Transplants from Oregon, is Austin "more" or "less expensive" (Round Rock: sales, condos)

[bassman]

I'm from Southern Oregon and wondering from people that have lived in Oregon, if Austin tends to me less or more expensive to live in than Oregon. I'm wanting to move to Austin, but between all the "Cost of living" calculators, they are about 50/50% on whether Austin is more expensive than Oregon, especially Southern Oregon. Please help in my decision to move.

Thanks,

Brian

[jread]

Originally Posted by bassman

I'm from Southern Oregon and wondering from people that have lived in Oregon, if Austin tends to me less or more expensive to live in than Oregon. I'm wanting to move to Austin, but between all the "Cost of living" calculators, they are about 50/50% on whether Austin is more expensive than Oregon, especially Southern Oregon. Please help in my decision to move.

Thanks,

Brian

Not sure on the expense comparison. Texas has outrageous property taxes, though.

I must ask, though, why in the world you'd leave Oregon for Austin?

[malarkey]

where in southern oregon bassman? I lived in Ashland for 4 years before I moved to Seattle. that was waaay long ago (over 20 yrs) and at the time all Ashland had was the tourist industry. I left because, well, there's not much to do there in the way of work. At least there wasn't then. Don't know what current cost of living is there, but I know they've had their own "boom" as far as housing prices. It's probably still less than Portland... or is it?

[TheHarvester]

There are huge C.O.L. differences in Austin as well as "Southern Oregon." As you know from living in OR, a trendy neighborhood in Ashland is WAAAYYYY more expensive than a manufactured home in Klamath Falls. Similarly in the Austin area, you can find extremely cheap places but the best areas are very expensive. So, it depends.

People post a lot of comments about property taxes on this forum and I'm not sure why it's such a big deal. I've owned property here consistently since 1992 and have never winced at that expense. What's more important is how far you have to commute, how energy efficient is your house (and car), what type of heat you use (electric bills are through the roof in winter if all your heat is escaping through that same roof and you're using a central electric heating system, more expensive than AC!)

It just depends. I'd say it's comparable. Your original post about the 50/50 is probably accurate. Very comparable, especially if you make sure to contrast the best of Ashland with the best of Austin --- the higher end market in both locations is similar, though we have a much larger area and many more "mansions" and elitist condos and such simply because this is a real city. But we also have the same dirt roads in the country with rednecks who get liquored up and shoot rounds into tin cans for their entertainment, just like you have in Southern OR. And we have plenty of survivalists and paranoid conspiracy theorists, so you should feel right at home.

[jthomas45]

HAy there ,I lived in bend for 4 years and missed the wave ,we got theere in 01 and just as houseing market was taken off ,the house we lived in was going for 240k and that was north of bend and south of redmond ,nice place but good luck finding a job to offer it .long sorty short we stayed in the house and then the house sold for 390 in the 4th year ,total heart brooken we left and move down here to austin thinking we can make it becuase of the c o l and to find out no ,it costs alot to live here ,like 70k for a family of 4 ,no the ansder is no not austin ,maybe 50 miles away from here ..

[Trainwreck20]

A very general statement about financial advantages of living in Texas vs. elsewhere, due to the high property taxes and no state income tax:

If your family earns a large combined salary and lives in a moderate to low-end house (appraisal-wise), Texas is a good deal.

If your family earns a moderate to low wage (especially single income families) and you live in as nice a house as you can afford, it is not such a good deal.

Of course, there are miles of in-between......

[love roses]

jthomas is partly right, it's getting costlier to live in Austin, as lots of people with money burning holes in their pockets move in. But, there are areas outside of Austin proper that don't cost that much and aren't nasty, trashy, ghetto, etc...Living within your means is important no matter where you live. I sort of disagree with Trainwreck on the single income family thing, but that would fall into the "miles of in-between". We are currently living on one income since my husbands salary is such that it works for us to have me stay home w/our daughter, at least until she starts school. We don't live in the most expensive house in our neighborhood, or the cheapest, but we have what we need and some things we want. I guess I'm saying that we're not struggling day to day, eating Ramen noodles and mac and cheese here to survive.

[bassman]

I guess to narrow this question down a bit, I would be interested in living in Round Rock near Nolan Ryans crossing. I currently live in Medford, Or. which isn't quite as expensive as Ashland. So I am wondering if Round Rock would be as expensive to live in as Medford.

[TheHarvester]

As I recall, Oregon has no sales tax, so that complicates the equation because you probably have higher income and property tax to compensate, correct?

Texas is a low-tax state. People here whine about the property taxes all the time because they can SEE those taxes so easily. But if you look at any list of highest and lowest taxed states, Texas is among the lower end. And it shows in our health care, roads, schools and other institutions. The state government only meets once every two years! Texas is NOT over-taxed. But you'll never hear the end of the complaints about property taxes.

My GUESS is that the cost of living in Round Rock is similar to Medford, but your energy bill will probably be higher here unless you get a very efficient home. One huge difference between here and Medford: Our winters have clear air at ground level. It's extremely rare for us to have low fog the way you do, and that's a blessing. Plus, we have tremendous variety in weather during the 8 non-summer months of the year. June through September are reliably hot, the main variation is HOW hot, how much sun and how much rain. But winter, the weather changes daily and is very dynamic.

Round Rock gets blasted with the cold fronts, you'll know why they're called "blue northers" the first time you step out into crystal clear skies and feel a 20 degree wind chill even though the air temperature is in the mid-30s. But fear not, because cold spells only last about 3 days, then it can get back up to 75. It's great if you enjoy that kind of variety, though it does make it difficult to plan outdoor activities. Whatever you do, don't have an outdoor wedding in any month other than March. And even March is capable of snow or 95 degrees. There's really no guarantee what any day will be like, other than this one fact: it's freaking HOT in summer!!! Overnight lows almost never get below 70 (ugh!)

[austindoxie1972]

That was a great post. So true -- and I haven't heard anyone put it so succinctly. If you make a good salary, but live in a moderate-to-low cost house, Texas truly is a great deal. Unfortunately, it's easy to get upside down on that equation.