Cash is King

Dallas-Fort Worth real estate experts share how to stand out as a buyer

Money talks, especially in real estate.

Photo courtesy of Opendoor

So many people are moving to Dallas that it's become one of the hottest housing markets in the U.S. And with low mortgage rates, low supply, and high demand, home prices continue to climb, with the median list home price up 8.6 percent across Dallas compared to last year.

Whether it’s your first home or your fifth, all buyers need a competitive edge to help them stand out, especially in today’s market. Unsurprisingly, sellers favor cash offers for the certainty of their home sale. In fact, 36 percent of home sales are all-cash.

To help DFW homebuyers have a competitive edge in today's market, Opendoor introduced a cash-backed offers program to make it possible for everyone to reap the benefits of being an all-cash buyer. Opendoor enables buyers to present the certainty of an all-cash offer to a seller, free of financing, appraisal, and home sale contingencies, even if you need a home loan. Buyers don't need to drain their bank accounts upfront, either for a downpayment or full offer.

Buying with a competitive advantage
According to Chris Westrom, Opendoor's regional general manager in Texas, all-cash offers are more likely to be accepted in a competitive market, as they provide sellers with a stronger sense of certainty.

"Buyers who have made offers with Opendoor’s cash-backed offers program have an average acceptance rate that’s 50 percent higher than those who made offers without our cash backing," he explains.

Buying a home with Opendoor is managed fully online and through its app, which is the preference of 75 percent of homebuyers that the company surveyed. But the added benefit here is that you have a team of experts behind you every step of the way.

There's no extra work, no surprises, and no additional costs. Opendoor provides qualifying buyers the benefits of an all-cash offer while allowing them to skip the many hurdles required by other companies, such as a full pre-underwriting process or charging extra fees.

Good news for sellers
But it’s not only buyers who can reap the benefits — sellers can too. Robin Keating was commuting 45 minutes to work, so she and her husband decided it was time to move closer to their jobs. They found the perfect place in Euless, which was more centrally located between both Dallas and Fort Worth, but needed to sell their current home first.

"We really wanted a simple solution that bypassed all of the stressful steps of an open market: negotiation with buyers, cleaning and staging our home, and hosting open houses," says Keating. "We also wanted to move quickly and stick to our agreed upon timeline. Opendoor provided us with the most competitive all-cash offer. From start to finish, the entire process was a breeze."

Now, Robin commutes only five minutes to work and absolutely loves it.

For Dallas-Fort Worth residents who may be looking to buy or sell, Opendoor empowers homeowners to move quickly, easily, with certainty, all on their own timeline. Go online or download the app today to find out more.

promoted home-for-sale apps

hot housing markets

This hot Dallas suburb is No. 1 real estate market in America for 2026

City of Frisco TX - City Hall/Facebook

Frisco's housing market is hotter than ever.

When it comes to real estate, it doesn't get hotter than Frisco and McKinney. The two popular Dallas neighbors have topped a list of the best real estate markets in the U.S. for 2026. Nearby Denton and Allen also made the top 10.

The four Dallas-Fort Worth cities dominated WalletHub's annual study that compares the real estate markets in 300 U.S. cities based on 17 relevant metrics, such as "housing market attractiveness," home value forecasts, housing affordability, population growth, and many others. Cities were also ranked by size: large cities with over 300,000 residents; midsize cities with 150,000-300,000 residents; and small cities with fewer than 150,000 residents.

McKinney had been the leading real estate market in America for the last three years in a row, while Frisco ranked No. 6 last year. But Frisco eclipsed McKinney in this year's report, taking the No. 1 spot and proving to be more desirable for residents and homeowners.

Frisco tops the nationwide "affordability and economic environment" category, and ranks No. 2 nationally for its real estate market.

"When you look at home prices as a percentage of income, [Frisco] is the 95th-cheapest among the 300 cities in our study," the report said. "But it’s the 11th-cheapest city for phone service and the 11th-cheapest for maintenance and energy."

Frisco boasts the highest share of houses that were built between 2010 and 2024, at nearly 47 percent, which WalletHub says is "good news for people who want all the benefits of a recently-constructed home," without having to "put in a lot of work" to renovate an older or run down home.

"Finally, Frisco has the seventh-best job growth rate in the country, which helps attract new residents to its growing housing market," the report added.

McKinney is No. 2 market nationally, and it maintains better livability than almost all other cities in Texas. WalletHub says this popular suburb's only detractor is the fact that it isn't the cheapest city to live in, but the report is quick to specify that the city is "far from the most expensive."

"The median home price in McKinney is around 380 percent of the median income, which is the 73rd-cheapest out of the 300 cities in our study," WalletHub said. "In addition, it ranks among the 35 least expensive cities for maintenance and telephone, and energy costs."

McKinney also ranked as the No. 1 best housing market for first-time buyers in a separate 2026 WalletHub study.

Frisco and McKinney also lead in the national comparison of midsize cities with the best real estate markets.

Other high-performing housing markets in Dallas-Fort Worth
Denton and Allen, respectively, ranked as the 5th and 8th best real estate markets in the U.S. for 2026, and Denton similarly ranked 5th in the midsize city rankings, and Allen topped the list of small cities.

The housing market in Dallas ranked No. 71 nationally, only one spot lower than in 2025 , but it was declared the 14th best real estate market among the biggest U.S. cities.

This is how the housing markets in other North Texas cities were ranked:

No. 16 – Richardson
No. 21 – Carrollton
No. 22 – Fort Worth
No. 40 – Irving
No. 61 – Plano
No. 103 – Garland
No. 111 – Arlington
No. 126 – Grand Prairie
No. 195 – Mesquite

In the rankings by city size, Fort Worth has the No. 5 best real estate market among large U.S. cities, and Arlington ranked 22nd. Four more Dallas neighbors — Irving (No. 21), Plano (No. 32), Garland (No. 49), and Grand Prairie (No. 57) — appeared among the best midsize housing markets in the U.S. Among the best small cities, Carrollton (No. 4) and Mesquite (No. 82) ranked among the top 100.

"If you aim to make a profit in the long run with your housing purchase, you’ll need to look beyond tangible factors like square footage and style," the report's author wrote. "Those factors certainly drive up property values. From an investor’s standpoint, though, they hold less significance than historical market trends and the economic health of residents."

The top 10 best real estate markets in America in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Frisco, Texas
No. 2 – McKinney, Texas
No. 3 – Murfreesboro, Tennessee
No. 4 – Durham, North Carolina
No. 5 – Denton, Texas
No. 6 – Cary, North Carolina
No. 7 – Madison, Wisconsin
No. 8 – Allen, Texas
No. 9 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 10 – Irvine, California

wallethub frisco housing market real estate reports dallas mckinney

Cash is King

Dallas-Fort Worth real estate experts share how to stand out as a buyer

hot housing markets

This hot Dallas suburb is No. 1 real estate market in America for 2026

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