Thinking of moving - have questions!! (Austin, Round Rock: apartment complexes, to rent, headhunter)

[LI2Texas]

Hey everyone!

I am new to this forum and have a bunch of questions! My husband and I are thinking of moving to Austin from Long Island, NY. We are in our late 20s.

I heard that property taxes are high.... Can anyone tell me a round about number for a house that costs approx $300K? We have a tiny house in NY and pay about 8K/year. I'm hoping for an improvement on that!!!

I am an accountant - hoping to transfer within the Company I work for now. If not, does anyone know of a good headhunter there? I know most of the big firms are there.

Can anyone recommend a few good apartment complexes there? We are looking for a 2 bed/2 bath and want to keep it around 1200. We are going to rent for a year or so before buying so we can decide where we want to live. We would like to live within walking distance of some restaurants/nightlife if at all possible. I would possibly go up a few hundred more a month or take a small apartment if needed, but would prefer not to.

I appreciate any insight you all have! Thanks, Karen

[atlanta hope]

You can see some property tax data on some realtor websites. I wouldn't expect much different from what you pay already unless you move outside the city limits.

We're looking on the outskirts so we don't get stuck paying that kind of money for property taxes.

Good luck.

[tourbound129]

Hi Karen,

What your house costs and what the taxable value is are typically different numbers. My wife and I bought our house last October. The appraisal was about $205k but for 2008 taxes the county valued our house at $162k. So that is the number we will pay taxes on (minus our homestead exemption).

Tax rates will vary all over the central Texas area. We bought a house right between Pflugerville and Round Rock. Fortunate for us right now, neither city has annexed us so we don't pay city tax as part of our property tax. That keeps our tax rate at 2.3%. Some neighborhoods we looked at would have been 3.3%. I"m guessing there are areas even higher and many in between.

Average in the area is probably about 3%. So if your assessed value was 300k, then you would pay about 9k/year in property tax.

Of course, we are also free of state income tax.

The only apartments I have lived in are Riata Apartment Homes so I can't give to many other recommendations. Just like any apartment, there are people that love it and hate it. I thought it was a nice place.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by atlanta hope

You can see some property tax data on some realtor websites. I wouldn't expect much different from what you pay already unless you move outside the city limits.

We're looking on the outskirts so we don't get stuck paying that kind of money for property taxes.

If you don't mind me asking, what area are you referring to? From what source did you get the idea that living outside the city would be cheaper as far as the tax rate?

I ask because living within the city limits of Austin you will have among the lowest property taxes in the area.. about 2.15%. The only "outskirts" I know of with a lower property tax rate is Eanes (Travis County/Eanes ISD/no city taxes). But that would be out of the 300K price range.

Outskirts of the city in Williamson county will definitely pay higher property taxes than within the city of Austin. Outskirts of the city with RR or LTISD schools (Travis or Williamson counties) will also pay higher property taxes.

To answer the OP's question, a home appraised at $300K in the city of Austin with a homestead exemption would cost about $6300 per year in property taxes as of Jan 2008. Of course, it can and probably will go up each year. But the homestead exemption caps the value increase at 10%.