Possible Summer '08 move to Houston Area - Scared to Death of Property Taxes... (Sugar Land: how much, house)

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by aleyadry

Do you get a credit in the federqal income tax for the property tax paid in TX, or just for the sales tax?

Here is a good article about taxes and home ownership:

Tax Breaks for Buying a Home - Kiplinger.com

[mom2hannah]

To the OP.... homeowners insurance is also something to consider... rates are generally lower in Montgomery county (both car and home). There are some areas in The Woodlands where the tax rate is 2.5, including association fees. That's pretty great, and the area is nice too. Commute is a huge issue. The west side tends to face the most congestion during rush hour--290, I-10, 610 around the Galleria area... So if you know where you will be working, then you can find a way to get there without too much hassle. I'm an agent in the Spring area and worked with out of state relocations exclusively for a couple of years. Commute was the number one priority for me as far as placing my clients. You can find nice neighborhoods all over town. What you DON'T want is to spend 3-4 hours a day in your car. (especially at $4 a gallon!)

[aleyadry]

thank you for the link, it is very usefull.

[atlantis7]

don't let the no income tax thing jazz you up. Texas takes you for a ride on everything else. and almost everything is a glossy scam here. Electricity is one of them. Deregulation did nothing but allow more wolves to run hen houses.

Despite what some others have said, I am now in the process of looking for a home after renting for three months and I have found areas with homes in the 250 to 500 range with taxes of over 4%.

If you don't have kids, don't live in the most desirable school districts and watch your commute times. The Woodlands is beautiful and untypically "Houston" landscape....but with gas prices, and 45's ugly traffic, it could make your life miserable.

There are all kinds of things that pop up that make you wonder what political YAHOO was devious enough to think of the idea. Like, I recently wanted to file a Nevada LLC for a business I was going to open here(which I would have done before leaving Tennessee but moved for my wife's job here)

In Tennessee, i would have paid 100 dollars to register as a foreign corporation. IN TEXAS, IT'S $350.00!

The attitude here may be projected as easy going and rebellious (Texas Republic and all that) but it's all hype in century 21.

Texas is a very authoritarian state with more different kinds of cops than any place in the country. They want to get into your business and know you every move and as seen on the nightly news, they do anything they please ad get away with it.

BACK TO HOUSES.

Oddly enough, one of the nicest and least expensive places to live is SEABROOK..lots of parks, close to the channel (bay) and a few nice sized lakes over there. Its also close to old village shopping and Kemah. A home i am looking at offers a 2.5% tax rate.

I am a Libertarian and i don't believe that anyone should have to pay taxes for anything they don't use. I don't have kids so I don't want to pay for their schools and to my way of thinking, if you choose to pop out a kid every year, your taxes should go up, commensurate with the impact on the infrastructure.
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[Clear Lake TX]

To OP:

I moved from Houston Metro (Clear Lake) to Birmingham Metro (Shelby County) last year, here is my comparison between these two cities:

*Property tax: Houston is around 3%, Birmingham 0.5%.
*Sale tax: Houston 8.25%, tax free grocery, Birmingham - shelby county 8% everything.
*state income tax: Houston, nont, BHam: 4%.
*School: Oak mountain, Vestavia, mountain brook are same level as Clear lake, sugar land and Memorial.
*Traffic: Houston, heav; BHam: light to none.
*Home Insurance: Houston is about 3 times higher than BHam.
*Auto Insurance: Houston is about twice of BHam.
*Grocery: Houston is about 10-20% lower than Bham.
*Gasoline: same
*Utility: electricity, Houston is about 30% higher than Bham for per kwhr. sewer, Bham is about twice of Houston. water, same. gas, same.

[atlantis7]

Originally Posted by Clear Lake TX

To OP:

I moved from Houston Metro (Clear Lake) to Birmingham Metro (Shelby County) last year, here is my comparison between these two cities:

*Property tax: Houston is around 3%, Birmingham 0.5%.
*Sale tax: Houston 8.25%, tax free grocery, Birmingham - shelby county 8% everything.
*state income tax: Houston, nont, BHam: 4%.
*School: Oak mountain, Vestavia, mountain brook are same level as Clear lake, sugar land and Memorial.
*Traffic: Houston, heav; BHam: light to none.
*Home Insurance: Houston is about 3 times higher than BHam.
*Auto Insurance: Houston is about twice of BHam.
*Grocery: Houston is about 10-20% lower than Bham.
*Gasoline: same
*Utility: electricity, Houston is about 30% higher than Bham for per kwhr. sewer, Bham is about twice of Houston. water, same. gas, same.

There ya go, Texans. The truth be known. It's no CALIFORNIA comparison but it's for real. You can dress it up in a cowboy hat and ride it around in a pick up truck all you want. It's still a duck.

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by atlantis7

In Tennessee, i would have paid 100 dollars to register as a foreign corporation. IN TEXAS, IT'S $350.00!
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So you want to get out of contributing any business taxes here and they have the gall to charge you $350 for the privilege!

[Winebrat]

If I go on HAR and pick a house, then click on the subdivision it is in, then add up the Subdivision Tax Rate, is that the "property tax" rate? If not, how do I find what the tax rates for various areas are? I tried googling and was coming up with info, not actual rates.

[chris_ut]

If you click a house on Har there is a link on the right side that says Tax Information and if you click it then it tells you exactly how much the yearly taxes are for that house.

[Winebrat]

Thanks, I will try that...didn't notice that before. Hopefully by the end of this week we will have confirmation if we are relocating to Houston or not...