Please give me 10 reasons why NOT to move to the Austin area. (Weir: safe neighborhood, income tax)

[jread]

Originally Posted by ehill03

This year, Travel & Leisure ranked Austin #2 in "cheap eats", second only to New Orleans. Of course, Portland was ranked #7- which isn't too shabby either.
America's Favorite Cities 2007 | Food/Dining | Cheap eats | Travel + Leisure

Weird... I felt like food was WAY overpriced in New Orleans when I was there last year.

[Mareli]

Hello,
Where abouts do you live? My daughter lives in Cedar Park and it is not for us even though the schools are great. We are retired and perhaps in the near future move to an area like your own. We would like ten acres or more so we could get the ag exempt thing. Plus we have horses, sheep, etc. Taxes are very high in texas that is why my daughter is selling her 5,200 sq ft house and has been on the market five months! Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[artsyguy]

yep its a boring and overrated town. But at least it isn't a weirdo town where people give you the evil eye or cold shoulder if you are different. I can deal with Austin because of that one good aspect, the people are usually very friendly and open, otherwise I'd really want to leave ASAP.

Originally Posted by therewego

That is what I thought too. I can't believe someone else agrees. Yes, it is boring after you have done 6th street a few times, there is only Zilker park, and what museums? It is a college town....

[landsharkviki]

I am in the process of relocating to Austin. I will be contributing to the economy of Austin. I am in the health care sector, and will be relocating from CO. I am a single, healthy, active woman who is worried that I won't be able to afford a home when the property tax rate is anywhere between 2.15%-2.6%, coming from CO (that has a state tax, so all the people that are homeowners are not the only ones subsidizing services, education and whatever) That rate is a huge amount of a single person's income for monthly expenses. I am wondering if I should back out of the job offer that is coming down the pipe? Home ownership is important to me, I make a modest income, and was able to afford a very nice home in CO (1.1%) with no worries of property taxes...
By my math, taxes at the low end of the spectrum, 2.1% for a cheap, non-existent $200k home are $4000/yr which comes out to an additional $333./monthly added to whatever mortgage one finds themselves with. How do people manage property taxes in this state being single income earner?
thanks

[Mike78613]

Originally Posted by landsharkviki

I am in the process of relocating to Austin. I will be contributing to the economy of Austin. I am in the health care sector, and will be relocating from CO. I am a single, healthy, active woman who is worried that I won't be able to afford a home when the property tax rate is anywhere between 2.15%-2.6%, coming from CO (that has a state tax, so all the people that are homeowners are not the only ones subsidizing services, education and whatever) That rate is a huge amount of a single person's income for monthly expenses. I am wondering if I should back out of the job offer that is coming down the pipe? Home ownership is important to me, I make a modest income, and was able to afford a very nice home in CO (1.1%) with no worries of property taxes...
By my math, taxes at the low end of the spectrum, 2.1% for a cheap, non-existent $200k home are $4000/yr which comes out to an additional $333./monthly added to whatever mortgage one finds themselves with. How do people manage property taxes in this state being single income earner?
thanks

JC is very pretty and upcoming.

You hit it about right on how much the property taxes would be on the amount of a house ($200k).

As for managing taxes, I have a escrow setup though my mortgage lender. It is almost about $380.00 along w/ my mortgage.

When I was researching Denver my $150k home (new / style / sub division / development / amenities) the comparable home is about 259k-320k.

You actually get a lot of home for the $200K make here in the Austin / burbs area.
So what I am saying is depending on the home you own now and if its right about 250K, you can get the 150k home and be comparable. Hope this makes a little bit of sense when you are looking to shop.

[Trainwreck20]

so all the people that are homeowners are not the only ones subsidizing services, education and whatever

Landlords pay property tax (slightly more, since some exemptions are not available), so that cost is passed on to renters, so it is not just the homeowners who pay property tax. Also, businesses are also subject to property tax. But that is beside the point .

...taxes in this state being single income earner?

Single income homes are the hardest hit, it is just a byproduct of the system. For my first home, I actually rented out a room for a while to help with costs...it wasn't required for me to make my payments, but I put the extra money to the principle and saved a lot of money.

How do people manage property taxes in this state being single income earner?

On a 180k mortgage payment for a 200k house, you would pay ~4200 in taxes and 11k in interest. Add that to your sales tax deduction, and you will end up itemizing on your taxes with ~16 or 17k instead of the standard deduction of 10k (or whatever it is). So you will get a little more than 1/4 of 7k back, or around $2000. That ends up being about half your property tax. I am not sure if you currently itemize or not, so you may already get some benefit from itemizing and not all this would be a gain then.

The most straigt forward way of looking at it is to look at what you paid in state income tax (if anything) and compare it to what you will pay in property tax. That is probably the worst case tax burden change, and it may be a little less with deductions.

[S6Sputnik]

Its not that hot!
People are friendly!
No state income tax
Great music
Lake Travis
Great BBQ
Food is Cheap
Oil
State Capitol
Largest University in the USA
Property Values are not dropping like they are else where

[three_fish]

Originally Posted by S6Sputnik

Its not that hot!
People are friendly!
No state income tax
Great music
Lake Travis
Great BBQ
Food is Cheap
Oil
State Capitol
Largest University in the USA
Property Values are not dropping like they are else where

Sounds like reasons TO move to Austin!!!

[jrs99]

I visit Austin alot. I have friends there...I think it's very overratted.
1.homeless people
2.No architechture.with all the construction going on you think they would come up with more intresting design concepts.
3.HOT....
4.aside from Bars and night clubs ...it's boring
5.lame Art museums....you would think in a college town it would be better
6.Sprawl
7.the people are snobs!
8.even though Austin is fairly liberal...it's not far from hicksville and a landscape of trailers and aluminum buildings.
9.the most pittiful Zoo I've ever been too.
10.traffic

[b. frank]

Originally Posted by jrs99

I visit Austin alot. I have friends there...I think it's very overratted.
1.homeless people
2.No architechture.with all the construction going on you think they would come up with more intresting design concepts.
3.HOT....
4.aside from Bars and night clubs ...it's boring
5.lame Art museums....you would think in a college town it would be better
6.Sprawl
7.the people are snobs!
8.even though Austin is fairly liberal...it's not far from hicksville and a landscape of trailers and aluminum buildings.
9.the most pittiful Zoo I've ever been too.
10.traffic

So... bad for non-snobby art/architecture/zoo lovers who hate sprawl and traffic but great for homeless people? Maybe one day they can move into a conveniently located trailer park in hicksville. Weird list.