In the Dallas/Fort worth area, $500,000 would get you a humongous house w/at least an acre of land...or a lakeside plot with a boat house...
But, alas, there is no ocean, beaches, mountains ---it is quite a trade-off...
In DFW, that's true. But DFW has higher than average housing costs, for Texas (although not as high as Houston or Austin), and Texas has an ocean (well the Gulf of Mexico, which is part of the world ocean), beaches, both ocean and lake types, and even mountains of sorts. The mountains aren't large, compared to the Rockies, but are pretty nice I'm told. We also have the Hill Country, which is both pretty and historically interesting.