Average Random costs for the dallas area... (Houston, Austin: apartment, insurance)

[mom2gurls]

Hi--got a good handles on utilities/taxes and home prices...could someone give me an idea of what these costs would be for the dallas area?

1. If we get a pool..what is the monthly maintainence. How many months a year is can the pool be used? Is it better to get a house with a pool, or buy a house an install your own (any estimates for a 15 x 30 would be..is that the average size..looking for more of a lap pool..and then have a hot tub and the end...just ideas).

2. Domestics---What is the average housekeeper make per hour...I used to use merry maids and then went private. Do they just do the basics, or will do the laundry, light food prep(chopping up the veggies and fruits, onions). If you have to go private to negotiate these, what would you pay.

3. Babysitters? Not for my older ones, just for the little one..for the occasional date night out.

4. Various toll rates (we are looking in collin county right now..but if there is a toll, how much

5. Healthcare costs for family coverage for small business (please suggest some companies if you have had good or bad experiences).

6. The "average" cost of two cars for insurance. Say a full size SUV and a sedan.

7. College costs for texas residents. I read online that TX has a "flat rate" tuition plan coming into effect for UT students...as long as you graduate in four years its approx 10k. What is the truth to that...Please share your advise on UT campuses if possible (my oldest is talking enviromental engineering or some sort of science path)...austin, dallsas, houston..any colleges that stand out? I would like to take advantage of the educational oppurtunites of a GREAT UT system. I was brought up in cali..and had several friends who went to berkley, ucla and UCSD and got a bargain because of in state tution and they are "name branded schools".




Thanks so much.

[Youngstarr]

I can only speak to a few...

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

Hi--got a good handles on utilities/taxes and home prices...could someone give me an idea of what these costs would be for the dallas area?

1. If we get a pool..what is the monthly maintainence. How many months a year is can the pool be used? Is it better to get a house with a pool, or buy a house an install your own (any estimates for a 15 x 30 would be..is that the average size..looking for more of a lap pool..and then have a hot tub and the end...just ideas).

There was a thread on this recently that went pretty in-depth into the comparison. Short answer: FAR better deal to buy a home with an existing pool. New pools in this area run around $40k-50k if I recall correctly.

6. The "average" cost of two cars for insurance. Say a full size SUV and a sedan.

Hard for me to say what the "Average" cost is. Ours (2 drivers on 2 cars) runs a little less than $500 for 6 months for high coverage.

7. College costs for texas residents. I read online that TX has a "flat rate" tuition plan coming into effect for UT students...as long as you graduate in four years its approx 10k. What is the truth to that...Please share your advise on UT campuses if possible (my oldest is talking enviromental engineering or some sort of science path)...austin, dallsas, houston..any colleges that stand out? I would like to take advantage of the educational oppurtunites of a GREAT UT system. I was brought up in cali..and had several friends who went to berkley, ucla and UCSD and got a bargain because of in state tution and they are "name branded schools".

UT-Austin is the flagship UT university and is typically considered the best of them. UT-Dallas is another excellent school, however, and I hear some of its programs are actually considered superior to UT-Austin. On the whole, however, UT-Austin is considered better.

I don't know about the tuition policy. $10k for 4 years sounds too low, though...

[stan4]

10k for four years was back in the 1990s.
Not likely today.

[mom2gurls]

Originally Posted by stan4

10k for four years was back in the 1990s.
Not likely today.

sorry..didnt realize that the bill wasnt passed...I was reading what Perry was trying to do. I did not realize that his bill wasnt passed. Anyway, do the UT's have a good reputation (I.E. like ucla, berkley)..or is it better to go private?

[stan4]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

sorry..didnt realize that the bill wasnt passed...I was reading what Perry was trying to do. I did not realize that his bill wasnt passed. Anyway, do the UT's have a good reputation (I.E. like ucla, berkley)..or is it better to go private?

It's not Harvard, but it's better than most private universities in general.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by stan4

10k for four years was back in the 1990s.
Not likely today.

I think it's closer to $15k per year now for tuition & fees. UT went to a flat-rate tuition a few years back and the website shows tuition for most degrees at / just above $5k per semester. Fees & books probably run another $2.5k per semester, depending on the program. Cost of living in Austin varies widely - depending on camps dorm, Greek life housing, private dorm, apartment, etc.

OP, the $10k degree is something our looney governor is trying to push through. I think you will likely see it implemented in satellite campuses vs the flagship schools (A&M, UT-Austin).

Also, be forewarned that about 10 years ago the state put a program into effect to diversify the college campuses that grants automatic admission to any state school for all students graduating in the top 10% of their class. At UT & A&M, there are more students applying from the top 10% than there are spots in the freshman class. This has led UT to implement a top 7% rule effective this year (was previously 8%). If your child is serious about getting into UT, he/she needs to find out what the GPA cut-off is at his new high school and place a high priority on getting grades at those high levels. In a competitive high school (Plano, Highland Park, Flower Mound, Coppell, top private schools), it is going to take an A/ A+average in a mix of AP / Honors and some "regular" classes. Making all A's in regular classes won't be enough to make the cut-off due to the extra GPA weighting of Honors and especially AP classes (often worth .5-1.0 GPA point more than the same grade in a regular class). Just want to set the Texas college admissions landscape for you.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

sorry..didnt realize that the bill wasnt passed...I was reading what Perry was trying to do. I did not realize that his bill wasnt passed. Anyway, do the UT's have a good reputation (I.E. like ucla, berkley)..or is it better to go private?

UT-Austin is a top 15 public university. Currently ranks #13. All of the major UC's rank ahead (Berkely, UCLA, Davis, San Diego, Santa Barbara, etc), but it is still considered an excellent public university on the national spectrum. The grad schools are also very well regarded - UT Law is the #11 public program / #16 overall. UT MBA ranks #5 public / #17 overall.

Within the state, the only private that is elite nationally is Rice University in Houston (#17 university). UT ranks #47 nationally, private SMU in Dallas (very similar to UCLA's campus & feel....with a $50k+ annual price tag) is #58, Texas A&M is #65, private Baylor in Waco is #77, and Fort Worth's private TCU is #92. Those are our tier 1 universities. All of them are worth a look, but academically, Rice & UT (and SMU to a growing extent since it's MBA program ranking has skyrocketed in recent years) are the top ones.

[BigDGeek]

I went to UT-Austin; it's well-regarded but it's a pretty brutal atmosphere. There is very much a 'sink or swim' mentality there which is what college should be, but it's hard to swim when the university is constantly pushing you under the water. The university was overcrowded when I was a student there and it hasn't gotten any better, and there are classes/programs with the specific agenda of flunking out freshmen.

Personally I wouldn't advise most people to go to UT for their freshman or even sophomore years. Go to a CC, get the basic core curriculum under your belt, study hard and keep a very high GPA, and transfer in as a sophomore/junior. The first year at UT is brutal and a significant percentage of that class will flunk out. UT's low retention rate pushes it down the list on some rankings. When I was a student there, I think less than 50% of the people who matriculated with me actually graduated 4 years later. The university seemed to have little interest in guiding students through the transition to college life, and there was little help unless you were from a minority group that the university was interested in retaining so their statistics would look more diverse. Basically if you were white or Asian, forget getting help. If you were black or Latino, the university wanted to keep you around. The university seemed particularly distressed by the low enrollment figures for black students; when I was a student there, we had fewer than 2k black students in a student body of around 50k.

[ChristieP]

And while we're talking about college, please keep in mind that Texas has many smaller state universities that also provide excellent educations, and are lower cost and do not have the ultra-competitive admissions process that the Division 1 schools have. Angelo State University, Sam Houston State, Stephen F Austin, Lamar, the satellite campuses of the Texas A&M system (Commerce, Canyon, Kingsville), Sul Ross, etc. All of these schools do a great job of educating, have beautiful campuses, and are much lower cost than the bigger schools.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

2. Domestics---What is the average housekeeper make per hour...I used to use merry maids and then went private. Do they just do the basics, or will do the laundry, light food prep(chopping up the veggies and fruits, onions). If you have to go private to negotiate these, what would you pay.

3. Babysitters? Not for my older ones, just for the little one..for the occasional date night out.

4. Various toll rates (we are looking in collin county right now..but if there is a toll, how much

5. Healthcare costs for family coverage for small business (please suggest some companies if you have had good or bad experiences).

Thanks so much.

2. $10-$15+ per hour.
3. $10-$15+ per hour.
4. $100-$200 a month if you commute a lot.
5. Good luck. I'd call a broker. Depends on the policy. A good one will be north of $4K or more per family.