Leaving California (San Diego, Orange, Burbank: relocate, property taxes, travel)

[CB18]

We're thinking of leaving California. I am very very much torn about this, as all of my family and life as I know it is in CA!

I am originally from The Bay Area, but moved around for about 3 years b/c my husband was in the military...then we settled back in the Bay for another 2 1/2 years before deciding to move to Sacramento. I hate it here, in Sacramento. Other than the fact that most of my family is here (got them to move out here when we did), there's little else that I like about this place. After 3 years, we know that we need to get out of Sac ASAP...but it would be very difficult for us to go back home (SF Bay Area) and lead the comfortable lifestyle that we have grown accustomed to here. Housing is a huge issue as is schooling.

So, now we are very seriously contemplating moving to Austin,TX. My only concern is that my kids have allergies & Austin is ranked something like #5 as the worst places for allergy sufferers to live. Then again Sacramento is only 1-2 slots behind Austin. My other options were Seattle & Colorado, but mu husband wants the warmer climate. So..we're taking this year to make our final decision and visit a few places, then off we'll be. So sad. I do love Cali! But I want to be able to give my kids more than what I can give them here.

[Twinkle Toes]

Originally Posted by junkman18

But you live in Palm Desert it's a nice desert town but you still have to pay california taxes.

It looks like most people that can't wait to get out of their live in the Los Angeles area or places like that.

Our CA taxes are NOTHING like paying a 3% property tax in Texas every year. In Texas our property tax EVERY SINGLE YEAR is over $20,000.00. We have nver, ever paid that much in property taxes in CA. So TX has no state income tax - big whoop! They have property taxes that will eat you alive. Remember their motto - everything's bigger in Texas? That applies to their property taxes. Anyway, I am sooooooo happy to be back in my home state and no amount of anti-CA negativity is EVER going to take that away from me!!!!

[CityGirl72]

Originally Posted by CB18

My other options were Seattle & Colorado, but mu husband wants the warmer climate. So..we're taking this year to make our final decision and visit a few places, then off we'll be. So sad. I do love Cali! But I want to be able to give my kids more than what I can give them here.

You need to read all my old posts

I'm from Calif, and livedin Sacramento for college - I moved up to Seattle for my kids to have a batter place to live

I HATE IT HERE!!

I've never had depression but I have S.A.D.

If I could I'd move back to Sac in a heartbeat.

[CB18]

Originally Posted by CityGirl72

You need to read all my old posts

I'm from Calif, and livedin Sacramento for college - I moved up to Seattle for my kids to have a batter place to live

I HATE IT HERE!!

I've never had depression but I have S.A.D.

If I could I'd move back to Sac in a heartbeat.

Well, we're leaning more towards Austin, TX. than anywhere else right now. I mean, we could get by here...maybe even buy a home in the next few years...but I just don't like the valley AT ALL. If I were to stay in CA, I'd need to be back in the Bay...the peninsula is my home...but I couldn't give the kids as much as I'd like to there.
I hope you get back to Sac soon! What part are you looking into?

[CityGirl72]

I'm from Midtown, but that was when I was kidless

So maybe Land Park, or East Sac, but even I know the better schools are in Roseville or Folsom. But my husband and I aren't "suburbs" people

[DFWMike]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

Our CA taxes are NOTHING like paying a 3% property tax in Texas every year. In Texas our property tax EVERY SINGLE YEAR is over $20,000.00. We have nver, ever paid that much in property taxes in CA. So TX has no state income tax - big whoop! They have property taxes that will eat you alive. Remember their motto - everything's bigger in Texas? That applies to their property taxes. Anyway, I am sooooooo happy to be back in my home state and no amount of anti-CA negativity is EVER going to take that away from me!!!!

Where in the world did you live? You would have to have a million dollar house to have that kind of property tax in Texas. If that is what youwere living in, fine. But the average home price for a very nice house in Texas is around 240k for around a 2500 sq. ft house in a very nice neighborhood. Your taxes on that property would be around $5k a year, if you happen to live in a school district that just passed a bond for new schools. I live in one of the highest taxed counties in Texas(Collin County) because of all the growth here, so most tax bills are not even that high. Not cheap but certainly not 20k a year unless you live in exclusive neighborhoods comparable to Beverly Hills. And salaries here are not much different from Cali, I'm not sure how you guys do it. I'm only in this forum because there are people from Cali on every state forum talking about leaving and I'm wondering what is so bad about the state.

Believe me, our property tax will still be a great savings from your home prices.

[Roma]

DFWMike, With our home and 2 lakefront lot properties in Texas, we pay 22 thousand dollars a year in property taxes. Yes it is a million dollar home. I have seen what you get for a lot less in Texas and that is nothing we are interested in at all. In my opinion, from what I have seen in Texas, you need at least a $700,000 or higher for a real nice home. The others, for a lot less, are what I would call a starter home. We don't want a starter home. We are retired. We want a nice home with views. You pay for that wherever you go, even in Texas.
I thought that too about Texas. I thought, wow you can get a nice home for under $500,000. I was happy and excited to go check out all the homes in Texas. So I flew out there and I was not impressed. I called my husband and said we have to up our amount. Remember that saying "you get what you pay for".

[Twinkle Toes]

Originally Posted by DFWMike

Where in the world did you live? You would have to have a million dollar house to have that kind of property tax in Texas. If that is what youwere living in, fine. But the average home price for a very nice house in Texas is around 240k for around a 2500 sq. ft house in a very nice neighborhood. Your taxes on that property would be around $5k a year, if you happen to live in a school district that just passed a bond for new schools. I live in one of the highest taxed counties in Texas(Collin County) because of all the growth here, so most tax bills are not even that high. Not cheap but certainly not 20k a year unless you live in exclusive neighborhoods comparable to Beverly Hills. And salaries here are not much different from Cali, I'm not sure how you guys do it. I'm only in this forum because there are people from Cali on every state forum talking about leaving and I'm wondering what is so bad about the state.

Believe me, our property tax will still be a great savings from your home prices.

Yes, our home is in the Dominion and it is over a million dollars. It is 6200 square feet and has a 360 degree view. It is an absolutely gorgeous home - unfortunately it's in Texas! Our property taxes are 3% in Bexar county.

[vfrpilot]

Yes, our home is in the Dominion and it is over a million dollars. It is 6200 square feet and has a 360 degree view. It is an absolutely gorgeous home - unfortunately it's in Texas! Our property taxes are 3% in Bexar county.

Wouldn't this house be worth at least $3 million in SoCal? So wouldn't the taxes be roughly the same at about 1%? So you paid $2 million more to save nothing on taxes. When you're talking about housing at this economic level, I don't think you need to justify moving because of the tax rate. Just tell the rest of us "to get lost, we're moving cause we want to and cost is not any part of the equation".
I do agree with some of your observations about TX. We lived there for a couple years and met some odd people.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by vfrpilot

Wouldn't this house be worth at least $3 million in SoCal? So wouldn't the taxes be roughly the same at about 1%? So you paid $2 million more to save nothing on taxes.

Yeah that was what I was thinking. My 2 bedroom "starter house" in CA cost over $550k and I pay about $6000/yr in property tax. I could go to Dallas metro and probably get a nicer house for $200k. Even at a 3% tax rate, my tax bill would be about the same. But I'd have no income tax in Texas. If only I could stand the heat.