Another one of those annoying relocation posts...

[sliverbox]

Ya,
I'm aware of the taxes, which is another reason if I were to move there, the house would have to be cheap. The tax on a 250k house would be about the same that I pay for my rent in the Bay Area. ( lived in same placer since 2003). On the other hand, my parents live in TN and pay only around $1,200 a year for their 18 acre, 200k property.

The ONLY reason I'm thinking Austin is because as mentioned, there's not a ton of cities that have the work that I do in them. Its either NYC( way too expensive) SF, ( also way too expensive), LA ( I dislike it for obvious reasons), or Dallas, which I might also consider. That or we elect to move somewhere even cheaper and get crappy little jobs and just buy a house and be done with it.

Austin seems to be gettin' a little on the hip side from what I read. Then again, that's just what I read. I have no desire to live in another tech bubble area where everyone moves in and prices out everyone except for the super wealthy. Thats what happened in SF, and it is ugly. I guess the high taxes in TX is a mixed blessing: If prices get too high, home owners get screwed. So I guess that might curb some of the value enthusiasm. Out here in CA, we have Prop 13, which protects existing homeowners against rising RE taxes, which means there's a lot of old folks now living in million dollar homes that they only pay $800 a year on. Thus they all want their homes to be worth more and more.

Anyhow, I suspect Austin is gonna get hit by the housing bust pretty good too. I know my home state is finally feeling it, and everyone there said that they never had a bubble.

[Grizzled]

Is still affordable and near the domain which will have Light Rail soon.

[Trainwreck20]

I guess the high taxes in TX is a mixed blessing: If prices get too high, home owners get screwed. So I guess that might curb some of the value enthusiasm.

Actually, I think this is dead-on. Also, homeowners can often deduct part of their taxes (if you itemize on your federal return), so you end up getting 20-25% back in tax write-offs UNLESS you have the property as an investment property. I personally think (although I have not real info to back it up) that the high taxes make investment property a much more expensive proposition - which has kept the hordes of investors from buying everthing up at ridiculous prices...

[austin-steve]

Anyhow, I suspect Austin is gonna get hit by the housing bust pretty good too. I know my home state is finally feeling it, and everyone there said that they never had a bubble.

You are right, Austin is not immune to the effects of the national real estate bubble, but things really are in fact not bad here. Sales are down by about 25% but prices, for the most part, are holding steady or rising somewhat. It's very location specific and house specific though. Buyers have a lot to pick from, but even so, most of our buyers find that only one or two strong candidate homes can be found, and the chances of running into a stubborn seller who is priced too high is still fairly common. So, though we are slow, it's certainly not cherry pickin' time, unless you are patient and have a wide set of criteria.

Steve

[atlanta hope]

Atlanta may not be a bad choice for you -- there is plenty of work here. You'll find properties you can afford intown but they'll be fixer uppers and you'll have some crime issues. Or you can live out in the burbs and deal with the traffic. I enjoyed Atlanta for years but now we have a kid and want a better family environment and more outdoor activities. You can DM me if you have Atlanta questions, I've lived here since 1993 in a bunch of different areas.

[NC_newcomer]

What is the zip for Crestview?

I'm planning to relocate from Raleigh/Cary for family reasons. I will be looking west of I-35 for $300K or under, small (bungalow fine!). I like the Sunset Valley area. Of course, I like Clarksville and Hyde Park, but I'm not delusional.

NWHills is a great location (I was a kid there when it was the "new" subdivision, pre-MoPac), but houses are way too large for my needs (1500 sq or smaller).


Silverbox -- you will get a lot more house for the $$ here than Austin. Traffic here is awful--infrastructure can't handle the growth. But like Austin the area has never really gone into an economic slump/housing slump.

Property taxes are low, but the state income tax begins at 7.5% and there is a sales tax ranging from 2.5% (food) to 7.75% (everything else) on EVERYTHING. You really need to calculate your annual tax bill across the board before making a decision.

[Mike78613]

Silverbox - for homes, lets not compare prices. How much for a home / mortgage payment do you want to pay?

I know when people come here and say "OH WOW!! Look $180K gets me two-story home with 2-car garage and 4 bedrooms thats over 2000 sq ft!".

Due to higher property taxes here in Texas, you might be shocked what you pay per month then looking @ the price tag on the home itself.

I learned for homes it's very important to look at the payment. Its not like purchasing a car......

[sliverbox]

The fact that we're definitely in a recession, or close to it tells me that regardless of where you live, the housing market is going to suffer. Housing busts are a trickle-down effect. Like I mentioned, everyone in Nashville said that it was too cheap to be a bubble and that they were a-ok. Not so now.

The thing going for Austin is that it has a fairly healthy image in the eyes of young professionals. The generic thought I hear from people here is: " well... SF is too expensive, but I can always move to Portland or Austin!" But a lot of those folks, as mentioned, haven't got a clue about the weather, the high taxes, and the job market there.I just get this feeling that a lot of them move there because they've " heard" that its progressive and liberal as well as tech-friendly. I also bet that a lot of people who moved there were selling homes first before moving in. They can't do that as easily.

I've looked at Atlanta. Its insane what you can get there for 100k or less. We're talking nice homes too. But as a kid, when we went to visit relatives there, we dreaded the traffic. Then again, I lived in the sticks back then and now live in the SF Bay Area, which has AWFUL traffic. Maybe its not so bad in comparison.