My son and daughter in law work in Irving. They're hoping to find a starter home ($350-375K?) in a decent school district within a ~30-minute driving radius. Any suggestions from the Texags world?

I'd cross post in the Metroplex forum further down the forum list to get a better audience.

Personally, I'd look at:

• Bedford (specifically north of HWY-183 and west of HWY 121) - Hurst Euless Bedford ISD
• Colleyville - Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
• Grapevine - Grapevine-Colleyville ISD
• Coppell - Coppell ISD
• Keller - Keller ISD

I have no quantitative data other than being born, raised and now living in the metroplex but I believe Bedford and Keller will have the highest volume of homes in that price range, then Grapevine. Much of Colleyville and Coppell will likely be priced too high, but worth looking given the school districts and proximity to Irving.

Bedford has historically been an older community but with the affordability of homes, it's attracted younger couples and families over the last 3-5 years. Keller is a good mix of old and new.

Another option would be living in Las Colinas. It's part of Irving that's been invested in heavily over the last 5-10 years. Irving ISD is not a great school district so this may be a shorter term option.

There is also a portion of Euless that is zoned GCISD that will have some starter homes in that range as well.

Las Colinas area.

Valley Ranch in north Irving has a portion zoned to Coppell ISD (rest is Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD). Price point is generally better than Coppell proper. Great cross section of highways for navigating around. Lot's of ethnicity diversity, notably South Asian / Indians (nothing wrong with it, just informing).

As others have said, under $400K doesn't buy much house!

Irving is not a good choice. Schools are not good and the safety is questionable. Midlothian is great for first time home buyers but not the most centrally located. Grapevine as well and more accessible.

Really asking for a lot between the budget, schools and drive time.

Yeah they're going to have a hard time finding all of the above but I'd agree that the H-E-B area might have some gems if they keep their eyes peeled and are quick to jump on them. Just be aware that anything in their price range will be old, tiny, or both.
We were renting just north of Mid Cities Blvd in Euless (the part that's zoned to Grapevine ISD) and loved the area and wanted to buy there, but even with a budget of 500k last summer, couldn't find anything that was built this century or not smaller than 1500-1600 sqft. We ended up moving out towards Argyle since we wanted a little bit bigger house (~2250 sqft) and less than 20 year old build. The market may have changed slightly so it's always worth a look. We eventually want to move back down towards grapevine since it's a great place to live. 5 years ago their budget would have gotten a great house in that area.