Thinking of retiring in Alabama (Birmingham, Huntsville: property taxes, housing, income)

[ej78613]

We are living in a suburb of Austin, TX. We have recently retired and are thinking of maybe moving to Alabama. We hear that taxes and utilities are very reasonable. Austin has grown so much since we moved here 30 some odd years ago and we think that it is time for a change. Any suggestions? I was thinking of maybe southeast Alabama, but we are open to other area.

[nalabama]

Property taxes are indeed very reasonable, and sales tax is probably not any worst than what you see in Austin, but applies to food and non-prescription medicine. There is a 5 percent state income tax, but defined benefit retirement plan income is excluded from taxation (at present) and the standard exemption has gone up to somewhere around $9K-$10K recently. Utilities will depend upon where you live. In North Alabama, expect about $.07/KWH for electric (TVA), while in South Alabama I would expect about $.10/KWH from local power cooperatives. Based on what I saw this weekend for housing in San Antonio, expect housing to be somewhat less expensive in Alabama.

[ej78613]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful. Housing in Austin area way more expensive than San Antonio. Traffic is also very bad here regardless of the time of day you try to go into town. Where in north Alabama do you suggest we look? We are wanting to take a trip and check things out.

[UABinBHM]

Give more details about what you want and I'll try to help... ie, certain type of entertainment options, traffic, etc?

[Keeper]

Check out the smaller towns around Huntsville. I retired and moved here from Tampa FL. Utilities are much less for almost the same size (1500 sq ft)house, although older than the one I had in Tpa. Property taxes in Marshall County for my house are less than $200.00 a year for 80K house. I did have to pay income tax on my retirement but even at that it still didn't come close to what I paid for just property taxes in FL. Homeowners is less too.
I live in Arab a town of 7,500 which is 25 minutes (SE) from Huntsville and 15 minutes to Lake Guntersville. The down side is there are no malls, movies or a lot of restaurants open after 2 pm unless you like fast food. Also Arab is a dry town so to buy alcohol you have to drive to H'ville or Guntersville.
Traffic going to Huntsville isn't bad, but heavier during rush hour since a lot of people live here, work there. Housing is very reasonable for older homes but there are lots of new homes being built which range in the 200K area. The people here are very friendly and there is very little crime. You might also want to check out Guntersville, Albertville or Boaz if you want a little more traffic and shoppng. Check out Arab here.. http://www.city-data.com/city/Arab-Alabama.html
If you would like more info about our little town send me a private message.

[Twostep]

What do you need, what would you like to have as far as housing, shopping, medical ... is concerned? What price range are you looking at?

[UABinBHM]

It all depends on what you're looking for... if it's just sort of a laid back place you're looking for, Southeast Alabama (or other rural areas in Alabama) might be just what you're looking for. But if you're looking for laid back with the options of a bigger city (ie, entertainment, shopping, healthcare, etc), you might want to check out a few of these communities:

Mt. Olive (unincorporated)- Population 3,957 ... about a 15-minute drive to Birmingham... a medical clinic/hospital 5 minutes away. Median Home ($139,000)

Brookside (incorporated)- Population 1,393... about a 20-minute drive to Birmingham. Median Home ($89,200)

Graysville (incorporated)- Population 2,344... about a 20-minute drive to Birmingham. Median Home ($81,300)

Just a few suggestions...

[ej78613]

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions and info. We will check all the towns around Huntsville and BHM. In fact I did check some of their profiles. The Huntsville area sounds really nice, but I checked Mount Olive and I was very impressed with it. The towns that we had looked into before were Dothan, Enterprise, Elba and I think that Andalusia is pretty neat. We will have to make a trip and check everything out. We knew about some of this towns in southeast Al as we lived in Panama City and Lynn Haven when we first got married forty some years ago. We left there in 1969 and I think that the last trip we made there was in 1984. I can imagine all the changes.
P.S. Keeper, I will get in touch with you. Thank you.

[ej78613]

Was told that 65 and older you are excempt from some property taxes. Is this correct? Also, how much or little does your retirement income has to be to be excempt? Are city and state pensions taxed?

[Twostep]

Use search and look for Normajo. We had some lengthy discussions a a lot of links to local sites about taxes.

Let me know if you need help with it.