Ellis County?

[gdr_11]

I have been in East Texas just outside Tyler for about two years now and the wife and I are not sure we want to spend our golden years here. Smith County is beautiful and the people are great but East Texas is short on a lot of big city amenities because there are no big cities here. The two hour drive to the Metroplex for variety in dining and shopping is getting a bit old and we have gone through the three health care organizations in Tyler with less than satisfactory experiences.

I am looking for an area that would put us about 30-40 minutes outside of Dallas that is not in the process of being paved over to make room for new houses on 5,000 sale ft lots. I see Ellis County or the outskirts of Waxahachie as a possibility since it seems to meet most of our criteria.

Will be looking for a smaller lot to make my life easier but would still like .75 to 1.5 acres and preferably outside any city limits.

Any thoughts on this area or other similar areas that are not going through explosive growth?

 

[JCC]

Ellis County seems nice and I would think it would be a while before it gets built up like other parts of the DFW metromess. We have considered moving out that way from Dallas County. Were looking at Kauffman County, but that might be too close. Hunt County looks nice also.

I have been in East Texas just outside Tyler for about two years now and the wife and I are not sure we want to spend our golden years here. Smith County is beautiful and the people are great but East Texas is short on a lot of big city amenities because there are no big cities here. The two hour drive to the Metroplex for variety in dining and shopping is getting a bit old and we have gone through the three health care organizations in Tyler with less than satisfactory experiences.

I am looking for an area that would put us about 30-40 minutes outside of Dallas that is not in the process of being paved over to make room for new houses on 5,000 sale ft lots. I see Ellis County or the outskirts of Waxahachie as a possibility since it seems to meet most of our criteria.

Will be looking for a smaller lot to make my life easier but would still like .75 to 1.5 acres and preferably outside any city limits.

Any thoughts on this area or other similar areas that are not going through explosive growth?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[busykngt]

Tough question.

How long before you can freeze property taxes?

 

[Willy]

You can buy my house in a couple of years, but the area is growing fast. I live between Red Oak and Waxahachie. 4/2/2 + 2 car carport on fenced .92 acres in a 1 entrance neighborhood. No city taxes. Most neighbors get on the Nextdoor app to talk about crime, wild animals, and suspicious vehicles.

Maypearl is about 45 minutes from downtown Dallas and isn’t growing nearly as fast. It’s 10-15 minutes from Waxahachie and Midlothian.

 

[avvidclif]

Be careful, Ellis county is considered part of the Metromess and so is Kaufman.

 

[orbitup]

I live in the Red Oak/Ovilla area and have been looking in Maypearl. It's beautiful there. I would like it even if the range I belonged to wasn't located there.

 

[TheMailMan]

We live just north of Kaufman. We're that 20-30 minutes from the mess.

 

[F350-6]

You didn't mention budget. All sorts of housing popping up south of Midlothian West of Waxahachie, East (and West) of Maypearl. It's still kinda country, but you can find 1-2 acre, or smaller lot sizes outside the city limits. Just keep in mind annexation is just down the road if you look at it long term.

They've almost hit Oklahoma going North, so now things are starting to head South (and I hate it).

 

[deemus]

Several additions on Hwy 66 West of Waxahachie. Some with a couple acres.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

Look at S of Ft Worth Meridian; just below Cleburne, Walnut springs, Whitney, Granbury. Cheap (for now) and fast into Ft Worth, in fact they have opened the SH 121/Chisholm Trail Parkway which will take you well into Ft Worth and connections to as far N as Grapevine which is the N entrance into DFW airport.

The above places will put you less than 40 mi from DFW, still cheap, VERY rural, low cost of living.

 

[gdr_11]

In answer to some of the responses:

- I am 69 so already in cue for senior exemption and tax freeze
- Budget is modest. I paid $210K for a 2,000 sq. ft. home on 2 acres in Bullard and would look to stay around $250K for the next one.
- the annexation and development issues are troublesome but I think everyone is facing those unless you live out in the sticks. I know that in Smith County a lot of the property has been bought up long ago and they are leased out for grazing so no one suspects that they are planned for high density housing as soon as they can influence the votes on the local councils. I have seen towns of 5,000 grow to 50,000 within 10 years without one major land tract sale; all of the grazing land had been bought up 15 years earlier and then overnight the local city council approved huge projects. The plan is always to catch the locals napping and it seems to work.

I will check out Ole Cowboy's suggestions too.

 

[F350-6]

With that kind of budget, you'll be looking at older homes, mobile homes on a couple of acres, or a not so new home in town in the areas you originally mentioned.

If you get further out to the South of Cleburne, that express toll road sounds nice until you have to start paying to drive on it. That can get expensive rather quick, and the jog over to 35 from Cleburne will add another 20 minutes or so to the commute each way.

 

[orbitup]

I don't know, I think it can be done. I've been actively house shopping in the area for a few months.

Right now you have to jump on it as soon as you see it. They go quick.

 

[busykngt]

Being retired myself, looking at “fixed income” and costs of living sort of things is what prompted my question about the frozen property taxes. As you may be aware, not all taxing entities are obligated to “freeze” their taxes. For instance, where I live, all taxing authorities freeze the property taxes except the city of McKinney. Some cities - bedroom communities - around the Metroplex freeze their taxes and some don’t. So that may be a consideration for you.

Another consideration may be those counties which support a “community college”. Again like Collin County where I live; the little two year college adds to the property tax bill. They tend to have multiple campus locations scattered around the county, all of which require lots of money to maintain and sustain (not to mention the salaries of the faculty and support staff).

And of course, the single largest contributing property tax expense is the ISD. Other than seeking out ISDs that are far out “in the sticks”, I’m not sure how you go about keeping the ISD portion to a minimum. McKinney just built a 70M dollar high school football stadium (and that doesn’t include the initial $10M+ land acquisition cost). AND the voters approved it! So, I guess don’t move to where people are stupid.

 

[gdr_11]

Being retired myself, looking at “fixed income” and costs of living sort of things is what prompted my question about the frozen property taxes. As you may be aware, not all taxing entities are obligated to “freeze” their taxes. For instance, where I live, all taxing authorities freeze the property taxes except the city of McKinney. Some cities - bedroom communities - around the Metroplex freeze their taxes and some don’t. So that may be a consideration for you.

Another consideration may be those counties which support a “community college”. Again like Collin County where I live; the little two year college adds to the property tax bill. They tend to have multiple campus locations scattered around the county, all of which require lots of money to maintain and sustain (not to mention the salaries of the faculty and support staff).

And of course, the single largest contributing property tax expense is the ISD. Other than seeking out ISDs that are far out “in the sticks”, I’m not sure how you go about keeping the ISD portion to a minimum. McKinney just built a 70M dollar high school football stadium (and that doesn’t include the initial $10M+ land acquisition cost). AND the voters approved it! So, I guess don’t move to where people are stupid.

The situations you describe are exactly what we are dealing with here in Bullard. The school taxes are ridiculous, the community college takes it cut and Smith County does not freeze their portion of the taxes. Only good news is that my taxes are about $2500 = $3000 less than the suckers that are buying the new homes around here that are basically 1700-1800 sq. ft. on 5,000 sq. ft. lots for $280K-$350K. Of course the city folks want to move to a small town and then want to turn it into suburbs

 

[busykngt]

...the new homes around here that are basically 1700-1800 sq. ft. on 5,000 sq. ft. lots for $280K-$350K.

I think you’ve just described about 90% of the new homes being built around DFW! The other 10% are larger homes & even more ridiculously priced. The property taxes are going to eat people alive (they just don’t recognize it yet). Water costs are radically increasing too - due to new transporting pipeline construction from the regional reservoirs and the zebra mussel problem (at least that’s the excuse used for public consumption).

All due to “growth” because of the great Texas job market - people move to where the jobs are! That, of course, brings both the pros & the cons. Most likely you’ll face the same basic problems in our surrounding counties as you do around Smith county. Trading distance (commute time) for an affordable cost of living.

 

[Phoneguy]

Waxahachie is getting busy. People, just like you, have recognized that Waxahachie is just far enough away. Problem is that lots of people are moving there. Lots of residential building going on north of 77.
I moved away back in 2016. I go back every 3 or 4 months to visit.
I would like to move back at some point but it's getting too busy. Midlothian is going to go through the same process soon now that the 360 highway project is wrapping up just west of there.
Traffic is going to get very bad for anyone trying to get into Dallas on I-35E due to that construction project. It was nice a while back being able to get into the heart of Dallas in 30 minutes from the north side of Waxahachie.
Legal disclaimer: I now live 20 minutes north of Ft Worth in the Alliance area. 5 minutes from Shoot Smart.

 

[TheMailMan]

That money will buy a nice house on a couple of acres around here.

 

[F350-6]

That money will buy a nice house on a couple of acres around here.

For now. It's slowly starting to creep that direction, but you do have a good point. General growth hasn't really reached much beyond Seagoville, maybe Crandall. The time to jump into Kaufman is now.

 

[avvidclif]

Kaufman is classified as part of the metromess and as such the vehicle imspection is abt $40. Same for Ellis co. Van Zandt is not and inspection is $15, no mandatory smog test. Just one of the perks of getting out....