I am planning to move to Texas soon, just havent decided where to. Houston & San Antonio are simply too humid for me. I am looking for a city that has airport access within 30 miles. A nice city that I could buy a decent 3 bedroom,2 bath, 2 car home for under $110k. Also, a city that I could recieve local tv stations like ABC, CBS, NBC without the need of rabbit ears or satellite dish. I have done much research on Texas, and was settled on Lubbock for a while because it is a city of about 250,000 people, has airport access, and tv stations, and you can easily buy a nice home there for under $100k. After doing more research I found that Lubbock is subject to dust storms and that there really isnt much to do there. The Denison/Sherman area caught my eye for a while, but the area is too far removed from having a large vibrant economy, and tv stations from DFW dont all come in. I have narrowed my choices to 3 Texas cities so far which are: Plano, Lewisville and Austin. I plan to take a roadtrip this summer to visit all 3 of these communities. Basically my roadtrip is focused along the I-35 corridor, as Im heading into Nuevo Laredo to take a trip to Mexico. My trip isnt until June, and I would be happy to visit any other community that meets the standards I am looking for, which to recap are: city that airport access within 30 miles...can recieve local tv channels good,..can buy a decent 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car home for under $110 (without the home being in a crime ridden area). Please feel free to let me know about the nice city i n Texas you live in, or any other cities you may suggest to me. Thanks.

Pretty specific criteria. I doubt any of the three cities you have selected will meet all of them, especially the house under $110,000. In Austin, it should be more like under $210,000.

Of the three, I would choose Austin. But that is because I went to college there and my wife is from there. If you think San Antonio is too humid, Austin will be more so. I don't think either are humid, but that is because I live in Houston. If you have allergies, Austin is not that good a place to live. The cedar pollen will drive you nuts.

Also, I like Austin more than Dallas. Plano and Lewisville are suburbs of Dallas.

With the thirty miles from the airport criteria, why not New Braunfels, Texas. According to Mapquest, it is 28 miles from the San ANtonio airport. Not sure about the housing prices there. Like Plano and Lewisville, it is evolving into a suburb; however, It still retains a distinct community feel to it.

Another city to consider is Fort Worth. People tend to lump it into Dallas because of the whole Metroplex thing. Fort Worth is a distinct community and, to me, much more interesting.

Another place to consider is El Paso. Technically it meets all three criteria, plus the low humidity and decent economy requirements.

He's back. New name. Be aware.

well no, LDlee,.i have looked at many sites, such as realtor.com and century21.com just to name off a few that do list homes like I am looking for within my price perimeters. These homes look either nice or at least decent. Now of course, I really dont know if these homes are far from the core epicenter of town, or if they are in a bad neighborhood,.so, more research may be needed. But I appreciate your insight on this, it is beneficial to me.

We've lived in the Dallas area for 29 years and know the area pretty well. We currently live in a 1600 sq ft townhome in North Plano that's valued at about $170,000. While you can find a 3/2/2 home in East Plano for $110K, that's the older part of town that has a lot of industry encroaching into the residential areas. A 3/2/2 home in Western Plano is going to run between $90 and $100 per sq ft.

Lewisville and some of the surrounding towns are closer to the airport. You'll find homes in your price range but again, in older areas.

Sorry to say that $110K doesn't buy you much in North Texas. It all depends on what you're willing to accept. For example, how do you define "decent." What type of neighborhood would you like to find? You don't mention school-age children. Are schools a concern?

You can reach me at [email protected] if you want to discuss this further.

JimM

Try Tyler. We live on a lake just south of there and have checked out places all over this country. This is the best.

well, yeah Jim, I dont mind living in an older area per se, as long as everything else falls into place. My main concern would be low crime, good school district, traffic, close proximity to jobs. any home built in say around 1975 or newer would be okay with me. even a "mcmansion" would be fine with me.

like for example, i saw this listing,.which i assume you will tell me is on the east side of plano, but it looks nice to me. 1423 RIDGECREST DR
PLANO, TX 75074
MLS ID#: 10390900
$105,900
3 Bed, 1.5 Bath
1,210 Sq. Ft.

i looked into Tyler, the town seems to be just about right size as far as population is concerned..Tyler Population: 83650. I will check into some houses there,.see what kind of offers i can get, thanks

well, i checked into some houses in tyler,.looks very affordable, and some nice houses for the money..i esp. liked this one: 10703 CR 1223
Tyler, TX 75709
MLS ID#: 9945512
$99,900
3 Bed, 2 Bath
1,312 Sq. Ft.
i will do some more research on tyler,. thanks for the info.

this home is fabulous, its in mckinney which is only 15 miles north of plano. this listing is ideal of really what i am looking for. i looked into tyler, it seems too far from the overall dfw area. but based on the listing, and other like it, and from other source material i have read, i think i may be looking more closely at the mckinney area. thanks to everyone for their assistance. 1027 S MURRAY ST
MCKINNEY, TX 75069
MLS ID#: 10413195
$85,500
4 Bed, 2 Bath
1,160 Sq. Ft.

My atep-daughter and family live in McKinney and like it very much.

step-daughter (correction of previous post)