If Texas is soo great, why is it so cheap? (Houston: mortgage, environment)

[Yetti0]

Tx doesn't need to hyp itself in Movie fantasies... We are what we are! Too often people believe what they see in films or the entertainment world. Define glamour?

Tx does not push itself, so we did not have tons of people moving here. However, that is changing. I am not going out of my way to convince anyone to move here. I rather people discover Tx because they want to.. not because they want a quick buck or imagine some false lifestyle. Tx is what you want it to be. Hence prices are low because we don't advertise.

Contrary to the saying you get what you pay for.. I know a lot of folks who bought over priced housing in other states who should have been careful what they wished for... They have an investment that is losing major$$$$.

Texas has land.... so the cost of housing is basically the cost of the building in the suburbs or countryside.. when you get to the posh areas of the major cities.. that changes... its major $$$ like anywhere else.

[mpope409]

Originally Posted by Yetti0

Tx doesn't need to hyp itself in Movie fantasies... We are what we are! Too often people believe what they see in films or the entertainment world. Define glamour?

Well, actually, how often a place is seen on television really is half of what makes it popular. New York would not be as glamorous as it is nowadays if Hollywood wasn't in love with the city and depicted it as so. Several films have been shot in Dallas and Houston (who has more to come) but not enough to make them very popular.

[graffixjones]

Originally Posted by Yetti0

Tx doesn't need to hyp itself in Movie fantasies... We are what we are! Too often people believe what they see in films or the entertainment world. Define glamour?

Dang... you mean the Texas Rangers don't roundhouse kick people in the face?

Now I'm sorely disappointed...

[LookingtoLeave]

Okay, I may sound dumb asking this, but I have always lived in apartments. I have heard from friends who own houses and they say we have some of the worst property taxes in TX. If that is the case, doesn't it cancel out the low cost of the house or is the tax not that significant?

Also, this ? is for those from CA....isn't the housing market supposed to become better over the next few years. I have considered relocating to SoCal and would after 3-4 years like to buy a house. Is it getting better or am I living in a fantasy world?

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by LookingtoLeave

Okay, I may sound dumb asking this, but I have always lived in apartments. I have heard from friends who own houses and they say we have some of the worst property taxes in TX. If that is the case, doesn't it cancel out the low cost of the house or is the tax not that significant?

Not really. There is a thread under "Dallas" I believe titled "Taxes" that several of us from the Dallas area and others in other states incl. CA have posted what they pay. Believe it or not our taxes are not any higher than other states if you base it on what the house is worth today. In places like California where you have Prop. 13 the people that bought their house years and years ago are paying property taxes based on what they paid and the newcomer is getting screwed. Same w/ Florida. This is why so many are having a hard time selling. When you add it all up you find that in order to have a good functioning society where everyone gets the benefits they need (kids or young families get good public schools, parks are well taken care of for all ages, seniors have community centers that are above par and active, emergency services are topnotch, libraries are great for all ages, etc). It boils down to you get what you pay for when it comes to property taxes. I've heard the argument about "granny getting taxed out of her house". I've got retired parents and inlaws and I saw my grandparents live well into their golden years along w/ great grandparents. Not one single one of them ever or has ever dealt w/ the possibility of losing their house because of property taxes. Why? Because they had no desire to run out and buy the biggest house they could. They lived within their means and for most of them the house was paid for and the taxes were not that much. They did not need some 2.2 million dollar house or 6000 sq feet when they were in their 70's. Instead they downsized more than anything because of upkeep and wanting to spend their time on other things.

[davidt1]

I think Prop. 13 is how property tax should be. Your tax should be based on the price you paid for the your house, not its current value. The way it is in Texas, if you don't have a good job for six months, you will probably lose your house because of the tax burden (assuming you own a modest 200k home). I will be moving to Houston, but I shudder when I think about the property tax there.

[graffixjones]

Originally Posted by davidt1

I think Prop. 13 is how property tax should be. Your tax should be based on the price you paid for the your house, not its current value. The way it is in Texas, if you don't have a good job for six months, you will probably lose your house because of the tax burden (assuming you own a modest 200k home). I will be moving to Houston, but I shudder when I think about the property tax there.

While that sounds good in theory, in practice it's an extremely unfair tax structure.

Now if you're only selling your property 10-15 years down the road for exactly what you paid for it, then Prop. 13 is perfectly acceptable. But take a look at current home values in California, and you'll see that people own homes worth probably 3x-4x what they paid for them, which they will sell for that amount, yet they're only paying taxes on the original value.

You can have two completely equal-value homes right next door to each other, and one party is paying $600/yr in taxes (for example) while the other is paying $6,000. Now if you're the person paying $6,000, does it feel fair to you?

California is the richest state in the nation, yet right now we're still strapped for cash at the state level. And of course it's the public education system that's suffering the most, because that always seems to be where the cuts are made. Before Prop. 13, the public education system was financed through property taxes.

[nooneknowsmyname]

Originally Posted by graffixjones

While that sounds good in theory, in practice it's an extremely unfair tax structure.

Now if you're only selling your property 10-15 years down the road for exactly what you paid for it, then Prop. 13 is perfectly acceptable. But take a look at current home values in California, and you'll see that people own homes worth probably 3x-4x what they paid for them, which they will sell for that amount, yet they're only paying taxes on the original value.

You can have two completely equal-value homes right next door to each other, and one party is paying $600/yr in taxes (for example) while the other is paying $6,000. Now if you're the person paying $6,000, does it feel fair to you?

California is the richest state in the nation, yet right now we're still strapped for cash at the state level. And of course it's the public education system that's suffering the most, because that always seems to be where the cuts are made. Before Prop. 13, the public education system was financed through property taxes.

I completely agree about the inequitable tax situation with respect to California property taxes. In my neighborhood in the SF Bay Area, there are people who paid 12-14K for their houses in the mid 60s and because their property taxes were frozen under Prop 13 are paying next to nothing on their houses which are now worth 550-600K. Their neighbors, who purchased their houses in the late 90s and early 2000s at prices ranging from 500-600K are paying substantially higher property taxes. And all receive the same benefits. Meanwhile the schools in California, which is a very rich state, are suffering from lack of funds and California schools, once some of the best in the US, are now among the worst.

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by graffixjones

Dang... you mean the Texas Rangers don't roundhouse kick people in the face?

Now I'm sorely disappointed...

And there was no J.R. Ewing depicting the pretentious and evil ones.

[Mike78613]

I never really thought Austin or homes in Texas are cheap in price. If you look at the avg price of a home; say here in Austin forabout $150K, the property taxes per year is ruffly around $4000.00. Now, w/o interest that payment per 12 months is around $333.00, then a mortgage payment around $850-$900.

~ Now, if you look at other cities say Colorado Springs, yes there homes that are comparable to ours @ the 150K is about 400K, but the property taxes are no where near $4000 a year. It is like $1400 a year. So at that to the mortgage payment. I never ran the numbers, but I assume that a home here in Austin is $150K is like 300K is other cities that have lower property taxes. Now, this does make-up for the fact that in Texas we don't have State Taxes, but still it's not really cheaper to live here IMHO.