Best North Texas Areas (Fort Worth, Arlington, Forney, etc)?

Question

I know this question is subjective, but I'm looking to better understand the North Texas area and figured this forum could provide good advice. I'm looking for the following:

• safe
• ~1% rule
• in area of appreciation (influx of jobs)
• good schools (zillow of 6 out of 10 or higher)
• 3+ BR
• < $160K
• Preferred brick exterior homes built after 1995

For those familiar with the location and the recent trends in the area, which cities would you recommend focusing attention on? It looks like Fort Worth, Arlington and Forney may be good options, but wanted to see if there are other opinions on these areas.

Any thoughts?

Mike Makkar · Answer

@Michael S., of all your criteria, most are reasonable. However, as @Damian Leonardmentioned, the one are that you'll have to take a trade off is with year of construction. The newer homes tend to be higher demand among the retail market and hence pose challenges to get at lower discounts or be in the 1% rental neighborhoods. Even though its rare, it can still be found.

I suggest tweaking your numbers a little bit; homes after 1980, push for 1.1% rule and under 130k. Since you have concerns about older homes, allocate a $3000 appliance budget. This way, you know dishwasher, fridge and oven are going to be trouble free for 5 years.

Within the counties, Collin, Denton, Tarrant, Dallas and Kaufman, I buy everywhere except for Collin (Plano, where I live). High taxes and way too much appreciation in the last 2 years to make renting viable.

Lynn Weber · Answer

On the Fort Worth side Benbrook is really popular right now.  I can't tell you how many agents come in complaining that they can't find their client a home in Benbrook.   West Fort Worth, just outside the loop, north of I-30 is also really popular.  Both areas you can get a 3 bedroom for under $160.  White Settlement property goes fast in the Sunview areas (all are post-2000), and rents are climbing.  The 3 bedroom across the street from me is getting $1445 which is right at or slightly above 1%, when comps say it should be $1300 max.  My family is renting out a 70's 4 bedroom at 1% in the northern part of White Settlement too.  You have to be careful of the area if you go older in White Settlement, some are pretty run-down and attract the wrong people.  Another area is south Fort Worth, off Hulen.  The Wedgwood area to the east of Hulen is older but huge lots and very hot, and if you take Hulen south to Risinger you'll find another hotbed in the Candleridge and Hulen Springs areas and those homes are post-2000.

Mark S. · Answer

I have my rentals in Sherman.  It is about 45 minutes towards Oklahoma from the northern DFW suburbs.  It is a nice area and not as hot as the areas inside the metroplex.  I purchase the properties at about 1% rents and increased them to a little under 2% within 18 months.  It is a great area to get duplexes since there are a lot out there and the market is somewhat slower.  They have also expanded the major highway from Sherman into Dallas from 4 to 8 lanes so it should start to expand as people move out there.

Good luck

Damian Leonard · Answer

@Michael S.The Arlington market is a pretty good one to achieve greater than 1% rents. The closer you get to the hot markets in Dallas, and Collin County, the harder it will be to achieve that 1% rent ratio. It will just depend on the pockets and neighborhoods you look in. To try and pinpoint a certain area from out of state will be hard to do. I see rent ratios greater than 1% in Arlington, Irving, Garland, Grand Prairie, Little Elm, The Colony, Saginaw, Haslet, N. Fort Worth, Keller, Wylie, and some others. Mostly going to be older 70's - some early 2000's. Look up Tom Wilson, who used to do a lot of turn key rentals like what you are looking for in the area, it isn't as easy as it used to be to get that 1% in SF. Which is why I am in MF.

Damian

Mark Creason · Answer

Bill,

I think he was asking for lower than 160k.  Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, and The Colony are great areas, but will also be above 160k.  I personally like Prosper.

Mark

Michael S. · Answer

To follow up on this post, I ended up buying in Arlington a few months ago. Thanks for your feedback and advice!

Michael S. · Answer

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I may be making a bid on a house tomorrow depending on what my agent sees during the walkthrough. Looking forward to getting into the area.

Brandon Rickman · Answer

I'm new to real estate investing and learning more everyday. I live in this area and have started looking in this area. I'm not sure about the 1% rent. But Rowlett/Rockwall/Lavon is a hot area for home sales but I know that Rockwall schools are exceptional. And the other areas are pretty fair. But to follow up on the other guys Collin county is expensive and it is the golden corridor (DNT;Dallas North Tollway area). Prosper/Celina Melissa/Anna is the next area to push up on the Dallas side. Not sure about the Ft Worth side though.

Bill Tyler · Answer

With that criteria and wanting to achieve a 1% rental - I would pick Arlington.

Michael S. · Answer

@Damian Leonard@Bill Tyler@Mike Makkar

Thank you all for your feedback. This is really helpful in narrowing down areas and understanding what is realistic.

If you had to choose one city in the DFW area that you'd focus on with my criteria, which would it be?

Mike

Best North Texas Areas (Fort Worth, Arlington, Forney, etc)?

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