Thinking of moving to Texas

cliffish said:
Scope it out...I need a retirement state in the next 10 years!
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In the next 10 years everything will be absurdly expensive.

Hell, we purchased our house here in Salem, Oregon in 2016 for 235k. It's now been valued at 350k just 3 years later.

It blows my mind!

Everyone is moving to Oregon I guess.
 
Leakey said:
The grocery store he is referring to is H-E-B.
You are not wrong about the flooding, I personally have never been affected by the flooding living where I do. For reference during Harvey I never had more than minor street flooding (I lived in League City at the time) two exits down though was Dickinson and many homes and businesses received 3 or more feet of water. What I'm trying to say is the flooding is in isolated areas. And you are correct about the insurance, we are required by the state to have a Windstorm insurance policy and I have a flood insurance policy on top of that.

As far as as the questions on insurance and taxes and such, I live in a new 2,000 sq. ft. home and my monthly mortgage is about $1600 a month.

I'm not going to try and sell you on Houston though, like I said if I had my choice San Antonio-Austin is the place to be.
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Yup. I love H.E.B. I worked for them for about 6 years when I was making my way through high school/early college. They're a solid company that's very community-focused.

Flooding is definitely something to watch out for if anywhere in that area is considered. It's probably the one natural disaster that's really a threat. Since S.A. is far enough away from Houston and the gulf coast, you don't have to worry much about another Hurricane Harvey making a huge impact, but flash floods can fill up certain areas pretty badly.

Austin is a fun place to visit, but I don't think I'd ever want to live there. I mean, it's just an hour north of S.A., so it always made for a good trip on weekends so that you could visit some of the neat places there, but I always though San Antonio was just a better city overall.
 
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Chris said:
We looked in the greater Phoenix area and it's just so much more expensive now than it used to be unfortunately.



I'll have to check into property tax for sure. I was looking on many of the homes I found on Zillow, and the property tax estimates were pretty much the same as we are paying here, which seems about average.

If we didn't have kids, I'd probably move somewhere much more remote. However, with the kids, it's imperative we live somewhere where there is a lot to do with them. Here in Oregon it's like a state for old people and single people in the sense that there really isn't that much here for kids to do. To get to an actual amusement part the nearest one would be over 3 hours away near Tacoma, Washington.



Interesting. So unlike Arizona which has nice, beautiful winters of 70 degrees and sun, Texas is definitely not the same then, huh?
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You can see 70’s in winter in DFW, but not consistently.
 
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I couldn’t agree more with the suggestions of San Antonio over Dallas and Austin.

I live in the Hill Country, where several said they would like to live in TX. Yes, but expensive. One reason we’re moving to Spokane.

Here are some places worth considering near San Antonio.

Boerne
Kyle
New Braunfels
Dripping Springs
 
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JMT said:
I couldn’t agree more with the suggestions of San Antonio over Dallas and Austin.

I live in the Hill Country, where several said they would like to live in TX. Yes, but expensive. One reason we’re moving to Spokane.

Here are some places worth considering near San Antonio.

Boerne
Kyle
New Braunfels
Dripping Springs
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Great suggestion's!
You're moving to Spokane, Washington?
 
Steel City 06 said:
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/10...-10000-to-move-there-and-work-remotely-—.htmlVermont will pay you to move there
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Once you find out what the taxes are in Vermont you'll quickly realize why they will pay you to move there.

Trust me, I read a report on this and the taxes there are absolutely out of this world.
 
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JMT said:
I couldn’t agree more with the suggestions of San Antonio over Dallas and Austin.

I live in the Hill Country, where several said they would like to live in TX. Yes, but expensive. One reason we’re moving to Spokane.

Here are some places worth considering near San Antonio.

Boerne
Kyle
New Braunfels
Dripping Springs
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Good advice. I told my wife to start looking at San Antonio and these areas over DFW.

We're obviously going to fly down there and check it out first, but at least we have an idea of where we should be looking as Texas is a massive state.
 
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Chris said:
Good advice. I told my wife to start looking at San Antonio and these areas over DFW.

We're obviously going to fly down there and check it out first, but at least we have an idea of where we should be looking as Texas is a massive state.
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While you're there if you like burger's and nacho's check out Chris Madrid's or if pizza is more you're thing Big Lou's is great
 
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If you are moving to the DFW area, do let me know. Would love to show you around and also recommend a local TJ/LJ group along with my home Jeep Club "Brew Crew Jeep Club". And would love to show you some of the spots for wheeling.
 
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gg1 said:
I love the food in Texas. Dallas is my least favorite city there, but I would take it. The only big city I haven’t been to is San Antonio which I heard is great. I even been to Amarillo and El Paso. Food food food. Love Texas.
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Yep, I hear that about Texas... lots of good food. And I absolutely love good food!

f1dotcom said:
If you are moving to the DFW area, do let me know. Would love to show you around and also recommend a local TJ/LJ group along with my home Jeep Club "Brew Crew Jeep Club". And would love to show you some of the spots for wheeling.
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Will do for sure, I appreciate that!
 
I grew up in Arlington. My backyard backed up to the Rangers parking lot. Six Flags is just on the other side and the water park across Interstate 30. I had season passes to both parks and loved growing up there. It is too crowded for me now, but what annoys me now is all the tolls. Every time I go to visit there are more toll roads. Working from home would make that less painful for you since you don't have a daily commute.
 
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Chris said:
Once you find out what the taxes are in Vermont you'll quickly realize why they will pay you to move there.

Trust me, I read a report on this and the taxes there are absolutely out of this world.
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I was looking for a while for a second house in VT, taxes are all over the map, some would be $4700 and other $14,000. We are building in eastern Poconos now and the new house is expected to be $2800/year.
 
Houston native here. Even though we are fat becoming a truly international city with food that rivals NYC,LA etc or so say the culinary magazines, I’d go with San Antonio. A truly great city. We have no state income tax but we do have sales tax. Some cities control their property taxes better than others. Houston property taxes are 2.9% of appraised value. Insurance is a little higher here. National flood insurance around here is about $500 per year. I came from a small west Texas town and was terrified about moving here. I personally wouldn’t live any where else than Houston . My children grew up with neighbors from all over the world and despite my best efforts...er shortcomings, they are tolerant and accepting of all cultures. Oh wait, was I talking about San Antonio?
 
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cliffish said:
I was looking for a while for a second house in VT, taxes are all over the map, some would be $4700 and other $14,000. We are building in eastern Poconos now and the new house is expected to be $2800/year.
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There was a story in the news that was uncovering the deal about that whole "Vermont will pay you 10k to move there". Anyways, the story basically summed up that you will pay more in property tax in Virginia than almost any other state (as well as other taxes), and that anyone who is foolish enough to fall for that "deal", will quickly learn why exactly Vermont is offering that "deal" (because it's anything but a deal).

Such is always the case in life though. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably isn't.

$2800 a year isn't bad. Hell, even the 4k a year we pay isn't bad. I can deal with that, but once they start creeping up towards 10k I'll just say fuck you and move.
 
msc_8791 said:
Houston native here. Even though we are fat becoming a truly international city with food that rivals NYC,LA etc or so say the culinary magazines, I’d go with San Antonio. A truly great city. We have no state income tax but we do have sales tax. Some cities control their property taxes better than others. Houston property taxes are 2.9% of appraised value. Insurance is a little higher here. National flood insurance around here is about $500 per year. I came from a small west Texas town and was terrified about moving here. I personally wouldn’t live any where else than Houston . My children grew up with neighbors from all over the world and despite my best efforts...er shortcomings, they are tolerant and accepting of all cultures. Oh wait, was I talking about San Antonio?
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Interesting! I was always so afraid of Houston just due to the fact that it's right there on the gulf and seems to be right in the way of a hurricane.

Brianj5600 said:
I grew up in Arlington. My backyard backed up to the Rangers parking lot. Six Flags is just on the other side and the water park across Interstate 30. I had season passes to both parks and loved growing up there. It is too crowded for me now, but what annoys me now is all the tolls. Every time I go to visit there are more toll roads. Working from home would make that less painful for you since you don't have a daily commute.
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I heard that from someone else about the tolls. He was telling me everywhere you go it's a damn toll. I guess we know how they're paying for their roads.
 
Correction, Houston property taxes are 2.11% according to my investment advisor/accounting manager(aka wife). There is a homestead exemption on the first 50K in value. Summers can be hot, but the fall and winter here are exquisite.
 
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