Moving to DFW in 2026? Where $550K–$700K Buys the Most Home

You know somebody who moved to Texas in the last three years. They sent you the picture of their house, the square footage, the price, and you thought, holy cow, I need to get in on that. Maybe the timing wasn't right then, but now you're ready. You want the same deal they got, the same house, the same value. I need to be honest with you: it probably doesn't exist anymore.

The pricing has changed. The incentives have changed. The locations where people are buying have shifted. But here's the thing, while the market moved, so did the buyer pool. It shrunk. And that means if you're legitimately looking, if your company is bringing you to DFW or you're taking a new job and you have to be here by a certain time, you have more leverage than buyers have had in years. I want to show you where that leverage is, what changed since your friend moved, and what your budget actually buys in different parts of the metroplex in 2026.

I recently worked with clients relocating from the East Coast. The more we talked, the more I realized their wish list and their budget didn't line up. The budget was healthy, but the wish list was way up here. Finally it came out: they had friends who moved to DFW a couple years ago, and this is what they got for this price. That's the anchor. The problem is that market doesn't exist anymore, not because Texas got worse, but because everybody had the same idea. Everybody had friends who moved here, jobs that brought them here, and it totally shifted what's possible and how far your money goes.

Table of Contents

• What Changed in the DFW Market and Why Buyers Have Leverage Now
• Ramble: 4,000-Home Master Plan on 50-Foot Lots in Celina
• Waxahachie Area: Acre Lots and Space to Build Your Own Amenities
• Sonoma Verde: 70-Foot Lots and Tree-Lined Streets on Rockwall's South Side
• Parks at Wilson Creek: Lower Price Point on 40-Foot Lots in Celina
• Landmark in Denton: Highland Quality Finish Near Lockheed Martin
• Which DFW Area Fits Your Life: North vs. South vs. East
• Conclusion

What Changed in the DFW Market and Why Buyers Have Leverage Now

Let's talk about what shifted. We're not even talking about the COVID market. This is the post-COVID market within the last three or four years. Your friends aren't lying to you, they probably got a good deal. But it's not the same thing you're walking into. We've had higher demand of people moving here. Property taxes have risen. Insurance costs have continued to climb. I just got our renewal and my deductible went up again because of the hailstorms, which is insane. Interest rates in general have climbed. And builders are doing everything they can to protect their margin, which means they're cutting standard features. You look at it and think, wait a minute, that used to be included. Now it's not.

Here's the piece I don't think people are talking through. As somebody who only sells new construction homes, I've consistently tracked what we see in incentive dollars with builders on both to-be-builts and inventory homes. For the most part, for the last 18 months, they've been relatively consistent. We do have outliers where a super amazing deal comes through and we get way more than expected, and other times where it's less. But the graph is pretty flat. The dollar amount has stayed the same. What has changed is what the dollar amount buys.

On average, we see anywhere between $20,000 and $30,000 in closing costs on most deals. If you were doing that three years ago in a 2024-2025 market, that would have gone a lot farther because rates were a lot lower. When I looked this morning, rates were at 7.57%. Not good. Three years ago when rates were averaging in the high fives, low sixes, and a builder was giving you $25,000 in closing costs, your rate was coming down to a low five, maybe even a four. Now that same $25,000 on a 7.5% rate doesn't go nearly as far. It's the same money, but it's been buying you less. Couple that with prices rising and standard features dropping, and you might ask, why should we buy?

Because buyers have pulled back. Those of you that legitimately need to be in DFW, that are saying your company is bringing you down and you have to be here by a certain time, or you're getting here for your kids' schooling, you have more leverage. Especially as we push toward the end of 2026 and into 2027, we're seeing builders continue to fall down on pricing and trying to get more creative in how they're structuring that money. Rates are going to stay where they are for the significant future, so we have to figure out how to navigate that and build the deal.

The other interesting piece: three years ago, two years ago, everybody was talking about date the rate, marry the house. Which sounds really cool on paper. The problem is people were taking houses on dates they couldn't afford to take them on. When I was a teenager trying to date my now wife, I could not afford to take her out to steak dinners. I could afford Chick-fil-A. We could go on dates, but it had to be dates I could afford. People got into this idea of marry the house, date the rate, and they were taking their house on dates they couldn't afford. Now all the people three years ago who took a 3-2-1 buydown or a 2-1 buydown, anybody that didn't take a permanent lock and went with the hopes of refinancing, they're in trouble. You're probably looking at your friends thinking they got a really good deal. They're probably looking at it like, oh my gosh, we have to figure something out.

As a buyer coming in, you have some leverage to get with the builder to structure a deal in a way that's most beneficial to you. Builders are still offering that 3-2-1, a temporary buydown over a three-year period or over a two-year period. You have to be careful. I'm not saying don't take that. I'm just saying be very careful in understanding it. If you're dating the rate, make sure you're taking the rate on dates you can afford, because that number is going to come back up and you need to be prepared if you don't have the ability to refinance. Builders are also offering adjustable rate mortgages. We did a whole conversation with a lender recently talking about why it might be a good fit for some people and a terrible fit for others. I've had some clients recently do them, and we had some long conversations about what that meant and how they were using the builder's money.

They are still doing permanent buydowns. Just know with a market rate at 7.5%, that permanent buydown is not getting us nearly as far as it was a couple years ago with the same amount of money. I think builders are going to have to figure out how to get creative in their marketing and how they structure deals, which is the benefit to you as the buyer.

Where Buyers Have the Upper Hand Right Now

Most people end up in my email inbox asking questions, but they're asking the wrong question. On average, our relocation buyers, people coming into DFW, are looking somewhere in that $550,000 to probably $700,000 range. They're sending me emails like, Zach, what can I get for $600,000? Maybe that's a question, but I don't know if that's the right question.

The $600,000 math on a house in the northern part of DFW when you're having to commute an hour is terrible, and you're going to want to leave. The $600,000 that says, hey, we have to be down south, okay, that opens up some serious land conversations. I know you want to find a really good deal, and I want to help you find a really good deal, but we want the house to be right. We want it to be where you're not feeling buyer's remorse because it didn't check every single box that you needed it to, or your family grew and you weren't ready for it. The goal is the best house this side of heaven. Yes, the deal is important. Yes, the numbers need to make sense. Yes, the logic has to play in there. But what fits best for you and your family is probably the better question.

Let me give you the practical pieces where this gives you leverage. In 2022, 2023, not so much 2024 but kind of at the end, we had people on waitlists. Builders would come out and say, hey, this is what we're selling the house for, if you want it, good luck. If the buyer pool is smaller, and as you raise your pricing the buyer pool gets even smaller, you have more leverage. When you start seeing all these people advertising, oh, this builder dropped the price $100,000, or this one did $150,000, the higher they go, the more margin they have to give you a good deal.

As we push toward the end of the year, depending on when you're seeing this, they have standing inventory they want gone because they're already trying to gear up for 2027. If it can close by the end of the year, they're probably going to give you some significant leverage. Most of our relocation buyers have a timetable. Your company says you have to start in the next 60 days, or you're trying to time it so your kids don't miss too much school. Use that to your advantage. Use the end of the year to your advantage.

I just had somebody recently, we took five weeks to sign the build contract and they didn't pressure them. They were like, oh yeah, take your time. What does that mean? It means they're not getting any traffic in that neighborhood. It also means we got a screaming good deal on the incentives, and we were able to work through all the questions. Is every builder going to be like that? No, but this one was. There are signs in there. Nobody else wants that lot. Use it to your advantage.

Understand how far they can push on their incentive dollars. There's a limit on interested party contributions. It's a federal guideline based on the loan amount and how much money you're putting down. But what is not limited, sometimes they're buying forward commitments and maybe those monies are spent outside the transaction, which means you might be able to get a little more. From the builder's standpoint, the bucket that all of that comes out of is kind of the same bucket. If they spent $30,000 on a forward commitment to get your rate to where it needs to be, and then you took a $20,000 price decrease, and then you asked for washer, dryer, fridge, blinds, and $15,000 in closing costs, depending on the price, depending on how long the home has sat, and depending on what's going on in that particular neighborhood, you could probably use that to your advantage. Just know they're looking at the whole enchilada. It benefits you more. The higher we move on the price scale, the more margin and things they have to work with. Use that to your advantage.

Location Matters More Than Price

Use your location to your advantage, where you need to be. Please do not come into DFW and be like, oh, my job hired me in the tech corridor up in Frisco, but I really want to live down south. You will hate that job, you will hate your drive, and you will hate your house in six months because Midlothian to Frisco is not a commute you want to make every day. Take it from me as a guy who drives all over DFW all week. You don't want to make that drive. If you look at the map and you're like, oh, that looks close, it's probably not.

DFW is over 9,000 square miles, and it is still expanding, which by my math makes us bigger than the entire state of Connecticut. You need to probably work within proximity. If you cut the map in quarters, if you're working up here, you're probably living up here. If you're working over here, you might could cross like one quadrant over, but you don't want to cross multiple to get there. You're going to have a 40 to 50 minute drive depending on where you're going every day in traffic.

The wrong question is, can we go anywhere in DFW for $650,000? The right question is proximity to where we're working. Are we working from home? Do we need to be close-ish to the airport? Are our kids playing competitive sports? Are we looking for a certain church? I've answered all of those questions. We've had people buy homes in the last year, we had a family recently that moved to DFW for their kids to play competitive soccer with FC Dallas through their training academy. I didn't even know they had that thing. I've had another family recently that's moving here to connect with a very specific church. We need to buy based on that neighborhood. I have had another family that said, hey, I need to be 15 minutes to an Orangetheory Fitness. If it's important to you, it's important to me. It was kind of hard to map out new neighborhoods, 15 minutes to Orangetheory, but we figured it out.

Whatever is important, work through that, not just with your pricing. You can't do that on Zillow. You can't be like, oh, Zillow, I really like this high school team I really want my kid to play for. You got to work through it together and figure it out. And then once we have that, let's look at areas and locations and do it within budget. Land, location, size, finish, price, those are probably the five things. Do you want to be in a neighborhood with no yard? Do you want a big massive yard? Driving location, that's probably the other one. The size, how big do we need? 2,500, 3,000? Do we really need 3,500? Do we really need a fifth bedroom? What level of finish out do we want? Are we okay buying a new home and taking on some projects? Do we want it to be fully turnkey, I don't want to touch anything? What's the long-term play? All of those things factor into this.

Ramble: 4,000-Home Master Plan on 50-Foot Lots in Celina

Let me show you what your budget actually buys in different parts of the metroplex. We're going to anchor in that $550,000 to $700,000 range, where we see a lot of our relocation clients buy. I want to start with this house in Ramble, which is a huge master-planned community up in Celina. We're talking a 4,000-home community, so this is one of the big ones that I think is going to be probably one of the best communities in northern DFW.

This house is over 3,000 square feet. Five bedrooms, four full baths, one half bath, 3,400 square feet total. It's a completed inventory home priced at $675,000. It's got a two-car garage downstairs, a study, entertainment room, secondary bedroom, and primary on the first floor. Then game room and three bedrooms upstairs with two bathrooms. But I want you to look at the picture. Look how close this house is to the house next door. This house is on a 50-foot lot. Not a bad backyard, but not a huge massive oversized backyard. You can see the closeness there.

If you're okay with that, $675,000 on a 50-foot lot in a brand new community with all the master-planned amenities, pools, parks, trails, the whole setup, this is a solid option if you need to be up north. And here's where we find some fun as we push toward the end of the year. Could we go in and say, hey, I want to be at $640,000, $650,000, and closing costs? Potentially. It really depends on when you're seeing this blog and what's available. But the leverage is there. Builders want standing inventory gone by year-end so they can plan for 2027.

Ramble is in Celina, which is northern DFW. If you're working in Frisco, Plano, the tech corridor, or anywhere in that northern quadrant, this is where you want to be. Don't try to live down south and commute up here. You will hate it. The 50-foot lot means your neighbors are close, but you're in a community with amenities built in. You're not building your own pool or playground. It's already there. That's the trade-off. Less land, more community infrastructure.

Waxahachie Area: Acre Lots and Space to Build Your Own Amenities

Now let's go all the way down south. I know I said you don't want to go directly south if you're working north, but if you're working from home or you're taking a job down south, the Waxahachie area opens up some serious land conversations. This house here is 2,700 square feet, three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, one story, three-car garage. This house is on an acre. One story, $668,000.

Graham Hart is the builder, and they're another great builder we really like doing business with. You've got flex space, two bedrooms, primary, no game room or anything like that. But with it being on an acre, you could do all kinds of things outside. Three-car connected garage. If you're working from home or taking a job down south, Waxahachie would be a great place to take a look.

Another one I want to show you while we're down there, a lot of people say, I really want a moody kind of looking house. We've got this option too, another one on an acre. Four bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2,700 square feet, three-car garage, $664,000. Well within that range. This is not going to be a big master-planned community. You're probably not going to have the pools and the amenities in the neighborhood, but you have the space to do it on your own if that's something you were considering.

The trade-off here is clear. You get an acre. You get space to breathe, space for your kids to run around, space to build a shop or a pool or whatever you want. But you're not walking to a community pool. You're not in a neighborhood with a bunch of social programming. You're building your own amenities. If that fits your life, if you're working from home or your job is down south, this is where your $600,000 to $700,000 goes the farthest in terms of land.

Sonoma Verde: 70-Foot Lots and Tree-Lined Streets on Rockwall's South Side

Now let's go out to the east side. This neighborhood is in Rockwall, south side of Rockwall. Sonoma Verde. These are 70-foot lots, and this is in a master-planned community. Pools, parks, dog trails, all of those things in a neighborhood. We've got five quick move-ins available right now. Let me show you what's there.

$625,000, 2,800 square feet. $550,000, even lower, 2,700 square feet. $600,000, 2,700 square feet. $650,000. And then you could go all the way up to the big one. This is 3,500 square feet, four bedrooms, three-car tandem garage, currently listed at $699,000. Seventy-foot lot section, so you're going to have enough room if you're looking for a pool. Each bedroom has its own bathroom upstairs in the larger model. Covered patios. If this is the street I think it is, this is a tree-lined lot out that way.

Sonoma Verde is on the south side of Rockwall, which is east DFW. If you're working in Rockwall, Garland, Mesquite, or anywhere in that eastern quadrant, this is a great spot. The 70-foot lots give you room. You're not on top of your neighbors like you are on a 40-foot or 50-foot lot. You can put in a pool. You've got a covered patio. And you're in a master-planned community, so you've got the amenities without having to build them yourself. The price range here is $550,000 to $699,000, so it fits right in that relocation buyer sweet spot.

Rockwall is one of the best suburbs in DFW for new construction. The schools are solid, the community feel is strong, and you're not as far out as Celina or Waxahachie. You're closer to the airport, closer to Dallas, but you still get space. That's the Rockwall trade-off. You're not as far out, but you're not as urban either. You're in the middle, and for a lot of relocating buyers, that's exactly where they want to be.

Parks at Wilson Creek: Lower Price Point on 40-Foot Lots in Celina

Let's go back up north. Another large master-planned community in Celina. Parks at Wilson Creek. This is a 40-foot lot section. If you're like, hey, I'm just not going to be home, I don't have kids, I don't need a large yard, this might be something worth considering if you need to be up north. But your house, you can see again, you're going to be real close. Forty-foot lot wide. That's your width on the front side there.

Same similar pricing, $543,000. Just under where we've been looking at that price. So if you're trying to stay under $550,000 and you need to be in northern DFW, this is where you land. The trade-off is the lot size. You are very close to your neighbors. Small yards. But you're in a large master-planned community, so you've got the amenities. You've got the pools, the parks, the trails. You're just not going to have a big backyard.

This is good for buyers without kids or who don't need a large yard. If you're working in Frisco, Plano, McKinney, and you want to be close to work without spending $700,000, this is the option. You're sacrificing space for location and price. That's the trade. But if you're okay with that, if you're not home much or you don't need a big yard, this is a solid deal in a good community.

Landmark in Denton: Highland Quality Finish Near Lockheed Martin

Let's go west. Maybe you're taking a job over in Fort Worth. Maybe you're saying, hey, I'm going to be part of Lockheed Martin over down here in Lake Worth, and I'm willing to make this drive. This Northlake, Argyle, Denton area is growing like crazy. Let's go into Landmark in Denton. New neighborhood. These are a little bit wider lots. I think I saw 60-foot lots. $699,000.

Highland is one of the builders we do a lot of business with, so I'm using them as a reference point. I appreciate selling them and their quality. But like we were talking about, size, lot, price, finish out, the finish here compared to the finish on a Meritage or a Trophy or a DR Horton, it's going to be a very different feel, which is why it's going to price differently. Highland's finish level is higher. You're going to see better cabinets, better countertops, better flooring standard. That's part of what you're paying for at $699,000.

If you're working at Lockheed Martin in Lake Worth or anywhere in the Fort Worth area, Denton is a great spot. You're close to work, you're in a growing area, and you're getting a Highland-quality finish. The Northlake, Argyle, Denton corridor is one of the fastest-growing parts of DFW right now. It's not as built out as Frisco or Plano, which means you're getting in early. That can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. Good because you're getting in before prices go up even more. Bad because the infrastructure is still catching up. But if you're working in Fort Worth and you want a new home with a quality finish, this is where you want to look.

Which DFW Area Fits Your Life: North vs. South vs. East

Let me break down the trade-offs. If you're working in the northern tech corridor, Frisco, Plano, McKinney, you want to be in Celina or Little Elm. You're looking at 40-foot to 50-foot lots, master-planned communities, and prices in the $550,000 to $675,000 range. You're close to your neighbors, but you've got amenities built in. Choose Ramble or Parks at Wilson Creek if you need to be close to work and you want a master-planned community with pools and parks.

If you're working from home or taking a job down south, you want to be in the Waxahachie area. You're looking at acre lots, space to build your own amenities, and prices in the $664,000 to $668,000 range. You're not in a big master-planned community, but you've got space to do things outside. Choose the Waxahachie area if you want land, if you want space, if you want to build your own pool or shop or whatever.

If you're working in the east, Rockwall, Garland, Mesquite, you want to be in Sonoma Verde. You're looking at 70-foot lots, master-planned community, tree-lined streets, and prices in the $550,000 to $699,000 range. You've got room for a pool, you've got amenities in the neighborhood, and you're not as far out as Celina or Waxahachie. Choose Sonoma Verde if you want the middle ground between space and community, if you want to be closer to Dallas but still have room to breathe.

If you're working in Fort Worth or at Lockheed Martin, you want to be in the Denton area. You're looking at 60-foot lots, Highland-quality finish, and prices around $699,000. You're in a growing area, you're close to work, and you're getting a better finish level than you would with some of the other builders. Choose Landmark in Denton if you want quality finish and you're working in the Fort Worth area.

The key is matching your budget to your life. Don't just ask what you can get for $600,000. Ask where you need to be, what your house needs to do for your family, and what trade-offs you're willing to make. Land, location, size, finish, price, those are the five things. Figure out which ones matter most to you, and then let's go find the house that fits.

One more thing. If you're not sure which side of the metroplex fits your life, rent for six months. I know that sounds crazy, but DFW is huge. It's over 9,000 square miles. If you buy in the wrong spot, you're going to hate your commute, you're going to hate your house, and you're going to want to leave. Rent for six months, figure out where you actually want to be, and then buy. It's better to wait and get it right than to rush and regret it.

Conclusion

Your friends that moved here three years ago didn't lie to you. The market just changed. Prices went up, rates went up, property taxes went up, insurance went up, and builders cut standard features to protect their margin. The deals they got don't exist anymore. But here's the good news: the buyer pool shrunk, which means you have more leverage than buyers have had in years. Builders want standing inventory gone by the end of the year. They're willing to negotiate. They're willing to get creative. You just have to know how to use that leverage.

Don't ask what you can get for $600,000. Ask where you need to be, what your house needs to do for your family, and what trade-offs you're willing to make. Land, location, size, finish, price, figure out which ones matter most, and then let's go find the house that fits. If you want help updating your perspective on the DFW market, if you have questions, if you want to talk through your budget and your timeline and what makes sense for your family, call or text me at 469-707-9077 or book a FREE consultation here. I want to help you use your leverage to get the best deal possible on the right house for you and your family. Let's make it happen.