Dumb questions from a Yankee (Austin, Spring: for sale, insurance, mortgage)

[NHDeb]

There is a possibility that we may be looking at relocation to the Austin area later this year.
I am born and bred New England (MA & NH), and am both excited and terrified at the thought of moving.

Does anyone have any insight into how drastic the shock of change from NH to TX might be?

Here in NH we have about 2000sqft house on almost 1 acre. Trees, shrubs, grass, good size yard for the kids to play. Fairly quiet neighborhood. Nothing in nature that will hurt us - other than the normal bee sting or mosquito bite. We have a dog and a cat. Our 3 kids are all home schooled, so we don't have any concerns about district issues, other than potential tax impact.
Our home-owners insurance runs about $300-400 per year for full replacement. Property taxes are about $5,500-6,000/year. Water is about $250-300 per year, electric is about $2000/year and our heat/hot-water fuel cost is about $1,800/year.

Ideally we would be looking for a 4 bedroom home, over an acre of land, landscaped, safe and fairly quiet. Commuting distance of 45-1hr to Austin for my husband. Is this even realistic?

Thanks for any insight/opinions offered.

[gigi927]

Depending on your housing budget, anything is realistic! What is your budget?

[NHDeb]

I suppose that more depends on the mortgage rates in TX.

Before this possibility of major relocation came up, we had been considering a move within NH and were looking at houses in the 300-400k range, with 4 bdrms and an acre to as much as 5 acres of land.

[achtungpv]

That budget will get a nice house on 1+ acre in Dripping Springs or Buda. Depending on location, you'll be 30-45 minutes from downtown at rush hour.

[traceyr13]

Hi - I was pretty much a lifelong New Englander (MA and RI) before moving to TX in June 2006. It WAS a big culture shock at first, although now I'm a huge Austin fan and plan on staying here to raise my kids for the forseeable future (I had a few months there where I was ready to pack up and head back to Yankee country!)

Feel free to ask me questions about the culture shock or PM me!

[jennyb315]

there are a few houses for sale in Grand Mesa in Crystal Falls (just barely north of Cedar Park in Leander) in the upper part of your price range -- I think most of them are on 1+ acres and a few of them have pools as well. Taxes are going to be double or more than you're paying right now but should you decide to send your kids to public school, so far, I've been quite happy with the schools.
Best of luck to you!!

[jak]

Hi,

We moved to Austin 2 years ago after living north of Boston for 13+ years. There are pros and cons to both areas. The biggest adjustment for me was getting used to not having a cute New England town center with a library, church, bagle shop, bank, hair stylist, easy access to beaches, etc. . I still miss all that and our friends. But if I were to go back to Boston I would miss the weather, our neighborhood full of kids, the new friends we are making, my child's school, Austin's constant events for adults and families, not to mention that to drive into Austin is so easy (even if it takes 30 minutes from where I live). I would not miss the property taxes though!

Feel free to contact me for more input.

[NHDeb]

Thanks for the comments so far - I'm sure my ignorance is obvious about TX in general.

I have grave fear of horrid creatures (I've been reading other threads about ants, bugs, snakes) and am freaked at that idea.

We are not overly social people by nature (think private Yankee -keep to ourselves), so are not looking for much in the way of neighborhood events, etc. My husband is a runner and tri-athlete, so outdoor activities are good. Hiking, etc. We also have a pop-up camper, but may not want to move that.

Double our property taxes? Why?
What would possibly justify 10-12k in property taxes on a 300-400k home? YIKES!

[Eric3000]

Don't worry. Here in Austin, there are only about 3 or 4 children eaten by wild animals per month. Of course, the number is bit higher in the suburbs. Watch out for the deer and chiggers, however. They are particulary vicious.

[Trainwreck20]

Double our property taxes? Why?
What would possibly justify 10-12k in property taxes on a 300-400k home? YIKES!

Property Tax in Austin is 2.7%, mainly due to schools being funded by property tax instead of the (nonexistent) state income tax.

Our home-owners insurance runs about $300-400 per year for full replacement. Property taxes are about $5,500-6,000/year. Water is about $250-300 per year, electric is about $2000/year and our heat/hot-water fuel cost is about $1,800/year.

We own a ~8 y/o 2,300 sqft home (Newmark). I just checked our bills online (isn't tech wonderful?)
Home Ins = ~$775 (on ~210k appaisal value) or about 0.35%
Prop Tax = ~$5,400 (same appraisal minus HS exemption)

For Utilities:
Water = $465 (watering system, corner lot, and last year was dry..$360 the previous year)
Elec. = $1380 (and wife was pregnant and we kept it COLD)
Gas = $685 (heating/cooking/hot water, but no clothes dryer)
Other fees = $360 (garbage pick-up, 'drainage' fee, waste water, etc)
Total utilities = $2,890 or around ~$240/month