I work in west Ft. Worth. I think Benbrook is a great place to live. It is like a small town yet only 5 minutes from Ft. Worth. The taxes are lower in the area as well. They have new houses and older houses with bigger yards. Many of the older houses are being redone. It has good resales as well.

I'm a Realtor in Weatherford, and much to Trudy's dismay, I don't go around misleading people. :) There are many homes in your price range that are nice sized. Aledo and Weatherford have some great properties and have great school systems. The Saginaw, Lake Worth, White Settlment area also have an abundance of homes in your price range (and they aren't built before 1970 or foreclosure's as per Trudy's comments). Good luck!

I don't know where trudy is living. But I live in Southwest Fort Worth, and my house was $160 for a 2 year old custom house with 2400 square feet. I bought small because there are only two of us living there. The houses in my neighborhood are in the Crowley school district, which is considered a good district. In our area you can buy 3500 to 4000 sq. ft. houses for around $200,000. Don't let trudy mislead you.

If your idea of a good-sized house is 1500 sq or less - yes you can find one for under $200K - however all of the areas that every other poster has answered - you are not going to find anything newer than the 1970's for under $200K unless it is a foreclosure or was built by a poor builder. I have lived in this area all of my life (barring 4 years in the military) and WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANYTHING IN FORT WORTH ISD if you care about your kid. Keller is expensive, Aledo is expensive (high taxes) Northwest ISD taxes are high, as well. BISD is okay - pretty good schools and houses are more reasonably priced - about a 15-30 minute drive to Lake Worth depending on traffic - Don't let these realtors mislead you - which I see that they are. Email me at prawnpink1@aol.com if you want more information on this entire area and the schools, home prices, etc. I am not a realtor, but have access to neighborhood information, etc. Good luck with your househunt, with these prior answers - all raise a red flag - especially regarding house pricing -

Rob,
Like everywhere probably traffic just seems to be getting worse and worse. I-35 and 820 area is now getting tough almost all day long. I'd suggest living somewhere in the middle of your two jobs. You didn't say exactly what part of town you'd be working, but I'd guess Keller or Heritage area would be about 1/2 way. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Rob, If you are going to be working east of Lake Worth, you might want to consider the alliance corridor area. The Keller and Northwest ISD's are both well respected. In terms of cities, you are looking at Keller, Northern Fort Worth, Haslet, etc. All these areas have "good sized" homes for under $200,000, though your definition of "good sized" may be different than mine. There is also lots of new development in this area and many new home builders are offering great incentives right now, especially on inventory homes.

Just realized I didn't exactly answer your question. Like I mentioned, I don't know Aledo specifically but based on my knowledge of the area you can get a decent sized home in a good school district for under $200,000.

I can't answer your question related to schools as I live near Downtown Fort Worth so I don't venture out that way very often, but I will say that I think home prices around Fort Worth are very reasonable for a fairly dense area.

I work in Downtown Dallas and take the train back and forth everyday because Fort Worth is so much more affordable.

The schools out that way should be pretty good as I know there's been quite a bit of development. I know Weatherford especially has experienced some solid growth over the last five years.