwall county, but then it's quite a drive to the high schools). Feel free to PM me if you want more details about anything.