Thursday Three Hundred: Need Space to Spread Out? The Burbs Have it, And For Cheap!

Some days I imagine moving to the suburbs. But it’s my love for East Dallas and everything it has to offer (including being about 15 minutes from downtown, a lake, bike trails, great shopping, awesome neighborhoods, etc.) that keeps me urban instead of suburban.

Still, I look at some of the houses and how much home you can get for your money in a place like, oh, say, the Hickory Ridge subdivision of Plano, and I imagine my suburban home, with two SUVs parked in the garage and a golden retriever.

If life north of LBJ is more your thing, then 9320 Old Veranda marketed by 2 Clarks Real Estate is a great place to start. This home is in northwest Plano, which, conveniently enough, is inside the Frisco Independent School District. You’re just south of the Sam Rayburn Tollway (Highway 121 for the uninitiated) and so close to IKEA you can almost smell the Scandinavian-designed furniture hand-crafted in China.

What you compromise with a commute is plenty of room to satisfy everyone. You get four bedrooms, four baths, a media room, a downstairs office, two-car garage, and a pretty sizable backyard. There’s stainless and granite in the kitchen and hardwoods underneath your feet and tons of natural light pouring through the windows.

And you get all of it — all 3,430 square feet — for just $332,000. (There is an HOA, and dues are $250. The annual fee gets the buyer access to the clubhouse and community pool, too.)

That just floors me. A home that size in a desirable area of East Dallas would cost at least half a million, if not much more depending on how close you can get it to White Rock Lake.

What other suburbs have great values for tons of space?