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Old 09-11-2009, 10:51 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
13,715 posts, read 31,016,095 times
Reputation: 9270

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If jmoxleys' profile of Hopewell VA is correct - it is near Richmond.

One comparison I did of Richmond VA vs. Austin showed Austin just 9% cheaper to live than Richmond.

PayScale – Cost of Living for Austin, Texas

Austin beats Northern Virginia on the other hand by 31%.

I agree her car insurance quote seems very high unless those are very expensive cars and you have a teenage driver.
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Old 09-11-2009, 12:16 PM
 
Location: Lake Arlington Heights, IL
5,479 posts, read 12,197,736 times
Reputation: 2847
Default Depends where you're relocating from

Compared to NW suburbs of Chicago, yes it's cheaper.
My current 2700SF home probably sells for $500-$525K.
Replacement in Circle C, or nearby neighborhood is a lot less. So I probably have a $50K-$80K mortgage instead of a $210K mortgage. My current property taxes are tickling $8K. In TX, $5500-$6500? The house would be comparable in size, features and year built. My current is built in '87 the homes I liked were built early to late '90's.
No state income tax. Il has state income tax. Sales tax in C(r)ook county is 10.25%-it's less in Travis Co.. Gas is about $2.70 a gallon and Chi area is one of the more expensive gas markets in the area. Clothing costs-less. No need for as many coats and winter clothes. Electric will cost more to run A/C in summer but a large part is negated by not having $175-$250 gas bills in winter to heat the house. Insurance is probably a wash. Wife tells me groceries a little less in Austin. Tollroads-wash, we have plenty here.
Travel costs would go up a lot if we moved to TX. But those are discretionary costs.
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Old 09-11-2009, 12:29 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
102 posts, read 264,828 times
Reputation: 41
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmoxley View Post
I can tell you that I have been comparing the cost of living myself for about a year now. We are arriving in Austin this Saturday to do more research to see if we can afford to move to the Austin area in the spring of 2010, hopefully by then the employment will open back up.

The funny thing is that some website (can't remember which) did a cost of living comparison based on zip codes and told me that I would have the same standard of living and could earn $1,500 less than what I make here in Virginia. I don't believe that is accurate.

Even though Texas doesn't have state taxes, they make up for it in the taxes for homes (e.g., in VA I paid $2,500 and for the same home in Dripping Springs it was $7,000). And my auto insurance would more than double in Texas, from $1577 to $3648 for three cars for 6 months!!

We have a $500 deductible for our homeowners insurance and I was told by an Allstate agent that in Texas it is 1% of the value of your home, so if we paid the same for a home in Texas that would make our deductible $2,495, but we'd get a discount if we live near a fire station of about $500.

I am certain I can make the same salary, maybe even a couple of thousand more, but my husband would more than likely have to go down in salary, we will know more when we talk to a personnel agency on Monday. So even though we can save on the price of a home, it is the day to day cost of living that I have to be concerned about and the taxes and insurance rates.

So far, and as much as I want to move back to Texas, I am thinking that Austin is more expensive and we may not be able to relocate. Or maybe we have to check out Dallas and/or Houston.

This is the type of research that everyone who plans to move anywhere should do before they pack up and go. As for me, I do believe that Austin is an expensive city to live in.
Wow you really should do some more research-it is definitely cheaper to live here in Austin then Northern Virginia-I lived in Central VA-Richmond area for a year from 2007 to 2008-you left out that you pay a higher registration for your vehicle up there plus a yearly property tax on your car and VA has a state income tax. Insurance is cheaper here and groceries are definitely less expensive also. I would recommend a trip down here so you can investigate-(not just online) it in person.
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Old 09-11-2009, 01:31 PM
 
434 posts, read 1,076,564 times
Reputation: 155
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobosCurse View Post
Why would anyone care?
If someone is in love with NY, live there.
Why would there need to be a 1:1 equivalent?
ask the poster I was responding to?

do you know how to find him? let me know if you need help.

(rest of your post is ignored)
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Old 09-11-2009, 01:42 PM
 
434 posts, read 1,076,564 times
Reputation: 155
Quote:
Originally Posted by hoffdano View Post
There is no equivalent. So my point is that NYC and Austin really are vastly different.

- 15M people in the metro area vs. 1.6M

- Port city vs. not

- Extraordinary density of population vs. low density


My point is that if someone living in NYC in a less desirable area can't move to Austin and suddenly expect to buy property in the most desirable areas of Austin for cheap.
that's not the tone of your previous post.

by the way, the Hyde Park area isn't really that great. There are some well-kept old houses - good by Texas/Austin standards, but not that much of an attraction by national standards. The narrow, crappy roads, which almost always seem to be in need of repair, are an embarrassment.
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Old 09-11-2009, 02:20 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
13,715 posts, read 31,016,095 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by austinite45 View Post
that's not the tone of your previous post.

by the way, the Hyde Park area isn't really that great. There are some well-kept old houses - good by Texas/Austin standards, but not that much of an attraction by national standards. The narrow, crappy roads, which almost always seem to be in need of repair, are an embarrassment.
Hyde Park isn't for me. But it seems to be for some. Value is in the eye of the beholder.

Just like NYC itself. It is great to some, not so to others.

Is there a national standard for great areas?
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Old 09-11-2009, 09:40 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,437 posts, read 15,352,192 times
Reputation: 18959
Hey, thanks to all who posted their opinions....
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Old 09-12-2009, 01:10 AM
 
Location: Jackson, MS
1,008 posts, read 3,380,160 times
Reputation: 609
The downside of living in Mississippi is that no matter where you move to, you will experience an increase in cost of living. I'm going to miss my $150k 1520 s.f. home here...
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Old 09-12-2009, 12:08 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,241 posts, read 35,440,091 times
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Quote:
I'm going to miss my $150k 1520 s.f. home here...
There are probably quite a few of those available, just not in Austin proper. In Georgetown, that might even be expensive .
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Old 09-12-2009, 01:13 PM
 
Location: Jackson, MS
1,008 posts, read 3,380,160 times
Reputation: 609
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainwreck20 View Post
There are probably quite a few of those available, just not in Austin proper. In Georgetown, that might even be expensive .
That's my problem... I'm not a suburb kind of guy.
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