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Old 04-15-2009, 02:57 PM
 
Location: Austin
2,522 posts, read 6,013,988 times
Reputation: 707

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hard to define liberal and conservative....wouldn't be saying much if both types were uniformly the same, which things never are in life........you can be con/lib on many issues as well.....and be a little of both......and Texas has its own flavor of both, with much of a Texas slant on things kicking around in the broth....
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Old 04-15-2009, 04:08 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,014 times
Reputation: 10
Smile From an Ohio Transplant...

Hey there,

My husband and I moved to Austin from Columbus, OH about a year ago. We lived in Worthington and liked it, but like you, we were growing tired of the long dreary winters. My husband gets winter depression pretty bad. We are very happy in Austin, and for the first time ever, we're actually looking at houses. We never quite found a neighborhood that is similar to Worthington, but there are plenty of good, safe neighborhoods with parks and neighborhood pools within walking distance.

We found a good Central location in Northwest Austin, which was a good place for us considering that we didn't have jobs when we moved here, and weren't sure what kind of commute we'd eventually have. It's convenient and not too far away from the downtown area, and is 10 minutes or less from all the stores you mentioned. There are also award winning schools in this area which I'm sure would be important for you. I also don't think you'll have a hard time at all finding a nice home in your price range. You seem to be able to get a lot more house for your money here, although I'm comparing the prices to those in Worthington, where homes were a bit higher than average. If you like Dublin, you might like Cedar Park or Round Rock, but they're pretty far North if you like the downtown area.

The tax situation does seem better here. I was surprised to see the difference it made on my paycheck. Also, my husband and I only had to send in our federal taxes, which was great. We're used to having to mail 3-4 different envelopes. But do keep in mind that while there are no state taxes, they do make up for it in other ways. Vehicle registration is more expensive, you need to purchase a license if you have an alarm system in your house, etc. All in all, I'd say our expenses went up just a tiny bit from living in Columbus.

The traffic here is pretty bad compared to Columbus, and it can be a little more time-consuming getting around down here. Aside from that, Austin has a lot of character, beauty, and a whole lot of fun and interesting things to do.

I hope that helps
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Old 04-16-2009, 10:33 AM
 
Location: Up in a cedar tree.
1,618 posts, read 6,596,025 times
Reputation: 563
OP posted:

Quote:
For those of you from Ohio that transplanted into Texas, is the tax situation as good as people say it is? In Ohio we have abhorrent taxes. Six percent state income tax, two percent local income tax, seven percent sales tax and two percent property tax ($500k home = $10k per year tax). Ohio has major problems and I think they feel that taxing the ones that are left, are the only way to make up for budget shortfalls.
My (at the time) $150K loan home I pay little over 4000 a year in property tax. For 500K, heh... it will be over 10K in taxes buddy!
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Old 04-16-2009, 08:07 PM
 
Location: Austin
2,522 posts, read 6,013,988 times
Reputation: 707
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike78613 View Post
OP posted:



My (at the time) $150K loan home I pay little over 4000 a year in property tax. For 500K, heh... it will be over 10K in taxes buddy!
That can't be right.....4K in taxes for a 150K mortgage? Anyone out there
pay the same amount in taxes for a 150K or so mortgage?
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Old 04-16-2009, 08:15 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,237 posts, read 35,424,886 times
Reputation: 8572
Might be right...he said the loan was 150k, not sure if that is the value or not, though. If he does not have a homeowners exemption, then 4k represents around 2.7% of 150k? Not unheard of for some areas.
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Old 04-16-2009, 08:31 PM
 
Location: Cedar Park, TX
123 posts, read 716,061 times
Reputation: 87
I pay $4500 in property taxes per year and we got our house in Cedar Park for just under $200K. It's great not having state income tax, but it's made up with property tax and 8% sales tax. But well worth it, imo.
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