Author Topic: Anyone in Dallas?  (Read 112387 times)

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #300 on: September 09, 2018, 12:35:57 PM »
I just touched down at Love Field.

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DeepEllumStache

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #301 on: September 09, 2018, 01:02:40 PM »
Nice!

We’ll see you guys at 5!

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #302 on: September 11, 2018, 01:05:10 PM »
@fatcow240 and I are meeting up on Thursday afternoon. @chasesfish and anyone else want to join?

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #303 on: September 12, 2018, 06:20:51 AM »
*Update*

Unfortunately my flight home on Friday was supposed to be connecting through BWI, and the entire Mid Atlantic is going to get pummeled with hurricane Florence. My company switching me to fly out Thursday night.......so I'm only going to be around tonight.

fatcow240

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #304 on: September 12, 2018, 06:41:10 AM »
SO cancelled her plans this evening, so I'm available.

fatcow240

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #305 on: September 12, 2018, 06:42:52 AM »
SO cancelled her plans this evening, so I'm available.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #306 on: September 12, 2018, 06:54:16 AM »
Dinner tonight it is :)

@chasesfish, you game? Even for a quick drink if you can't stay for dinner?

chasesfish

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #307 on: October 26, 2018, 05:43:57 AM »
Cross Posting this - The folks who run ChooseFI Dallas are trying to make these meetups more educational too.

NOV - 3
ChoosFI Dallas Area Meetup - November
Event for ChooseFI Dallas
Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
NoD Coworking - 17290 Preston
17290 Preston Rd, Dallas, Texas 75252

We're excited to feature a new format for our November meetup that will include presentations from local subject matter experts on topics relevant to FI.

1) Choosing Medical Insurance Benefits - Keir Simon
2) Optimizing Your Electric Plan - Allen Mueller
3) Achieving FI Through Aggressive Offense - Brian Jenkins

A big THANK YOU to Nod Coworking for hosting our event free of charge and to Majid Tahir for making the arrangements!

Consider joining their facebook group and RSVPing

mrhappy

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #308 on: October 26, 2018, 11:21:34 AM »
See you there!

blackomen

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #309 on: November 30, 2018, 10:49:42 PM »
I just moved to Dallas a few months ago and am looking for events in the near future.

fatcow240

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #310 on: December 05, 2018, 11:57:13 AM »
Welcome to Dallas.  Hopefully we will have a get together soon.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #311 on: December 05, 2018, 12:03:13 PM »
I need an excuse to fly down there soon :)

SquareJ

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #312 on: January 12, 2019, 08:26:09 PM »
Any plans for a gathering in 2019?

Jason

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #313 on: January 12, 2019, 08:34:23 PM »
@fatcow240  @Philociraptor @DeepEllumStache @PathtoFIRE @PathToFI @chasesfish

I'll be around for a late dinner/drinks on Mon Feb 4th.

DeepEllumStache

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #314 on: January 12, 2019, 09:31:29 PM »
You going to be in the Addison area again?

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #315 on: January 12, 2019, 10:27:24 PM »
You going to be in the Addison area again?

Yup! Same exact spot =)

fatcow240

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #316 on: January 15, 2019, 09:28:12 AM »
@2Birds1Stone : That is the busiest day to the year for me workwise.  I will likely not be able to meet up this time.

PathtoFIRE

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #317 on: January 15, 2019, 09:29:13 AM »
That's the day I'm supposed to start my new job, so I'll have to play by ear, but I do love those pretzels...and $3 beer is also tempting

DeepEllumStache

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #318 on: January 15, 2019, 09:32:53 AM »
That's the day I'm supposed to start my new job, so I'll have to play by ear, but I do love those pretzels...and $3 beer is also tempting

Oh that's exciting. You going to be in the same area?

PathtoFIRE

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #319 on: January 15, 2019, 09:34:55 AM »
Yeah, moving much closer to home, and not far from Addison either. I might actually start biking to work again!

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #320 on: January 28, 2019, 08:49:44 AM »
Sorry folks, my meetings got pushed a few weeks back.

I would be able to do the 20th of February =/

DeepEllumStache

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #321 on: January 28, 2019, 10:04:28 AM »
We’re flexible.

Philociraptor

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #322 on: January 28, 2019, 10:09:42 AM »
Ooh, 20th is my first day back from work after PR. 50/50 shot I'll make it then. S'all good though.

SquareJ

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #323 on: January 31, 2019, 08:54:26 AM »
So...any takers for the 4th, 5pm at the flying saucer in Addison?

Jason

BigIslandGuy

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #324 on: January 03, 2020, 10:52:44 AM »
I work downtown Dallas, live in Glenn Heights. I'd be in for a Meetup.

haflander

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #325 on: February 15, 2020, 04:58:51 PM »
Hey guys. I am thinking about popping the ? soon and I thought I'd come here for Dallas-specific advice. Does anyone have a Ring Guy that is the absolute best? Keep in mind that we'll be keeping the ring modest. I already had that convo with her, and we're on the same page. So, I'd need a dealer or retailer that's not going to ignore what I'm saying or try to upsell me into something I don't want. If you're curious for more details about our situation, I posted it in the recent engagement ring thread:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/engagement-ring-110099/msg2559997/#msg2559997

BigIslandGuy

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #326 on: February 18, 2020, 02:55:32 PM »
Hey guys. I am thinking about popping the ? soon and I thought I'd come here for Dallas-specific advice. Does anyone have a Ring Guy that is the absolute best? Keep in mind that we'll be keeping the ring modest. I already had that convo with her, and we're on the same page. So, I'd need a dealer or retailer that's not going to ignore what I'm saying or try to upsell me into something I don't want. If you're curious for more details about our situation, I posted it in the recent engagement ring thread:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/engagement-ring-110099/msg2559997/#msg2559997


Sorry, I'm allergic to marriage, so no ring guy to recommend, but good luck with the proposal! Just dont do it publicly which puts her on the spot. :)

chasesfish

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #327 on: February 20, 2020, 05:04:28 AM »
Hey guys. I am thinking about popping the ? soon and I thought I'd come here for Dallas-specific advice. Does anyone have a Ring Guy that is the absolute best? Keep in mind that we'll be keeping the ring modest. I already had that convo with her, and we're on the same page. So, I'd need a dealer or retailer that's not going to ignore what I'm saying or try to upsell me into something I don't want. If you're curious for more details about our situation, I posted it in the recent engagement ring thread:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/engagement-ring-110099/msg2559997/#msg2559997

I read your thread.  If you are going to involve your significant other in the search, do you want to go ahead and ask her how much she's comfortable with you spending?

I bought used for just over $500 in 2003.  Wife and I are still happily married.  She practiced as a veterinarian and a bigger/gaudier ring would have gotten in the way of her work.   I agree with the threads of buy used or buy on the low end from Costco.

fireseeker

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #328 on: February 23, 2020, 11:59:35 AM »
I'm in south-central Richardson. Would love to meet up with others!

haflander

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #329 on: April 13, 2021, 04:09:56 PM »
Wow, I thought it had been a while since I've seen this thread. My posts on ring shopping were a year ago! That went well, we're getting married in October.

haflander

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #330 on: April 13, 2021, 04:53:45 PM »
Anyway, I came back here for some more recommendations. We're looking to buy our first home sometime between now and August. I've done lots of research and posted a thread if you want all the details, but it didn't get much traction:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/how-to-prepare-for-first-home-purchase-aka-are-we-ready

Asking for recommendations for the below. I'll add some details for context. The more recently you used them, the better.
1. Realtor: someone who knows the types of houses and neighborhoods we want. More below. Also, must be patient with first-timers who need some hand-holding.
2. Lenders: obviously want a great rate, but also will be patient with us and dependable and picks up the phone. Individual lender brokers, or credit unions or banks you've used?
3. Neighborhoods I may not have considered. We're looking for 3+/2+, around 2000 sq ft, in the range of 275-300. Most importantly, we want a big/huge yard and hopefully mature trees. I'm thinking a quarter acre lot, at least. I understand this will be difficult, but I have seen many in the past month we could be happy with. We're fine with doing some cosmetic work on outdated homes. All of the family lives in the DFW area, mostly in Denton county. Another factor in our favor is we're pretty open on geography (other than being in/around Denton county), as I work from home, and SO is a teacher who can easily get a job in a nearby school district, wherever we end up. We know we want to live in this area, are getting married this year, and want to have kid #1 in a few. Between that and me working from home (especially when she's off during summers) is why we are looking for more than just a starter home. Many in the family have bought homes and stayed in them for 10-30 years, so that could very well be us...I'd like a house now that will work for kids later (playing outside, etc). Also, would like at least a mediocre school system. Doesn't have to be great, but also can't be terrible.

So far, neighborhoods I've found that could work in our price range are:
North Denton: probably the place I've seen the most homes we'd like that are in our range. Makes sense, as it's far from Dallas. Bonus: houses of both pairs of parents are between Denton and Lewisville.
Lewisville/Flower Mound/Highland Village: a few in west Lewisville are in the better school system. Seen 1 or 2 in older parts of HV; same for FM.
North Carrollton: seen a few around here. I think anything south of PGBT would have bad schools, and shady areas.
Oak Point: seen a few in this tiny town between Denton and Little Elm.
Little Elm/Frisco: seen a few in the older parts (west side), close to Lake Lewisville.
McKinney: seen a few that are newer construction (no trees), but this is further away from where we'd like to be.
Plano: seen several that are right around 350 for outdated homes. Seems like money doesn't get you as much here as it does in the above neighborhoods, probably due to all the business HQs moving here.

Any other neighborhoods I should be looking at? Also would like to start talking to realtors and lenders soon. So if you've got 'em, send 'em my way. Feel free to send a private message if you're more comfortable with that. Thanks in advance!

Philociraptor

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #331 on: April 15, 2021, 10:18:45 AM »
I don't have specific recommendations for you @haflander but just wanted to chime in and say how absolutely insane the real estate market in DFW has become. We'd been looking for a bit but could only find what we wanted $320k+ and not in the areas we wanted. Then one night my wife had a dream that we remodeled and sold our current home, moved in with her brother, and bought a new home down the road.

As it turns out, the day after that dream we were lucky to find a new build where we wanted to be (off I-20 in Grand Prairie), made plans to remodel and sell our old house on the same day (wife's sister is a realtor and remodels homes with her husband), and put down a deposit on a specific property 2 days later. $305k for a 1,800 sqft single story 4/2. The further you get from DFW proper the lower the prices go I'd imagine, they were selling the same model out in Joshua for $275k but there was no way we wanted to be out there. Best of luck to you!

haflander

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #332 on: April 15, 2021, 12:49:25 PM »
Yeah, insane it is. I'm glad you found something you like. I'm not familiar with south DFW, but that sounds like a reasonable price to me. Joshua or Argyle would be ok, but those areas are mostly new construction, and we're not really looking for that.

I added these thoughts on the thread asking homeowners if they'd buy their first home in today's market. It sucks, but there are other personal and financial (interest rates) advantages.

1. Life situation, as described above. Personally, I'm sharing a 1-bed apt with the fiancee and dog. Lease is up in late August. I'm working from home...forever, not just now. We need more space and are going insane. All of the family also lives in the area. We are getting married this year and want to have kid #1 in a few. We see this as being our long-term area to live. We are fine with working on repairs ourself, and will probably look for a fixer-upper.
2. Savings. We have 10% down payment easily. 15% if we go with the cheaper houses in our range. This is in addition to extra EF savings for catastrophe. In another year, we could get to 20%. But...not if prices are still rising. How much will interest rates rise in that time (no one can know)? Will a 20% down payment save us more than the rising interest rates AND (probable) rising home prices will cost us in the long run? I'd need a statistician or economist to help me out with the math on that one...way too advanced for me.
3. Buy/rent comparison. For a 3/2 mortgage in the suburbs for houses we like, we could rent a crappy 2-bed house in a bad area for the same price. Renting a 3/2 would be much more than a mortgage. Honestly, Idk how to forecast this one, maybe someone can help. It feels like this is totally dependent on COL and your specific geographic region.
4. House prices. Crazy market now, but how to forecast? The general consensus is that prices will keep rising. Also, there could be a recession at any time that may OR MAY NOT affect home prices.
5. Interest rates. This is less important than home prices, because you can always refi. Rates are pretty low historically, but slowly on the way up again. Also, there could be a recession at any time that would more than likely raise rates.

Looking at these 5 for myself, it's led me to believe that buying this year is the right choice for us.

Philociraptor

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #333 on: April 15, 2021, 01:34:16 PM »
2. Savings. We have 10% down payment easily. 15% if we go with the cheaper houses in our range. This is in addition to extra EF savings for catastrophe. In another year, we could get to 20%. But...not if prices are still rising. How much will interest rates rise in that time (no one can know)? Will a 20% down payment save us more than the rising interest rates AND (probable) rising home prices will cost us in the long run? I'd need a statistician or economist to help me out with the math on that one...way too advanced for me.

We put 10% down on a conventional loan, bought out the PMI at closing for just about $1k. We figured the 10% we didn't put down could make more in the market in a single year, and interest rates are so low (we ended up at 2.25%) it really doesn't make sense to put down any more than you need to.

haflander

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #334 on: April 15, 2021, 01:44:50 PM »
2. Savings. We have 10% down payment easily. 15% if we go with the cheaper houses in our range. This is in addition to extra EF savings for catastrophe. In another year, we could get to 20%. But...not if prices are still rising. How much will interest rates rise in that time (no one can know)? Will a 20% down payment save us more than the rising interest rates AND (probable) rising home prices will cost us in the long run? I'd need a statistician or economist to help me out with the math on that one...way too advanced for me.

We put 10% down on a conventional loan, bought out the PMI at closing for just about $1k. We figured the 10% we didn't put down could make more in the market in a single year, and interest rates are so low (we ended up at 2.25%) it really doesn't make sense to put down any more than you need to.

Whoa a couple ?s on this:
1. Bought out the PMI? I'm familiar with PMI, but I've never heard of "buying it out." What does this mean exactly? There's no way that cost only 1k, right...? What am I missing here?
2. 2.25% is really low! I was hoping for 3% or less. I'm not sure what we'll be able to get; talking to lenders is the next thing on my list. If 2.25% is normal, I would definitely reevaluate how much house we could afford, as it would obviously significantly lower the mortgage payment. I've been thinking 2k is a good number I'd like to keep it under. That would be about 25% of net take home pay after taxes, health insurance, and 401k (although we're only doing the minimum for the match right now to save for DP).

Philociraptor

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #335 on: April 15, 2021, 01:58:55 PM »
Whoa a couple ?s on this:
1. Bought out the PMI? I'm familiar with PMI, but I've never heard of "buying it out." What does this mean exactly? There's no way that cost only 1k, right...? What am I missing here?
2. 2.25% is really low! I was hoping for 3% or less. I'm not sure what we'll be able to get; talking to lenders is the next thing on my list. If 2.25% is normal, I would definitely reevaluate how much house we could afford, as it would obviously significantly lower the mortgage payment. I've been thinking 2k is a good number I'd like to keep it under. That would be about 25% of net take home pay after taxes, health insurance, and 401k (although we're only doing the minimum for the match right now to save for DP).

1. Typically PMI is charged as a % of the loan (0.25%-2% per year), each month until the loan reaches 80% loan-to-value. However, you can request to pay for the policy up-front and in-full, making it much cheaper with no need to go back to the servicer and get the home reappraised at a later date. It's called Single Premium Mortgage Insurance.

2. Granted, we opted for a 15-year mortgage this time because we want to pay it off around the same time we finish working (somewhere between age 40 and 45). The 30 year rate was 2.75% back when we applied (early February). As far as cash flow is concerned, the big thing to think about is that principal and interest are only half of the battle. Taxes and insurance added about 40% more to our monthly payment (and insurance is really cheap on a new house, not so much on a used one), plus you're now responsible for all utilities and maintenance (a good AC in Texas runs $6k-9k, a roof replacement is in the low teens, etc). Taken together, our actual monthly outflow for owning our last house came out to about double the calculated principal and interest that the mortgage calculators initially spat out.

haflander

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #336 on: April 15, 2021, 02:22:22 PM »
Thanks, that's good to know. It seems like SPMI may or may not be an option, depending on the lender. But it would certainly be a steal at 1k, as long as you'll be there for a few years.

I appreciate the %s for expenses too; those are things I've been thinking about. I'm estimating about 2.5% for property taxes; I need to do some more research on the cost of homeowner's insurance.

tarheeldan

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Re: Anyone in Dallas?
« Reply #337 on: August 19, 2021, 09:58:07 AM »
Hi All! I'm new to the area, just moved in June. You guys doing any meetups?