Planning to move to Texas
 

Hey everybody, I was wondering if any of you from Texas could give me some of your wisdom about the Austin/Houston area of Texas.

I plan on staying there about 5-8 years and I know that flooding is the number one natural disaster in Texas. I was wondering which areas have the lowest chance of flooding. It is too damn expensive here in California but I love it here. But for what I'm paying to rent over here, I figured I can get a house there, save some money, and maybe move back here. I figure i'm still young, so why not? I will consider other areas of Texas if there's good reason. Thanks.

Austin is very nice. Coming from the left coast you will like all that town offers in the way of things to do. Not many sections of Houston I would live in except for The Woodlands. Come to North Texas (Dallas / Fort Worth) and you won't have to worry about anything!

If I had the choice, would consider the Hill Country, around Austin and San Antonio over Houston. Houston is nice but humid as hell in summer, and the hill country is a lot nicer.

I have lived in Dallas and Padre Island and would move to Austin in a heartbeat given the chance.

Live in Woodlands / Lake Conroe. Luv the Woodlands! But I'm a (univ of) Texas EX which means I spent the best years of my life in Austin. Austin (despite the population growth) still has gotta be one of the best places to live in America (and beyond)! Lots to do, awesome roads west & south of town, climate good...and just a "good" attitude.

Well, it all depends on why you're coming here. If you want to work, Houston is the place. Houston has the big industry in Texas. Texas is reasonably priced place to live and it offers everything you'd want.

Flooding: The good news is that after Allison, the 100-500-1000-yr flood maps were re-drawn.

What business are you in?

Austin rocks. I'd move there in a second. The whole breakfast burrito thing is a bit weird though.

What type of lifestyle are you looking for?

What type of weather do you crave?

You do realize the cities are MANY hours seperated from each other?

What industry are you in?

Flooding is not so much an issue as many make of it if you pay attention to the part of Houston you live in. You will have flooding most anywhere at one point in time or another. Even Dallas/Fort Worth.

Austin 1, Plano 2, Houston no thanks.

hey guys, thanks for the quick replies.

As for my profession, I'm in the culinary/restaurant industry, and my fiance is in architectural design. Yah, i've heard good things about a lot of places in texas, and wanted to see what's out there. Good to know I won't be bored when I'm there. I'll probably fly out there in the next couple months to go look around the area. Or maybe I should stretch out my cars legs? Either way, somebody's gonna buy me a beer right?

If you get to Austin go to the Congress Avenue bridge and check out the Bats.

Way friggin cool.

Did you know that Austin gets like 300 days of sunshine a year?

Culinary huh? Breakfast burritos. You get used to them.

There is some serious good eatin in Austin.

Austin/hill country is great. low humidity in the summer, temps not too bad. Ice in the winter. High tech in the Round Rock/Austin area.

Houston is 3 hours away (190 or so miles, depending how you go).

The only areas in Houston to reside in are:

Kingwood (where I live---north east of Houston proper---very similar to the Woodlands)

the Woodlands (north of Houston proper--rated in the top ten places to live in the USA)

Sugarland (southwest of Houston proper/expensive---10 Porsche Carrera GT's in the Houston metro area, all are in Sugarland)

Houston weather: winter is great---can't beat it, summer is humidity central---A/C is a must for the humidity challenged---tell your gal it just takes plenty of hair spray to live here....

Houston is a great place to do business, regardless of what you're into.

anything south and east of Kingwood is subject to Hurricane/flooding and chemical fallout from the petro/chemical industry.

we moved from California 20 years ago and haven't looked back.

the lower cost of living (from housing to groceries to taxes) will put another Porsche in your garage in short order.....(my $120K house would be $500K anywhere in California)

Come on over, it's like a whole other country.:D

Just be sure to close the door behind you when you leave the land of the fruits and nuts! ;)


regards---rhjameshttp://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/pc2.gif

Austin is much more expensive than Houston which is pretty cheap. There are a few decent places in the Houston suburbs to live. Hopefully you can get work close to where you live or you could end up with a 1 hour commute. You can get anything you want in Houston, it's a huge city.

Austin has a lot more personality than Houston and is full of laid back weird California types. Austin has a big high tech IT scene. Austin gets hotter and colder than Houston since it's farther from the water. Austin is much prettier than Houston which is pretty much flat as far as the eye can see (if it weren't for all of the billboards and crap).

Houston is probably more likely to flood, but all you have to do is check the maps to see where it floods and don't move there.

The Woodlands floods, or a lot does anyway.

Lake Conroe, not too close to the water and your home will NEVER get water in it(unless the roof blows off) You are above the dam, or I was. I could see the dam out one window, and the 1097 bridge about 15 miles up the lake.

I was there for 1994 and 2001 when they had 100 year floods within 10 years of each other. The first one apparently caught fire and was on CNN for a few days. It also took out my buddy's house, his crushed Ford Escort was on CNN a few times that I saw

Try San Angelo, or Abilene. never rains, 4000 sq ft house on 10 ac 70 to 100 k

Austin's the place to be, I'd move there in a heartbeat if I could convince my wife. If you have cedar alergies it can be a little rough.

It is the most expensive city in Texas so if you want to live near downtown or the university, expect to spend over $250K for a 1000 sqft house. Rent may not be so bad. If you're willing to live out of town, it's much more reasonable.

$250k? For a HOUSE!?!?http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/bawling.gif

I've got several friends who've moved from Houston to Austin because of the High Tech market in Austin. I've also heard that the prices are reasonable if you aren't trying to live in town. Of course, after Cali, almost anything will probably seem reasonable to you. ;)

Yep, and that'd be uh spensive one, I reckon.

Median house price in Houston is closer to $150K. You can find some bargins for $150K, in the outer areas. But then your commute will suck. For those that live in San Diego, think living in Temecula and commuting in on I-15.

If you are a chef, and you want to work for a good resturant, you really have 3 choices: Houston, Dallas or Austin. I do expect, based on population and the sheer number of 6 figure salaries, that Houston has the largest number of fine resturants, next Dallas then Austin.

True, but that's also the bad news: it seldom rains. However you are in tornado alley and the land of occasional monster thunderstorms complete with large hail.

No one has mentioned one of the best places in TX: San Antonio

A very small house. Probably built in the 50's, a two bedroom one bath. It's funny driving through the old neighborhoods and seeing new million dollar 4000 sqft houses next to old 1000 sqft houses. It's a little piece of California in Texas.

i second joe - austin or the hill country. houston is just too damn big for my tastes. austin would be great for the culinary side..hill country is just flat out beautiful.

I was hoping no one was going to mention San Antonio.

I was on a DoD project in Hondo / D'Hanis for several years. Bought a retirement piece of property adjacent to Garner State Park in Uvalde County. It's ugly, these stupid wildflowers keep coming up every spring, the land is covered with old trees and it is hilly enough that it will take a while to decide exactly where to build the house.

It's ugly, out in the middle of nowhere; do not even consider the San Antonio area. Total waste of effort.

Go somewhere else. Please.

Excuse me? Guess the third post on this thread does not count? :)

Like these:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1176306779.jpg

ahhhh, Texas......God's country.

I've lived in El Paso, San Antonio (4 times), College Station, and Dallas/Ft Worth mid cities. Lots of family in Houston. Been to every region and every major city in the state. Floated the Guadalupe/Boating at Canyon Lake/Live Music in Austin. The hill country is the ticket.

I'll be back someday.....

Lived in Dallas (Garland and Wylie) until I was 11 and get back there every few yrs. I have pondered moving to Austin a few times. But I think AZ or NV are calling me. One thing's for sure - I can't wait to get out of this place.

Houston has one of the best restaurant industries in the nation. Many top notch chefs and lots of opportunities. Austin nitelife is better but Houston is a family kind of town. Depends on what you are after, but you should be able to find it in Texas. You just might have to drive to get there.

Rick

Don't overlook New Mexico. WIthout "family ties" here in Tucson (which is, in my opinion a great place to live), New Mexico would have been our first choice.

I kind of want to be in AZ to be near CA but with none of their crazy politics or gun laws. AZ's are more like VA's.

Laughlin, BUllhead City (both hot) and Prescott (in the mountains, moderate climate), Anywhere else there isn't much to do.

I wouldn't move to Houston. It's the Armpit of America. Hot, humid, and it stinks. If you do move there, move as far north as you can get.

Austin is nice, San Antonio is better. Either of those are great. In Austin, I believe the cost of living is higher than anywhere else in Texas.

DFW is the place to be. We are growing fast, we have lots of jobs, and the cost of living is LOW. I heard an advertisement on the radio where you can buy a brand new 3500 Sqft home for 175K.

Either way, once you get here, you will love it. The cost of living in Texas is awesome. Everyone I know who has moved here loves it for that reason along. You live like a king compared to anywhere else in the US.

I know you get a lot of house for your money in TX, but the real estate taxes are out of this world. It looks like the mortgage payments would be the same between a $700k house in VA and a $300k house in TX because of the taxes. And in VA we pay 3% sales tax on cars. I can't imagine how painful 8% on a car in TX would be. Is it really that much cheaper?

WTF? What are the property taxes in TX?

College Station. Centrally located. Best value for the buck, real estate. Look at recent national surveys. 1 1/4 hrs. too houston.
2 hrs to austin. Under 3 hrs. to Dallas. The best place I have lived. Texas World Speedway is 5 miles from my house. Could participate in at least 1 to 2 DE's a month if I could afford it. White Collar, Highly educated population, (TAMU no Aggie jokes please) with a small town twist.

Rick & David:

It depends on where you live.

My house assesment is $315,000 (Value = $377,000)

Taxes last year were: $7,600 (about 2.4%)

County Property Taxes $1,900 (0.60%)
School Taxes: $3,700 (1.17%)
MUD (Water) $2,000 (0.63%)
MUD is kind of like Mello-Roos in California - You are paying for the installation of the water, sewer and surface run-off systems

If you live in an older area, you will not have MUD taxes. But if you live in an incorporated city, you will pay city taxes.

No State Income Taxes - Personal or Business
Sales tax: 8.25% and it is Federally deductable!

For comparison:

When I lived in Albany NY, my Apt Bldg was valued 95K. I paid $2400 (2.5%) in property taxes, plus we paid 6-7% in State income tax.

My place in California, valued at 360K, I paid $3500 (1%) in local property taxes, plus 6-7% State income tax.

Rick: How much is you personal property tax on your cars? State and Local income tax? Property tax rate?

My condo is assessed at around $339k, closer to $400k for market value and my tax bill is $3100 per year.

Car tax is a weird formula and their assessment of my stuff is way low, but I ain't complaining. The 993 is assessed at $25k and my bill was $500ish, which is also federally deductible.

I don't know what the state income tax is, but it's low. I always get money back, but I can't figure out to increase my exemptions for state witholdings.

Sales tax is, I think, 3% for the state, but most counties tack on another 1.5-2%, for an effective 5% rate. But again, we only pay the 3% on car purchases, which is nice.

Oh, I should also have said my House is 3400 sq feet (I have the second smallest on the street and that one is one story). 9000 sq ft lot.

We're in a gated community about 20 miles outside of downtown Houston, towards the Northwest. I might not live here if I had to commute to downtown, but I do also know how to navigate the surface streets to get downtown during rush hour in under 50 minutes. The "fine" resturants are "inside the loop" (about 15 miles away). On Fridays, it might take 20 minutes to get to our favorite place, mostly because we are going against traffic.

It gets very hot and very humid here in the Summer. But then it feels like summer! Winter is short and mild. And Hurricanes are about every 10 years. 4th largest city in the US. 2nd largest state (Population and Land area!). I like the people we meet here.

This is the reason we should reduce the Federal gov't. If Oregon or Washington state want's to provide health care for everyone, that is the choice of the people. And if Texas would prefer a different approach, that is also the people's choice.

For comparo - my home has a market value of $950K (and dropping). The taxable value = purchase price of $490K. SoCal is just under 1.1% state property tax and we also pay mello roos (already explained above) that for the next 15 yrs adds another 0.6%. So my annual proptery tax bill is $8300. State income tax = yes. Sales tax 7% = yes.

The trouble here is a "950K" house in San Marcos does not equal a "950K" house in Houston. When we left California and started looking here, I was planning to spend around $600K. After a few too many 6500 sq ft houses, we cut the money back to $250-350K.

Tax on cars is not 8.25%. IIRC it's in the 6.25% (none of the local fees need to be included vs regular sales tax). Annual registration for the porsche was $45.00. Gas/Electric/Water/Waste averages $300/month for my 3500sqft house. Appreciation/Depreciation of home values varies widely by area.

Property taxes can run 2-3% depending on your area--mine is 2.7%.

Austin is fantastic, you won't be disappointed. Hot as hell in the summer and just humid enough to make hot people pissed off. Usually very mild winters. It's definitely not like an arid climate.

And what's wrong with breakfast burritos? Surely they have those in CA????

JH