Your North Texas home search starts here
Why buy with Mali Gariani?
Dedicated buyer representation, deep local knowledge, and the patience to keep looking until the house fits the life you are actually going to live in it.
Personalized Search
Custom home searches matching your exact criteria, lifestyle needs, and budget-including off-market opportunities you won’t find online.
Expert Negotiation
Strategic offer preparation, inspection negotiation, and contract expertise to protect your interests and secure the best terms.
Local Expertise
Deep knowledge of North Texas neighborhoods, schools, commute times, and market trends to guide your decision with confidence.
Full Support
From initial consultation through closing and beyond-Mali handles inspections, appraisals, financing coordination, and every detail.
Your home buying journey in 5 steps
Mali guides you through every stage of the home buying process with transparency, expertise, and personalized attention.
Initial Consultation
Share your must-haves, budget, timeline, and lifestyle preferences. Mali helps you understand current market conditions and get pre-approved for financing.
Personalized Home Search
Receive curated listings matching your criteria, including MLS properties, new builds, and off-market opportunities. Tour homes on your schedule.
Make an Offer
Mali prepares a competitive offer with strategic terms, handles negotiations, and navigates multiple-offer situations to give you the best chance of acceptance.
Inspection & Due Diligence
Coordinate professional inspections, review reports, negotiate repairs or credits, and ensure you understand the property condition before closing.
Close & Move In
Mali coordinates with lenders, title companies, and inspectors to ensure a smooth closing. Walk through your new home with confidence, receive keys, and start your next chapter!
Start your home search
Tell Mali about your dream home and receive personalized listings, market insights, and expert guidance tailored to your search.
Affordability Calculator
See how much home you can afford in North Texas based on your income, debts, and down payment. Uses a conservative 43% back-end DTI guideline and city-specific Texas property tax rates.
Where these numbers come from
- Mortgage rate
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, cross-checked against Mortgage News Daily · as of July 2026
- Property tax
- Each county’s own published rate table, decomposed per taxing unit (school district, city, county, college, hospital) · as of 2025 tax year, verified July 2026
- Homestead exemption
- Texas Comptroller - Tax Code 11.13(b) $140,000 school-district exemption, plus each unit’s adopted local option · as of July 2026
- Mortgage insurance
- Enact published BPMI rate card, every cell corroborated against National MI’s · as of July 2025 card
- Homeowners insurance
- 0.90% of value a year, derived from observed DFW premiums across two aggregators. A hail-market estimate, not a quote - and it prices off purchase price rather than rebuild cost, which overstates it on land-heavy lots · as of March 2026
- Closing costs
- ~2% of price, reasoned from Texas custom rather than the national 3% rule: the seller customarily buys the owner’s title policy here and there is no state transfer tax · as of 2026
- DTI limits
- 43% back-end is the QM safe harbour and 28% front-end the conventional guideline. Automated underwriting routinely approves above 43%, so treat the maximum as a screen, not a ceiling · as of convention
Plano effective property tax: 1.71%
A lender advances the rest; a conservative 43% back-end DTI sets the ceiling here.
Car, student loans, credit cards, alimony. Use the minimum payment, not the balance. Deferred or income-driven student loans still count: many lenders use 0.5-1% of the balance rather than your actual $0 payment. Child care is not a debt and lenders do not count it, though your budget should.
Sets your PMI rate, which the card prices from 0.19% to 1.86% depending on this and your down payment. Only matters below 20% down.
Pre-filled from city; override if needed
Modeling the residence homestead exemption, applied per taxing unit.
Maximum home price (43% DTI)
$493,848
Conservative target (28% rule): $385,144
The residence homestead exemption saves about $167/mo here, applied per taxing unit - the school district’s $140,000 plus whatever local option each unit adopts. You have to file for it with the appraisal district; it is not automatic, and it does not transfer from the seller.
Cash you need at closing
That is $15,929on top of your down payment. Texas is cheaper here than most states - the seller customarily buys the owner’s title policy and there is no state transfer tax - but the escrow a lender funds on day one still lands in full. Your option fee, inspection, and appraisal are paid before closing and are not in this figure.
Note:
Property tax pre-fills from the selected city’s 2025 effective rate; insurance defaults to 0.90% of price (DFW hail market). Rates shown are July 2026 benchmarks and move daily - your quote will differ. Lender approval depends on credit, employment history, and reserves. For a precise pre-approval, contact Mali for trusted lender introductions.
Mortgage Calculator
Estimate your full monthly payment and see the lifetime cost of the loan: total interest, total paid, and a year-by-year payoff schedule.
Plano effective property tax: 1.71%
30-yr fixed benchmark, July 2026. Your quoted rate depends on credit, term, and points.
Paid on top of P&I every month. Shortens the loan and, while you have PMI, gets you to 80% sooner.
Taxes, insurance & fees
Pre-fills from the city above. These are NOMINAL combined rates (~1.7-2.5%) - what you pay without a homestead exemption.
Only a primary home qualifies for the residence homestead exemption, and you have to file for it with the appraisal district.
Recalculates from the home price at a DFW-typical 0.9% of value per year. Type over it with your own quote.
Monthly payment
$3,460
Loan amount
$400,000
Total interest
$514,918
Total P&I paid
$914,918
Note:
This calculator provides estimates only. Actual payments may vary. Contact Mali for accurate payment calculations and pre-approval assistance.
Neighborhood Matcher
Set how much each thing matters, from Not important to Must-have, and we rank 16 North Texas cities by a weighted match score. Every score is computed from published data (school ratings, Walk Score, Census figures, prices), so the ranking is reproducible, not a hunch. Tell it where you work and it measures the drive to your actual address over the road network.
How much does each matter?
Rate each from Off (not important) up to Must (a must-have). Only the ones above Off count toward the score, and a city that misses a must-have drops below every city that meets them.
Schools
Public school district quality
Affordability
Lower price and lower tax bill
Short commute
Close to where you actually work
Where do you work? Any address. Up to 2, averaged if you give both.
Or start from a major employment district:
No work address set - scoring on the Census average commute for each city’s residents, which doesn’t know which direction you drive.
Walkable
Errands on foot, not by car
Dining & entertainment
Restaurants, shops, things to do
Space & lot size
Bigger yards, lower density
New construction
Newer homes, modern floor plans
Nature & water
Parks, trails, lake access
Luxury
High-end homes and finishes
Budget ceiling
$ = entry-level, $$$$ = premium. Cities above your ceiling are excluded.
Allen
$$$Allen ISD, Watters Creek shopping.
78%
match
Dallas
$$$Urban core energy, museums, restaurants, and night-out density.
77%
match
Carrollton
$$Mid-cities access, balanced schools and price.
77%
match
Garland
$Affordable established neighborhoods, lake access, central DFW.
76%
match
Farmersville
$Quiet rural feel, large parcels, lowest entry prices in the area.
74%
match
Plano
$$$Master-planned convenience, PISD, and Legacy West nightlife.
74%
match
Addison
$$$Walkable urban-village feel, Addison Circle, dense restaurants & nightlife.
74%
match
Princeton
$Fast-growing exurb, low entry prices, plenty of new construction.
73%
match
McKinney
$$$Historic downtown charm, growing schools, lots of new construction north.
73%
match
Richardson
$$Telecom corridor, DART access, mature neighborhoods at lower price points.
72%
match
Frisco
$$$$Newer construction, Frisco ISD, sports/entertainment hub at The Star.
72%
match
Rowlett
$$Lake Ray Hubbard waterfront living, value pricing.
71%
match
Anna
$$One of the fastest-growing cities in the US; new-build commuter exurb on US-75 north of McKinney.
69%
match
Celina
$$$Booming new master-planned communities and growing schools.
68%
match
Prosper
$$$$Larger lots, premium new builds north of Frisco.
65%
match
Lavon
$Lake-adjacent small town, big lots, bargain new builds.
Misses a must-have: Schools. Ranked below cities that meet all of yours.
65%
match
Ranking 16 cities on 3 weighted factors. Data as of July 2026.
Explore North Texas cities
Not sure which North Texas city is right for you? Browse detailed city guides covering neighborhoods, schools, lifestyle, and market trends to help narrow your search.