ARLINGTON -- When the Dallas Cowboys came knocking more than a year ago, the Wallers did not sell; they couldn't afford to. "I'm 85 and she's in her 70s and we don't got nowhere to go," said C.B. Waller.

Now, C.B. and Flora Waller may not be able to afford not to sell. Their home and several others on Web Street, as well as properties on Slaughter Street in Arlington, saw a recent spike in property value because of their proximity to the new home of the Dallas Cowboys, now under construction.

Some home values rose as much as much as 250 percent.

That's not good news to the Wallers. "Taxes go up. Everything goes up. And if it goes up a whole lot, we can't even pay the taxes," said C.B. Waller.

The Tarrant Appraisal District says, however, things may not get that bad. Because these are homesteads, the homeowners will not have to pay taxes on the full amount of the new appraisal value, only up to 0.1 percent a year.

Which means the Wallers, and any of the other residents on the two streets, may be making out well.

Not only that, Cowboys representatives say, they may not need to worry about someone coming back and trying to buy the property from them.

"We are not currently in any other negotiations with any other property owners to make additional land purchases. And can't really speculate what may happen," said Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels.

You can bet though, if they do, the price just went up.

E-mail bgreene@wfaa.com