Do I Wait Out This Crazy Market? (Houston, Dallas: crime rate, new home)

[Taub201]

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site
Irvine, San Diego and San Jose average a 77 COL index vs. 65.66 for Dallas. Those areas are 17% more than Dallas.

[EonBlueSyZ]

Originally Posted by Taub201

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

Irvine, San Diego and San Jose average a 77 COL index vs. 65.66 for Dallas. Those areas are 17% more than Dallas.

From their definition of cost of living:

Cost of Living Index (Excl. Rent) is a relative indicator of consumer goods prices, including groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities. Cost of Living Index does not include accommodation expenses such as rent or mortgage. If a city has a Cost of Living Index of 120, it means has estimated it is 20% more expensive than New York (excluding rent).

So they completely ignore rent and mortgage, which is the highest 'cost of living' that a person has.

Maybe I need to use a different term than 'cost of living', but that site is incredibly disingenuous. To ignore the ridiculous cost of housing in certain areas and then claim that, because everything else is only relatively more expensive, that those areas are comparable cost of living, is borderline disinformation / misinformation

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by Leonard123

If people are working from home, then there's no need to move where the jobs are.

DFW is not even in the top 5 real estate markets right now. Even so, I live in Mckinney. I thought it was bad, but Prosper is even worse. It's still way out in the sticks in my opinion and lacks an adequate road system.

You live in McKinney but you don't seem to know that McKinney and Prosper border each other, and that there are parts of McKinney that are further north than any part of Prosper?


I'll agree with you on the roads... for now. We're in the same spot with roads that McKinney was 5 years ago.

[biafra4life]

Originally Posted by nissan

100%.

We moved from Philadelphia 6 years ago despite never having set foot in Dallas before. Born/raised in the northeast with most of my family and friends still there. Surely, Philly and the northeast has a much better vibe (IMO), more energy, better restaurants, shore/beaches in driving distance, access to 3 major cities within few hours drive (each w their own uniqueness) etc. But, it comes down to pure #s analysis for many people, incl. myself.

Since moving here, my wife and I have had great opportunities to move to Cali, Boston and Philly. We've turned down each opportunity bc it is super hard to justify. We love So. Cal (go there 2-3x/year usually for leisure), but I'm not moving there just bc the weather is better.

Yeah my brother and his wife live in the Los Angeles area. The wife rides her bike to work, my brother drives but he takes the ocean highway (i forget the exact name) so he has arguably the most scenic drive to work ever. Weather of course is fabulous and the beach is 5 minutes away.
Of course, they also lived in a cramped no frills studio apartment that cost nearly $3K a month, before they finally bought what can best be described as a fixer upper here in Texas for $700K in a place called Westwood, not the fanciest part of town. They are still pretty young (he just turned 30) but they have already accepted that when they want to have kids they are going to have to move out of Cali. Like you said, the incredible weather cant compensate for the real quality of life issues you will have out there.

[texstout]

Originally Posted by EonBlueSyZ

Your post points back to why I'll never be successful in business, real estate, or real life:

People make no sense to me.

How am I supposed to invest in stocks, understand human psychology, build wealth and financial security via real estate, etc. when people don't follow logic or reason and instead follow emotion?

You can pick 1,000 markets in the country that have a great location, great surroundings, great schools, great weather, etc. and nobody wants to live there because it's Montana or Maine or Michigan.

Then you pick 1,000 markets that are over-crowded, congested, over-priced, nothing to write home about, and everyone wants to live there because it's CA or NYC or FL.

Shrug

Logic is having different priorities. It doesn't necessarily mean emotion. I live in Dallas because of family reasons. We have good jobs here, but could just as easily have the exact same jobs as most anywhere else. That said, I would love to live in CA or NYC. I would never live in Prosper, McKinney, or any of those popular suburbs. I don't value large new builds nor bedroom communities. I value proximity to non-chain restaurants, arts, established trees etc. That is not to say that my values (housing) are any better or worse than anyone else. Because of my family needs and housing values, its logical to live where I live. That doesn't mean its pure emotion.

[SingleGuy28]

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

Anyone who wants to speculate on how the markets will go should spend more time speaking to Mortgage Brokers and less time speaking to Real Estate agents (No offense). Because as far as the actual real estate goes - no-one can fully predict what one single home will sell for the next year.

But one can somewhat predict is consumer behavior driven by mortgage interest rates. And that is a much bigger driver of home purchase behavior than people on this thread give it credit for. As many investors and transplants as there are buying homes with cash etc, the vast majority of homes are still sold the traditional way, with an 80/20 mortgage or your everyday FHA USDA, Construction loan, etc.

Reviewing THOSE trends for your area (New mortgage applications, refinance data, etc) should give you a more educated guess on how many people you are likely to be competing with for a home in your area than neighborhood (and realtor) anecdotes about individual sales.

Best post on this thread.

[tewest86]

Originally Posted by Katana49

Aren't you the guy who said he's physically incapable of traveling anywhere to look at real estate?


Trust me, I've lived in nice areas in other states, there are very good reasons why people from all over are moving here. At this point, I'd only want to live in TX, AZ, or another country.

People forget about Location, Location, Location. It's a reason why properties are cheaper here than LA. In LA you are a drive away from the beach, skiing, or hiking. You have a world class city with more to offer than the entire state of Tx (food, culture, nightlife, etc.). You also have weather that's better than just about any place in Texas. I get a kick when people compare a house in LA to any stripmall suburb in Tx. It's not the same.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by EonBlueSyZ

From their definition of cost of living:

Cost of Living Index (Excl. Rent) is a relative indicator of consumer goods prices, including groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities. Cost of Living Index does not include accommodation expenses such as rent or mortgage. If a city has a Cost of Living Index of 120, it means has estimated it is 20% more expensive than New York (excluding rent).

So they completely ignore rent and mortgage, which is the highest 'cost of living' that a person has.

Maybe I need to use a different term than 'cost of living', but that site is incredibly disingenuous. To ignore the ridiculous cost of housing in certain areas and then claim that, because everything else is only relatively more expensive, that those areas are comparable cost of living, is borderline disinformation / misinformation

Beat me to it. Within the context of this thread that series is not very helpful.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by tewest86

People forget about Location, Location, Location. It's a reason why properties are cheaper here than LA. In LA you are a drive away from the beach, skiing, or hiking. You have a world class city with more to offer than the entire state of Tx (food, culture, nightlife, etc.). You also have weather that's better than just about any place in Texas. I get a kick when people compare a house in LA to any stripmall suburb in Tx. It's not the same.

I get a kick out of people who play that game. If it's so great why are people leaving?

[tewest86]

Originally Posted by EDS_

I get a kick out of people who play that game. If it's so great why are people leaving?

Maybe because everyone can't afford to live there. This still doesn't disprove my point. It's a reason land there is more costly than Tx. By you thinking, a Camry is better than a MB S Class because more people buy a Camry and can afford it. You get what you pay for. I work with 3 people that recently left Orange County and moved to Houston. They all agree that it's cheaper but it ain't no Cali. You don't have the world class restaurants, attractions, event, etc.

I just looked up the top World cities and most influential cities. LA and San Francisco were in the top 20. I didn't see any city from Texas even mentioned.