CA native visiting Texas (asking why anyone would prefer TX) (Georgetown: rentals, home)

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Texas property tax is higher, but the lower cost of a home offsets the difference. Soooo both are about equal in property tax and that was the case on the homes I owned in TX and CA. However TX has no State income tax saving a great deal of money for the residents. Sales tax is about the same and other taxes and fees are less in TX than in CA, so overall TX is a lower COL State and CA a higher one.

It's all relative. Sure overall Texas is "cheaper". But you make less money so it has to be cheaper. If they paid the same wages out there as Ca. the COL would go up. If Texas gets popular with investors and out of state/country buyers you'll see natives being displaced or COL going up due to higher demand.

Sure they are both about equal in property tax amounts.

You may have a lower cost of a house in Texas, but you still have a high property tax given the value to n that house. If you're retired you still have a high property tax.

All I'm saying is Texas isn't that great as it's made out to be. In fact I don't know many states that are. if any. In one way or another you're paying, putting up with or giving up something to live wherever you're living. Regardless of the state.

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by Mr5150

Not saying CA is perfect either. Stockton has always been a mismanaged S-hole. But on the flip side, CA is the 7th largest economy in the world. 97% of CA is rural or wilderness. Overcrowded? I think not and I doubt if your fair state is gang free.

Killeen TX is bankrupt per my son and is not a nice place to live. But it is close to fort Hood. He is in a new subdivision outside of Killeen.

Actually, Killeen is NOT bankrupt. But quite a few cities in California ARE.

You keep asking why anyone would prefer Texas, then hypocritically use examples that apply to both Texas and California. I get it. You've been brainwashed into thinking (like most Californians) that Texas is a disgusting h**lhole, but at least be intellectually honest and see that California is pretty bad in a lot of ways also. I'm thinking if your son was stationed near a base in CA, it would not be as nice a place to live as the coast. Right?

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by Shysister

Yes I hate how everyone screams Texas doesn't have state tax because it makes no sense given the inflation of their property tax. Who cares about be able to buy a house for less money when property tax is going put a deep hole in your pockets. So in reality you're not saving anything or very little as all you did was place the money in another pot but in the end it's still going out just from a different pot than before.


Also Texas is dry and a big hole there's no decent water, trails, etc. which is why a lot of them are overweight because they're forced to used the gym if they want to stay fit. There's so much outdoor activity to do in CA and you won't be in 100 degree weather which makes it impossible to want to be outdoors in Texas.


And yes the wages in Texas are pathetic, although things are cheaper the wages should still be a lot more than what they are. I know some in CA that was thinking about transferring to Texas and they told him he would have to take a pay cut. They wouldn't even match his current salary in CA stating the cost of living makes the wage he makes now unnecessary in Texas. Needless to say he's staying in CA because who in the right mind would take a pay cut to relocate, genuinely you relocate to obtain a higher salary not the other way around.


Progressive and smart people in Texas don't really like Texas and either move to CA or NY, it's only the Texans that can't do better anywhere else that love it. Or they moved early in their adult life and have enjoyed a good quality of life in CA or NY etc. and came back to Texas because it's their home. No one wants to leave CA and do so largely because they can't comfortable stay afloat which it absolutely makes no sense to struggle and live in CA because you are in fact doing yourself a disservice.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for not ever considering Texas as a place to relocate.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by ringwise

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for not ever considering Texas as a place to relocate.

Can't rep you again.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by ringwise

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for not ever considering Texas as a place to relocate.

Pleaseshow him how wrong he is, so he will want to move there.

I am moving back to CA and that would make the State much more pleasant.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

All I'm saying is Texas isn't that great as it's made out to be. In fact I don't know many states that are. if any. In one way or another you're paying, putting up with or giving up something to live wherever you're living. Regardless of the state.

Yep and this is true of all States including CA. Good and bad and each must decide what works for them.

It is funny how many think they are special because they think their State is. Doesn't work that way.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Shysister

Progressive and smart people in Texas don't really like Texas and either move to CA or NY, it's only the Texans that can't do better anywhere else that love it. Or they moved early in their adult life and have enjoyed a good quality of life in CA or NY etc. and came back to Texas because it's their home. No one wants to leave CA and do so largely because they can't comfortable stay afloat which it absolutely makes no sense to struggle and live in CA because you are in fact doing yourself a disservice.

Au contraire! My wife and I, both natives and both living in Sacramento, married in 1996 and before we did so I warned her that when I retired it would be ABC - Anywhere But California. Twelve years later I retired (she had done so some years earlier) and nine months afterword we left the state. It was strictly a choice, not a necessity, and since then we've met many others who also left by choice.

Wanting a different lifestyle in different surroundings is not at all unusual. We were both military brats and I spent eight years in the military myself so we were both used to picking up and moving and doing so posed no hardship for us. Rather, we looked upon it as a challenge and an adventure. At the time, some still in CA predicted that in two years we'd be back. Well, it's now been seven years and here we still are. We love California as the place of our births and primary upraising - she in NorCal and me in SoCal - and where we each predominantly raised our individual children but we have no regrets about having left and no desire to return but for visits.

I agree with you about Texas.

[mecoblaster]

Originally Posted by Finper

My niece goes to Baylor U in Waco and also has no desire to live there permanently. She's a big city girl though and Waco definitely isn't big city. I like to visit Texas and love how state proud they are.. you see Texas stars and flags everywhere. It's also a lot cleaner in the downtown areas then here and I didn't see one homeless person in Austin. Not sure I'd live there but I can see the appeal. I'm more drawn to the desert and plan on moving to Tucson

As a Californian that has to go to work in Austin/Georgetown for a week out of every month I'm guessing you must've just done a quick pass by in Austin because there are many homeless in Austin. Next time you're in Austin try the Rundberg or Parmer Ln offramp off the 35 and you can see the homeless not only asking for money but have amounts on their signs as to what they're expecting you to give them, also off Steck Ave and Mopac, & downtown Austin has many homeless especially around 7th & Red River.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

It's all relative. Sure overall Texas is "cheaper". But you make less money so it has to be cheaper. If they paid the same wages out there as Ca. the COL would go up. If Texas gets popular with investors and out of state/country buyers you'll see natives being displaced or COL going up due to higher demand.

Sure they are both about equal in property tax amounts.

You may have a lower cost of a house in Texas, but you still have a high property tax given the value to n that house. If you're retired you still have a high property tax.

All I'm saying is Texas isn't that great as it's made out to be. In fact I don't know many states that are. if any. In one way or another you're paying, putting up with or giving up something to live wherever you're living. Regardless of the state.

http://www.money-rates.com/research-...ke-a-living/TX is wayy ahead of CA as the best State to make a living in.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by Mr5150

This thread asks the question of those who live in CA and can't wait to move to the great state of Texas. Been to Dallas and the traffic is horrid. Been to Austin and it is a big "so what" town at 50% off home prices compared to the urban areas of CA. Gas is 30 cents less per gallon and property taxes are 250% higher than CA. (My son's 204k house is in Killeen TX and he pays $5000 a year in property taxes. We pay $2100 on our $220,000 house in CA.)

Mediocre scenery and during our present visit the weather has been 70* with 70% humidity. Except for those days when it drops to the mid 20s and the wind chill takes it to 9*. Actual for last week. Son said when he moved to Killeen last August they had 105* days with 80% humidity. Austin has basically the same weather and slightly better countryside.

So why is Texas such a "desirable" place compared to CA? Besides cheaper housing and the conservative politics.

The same reason people prefer California, Nevada, Tennessee, Minnesota, etc. etc
because they feel it is right for them and they choose to live there.
What you do and where you live is your choice even though there is not enough money on this planet to get me to even visit California let alone actually live there.....