any New Jersey to Austin transplants? (Round Rock, Spring: to rent, car insurance, townhouse)

[Campbell21]

just wondering. We're in mid relocation talks...it's freaking me out! the company in Austin is REALLY pushing for a fast move! Exciting but a little disconcerting. I'ms interested to know if there are any NJ to Austin folks out there and if so, how are you doing? Enjoying the new location? How was the move?

I'm actually a Texan by birth...but it's been a long long time. I know that a big part of me is ready to come on home...I think it's the process of moving that is scaring me!

any words of wisdom from those who have done it?

thanks!!!

[Astrolaura]

I can't really help you but we're about to do the same thing. We're in the early stages of relocating from Middletown, NJ to a small town (undecided as of yet) outside of Austin. We just can't stomach the $10K property taxes on our modest home anymore, among other reasons for leaving.

You're not alone is being a bit scared and a bit excited. It is a big move.

Best of luck to you.

[Campbell21]

Originally Posted by Astrolaura

I can't really help you but we're about to do the same thing. We're in the early stages of relocating from Middletown, NJ to a small town (undecided as of yet) outside of Austin. We just can't stomach the $10K property taxes on our modest home anymore, among other reasons for leaving.

You're not alone is being a bit scared and a bit excited. It is a big move.

Best of luck to you.

aren't the taxes here just SICK?! Truly...it's just so wrong. I do not know how anybody affords to live here. Have you found yourself staring in shock at the cost of housing Texas and wondering what the catch is? For what we paid for a townhouse here we could be living in a massive house in a gated community on a golf course in Texas. It's crazy. We can buy a lovely home, in a nice town and be able to save money at the same time! What a concept!!!

I'm a Texan by birth. It's a wonderful state. The people can't be beat! Hands down one of my favorite things about Texas is the people. It's just been such a long time. I swear, I've been living in a place where we have to fight just to breathe...with a six figure salary. it's slightly mind warping. i'm hoping that my fear is product of my current environment!

Best of luck to you as well!!!!

[Astrolaura]

Originally Posted by Campbell21

aren't the taxes here just SICK?! Truly...it's just so wrong. I do not know how anybody affords to live here. Have you found yourself staring in shock at the cost of housing Texas and wondering what the catch is? For what we paid for a townhouse here we could be living in a massive house in a gated community on a golf course in Texas. It's crazy. We can buy a lovely home, in a nice town and be able to save money at the same time! What a concept!!!

I'm a Texan by birth. It's a wonderful state. The people can't be beat! Hands down one of my favorite things about Texas is the people. It's just been such a long time. I swear, I've been living in a place where we have to fight just to breathe...with a six figure salary. it's slightly mind warping. i'm hoping that my fear is product of my current environment!

Best of luck to you as well!!!!

You're preaching to the choir lol A six-figure salary doesn't go very far in NJ. It's the taxes, the utility companies (who all raised their rates by 13-20% this year) the car insurance rates, the cost of housing, the traffic congestion, etc. Even if we downsized our house (assuming we could find a cheaper house) we wouldn't save much money and we'd be a lot farther from work, and the taxes would still be crippling.

I'm astounded at what $200K will buy you on the outskirts of Austin. A nice house on LOTS of LAND. If we expanded our budget to $300K we could buy a palace! If we keep the budget to around $200K we'll be paying less than half of what we're currently paying. We could put money away for retirement. Imagine that!

I just can't wait to get out of here. Sure, I'll miss living 5 minutes from the ocean, I'll miss the heck out of the snow, but I won't miss much else. The Austin area has everything we want/need for a price that makes me happy happy.

[mark311]

I'm not sure if I would call the property taxes in Texas cheap. That $200K house in the outskirts of Austin will still probably have property taxes between $5000 and $6000 per year. Bump it up to a $300K house and the property taxes could be in the $7000 to $8000 range. You definitely need to account for property taxes here when you're setting your budget for a home.

[Astrolaura]

Originally Posted by mark311

I'm not sure if I would call the property taxes in Texas cheap. That $200K house in the outskirts of Austin will still probably have property taxes between $5000 and $6000 per year. Bump it up to a $300K house and the property taxes will probably be in the $7000 to $8000 range. You definitely need to account for property taxes here when you're setting your budget for a home.

Well, cheap is relative, I see $5000 a year in taxes and think it's cheap compared to the $10,000 we're paying now. My husband still thinks that's too high. I've been working with my friend who is a realtor in Austin. She's giving us the skinny on property taxes on any house we're interested in. Mostly we're looking at $2500-4000 a year in taxes. If we find a house we love and find the taxes are $5000 or more, we promptly remove it from the wish list. I absolutely fell in love with a house in Leander then found out the taxes were $6700, I had to let it go. Even if we pay $4000 a year, they're less than half of what we're paying now. We're definitely taking taxes into account in a big way.

We're talking far outskirts of Austin, well outside of city limits, Cedar Creek, Elgin, Taylor, Dripping Springs, Bastrop, etc.

[CarnivalGal]

I'm not from Jersey, but I'm from just across the river in Philly.

I like Austin. I can't say that I love it, but I like it.

The cost of living is definitely lower. EVERYTHING is cheaper - taxes, housing, college, insurance. For those who don't know, NJ has the highest tax rate in the country. Of course, everyone here complains about how expensive everything is.

You will miss the ocean. There are lakes here, but it's just not the same. I really wish my kids could spend summers on the boardwalk like I did.

Our seasons are hot, really hot, you've got to be freakin' kidding me, and tolerable. You will definitely miss seasons.

The pizza here sucks. But there's great Mexican food.

You have to drive everywhere.

Austin is not a big city. Not sure where you are in Jersey, but you are either close to Philly or NYC. Be aware that Austin does not have museums, zoos, parks, shows, or activities (like parades) that you are used to. Don't get me wrong, we have them, but they really don't even compare.

Oh, and you have to pump your own gas here.

[Astrolaura]

Originally Posted by mm57553

You will miss the ocean. There are lakes here, but it's just not the same. I really wish my kids could spend summers on the boardwalk like I did.

Our seasons are hot, really hot, you've got to be freakin' kidding me, and tolerable. You will definitely miss seasons.

The pizza here sucks. But there's great Mexican food.

You have to drive everywhere.

Austin is not a big city. Not sure where you are in Jersey, but you are either close to Philly or NYC. Be aware that Austin does not have museums, zoos, parks, shows, or activities (like parades) that you are used to. Don't get me wrong, we have them, but they really don't even compare.

Oh, and you have to pump your own gas here.

I will definitely miss seasons. I'll definitely miss winter. I hate the heat and will spend more months doing my heat "hibernation" in Texas than I do here. I will however like having actual money in the bank and that outweighs my dislike for the heat. Lakes don't even compare to the ocean, but it's only what a 3 hours drive to the Gulf from the Austin area? Plus we have friends on the beach in Port Aransas we can visit any weekend to get our salt water fix.

I'll miss pizza some but I like Mexican better anyway. There's not much in the way of good Mexican in our part of NJ. I'm about 90 minutes to Penn Station door to door by train, give or take. NJ Transit isn't the most reliable. We rarely go into NYC of Philly, once a year for each city, I won't miss them that much. Except maybe some high end restaurants and the museums. The big thing for us is live music, there's more in Austin then here. Parades we don't care about at all, never go to them. Won't miss it.

I have to drive to get anywhere in the suburbs of NJ. That won't change once we're there. And pumping my own gas might get me out of the gas station faster.

[vkvidal]

My husband and I are eagerly planning our relocation to Texas !!!!!! We live in northern NJ and it's a rat race all the time... we rent and what 1800 a month will get you is not much! I was looking at apt in Cedar Park , Round Rock and Austin.... I nearly fell off my chair! I could not believe what 800-1,000 will get you.
I think we are going to rent for a bit until we learn our way around and explore neighborhoods out side of Austin. I am a nurse, so I am hoping that finding a good job will not be a huge concern. We have a 1 1/2 yr old and being able to provide a nice life for her will be difficult here in NJ, the cost of livig is completely out of control and just plain ridiculous!
well I wish you all the best of luck with your moves :-)

[mark311]

Originally Posted by Astrolaura

I'll miss pizza some but I like Mexican better anyway.

I would bet that the pizza is passable here if you are from New Jersey. Saccone's claims that it's Jersey style and it's pretty good. I'm not a big fan of thin crust pizza and it seems that there is a ton of that here. Everyone raves about how good Home Slice is for New York style as well. I still haven't found a place for pizza that comes close to Pizza Port in San Diego, but again, there are a few places that are pretty good in the Austin area.

Saccones - Best Pizza in Austin!

Home Slice Pizza