Is Dallas Becoming Another Los Angeles?

Photo by AriChristine

Over the weekend I had a photo shoot at Glencoe Park, which is about 10 minutes north of my downtown apartment. As I navigated my way to the park and found a parking space, to my left I noticed a very cute neighborhood being built. The homes were all constructed out of stucco, some with trimmings of frame.

Immediately I began to think “starter home,” “fire my apartment locator” and “swinging a mortgage payment of $1700 - $1900 sure beats the going rate of apartments down here (downtown).”

I proceeded with my photo shoot. As my client and I walked toward our cars, we both commented on how cute the homes were and we both envisioned moving from our respective apartment buildings into homes within the next year.

And then I did a Google search of one of the homes. What I thought would be a $230,000 house at the absolute most turned out to be a 2,000 square foot home, featuring three bedrooms and two bathrooms for a whopping $719,000.

My excitement was quick. The slap of disappointment was emphatic.

I thought to myself that this had to be a mistake. A house made of stucco, positioned all of three feet away from the adjacent house, boasting about 24 square feet of front yard space - canNOT possibly be $719,000.

This is Dallas Freaking Texas. $700,000 is supposed to get you a mansion, a bowling alley, a maid’s quarters, a fountain, an acre of land and at least a pool. Texas is where people from the east and the west come because their dollar goes further, right?

I took the attached photo and immediately thought of about twenty 30 somethings like myself who are actively debating between furthering our apartment experience or buying a home. None of us (doctors, lawyers, educators,, business owners, engineers) can comfortably afford a $719,000 house.

Still shocked, I decided to circle the block. I just knew I’d see an additional structure behind each home; maybe a mother-in-law suite. Nope. What I did discover, however, was that all of the homes had detached garages. So $700,000 apparently isn’t enough money for you and your groceries to be covered from your car to your kitchen.

Perhaps the most baffling discovery of this day was learning that the $719,000 home I found was one of the cheaper properties in this growing neighborhood. A four bedroom, 3.5 bathroom home was priced at $1.2 million.

(Insert expletives)

Every single home was occupied or had a SOLD sign in the front yard (if you can even call it a yard).

For people coming to Texas from California, maybe this is the norm. While they’re cost of living is higher, so is their rate of pay for most professional jobs. $80,000 per year used to be a great salary in Texas, but what good will such a salary serve if California transplants with $300,000 salaries for the same jobs are able to afford such expensive homes?

It’s very much a possibility that Dallas residents may soon be priced out of Dallas.