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Wow, high homeowner rates. I like my $600/ month next door to volcano. My Tx props are as high as $1200, but we are not in a 'risk' area, just that TX, like FL is a high claim state.
I don't do traffic lights, so 100,000 people would make me go postal.
Ymmv
Texas homeowner's ins. rates are about half of the other city I'm considering. Guesstimating my HO ins. would run $1,200-$1,500/yr max (a low claim area). In the other city it would run $2k - $2,500k, depending on details of the house (a high claim area).
You make a good point about the taxes. Yes, the higher property taxes are to make up for the no state income tax, but also, I think, for better services. City #2 has poor city services. And no senior centers, except a couple of nursing homes. Is that what you mean by sr center?
City #2's increase homeowner's insurance is for natural disasters. It's hurricane territory. Flood ins. is also required, which is separate (another $500). This city has regular drs like dermatologist and one cardiologist, but they wouldn't treat anything significant. They'll send you to Houson...2 1/2 hours away, or Lafayette, 1 hr away (I would choose Houston...the best health care).
Since I'm planning ahead, it will become a problem driving as I age...if I'm lucky enough to last that long. It happens to all of us.
The state for City #1 is Texas. You don't like Texas? I lived in Dallas for decades and came to love it, but I hated it at first. I had to go where the jobs were.
But the state of City #2 is Louisiana. I was born and raised there; family is there. Not a great state. A depressed economy, industrial businesses, most people uneducated. But the natural landscape is pretty...lush and green almost year round, huge trees in places, can grow just about anything without much trouble.
My town has a Council on Aging with a dedicated senior center. There are all kinds of elderly-oriented services. Community nursing. Social workers. Van service. Meals on wheels. Daily social programs targeted at caregiver relief. There's also a regional daily van service to the Boston hospitals an hour away to get to world class specialists. I hope I never need any of it but it's nice to know it's available.
I just took a look at my 2017 homeowner's insurance. Up another 15%.
as we approached retirement years I started looking for a place to relocate that we would be able to afford as I knew we could not afford to live where we were from and had grown up, and had raised my five children.
I looked online for places in MD, PA, VA, WV. I looked at hundreds of houses online, needed to be cheap, but close to things.
The house I found in WV was 5 bedroom 3 bath with garage all brick for $38K. the taxes on this house with senior discount are under 200 a year. It is close to store, bank, library and all the city offices. and excellent medical care close by. my Primary care is one street away.
it took me a while to find this house, but it was worth it. We bought it five years before we moved here. and visited it about 3 times a year to check on it and to do minor repairs. Then last year my husband who has health problems was laid off from work. So our retirement plan was speeded up and we moved here last December. Been settling in ever since. we moved with my youngest son and his family, and oldest son so we had 7 people living here. the past 5 months we have had 3 extra, as friends of my youngest son followed him down here and thought they had an apt. but that did not work out and so they were here and homeless and unemployed so we let them stay with us. thought it would be for a couple weeks but turned into five months. Hopefully they will move out Dec. 1.
They have been a big drain on our already drastically smaller income. SS only.
Anyway the point is to take your time and consider the big picture when you look for a new place to live.
Texas homeowner's ins. rates are about half of the other city I'm considering. Guesstimating my HO ins. would run $1,200-$1,500/yr max (a low claim area). In the other city it would run $2k - $2,500k, depending on details of the house (a high claim area).
So Texas has high property taxes and high homeowner's insurance rates. Is it worth it just to avoid the state income tax?
I am paying under $700 a year for a house valued approximately $375,000 in Maryland. I suggest you look farther if you are basing this move on saving money.
If you can afford to live in either place, why would you base your decision based on a few thousand bucks? Your example isn't showing numbers where one location is affordable while the other is unaffordable.
When I was running through this math, my two main choices had option A with double the real estate costs and triple the property tax costs. I pulled the option B lever because A was going to be unaffordable when I retired.
I think the best way to look at the problem is to first pick where you want to live that will give you the highest quality of life. Then figure out what you have to do to afford the housing there. You don't "need" 2,500 square feet on a few acres. You need an affordable roof over your head in the place where you want to be.
True enough. Thanks for the perspective.
Yes, I can get too anal. And I'm frugal and want to make sure my money lasts. $1,000 a year doesn't sound like much...but would amount to $20,000 in 20 years. That's a lot of money. A new roof and a/c, for instance.
My town has a Council on Aging with a dedicated senior center. There are all kinds of elderly-oriented services. Community nursing. Social workers. Van service. Meals on wheels. Daily social programs targeted at caregiver relief. There's also a regional daily van service to the Boston hospitals an hour away to get to world class specialists. I hope I never need any of it but it's nice to know it's available.
I just took a look at my 2017 homeowner's insurance. Up another 15%.
Oh. No. Neither city has that.
The TX city has a council on aging and provides meal on wheels and other assistance to low-income seniors, and things like that.
The LA city has a worse aging council...it just helps you locate services, like housing services or in home care, for low income.
as we approached retirement years I started looking for a place to relocate that we would be able to afford as I knew we could not afford to live where we were from and had grown up, and had raised my five children.
I looked online for places in MD, PA, VA, WV. I looked at hundreds of houses online, needed to be cheap, but close to things.
The house I found in WV was 5 bedroom 3 bath with garage all brick for $38K. the taxes on this house with senior discount are under 200 a year. It is close to store, bank, library and all the city offices. and excellent medical care close by. my Primary care is one street away.
it took me a while to find this house, but it was worth it. We bought it five years before we moved here. and visited it about 3 times a year to check on it and to do minor repairs. Then last year my husband who has health problems was laid off from work. So our retirement plan was speeded up and we moved here last December. Been settling in ever since. we moved with my youngest son and his family, and oldest son so we had 7 people living here. the past 5 months we have had 3 extra, as friends of my youngest son followed him down here and thought they had an apt. but that did not work out and so they were here and homeless and unemployed so we let them stay with us. thought it would be for a couple weeks but turned into five months. Hopefully they will move out Dec. 1.
They have been a big drain on our already drastically smaller income. SS only.
Anyway the point is to take your time and consider the big picture when you look for a new place to live.
Thank you! This gives me hope I'll find the right house in the right place. I started looking at the time that had the lowest inventory of houses in years. I'd been looking online for over a year...then when I was ready to buy, those types of houses were gone. But it's started picking up, with more houses.
I feel as if it's taking me too long, but anything I've passed up, I look back and reconsider whether I should've bought THAT one, and I realize I made the right decision.
I'm so glad you found the right place, too. What a bargain you got. I guess it was a fixer upper? Way to go. Thanks for the pep talk and encouragement.
So Texas has high property taxes and high homeowner's insurance rates. Is it worth it just to avoid the state income tax?
I am paying under $700 a year for a house valued approximately $375,000 in Maryland. I suggest you look farther if you are basing this move on saving money.
Well, I want to stay within driving distance of family. So that's pretty limiting.
Texas has high property taxes, but this small city has low HO rates, compared to others I know of. Except your HO rate is the lowest I've heard of. Wow. (The property taxes in this small city are a tad lower than the rest of the state because the city's part of the taxes are lower.)
Louisiana has low property taxes, but high HO ins. because it's a hurricane area.
Have you considered small cities in Mississippi or Alabama? They would still be in driving distance and I am almost certain your living expenses would be lower than Texas.
The differences you're talking really shouldn't make any significant difference in the long run. There are a lot more variables than taxes. So go to the place you think you like better. If possible, rent for at least 6 months. You may change your mind. That's the most important part. Moving yet again, when you're older, is a real pain.
Do not assume the property value will maintain itself. There's a bubble going on right now, and interest rates are at an all time low - sometime in the not too distant future, that's going to change. Remember, when you're retired, your income and assets are a fixed amount. You're unlikely to get "a raise."
Last edited by TwinbrookNine; 11-21-2016 at 08:04 PM..
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