Why people are leaving Dallas (Houston, Austin: transplants, mortgage, credit)

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Phil P

Lufkin may not be a sexy city, but it's in the sexiest of Texas nature.

Eh, there are plenty of forested parts of the country with rolling topography that don't have the trash summers of the eastern half of Texas. Lufkin is 96 with a heat index of 108 right now. Not exactly ideal for traipsing around the woods.

IMNSHO, the prettiest parts of Texas are out in far west Texas - Big Bend, Palo Duro, and the mountains of Southwest Texas. The Piney Woods and Hill Country don't do much for me.

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by JlkajwlNsn

Yeah many leaving due to rising property taxes pricing them out

There is so much more to life in DFW but property taxes. You seem to be kind of focused on them. Why?

[Leonard123]

They're probably being driven out by all the H1B visa workers taking all the jobs. Between them and the young families and the insane amount of greed that the pandemic brought about, you can no longer find decent middle class neighborhoods. However, most of the people moving to the area are likely coming from India.

Granted, the only people who are going to find anything better in terms of housing and neighborhoods are going to have to love rural living. Likely, that's what most people leaving want. Every time I met someone from California 10+ years ago, their primary reason for coming to Texas was to get away from the crowds. I don't think that's valid any longer. However, I do think the sprawl we've been seeing the last 40+ years is coming to an end. The stories trying to show the contrary actually only reaffirm it.

It's simply not possible to get a decent home in a decent urban/suburban neighborhood anywhere in the nation, including the Dallas metro, for much under $650K.

[Texas100]

Cost of living, it's too high and options are low. Most of you on this forum probably bought a home several years ago for far less than what they cost today and you probably have a much lower interest rate.
So it's easy to sit back and say "I don't see a problem with the cost of living" of course not! Your not suffering from the high cost of living in the area. .
But what about the newcomers? What will their mortgage buying a new home in Prosper or Argyle, Celina huh?? $3000+++ a month? Then they have to drive an hour to get to work? And spend another $150 a month on tolls?or Because Anna and Melissa are the only places they qualify for a house. And the value of their home might be going down over the next few years.
Maybe they can throw $2500 a month in the trash on rent to rent a 1970's rambler in Plano off the 75.
I know these are all things that yall fat cats would hate to have to do yourselves. We'll expect a correction. It's coming!

[ilovepizza1975]

Originally Posted by Leonard123

They're probably being driven out by all the H1B visa workers taking all the jobs. Between them and the young families and the insane amount of greed that the pandemic brought about, you can no longer find decent middle class neighborhoods. However, most of the people moving to the area are likely coming from India.

Granted, the only people who are going to find anything better in terms of housing and neighborhoods are going to have to love rural living. Likely, that's what most people leaving want. Every time I met someone from California 10+ years ago, their primary reason for coming to Texas was to get away from the crowds. I don't think that's valid any longer. However, I do think the sprawl we've been seeing the last 40+ years is coming to an end. The stories trying to show the contrary actually only reaffirm it.

It's simply not possible to get a decent home in a decent urban/suburban neighborhood anywhere in the nation, including the Dallas metro, for much under $650K.

I guess it depends on your definition of "decent." I'm seeing plenty of nice houses in Plano for under $600k (top end of my budget). They're not fancy but they're certainly decent and the neighborhoods are clean and safe.

I agree with your point re: H1B workers. That entire program is corrupt and should be done away with. The horse is already out of the barn on that one, though. Encourage your kids to stay out of IT.

[darkeman41]

Originally Posted by Texas100

Cost of living, it's too high and options are low. Most of you on this forum probably bought a home several years ago for far less than what they cost today and you probably have a much lower interest rate.
So it's easy to sit back and say "I don't see a problem with the cost of living" of course not! Your not suffering from the high cost of living in the area. .
But what about the newcomers? What will their mortgage buying a new home in Prosper or Argyle, Celina huh?? $3000+++ a month? Then they have to drive an hour to get to work? And spend another $150 a month on tolls?or Because Anna and Melissa are the only places they qualify for a house. And the value of their home might be going down over the next few years.
Maybe they can throw $2500 a month in the trash on rent to rent a 1970's rambler in Plano off the 75.
I know these are all things that yall fat cats would hate to have to do yourselves. We'll expect a correction. It's coming!

Gotta admit, you're SPOT ON with this!

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Eh, there are plenty of forested parts of the country with rolling topography that don't have the trash summers of the eastern half of Texas. Lufkin is 96 with a heat index of 108 right now. Not exactly ideal for traipsing around the woods.

IMNSHO, the prettiest parts of Texas are out in far west Texas - Big Bend, Palo Duro, and the mountains of Southwest Texas. The Piney Woods and Hill Country don't do much for me.

True, it's not a weather home run. But in those pretty areas population seems to be declining a decent amount. In respect to land area, half of TX is losing and half is gaining, it all seems to be concentrating into the triangle. https://www.axios.com/2023/04/07/pop...hange-pandemic

Originally Posted by Texas100

Cost of living, it's too high and options are low. Most of you on this forum probably bought a home several years ago for far less than what they cost today and you probably have a much lower interest rate.
So it's easy to sit back and say "I don't see a problem with the cost of living" of course not! Your not suffering from the high cost of living in the area. .
But what about the newcomers? What will their mortgage buying a new home in Prosper or Argyle, Celina huh?? $3000+++ a month? Then they have to drive an hour to get to work? And spend another $150 a month on tolls?or Because Anna and Melissa are the only places they qualify for a house. And the value of their home might be going down over the next few years.
Maybe they can throw $2500 a month in the trash on rent to rent a 1970's rambler in Plano off the 75.
I know these are all things that yall fat cats would hate to have to do yourselves. We'll expect a correction. It's coming!

That's why I don't get why people don't leave, y'all are getting screwed! I'm paying $2100 rent for an 1800 SQFT brand new home with no neighbors within 50 ft, 60 mile mountain views, 1 mile from a little town center, and 25 minutes from a ski area. And there's more fun things and live music going on on any given weekend in Taos than there is in Denton or wherever else. And I'm paying 0$ for commute. No restaurants are open after 9 pm here, big whoop, I can cook too. I can see the milky way off the back patio. There's no airport for 2.5 hours and I think that's the real kicker for a lot of people, but look what you get in return for not being in the middle of the people hive! For those that are new or aren't established with a 2010 mortgage, you're missing out on huge QOL or cost savings by going into your Dallas office.

[TheOverdog]

I'm paying $2100 rent for an 1800 SQFT brand new home with no neighbors within 50 ft, 60 mile mountain views, 1 mile from a little town center, and 25 minutes from a ski area.

IMO, you are getting screwed. Taos is a retirement community with over 1/3 of the population older than 65, that's why no restaurants are open after 9:00pm. Median income in Plano is 2X Taos, with median rent only being 1/3 more. And of course you like it at $2100, which is 2.5X median rent, and over 50% the median household who lives there's income. And the commute time difference between a city of 300k vs 35k is only 5 minutes.


That's why people aren't moving in mass to places like Taos, NM.

[jaysan89]

Originally Posted by Leonard123

They're probably being driven out by all the H1B visa workers taking all the jobs. Between them and the young families and the insane amount of greed that the pandemic brought about, you can no longer find decent middle class neighborhoods. However, most of the people moving to the area are likely coming from India.

Granted, the only people who are going to find anything better in terms of housing and neighborhoods are going to have to love rural living. Likely, that's what most people leaving want. Every time I met someone from California 10+ years ago, their primary reason for coming to Texas was to get away from the crowds. I don't think that's valid any longer. However, I do think the sprawl we've been seeing the last 40+ years is coming to an end. The stories trying to show the contrary actually only reaffirm it.

It's simply not possible to get a decent home in a decent urban/suburban neighborhood anywhere in the nation, including the Dallas metro, for much under $650K.

I agree . The H1Bs have completely taken over a lot of suburban areas in DFW. Unfortunately, the most desirable areas of the US have become unaffordable for the middle class. I really don't have much desire to live in an isolated rural area.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

IMO, you are getting screwed. Taos is a retirement community with over 1/3 of the population older than 65, that's why no restaurants are open after 9:00pm. Median income in Plano is 2X Taos, with median rent only being 1/3 more. And of course you like it at $2100, which is 2.5X median rent, and over 50% the median household who lives there's income. And the commute time difference between a city of 300k vs 35k is only 5 minutes.


That's why people aren't moving in mass to places like Taos, NM.

Retirees are more fun than parents with kids in school! Who's at a lot of the live music - older people who don't have to work tomorrow, that's why Taos can pull more live music than other 20000 people burbs... I saw burb entertainment in Suwanee GA, trust me it's more fun here.

There's young people here with a ski area obviously. In that vein it's nice to be in a smaller place as you tend to run into people more often. So if you meet a girl at a show and talk for a little while, you actually see her again if you don't grab a number on the first chat.

That's exactly my point, if you are remote, you can escape all the COL from where other higher earners bid up real estate! It's better to be in a low income place than high income if you don't depend on the place for income. Some low income people can be a bit unpleasant to be around, but in a good town it's because they are still active and adventurous, they just didn't funnel it into a career.