If Texas is soo great, why is it so cheap? (Houston: real estate, property taxes)

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by TraciK

I live in ND and if someone got land and a house for $67,000 the house is very old not worth much and you can bet there is nothing around them. Houses in town are very expensive! A $200,000 house around here doesn't get you much. And the weather so sucks! I hate it here! My husband is military and retiring this summer and we are out of here!!

The poster had photos on the thread. It looked great, not a mansion, but extremely nice. No there is nothing around them because that's what they wanted, clean living, and a great place to raise kids. It appealed to me because that's what I like as well.

I wouldn't like the cold weather though either.

[victoriana]

Those of us who live in Texas know darn well the above poster was right - its tons of illegal cheap labor flooding Texas that businesses adore - that is why there are so many jobs, people. Also, my state does everything it can taxwise to encourage businesses to move here. I know lots of business owners who moved to Texas (would rather be in a place like Montana cuz of lower population and quality of life) BUT will tell you that its the abundance of cheap labor and the tax structure that brought them here. Its a give and take situation, however. People move out of Texas also. There are many many native Texans that have moved to Oregon, Washington, Montana, Colorado the last ten years. I think if you like summer weather (and we do NOT have bunches of bugs like Herbert said) and the Mexican culture everywhere, you'll love Texas. I think that about sums it up.

[victoriana]

Oh yes and another poster was so right also when she said that its so true that developers have done AMAZING things with scrub land. They can take an area that looks like nothing and make it a gated community full of trees, amazing greenery, etc. Austin and DFW have gorgeous places!!!!

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by victoriana

Those of us who live in Texas know darn well the above poster was right - its tons of illegal cheap labor flooding Texas that businesses adore - that is why there are so many jobs, people. Also, my state does everything it can taxwise to encourage businesses to move here. I know lots of business owners who moved to Texas (would rather be in a place like Montana cuz of lower population and quality of life) BUT will tell you that its the abundance of cheap labor and the tax structure that brought them here. Its a give and take situation, however. People move out of Texas also. There are many many native Texans that have moved to Oregon, Washington, Montana, Colorado the last ten years. I think if you like summer weather (and we do NOT have bunches of bugs like Herbert said) and the Mexican culture everywhere, you'll love Texas. I think that about sums it up.

Really?!?!?! As a business owner in Dallas I've never hired an illegal. I'd be willing to bet that most of the businesses we deal w/ don't either. But then again I'm talking legit businesses that have many federal & state regulations that must be followed w/ employees holding different licenses from many different gov't agencies. Tax structure? You don't own a business do you? While our states taxes may be better on businesses than some it is not THAT cheap. Businesses pay property taxes too and just like homeowners if the property values are not as high as other areas they get a savings. That is the end of the line when it comes to savings for businesses concerning taxes. Otherwise we have some state taxes on businesses that other states don't.

Overall I'd say the biggest reasons for businesses to locate in the D/FW or Houston area are:
1. Good location midway in the country w/ easy access to either the west or east coast and international destinations. Since the weather is moderate we don't see the airports shut down like you will in the northeast or midwest.
2. Large base of employes and not unskilled illegal employees but rather a large base of highly educated individuals.
3. Tax incentives to move to an area. This is in the form of tax abatements that one receives on their property taxes w/ the city/county/school district. These are on a sliding scale that typically last for 5 years.
4. Moderate weather. Again it is not freezing cold nor hot all the time. We have some winter and summer. Texas is a large state and not all if it is hotter than hell all the time.
5. Cost of living. This is for the business and their employees. Afterall the business owners/presidents are also living in the area and their money can go farther too in this state.

Just a few reasons why businesses chose to locate in Texas.

[montevista1]

there is lots of land to develop. property tax is insane.

[Diamond Dee]

The only thing I remember being cheap was the grocries at Heb. and houses it depends where in tx you may be.

[Ang_ann73]

????Wow since when does Texas not have a coast???

Originally Posted by Roma

Hi,

Texas is a less desirable place to live (location). Which keeps the housing prices down.

Look at Hawaii. It is so expensive to own a home there (I have family living there). There is no real job market yet homes are highly priced. That is because Hawaii is a desirable place to live.

People prefer to live on the coasts, the east coast and the west coast. It seems all the states in the middle of the country are cheap compared to coastal states. The closer you get to the water the more you pay.

[Roma]

Come on, cut me some slack. LOL

To be fair, I did say EAST and WEST coast.

Then I guess you could ask yourself, why is real estate on Texas's gulf coast so cheap? It is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, waterfronts for real estate. So back to the OP's original question....

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Roma

Come on, cut me some slack. LOL

To be fair, I did say EAST and WEST coast.

Then I guess you could ask yourself, why is real estate on Texas's gulf coast so cheap? It is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, waterfronts for real estate. So back to the OP's original question....

Just in case you aren't joking around,

1 - There is a lot of it
2 - Other than Galveston, it's not close to the major population centers
3 - Transportation infrastructure -- there is no highway or even road along the whole coast, probably due to above
4 - Property tax rate makes all TX property appear cheaper

[NOTAM]

i believe that i am correct when saying that MANY military retirees choose to settle in Texas because Texas does not tax their retirement pay.........