What Does It Cost To Live In Dallas Texas?
So, what does it cost to live here in Dallas, Texas? Well, with the rise of interest rates and prices of food and gas and everything else going on, going on around the country, we're getting, asked more and more about what it costs to live here in Dallas, Texas. So we're gonna get after that, right now.
All right, so today we wanna dive in again about what it costs to live here in Dallas, Texas. I know we talk about that a lot, but we are getting more and more questions from people wanting to make that move here. So we really kind of wanted to get into a little bit more. What is going on in our specific market and some of these costs that you may need to prepare yourself for when making that move here?
Interest Rates & Buying Power
So of course our interest rates have changed, and that is going to affect your home-buying process here in the Dallas market. It's affecting everybody all around the country, but with a little bit more affordability here in the Texas area, people now being able to work from home, they're realizing that they can get more home for their money. So even though the interest rates are rising, the affordability factor is still a huge draw for people wanting to move here to the Dallas, Texas area. So let's talk about it, we kind of wanna base everything off of maybe about a $500,000 price point because the home prices here in the Dallas market have gone up. you can find some homes in the $300,000 range, but the average price point is a little bit closer to the $500,000 range. Depending on where it is you're looking of course and you can go a lot higher, but you can go a little bit more. So we kind of wanted to just keep it a little bit more around the medium price point here and discuss interest rates in your buying power and how that looks for you in this market. So say, you say you're buying a $500,000 house and you can put 20% down. For people who can sell their homes in California or New York, it might not be that difficult to do. And you might still get a very decent house for the $500,000 price point. If you're putting that 20% down and back in the day when your interest rate was only 3%. You are looking at under $1,700 in a mortgage payment, but now that your interest rates are going upwards of just over 5%, you are now at, you know, more of like $2,100 at a 5% interest rate and as those price points start to go up to say, closer to 6%, you're looking at around $2,400 in a mortgage payment, that is going to be your principal and interest. Based on your insurance and all of the other things that go into that mortgage payment, those numbers could vary. Also, it can vary based on how much you're putting down in a home, so it just is going to show you for that same $500,000 house, how it's going to affect your monthly payment in actually being able to afford it and what it is you may need to do.
To get that price point a little bit more where you're comfortable. Maybe you're able to put a little bit more money down, but maybe you don't have that 20% down. Maybe you were just hoping to get into a bigger home. Maybe you were looking to get into a different neighborhood and that interest rate is going up and so therefore your buying power is going down. One of the things that are happening here, which is happening in many other areas around the country, the Dallas market is continuing to grow from what I've been talking to from, you know, my sister who lives in Seattle and friends in California where their markets have come to almost standstill here in the Dallas market. Things are shifting. It's starting to slow down because of the interest rates, but people are still being able to afford a home. And by coming here, the market's slowing, we're not looking at 20 offers or 50 offers anymore. We're not looking at a hundred thousand dollars over asking. We're looking at more of maybe 10 to $20,000 based on where you're looking. We had a client who got under contract list price, it had been on the market for eight days and we offered at list price. So it just really depends upon where you're looking the price point of the home and maybe not a new build, right? So, you know, people can get into some of these older homes, some homes that have been around a little while that may need a little bit of work. And on top of that, we were able to get some seller concessions. So you were not getting that six months? Not a year ago, having the sellers. Be able to pay some of the pay money towards your closing costs. You do not have to come out of pocket quite as much because you're able to use that money to make the needed repairs that, maybe a home inspector came back with. So just really looking at who you're working with, that's why, you work with somebody like us, who is definitely on your side and who can help negotiate these types of things in a contract and know what they're looking for help you feel comfortable when purchasing a home.
It's also a big deal about who you work with as a lender, we always suggest that you work with a local lender they can work with the interest rates. They can work with the down payment and there are multiple programs out there to help ensure that you get into a home that you can afford with the right terms of your interest rate. So always something to look at, make sure you are dealing with a trusted lender, somebody local, somebody who knows the market knows the area, and truly knows how to shop those rates so that they can help you the best and even though people are always saying, you know, you marry the house, not the interest rate, we're trying to focus a lot more on, obviously, that was a huge price point from 3% to 5% and even upwards of 6% on what your monthly mortgage payment is gonna be. But you have to be able to afford that higher monthly mortgage payment and if you need to go down to say a $450,000 house, your payment's a little bit lower so that you can feel comfortable and not feel like you're completely strapped every single month when making that mortgage payment. So yes, you want to get into the house and in the neighborhood and in the location that you want, and if the price at the interest rate goes down you can refinance. That is a huge bonus to putting more money in your pocket. But also we like to have our clients look towards the fact that if the interest rates continue to rise, they're still saving money and able to be into a nicer, more expensive home in, probably your preferred area.
So always something to check on those interest rates when purchasing a home to make sure that you can afford the monthly payment. And here in this market, you need to get prequalified for your loan and if you don't, people still aren't, you know, really wanting to go out and help show you property. By getting prequalified, it truly knows where you stand so that, you know, the budget that you're looking for when, when going to put an offer in, on a house. And if it's been more than 30 days, you do need to look at getting that pre-qualification letter. Redone and revise to make sure that your payments are still where you're hoping they're at. So always make sure you're pre-qualified so that, that way, your lender can give you the exact numbers that you're looking at when getting ready to make offers on a house.
Inflation & Buying Power
Inflation is hitting everybody all across the country. One of the big things that are being hit with so many people still having to go back to work, or a lot of people who've had to go back into the office, even though a lot of people have gotten lucky and have been able to work from home, you know, is the cost of gas and here in Texas, we have realized that we are one of the lower places paying for that gallon of gas. Just yesterday, I paid 3.19 cents a gallon, which I was so grateful for because it was up in the mid $4's, not too long ago. And so finally getting down closer to $3 per gallon was so nice and we have just checked prices, even in California, they're over, they're still over $5 in Arizona. They're over $4 and just traveling this summer was a lot more expensive with the cost of gas. but here in Texas, thankfully, with the cost of gas going down, hopefully, it stays that way. It's a lot, it's a little bit more affordable than other areas of the country. So gas, is a huge thing, especially if you're commuting to work
Property Taxes
We're always wanting to talk about the property taxes here in Texas. Yes, they are quite high, but you have to realize how, how you're paying your property taxes and how they're going to affect you based on where you're looking. One of our lenders is always asking, what's the address of the house? What city are they looking in? What's the neighborhood that they're looking in? And if getting into a newer home, you're going to be paying higher property taxes in certain areas based on, maybe a home that's been around for a long time, but also one of the highest factors that people need to consider when, when paying those property taxes is the fact that the majority of your property taxes are based on the school district, that your house is located in. Your property taxes are based on your county taxes, and your city taxes, but also the school district and the school district are going to be one of the biggest factors. Like I said, in determining what the cost of your property taxes is. So if you're in a bigger school district, if you're in a much more popular school district, if you're in a newly built community that feeds into one of these school districts, your property taxes are going to be quite high. You're just talking to a client recently, who's looking at a couple of new build communities, wondering why these areas had such high, crazy high property taxes. And I was like, well, because it's a new build community and it's the community, where, a really good school district is a part of, so definitely something to think about. Yes, our property taxes are higher here. Looking at maybe around a $500,000 home, you could be paying $7,000 a year in property taxes. That varies based on where you are, the county city, and your school district but you can always have your lender, your real estate agent, look, those numbers up for you. If I'm your real estate agent, they can help kind of give you a better idea of those property taxes. And also every year, if you want to maybe fight those property taxes and see if you can get those numbers fudged down just a little bit, you know, we've had a lot of clients and friends who've had quite a bit of success with that. It doesn't mean that they're gonna give you this huge price reduction, but sometimes if you do. Pull up some comps and realize that my house was not valued at $600,000, we are closer to, you know, $550,000 and you can find the comps to support that. It helps in, saving whatever you can on those property taxes.
Rents are Rising Fast Too
But some people may be wanting to move here and are still not quite ready to purchase a home. Maybe their credit's not quite where it needs to be. Or maybe they're just moving here temporarily or maybe they just really don't have a clue of where they wanna move to.
Well, we always like to make sure that we can help our clients weigh both of those options. And right now we have a client looking for a rental. It was a good friend who just, needed a rental for one more year. And we just can't find anything in his budget, because the home they were renting just increased their rent by $600 a month. And he just absolutely couldn't believe it. It was, so much higher than it was before. Whoever owned the home, the property taxes probably went up, but their mortgage didn't, or maybe they paid cash for the house. And so just trying to find, a more affordable option proves to be a lot more difficult and sometimes you have to get into a home that may be a lot smaller and, not quite as updated as you were hoping for, but with the, with the rise rental rates, we're finding that a lot more people are still wanting to get into homes, even though the interest rates have risen a little bit more because what they're having to pay in rent, but instead they're able to purchase a home for quite a bit less than what their rental is. Current rental that we are finding here in the Dallas Fort Worth area. If you're looking for a three bedroom, two bathroom, Is over $2,000 a month. Some upwards of $2400 and $3,200 a month. So it depends on which area you're looking for. It might depend on, the neighborhood you're looking in the school district you're looking in, and how high those rentals are going.
Home Owner’s Associations
Another thing that people are asking about is our HOA dues. There are some great communities here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. You might be in a community where they have low HOA dues. It might just cover a little bit of maintenance in the neighborhood, but maybe you're moving into a neighborhood or community that has pools tennis courts, and basketball courts. Well, your HOA dues are gonna be higher in communities like this. But in some of these older communities, we were quite shocked at how cheap some of these HOA dues were, for example, we had clients looking in one of these communities that did have a small community pool. It had a park and some fields where they held soccer practice in football practice, but they had extremely cheap HOA dues. I think they were like $35 a month and it included all of that. And then another community had multiple pools, fitness centers, and basketball courts, tennis courts, and they were paying like $65 a month. Granted, if you're moving into some of these newer communities where they have these big, huge, you know, amenities centers and gigantic pools, multiple pools and a lot more things that, you know, some of these new build communities might be offering. You may be looking at over a hundred dollars a month, but even compared to what you're getting is, relatively cheap from other places that we've heard people moving from. We had clients moving from California that were paying a couple of hundred dollars a month in HOA dues. It must have covered a little bit of maintenance or the sign moving in, going into the neighborhood, but moving here and getting community pools and, walking trails and basketball courts and tennis courts and not having to pay quite as much, they were shocked at how much cheaper it was here in Texas. But say you move into an older community that doesn't have an HOA, or maybe you don't like the fact that it has a small pool, the number of community pools, and the community, you have. areas that you can join and be a part of are relatively inexpensive as well. So, you may not always need the HOA or maybe since your HOA fees are so low, some of these community centers are fantastic. They have, you know, indoor basketball courts, indoor fitness facilities, indoor pools, water slides, lazy rivers. And that's just that anybody who goes who's a part of the city town or location can join as well.
So there are so many options. When moving here, you can have, you know, your local, your local amenities. You can have your neighborhood amenities. So just a lot of things to think about. And of course, Dallas is such a huge area. When we moved here, we were so excited that we had Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, and multiple water parks here in the DFW area. If you love being outdoors and you wanna go look for those types of things, you can find them throughout the metroplex. They don't even have to be within your city. It might only be a 15, 20, or 30-minute drive to go find some of these amazing areas.
Utility Prices & Record Temperatures
And here in Texas, let's talk about our utilities. It's very hot. So in the summertime, obviously we're running our air conditioning all the time, and depending on how new your home is, depending on how energy efficient your home is, depending on how new your windows are, could greatly affect how much you're paying for your energy bill. Granted our house, is a little bit older. We did have to get new windows a few years ago and we're paying around $150 a month for our utility bills. Our air conditioning is running all the time, but we've done a lot of upgrades in our energy efficiency here in our home make, to get our energy bill down, we got a new air conditioning unit that greatly helped how efficient it was. But another thing here in Texas, we are always recommending that you get your air conditioning and furnace service twice a year. And on top of that, you need to, because it's running so much, you should be changing your air filter, especially in the summertime once a month, because all of those things are going to greatly affect how much. How efficient your systems are working? If they're working double time to try and pump out that cooler air, we always recommend getting your air conditioning serviced, which is usually a maintenance thing that we have done twice a year. They check over the furnace, they check over the air conditioning unit and we pay $150 to the company that we use and we love them. Also our water bill. We do have a lot of grass here in Texas. Depending on whether you have a pool or not a pool and how new your pool is, and how efficient your pool is, that makes a huge difference as well. But your water bill could be anywhere from $100 to $150. A month granted here in Texas, this summer of 2022, the heat has been crazy. People can't even keep up with their watering because it is just so incredibly dry. They had to put water restrictions on people, watering their lawns, just because it was affecting, the water supply here in Texas, but on a typical average, showering, and watering your plants. Having it affect your swimming pool. If you have a swimming pool and it's maybe on the older side, you could be paying, we had one friend who was paying over $300 a month in their water bill, because it was eating it, but we have friends who've had newer pools and it hasn't affected it a ton, except for when you get to this heat and how often you need to run your sprinklers and how often you might need to refill your pool. So definitely something to think about. And here we do not have to pay for cable anymore. We just pay for our high-speed internet. And right now we are paying that through Frontier and it's only about $90. You can add every channel known to man. You can add all the extra services that you could need, but we kind of figured with Netflix and Hulu and YouTube and Apple TV and all of the other streaming services that we have, we just pay for the internet service and we don't need to pay for all of that other stuff. We've just kind of narrowed it down based on. You know, obviously, who doesn't have Netflix, right? But most people, you know, you can pick and choose whichever service you want to use. And that's pretty much gonna be nationwide.
Youth and Club Sports Costs
If you're moving here with a family and you have kids and kids who love sports, a cost that you may want to consider adding to your budget. You, if they, if they're just little and you want 'em to go out and play soccer, just to have fun with their friends, you're kind of looking at maybe $175 for a season. But as your kids grow older, and if you're thinking that you want them to play in, you know, even middle school and high school, everybody here starts to put their kids in club sports, and it's not cheap if you want. I mean, it could be anywhere from $1,500 a year, a season upwards of over $5,000. Just for a season of club volleyball and that is not even including travel. So if you're getting into football or basketball or baseball, all of those things do add up because I feel like club sports here are just crazy. Everybody does 'em, everybody's getting private coaching. Everybody's like getting into all of these things. And so, yes, it's quite expensive, but that's something to consider on how involved you wanna be. We've known a lot of people whose kids just wanna get into it and have a lot of fun when they're little, give them something to do activities, to go, you know, meet new friends. And so if you just wanted to do that up through maybe middle school, even it's super affordable, but you know, it's where you get into club sports where the costs get that much more.
Pest Contol - Lots of Bugs in Texas
And just a few more things that we were talking about, living here in Texas, that sometimes are kind of a necessity. Your pest control because here in Texas, we have a lot of bugs and you start to see the ants come in your house, you start to see the little spiders come in your house and I don't fall for any of that. I hate it, so we have a pest control service. During the summertime, we usually have them coming about once a month and then even in the wintertime, they're only coming about once a quarter. Sometimes my husband has to spray a little bit of extra or you can always call them back out and all of that can vary based on which pest control company you wanna go with. I think we're paying right now, $50 a month for that. He said, And then like a hundred dollars a quarter. So it does give you some savings if you don't need to have them come every single month, but I always highly recommend you kind of renegotiate what you can in those pest control companies, because you can always seem to work some sort of deal and we got those ideas from my son who sold pest control one summer.
Landscaping - You Can Do It, But Do You Want To?
A lot of people here in Texas with the amount of grass that we have with the number of trees, with the number of bushes that we have, because we came from Arizona where we had a whole lot of rocks. Well here, sometimes people have really big yards and they don't wanna have to go out in this heat and mow their lawns all summer long and trim all of the, you know, trim, the crazy amount of bushes that we. So you may want to get a landscaper. Granted, you can do it, you can do it yourself. You can have your husband do it. You can have your teenage boys, boys do it. My youngest loved doing it when he was little. He was always trying to go out there and run the lawnmower and the weed eater, and it would freak me out. If you're looking to get a landscape company, you are probably looking at at least $50 a week to have your yard professionally done. So another cost out here with the amount of grass and bushes that we have going on anyway.
