California & Texas (Dallas, Austin, Corpus Christi: real estate, vacation, work)

[wilkermoo]

I have been reading many of the posts in the Texas forum and was interested in how different Texas seems compared to California. I actually find it shocking to believe that you can buy a nice home in an area outside of Dallas for less than $200,000. How? I found a home in Rockwall, TX that was over 3000 sq ft and had 2 acres of land and it was $195,000. Can anybody tell me how this is possible? Is it a bad place to live? Is this a common price in Texas?

In the SF Bay Area you could not touch a house like that for less than millions. I know we are supposed to have wonderful weather in CA and supposedly we have more work, but I am not sure that it is worth paying triple or quadruple for a home. I do not even think people in other states can really understand how different real estate is here. I work in Real Estate (not as a Realtor though) and I see crappy homes selling for half a million dollars. Has anybody moved from the SF Bay Area to Texas? Can you tell me some of the differences that you have learned?

[LastDallasNative]

Don't move to North Texas just to save money. California has the ocean and the mountains and the Cal-Mex and the In-N-Outs and the Taco Bells and the Trader Joe's and the SoCal culture and the NoCal culture and the SoCal car culture and and Arnold. North Texas does not.

You need to evaulate all that vs a need to save money.

[wilkermoo]

I never said I was moving to Texas. I was just looking around Realtor.com while I was bored at work. I just was wondering how there could be such a big difference in the price of homes. In CA, you cannot get a large 3000 square foot home that close to a major city for a price like $195,000.

[LastDallasNative]

Californians are willing to pay for "the ocean and the mountains and the Cal-Mex and the In-N-Outs and the Taco Bells and the Trader Joe's and the SoCal culture and the NoCal culture and the SoCal car culture and Arnold."

That is the difference.

[Trainwreck20]

Most tax websites break down the cost of a piece of property into two categories - land value and improvemnet value. A typical lot in Austin (but not downtown) is probably between $20-$40k. A nice house in Austin typically runs between $100 - $125/sq. ft. (including land value). The big difference will be land value....there are still 1000's and 1000's of acres of undeveloped hill county land, so the competition over a property is limited....if the price is too high, move 100 feet down the road.... Of course, there are expensive areas where the land is worth $1MM for a plot....

About 7 years ago, my folks built a 2300 sq ft custom home for ~$65/sq ft. (not including land) out near Fredericksburg. They could easily have built a 'passable' house for $55/sq. ft. I do not know what building costs are in CA, but they just aren't that high here. I know they have gone up since then, but it is still relatively reasonable.

[midnightbirdgirl]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Most tax websites break down the cost of a piece of property into two categories - land value and improvemnet value. A typical lot in Austin (but not downtown) is probably between $20-$40k. A nice house in Austin typically runs between $100 - $125/sq. ft. (including land value). The big difference will be land value....there are still 1000's and 1000's of acres of undeveloped hill county land, so the competition over a property is limited....if the price is too high, move 100 feet down the road.... Of course, there are expensive areas where the land is worth $1MM for a plot....

About 7 years ago, my folks built a 2300 sq ft custom home for ~$65/sq ft. (not including land) out near Fredericksburg. They could easily have built a 'passable' house for $55/sq. ft. I do not know what building costs are in CA, but they just aren't that high here. I know they have gone up since then, but it is still relatively reasonable.

A new home about where I live 75 miles from LA is about $300/square foot, but lots are often only about 6500 sqft total.
MBG

[midnightbirdgirl]

Originally Posted by LastDallasNative

Californians are willing to pay for "the ocean and the mountains and the Cal-Mex and the In-N-Outs and the Taco Bells and the Trader Joe's and the SoCal culture and the NoCal culture and the SoCal car culture and Arnold."

That is the difference.

It is so not what you think it is.
Maybe 20 years ago, that was CA, but you have brought into the media representation of CA...
You maybe took one trip here and you think you know SoCali...the difference is we live here, and we know the reality, you don't!

MBG

[Trainwreck20]

A new home about where I live 75 miles from LA is about $300/square foot, but lots are often only about 6500 sqft total.
MBG

but how much is the HOUSE, withouth the land? The house may be very similarly priced it the land was only $30k instead of 200k or whatever the lot costs. I guess my point is that the houses don't really cost that much different, but the land does.

[wilkermoo]

Yes I know that we have the ocean (which I have not visited in the last 5-6 years maybe) and the mountains, but it is a pretty hefty price to pay. I agree that there is also cost of living and quality of life to consider. If you cant afford to even go shopping at Trader Joes or In & Out burger than what good is it. I find those to be odd things to bring up as advantages to living here.

California has a lot to offer, but it is overcrowded and overpriced. I know a lot of people that love CA and would never leave, but there are other people who just cant see paying this much to live here and having a life. If you move about 75 miles outside of San Francisco to Patterson, CA you might still pay $400,000 for a 3 bed/2 bath 1500 sq ft home and it is not going to be anywhere near the beaches or Mountains. So if this is what is affordable how does that measure up against moving to a state like Texas. What culture is there in Patterson, CA?

[Spookmeister]

For all the questions posted here asking about shopping,restaurants, culture, amenities, e.t.c, you'd get the idea that everyone indulges in these things 24/7. I know people that live in Denver, haven't gone skiing in years and have no idea when they might. I know people that live on Mustang island by Corpus Christi (the beach)!, that haven't set foot in the ocean in years and consider the summer tourists more a nuisance than anything!
As far as they're concerned, the mountains and ocean are just part of their daily landscape, no different than the vast corn fields of Kansas.
I think that's what vacation travels is for, visiting the scenic, enjoying the difference then spending the rest of the year dreaming about what a great life it would be to live in those locales. That's just my opinion...

I forgot the poll! I'd use 100K to buy a house in nowhere Oklahoma and use the rest for vacations to TX and CA the rest of my life!