considering move to Texas from S. California (Houston, Dallas: foreclosures, rental)

[ellabella65]

Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions.
Looks like I have homework to do.
We will planning a visit soon to check out some places in May.
thanks, ellabella

[chris_ut]

Even in the burbs 100k won't buy you anything unless you mean in a subdivision of foreclosed KB starter houses or a fixer upper in an older neighborhood.

[pach84]

Originally Posted by Malvie

No, not really; it's about half. I used several of the comparison websites, and I'd need to make roughly 63% more to live in Los Angeles vs. Houston, with housing being around 150%. So, if a house costs $150,000 in Houston, you could realistically expect to pay $234,000 for a comparable house in Los Angeles.

Plus, the relative size of the cities comes into play. As big and spread out as Houston is, LA (metro) is bigger by a lot (especially if you include Riverside and "the Inland Empire", which you'd do if you were going to add, say, Baytown and Galveston to Houston).

Put another way: That $150,000 house in north Katy would be the equivalent of a house in Riverside---much further from the downtown area and the "glam" area than Katy is from Houston's downtown and "glam" (?) area (say River Oaks vs. Beverly Hills).

So, can you afford more in Houston than in LA? Sure! Can you buy a Beverly Hills style mansion in Houston for $150,000? No. You'll still pay in the millions---just FEWER millions than LA.

A bare bones (mortgage & property tax only) fair comparison would be a $150,000 Houston to a $180,000 Los Angeles home @ 6%, 30 yr loan.

Remember, property tax in CA is fixed @ 1.1% of purchase price.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by pach84

A bare bones (mortgage & property tax only) fair comparison would be a $150,000 Houston to a $180,000 Los Angeles home @ 6%, 30 yr loan.

Remember, property tax in CA is fixed @ 1.1% of purchase price.

Ex-Angelenos like myself know this is utter nonsense.

[Sampaguita]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

When the poster is from California (especially southern California), I notice that they want the same or better house for way under what they paid before. The only thing I can think of that would make the difference is media hype setting unrealistic expectations.

We had the same thoughts but ours didn't come from media hype. I was looking at HAR and seeing unbelievably low prices on seemingly beautifully maintained houses (we weren't looking for shiny & new in the burbs). What I didn't know were the areas in which I was finding these low prices. Also, when you make phone calls & realtors or developer reps ask if you own a house in San Diego and you say "...just sold a 400k house"...THEY see dollar signs and conveniently don't mention certain factors that would preclude someone from buying the sprawling 3000+sf house in the 200k range with all the bolded "amenities" Modster pointed out above.

Originally paid 386k for a 2bd/1ba 1400sf in San Diego 2004 and found that in similar neighborhoods here (The Heights and then Garden Oaks area) the 300k range was putting us into just around the same sf with work to be done. Then when we factored in property taxes, our jaws just dropped.

CJ - regarding rent in SoCal - we were paying $2250/month on a 2200sf in a nice suburb of San Diego. You know what we're paying now by comparison.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by Sampaguita

We had the same thoughts but ours didn't come from media hype. I was looking at HAR and seeing unbelievably low prices on seemingly beautifully maintained houses (we weren't looking for shiny & new in the burbs). What I didn't know were the areas in which I was finding these low prices. Also, when you make phone calls & realtors or developer reps ask if you own a house in San Diego and you say "...just sold a 400k house"...THEY see dollar signs and conveniently don't mention certain factors that would preclude someone from buying the sprawling 3000+sf house in the 200k range with all the bolded "amenities" Modster pointed out above.

Originally paid 386k for a 2bd/1ba 1400sf in San Diego 2004 and found that in similar neighborhoods here (The Heights and then Garden Oaks area) the 300k range was putting us into just around the same sf with work to be done. Then when we factored in property taxes, our jaws just dropped.

CJ - regarding rent in SoCal - we were paying $2250/month on a 2200sf in a nice suburb of San Diego. You know what we're paying now by comparison.

I understand - we have the Inner Loop neighborhoods that are well over twice the cost per square foot compared to Cinco - and over three times other areas that are nice. It's a lucky person that finds that the new job awaiting in Houston is not Downtown or the Energy Corridor and that they do not have to sacrifice commute in order to get space/good schools/etc. for a lesser price per sq ft.

It's the listing agent's job to make a house look as attractive as possible on the internet - but those houses $100K and under don't look all that terrific (it would have to be pictures of another house, otherwise - LOL). What price range were you looking at, back when you were looking?

Not all realtors do that (try to keep you in the same range as the one you sold).

Odd thing, though - although we start out looking at similiar houses as the one back in the old state, for a lot less - THEY gradually keep upping the amount. I guess the thought was "We are already used to paying this amount - let's just get more from it". Some stop far from it - others go right up to the amount - it is interesting to see what each buyer does.

[nostril]

To be frank and Honest you will not find very much in the way of housing for 100K in the LA area, however if you are willing to move inland a little there are trailers in trailer parks available or perhaps some smaller housing in the less affluent areas of San Bernadino County.
You can PM me if you need a list of cities in Southern California where you may be able to buy for 100K or less but be aware that none of them will be areas that can be considered safe.

[Sampaguita]

Originally Posted by nostril

To be frank and Honest you will not find very much in the way of housing for 100K in the LA area, however if you are willing to move inland a little there are trailers in trailer parks available or perhaps some smaller housing in the less affluent areas of San Bernadino County.
You can PM me if you need a list of cities in Southern California where you may be able to buy for 100K or less but be aware that none of them will be areas that can be considered safe.

OP is looking for houses in TX - not SoCal.

[ellabella65]

Originally Posted by pach84

A bare bones (mortgage & property tax only) fair comparison would be a $150,000 Houston to a $180,000 Los Angeles home @ 6%, 30 yr loan.

Remember, property tax in CA is fixed @ 1.1% of purchase price.

This is ridiculous!
You cannot live anywhere is So. Cal. for 180K.
A trailer park wouldn't even cut it because you have to lease the land.

[pach84]

Originally Posted by rb4browns

Ex-Angelenos like myself know this is utter nonsense.

I was talking strictly mortgage payment. A payment for a 150K Houston is the about same as a 180K Los Angeles hypothetically. Realistically, a payment for a 300K Meyerland home is about the same as a $360,000 Granada Hills home. Id rather live in Granada Hills than Meyerland.

Like I said before, for the low and lower middle income people, you get more for your money and those people love Houston. Everybody else is indifferent and learn to love it since they have good jobs and family.

Buying a average home in LA is a better investment than Houston though. Sure, property fell from the 500-600K to around 350 to 400K, but those homes used to be less than 200k back in 2003. So, your net gain is around 150-200K in 8 years. Plus your property tax never changes.

A house in Meyerland fell from 350-400K to around 300K now. Those homes actually were listed and sold for around 300K back in 2003. So, your net gain is around 0 in 8 years. And Meyerland is considered a good area.

The only value I see is income property, apartments and 750K+ areas. Other than that, become a builder.