Possibly Moving to Colleyville, Need Answers! (Houston, Dallas: real estate, insurance, daycare)

[PurpleDoggys]

Ok, I apologize up front! This is going to be a long post because I have lots of concerns and questions. Other than the great housing prices, everything we've learned (maybe not all is accurate) seems to scream "Don't Move to Texas!"

We (I, hubby, 2 teenage boys) currently live in San Diego County and are SERIOUSLY considering making the move to No. Dallas. We are specifically thinking about Colleyville, however, after doing research, the idea is really scaring us! Our most serious concerns are listed below...

*The Property Taxes. Prop 13 is the only decent thing about Cal. Real Estate, you know what you are going to pay and it doesn't change. The Property Taxes in Texas seem to be all over the board, extremely high, can change every year and don't have a cap. We did some figuring and if we are correct, the property taxes on a Texas home costing half of our Cal. home would be about three times more expensive. What is the deal over there? Also, what is the Homestead Exemption we've read about?

*We've been told that Homeowner's Insurance costs in Texas are the highest in the Country. The reasons we've been given are because of the "severe" weather and black mold. OMG! Also, roofs don't last very long because of the hail and they have to be replaced every 10-15 years?

*We currently live inland, so we are not strangers to hot weather, however, it's our understanding that the weather in No. Dallas is HOT, HOT, HOT and with lots of humidity. Also, it doesn't cool down much at night. Your thoughts on the weather?

*Gas and Electric costs are very high in Texas? This is a concern because of the hot weather there and consequent need to run the A/C. As a basis for comparison, our most recent utility bill here was $300 for a 4,000 sq ft house. This was for a month when we didn't run any heat or A/C.

*Pests? What kind of "varmits" are over there? We hear that mosquitos are a major problem and that some bugs/insects are the size of kittens!

*We made a quick trip out there in February and realized that everything was flat - no green rolling hills/mountains like we have out here. Also, when we were there everything was grey and brown - of course I realize it was Winter. Have things become green with Spring?

*Everyone says the traffic there is terrible. However, having been born and raised in SoCal, I don't think anything could compare to what goes on out here. It can't possibly be as bad as what we have out here, can it??

We really need some honest and objective advice regarding No. Dallas and Colleyville in particular. Any additional information or thoughts you might want to share would be so helpful. As lifelong California residents, we are really agonizing over this.

Thanks in advance!

[sandys0808]

I don't know how much I can tell you, but the property tax issue is being addressed in special session right now.

Bugs you have to condend with: Roaches (just spray your house and yard)

Heat and Humidity area a big issure in summer, but everything is still ACed and you actually have to keep a sweater when you go to the movies,

Yes, it is flat ( I spent some time in CT) so I understand where you are coming from.

Traffic, depends on where you are. I live in Frisco and we are in a real growth spurt, the roads have to catch up. But honestly, I can get most of what I need within a 10 mile radius of my home.

Would love to chat more, but gotta get to work.

Sandy

[PurpleDoggys]

Hi Sandys,

I appreciate your quick response and thanks for the info and honesty. Roaches??!

Have a good day!

[stargazer]

*The Property Taxes.
Yes taxes are very high here. I moved from Florida(just moved back to dfw) where the taxes are very low due to tourism. I bet that is why California is so low in taxes too, but please don't let this scare you. Here is a link too http://www.trgc.com/center/txhomestead.htm#exempt (broken link)
My parents don't pay school taxes on their 55 acres due to their age too.


*We've been told that Homeowner's Insurance costs in Texas are the highest in the Country. The reasons we've been given are because of the "severe" weather and black mold. OMG! Also, roofs don't last very long because of the hail and they have to be replaced every 10-15 years?

I think that California has seen severe things too like fires right? And you always have the threat of an earth quake right? Tornados are rare occurances here, they do happen but not often and hail doesn't happen every day. It is not a frequent occurance. Living in central Florida, the weather was much more severe than here. It rained every day in the summer and had lightening. I also lived through 3 hurricanes that tore my land apart and had to replace our roof there. In Texas, I would say that a roof would have to be replaced if that is the quality of shingles they put on. After going through a roof replacement in Florida, there are different standards of shingles and here in dfw too, there are different standards of shingles too. It depends on what type of home you buy and what the builder put on the roof. Black mold, well I heard California has alot, I only heard of one case here many years ago that made national news and that was in the Austin area. I think that black mold can happen anywhere.

*We currently live inland, so we are not strangers to hot weather, however, it's our understanding that the weather in No. Dallas is HOT, HOT, HOT and with lots of humidity. Also, it doesn't cool down much at night. Your thoughts on the weather?

DFW has cold, springish weather and hot as well. It gets hot after 4th of July and stays that way till summer is over with. Coming from Florida and living in Houston too, this area is not as humid as the coast. This time of year is great, it is not hot at all outside. In the fall and winter it is nice too. It might snow a couple of times in the winter and we get ice. It doesn't last long though. Also too about cooling down, it depends on what season. In the summer, yes it can be very hot. The weather in dfw is not that stable. One June it was hot hot hot and then the next June it rained and felt fab! 5 summers ago it was tremedously hot and I think I could have cracked an egg on the side walk and it would have cooked lol! I think that was the hottest I have seen in awhile. I remember being in the yard at 8 at night and it still being in the 100's. I went inside once I figured out it wasn't cooling down.
The next summer wasn't as hot. I would not be worried by the weather in your decision.



*Gas and Electric costs are very high in Texas?

Our home has 4600 square feet and it was alot, 350 this past month. We ran the air a few times.

*Pests? What kind of "varmits" are over there? Trust me, bugs aren't as big here as they are in Florida. If you ever go there, they have screens in their back yards for all the pest out there, we don't in Texas.... we have pest like most places everywhere but they aren't a problem. No mosquitos aren't the size of kittens. LOL

*We made a quick trip out there in February and realized that everything was flat

That is one thing about the winter, it is brown but in the spring it gets really pretty. You aren't correct about DFW not having rolling hills. I use to live on the south side of town and that is where an escarpment is that is the beginnings of the hill country that runs all the way to San Antonio.
I tried to find a pretty good site so you can see, this one has some nice pictures. It is a church web site that services the Moutain Creek area.
http://www.mtcreek.com/ I use to go to church there too and lived close by on a nice lot that was perched on a hill. Cedar Hill too has lots of hills such as the Lake Ridge and Lake Joe Pool Area. Also Argyle has hills and they are building some beautiful homes that way. Argyle is south of Denton and North of Flower Mound.




*Everyone says the traffic there is terrible. However, having been born and raised in SoCal, I don't think anything could compare to what goes on out here. It can't possibly be as bad as what we have out here, can it??
Traffic can be bad but that is the price of living in a city, Orlando too was terrible. I wouldn't worry either about this.


Good luck and trust me, moving here will be easy. This has been the easiest place to transition. All other cities have been hard, I don't know why but Dallas Fort Worth is just easy to transition. You will love it here, I promise!

[PurpleDoggys]

Stargazer - thanks for all the info and some laughs as well!

If we can ever get our house sold out here in the San Diego area, we've pretty much made the decision to head to Texas. Just our luck that we listed it when the market out here started hitting a brick wall.

Having been born and raised in SoCal, I'm used to the occurances that other people may see as the things of which nightmares are made! It's was interesting to get your perspective. Yup, we have earthquakes, but they aren't that often and you tend to ignore them.

We also have our annual wildfires in the Fall and consequent mudslides in the Winter. Ironically, during the huge Cedar Fire in Oct. 03, we had to evacuate for 5 days and returned home to find our house standing (a Shout Out to the local Fire Fighters), but the creekbed, hills, etc. were completely black. For miles everything looked like Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas.

Anyway, I'm sure that all places have their good and bad points - I guess it's what you make of it that depends on whether you are happy or not! Although, I know I'm gonna hate the heat and resulting electric bills!

Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts!

[Just Lookin]

Well, I have to say what a great reply Stargazer gave us Californians. Thank you. You made me feel a lot better about moving to Texas.

[mykle_m]

All in all the cost of living in Texas will be MUCH lower than California. As far as property taxes go, I live in a 140K house and my prop. taxes are 3,300 or so a year. Homeowner's insurance is around 1200 or so (I believe). The heat can be unbearable at times in the summer, or even before summer. Two and a half weeks ago (mid to late April) it was 101 degrees for two days. The geography here is flat, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Yes, there are a few sections of the metroplex that have a few small hills, but generally it is flat.

The drawbacks are:
Hot, HOT, HOT!
Mostly Flat
Heavy Traffic

The positives are:
Affordable housing
Plenty of places to shop
Lots of jobs

If I could afford to live in San Diego, I'd love to live there. But, I couldn't afford a home like I have here and the earthquake thingie does tend to scare me. Unlike a tornado, earthquakes can't be avoided unless you're completely out of the area.

[Martie A]

Well, I think you have had losts of good responses. I too, would love to live in San Diego if I could afford it, but wouldn't everybody?

Being that my children were small when I moved here, the things I noticed that were less expensive:
Bread
Milk
Dentist
Doctor
Food in general

Since I moved to east Texas from Chino Hills, some other things I enjoyed were:
Lower rent: $1200 pre month vs $350 (totally unattainable now, but common then)
Lower daycare: I don't even remember what I last paid there, but had my youngest child in Private School here for about the same as I was paying for after school daycare there.

These are 1992 figures, so everything is different. However, I do want to say that when we moved here, we left a recession in So. Cal., and moved here in to the same. Jobs were scarce, but we did find work, and I was amazed at what my little job with little pay would buy.

Since you have little weather change in San Diego, your roof lasts longer. A common year here would see extremes of lows in the 'teens in the winter, to highs in the hundreds in the summers. These extremes are hard on the materials, so it is best to replace the roof on the home you purchase (wait until you have to!) with a 30 year or better shingle. It will probably last 15 to 20 years.

Depending on the construction and location of your house, your insurance should be relatively small. Taxes vary by county, so do your homework. Some of the recently passed legislation should help bring property taxes down. Visit taxnetusa.org to view property taxes by address of the properties you are considering.

Last, as a real estate agent, I would reccomend that you find an agent that can help you find the right neighborhood for what you as well as help you find an insurance agent and he/she can advise you on property taxes, homestead exemption, senior citizen exemption, etc. Have your local agent help you find a top agent for the area you are moving to. He or she will be your best asset for information about the area you are looking to move to.

Good luck!!


BTW - Dallas Traffic is bad, but it is no comparison to LA Orange or San Bernardino County traffic... I hope that helps

[stargazer]

There are areas with hills- Yes we have flat areas but we do have hills in certain areas. I though unfortunatly don't live in the hilly areas. There is enough hills and trees to make it interesting. Cedar Hill is rocky and has some beautiful views as does much around Joe Pool lake area. Argyle too is hilly. This is not a mountanious region but we do have great hill country and yes HILL COUNTRY does start in South Dallas, these aren't my words but the people that live in the area.

[djbindfw1]

Hi there, this is Dan. I am a commercial Real Estate appraiser living in Dallas Fort Worth and grew up in Colleyville.

Years ago when my parnets moved to Colleyville it was (for lack of a better term) a one horse town. We moved from Chicago as my father flew for Delta and the DFW airport was just being built 1970's. At that time my parents bough a custom home in Colleyville with over 2,500 sq. ft. on over an acre lot for roughly $40,000. That same house is now worth more than $250,000+. The town at that time had a volunteer fire dept. using old army trucks painted yellow and the Tarrant county sherrif would drive through on Saturday nights. No very glamorus. My principal at Grapevine High ( I graduated in 1984) would litterly ride his horse through the school parking lot on Friday nights after the football game and during dances to make sure no one was making out etc. Times have definitly changed.

What you have to say is ture but with alot of misconceptions. First of all Colleyville was rated last year as the #1 city to live in in the US for quality of life. Problem is it is now a town "trying to keep up with the Jones". Alot of yuppies with more money that scence and more into what people think of them that what they think of themselves. I speak from experience.

The school district is top notch (one of the best in the state).

Yes Cal has prop 13 but also has State income taxes as Texas does not. There IS a cap on residential appraisals in Texas @ 10% per year unless the property changes hands. This does not limit the tax RATE increase. The deal is that these property taxes fund the schools.

This taxation (called Robin Hood) was deemed unlawfull last year by the Supreme Court due to a law suit filed by the Colleyville/Grapevine school ditrict and other school districts. It is a very long story but that tax issue is changing. I could go on for hours. If you are still looking and want some questions answered feel to call me at work (First American Commercial Evaluation) 469-759-3172 Dan.