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Whoa, what a shocker to me after reading these posts! Clarify a few things for me if you will....presently live in Iowa where we have state income tax; cost of living is higher here than in Texas with housing, utilities, etc; my husband and I are from Dallas and he recently passed away so my youngest son and I plan to move to the McKinney area this summer for him to finish his last yr of high school so to help with college entrance to a Texas college. After much research on homes, I can definitely get more bang for the buck there in McKinney than what I have here BUT my question is.....even though cost of living is cheaper overall in Texas, what should I expect to pay in property tax for a 250K home in McKinney, Collin County??? Is there a good website to check this out??? Just when I think I am doing OK, have a good handle on being a new widow....I have learned how to turn the lawn mower on, which end of a screw driver to hold, fixed my garbage disposal the other day, then this pops up about property tax!!! This has me scared now and maybe I should buy a less expensive home to cover property tax. What about home owner's insurance?? Will a Realtor help me with all the extra expenditures? Thanks everyone!
It depends........... you will find houses in McKinney on the same street for $250K and each one will have a different tax bill. The factors that determine what a property will be set at are: age, condition, construction type, square footage, lot size, lot location, etc. To get an idea of what they run you can do a little research. Look on realtor.com for houses in the areas your interested in, get the addresses and then go to collincad.org and look them up. Look at the history on the account to see how much it has changed over the last few years. Has it gone up a lot or down? Also be aware that our taxes are assessed based on what the property is worth on January 1st of that year. The new values are coming out for 2009 soon.
GREAT, thank you, I will do just that!!!! Prior to moving to Iowa we lived in Plano, 20 yrs ago this July! We were south a block or two from Legacy so you can imagine what the area looked like then. Even though I loved living in Plano the 4 yrs we were there, I think I am drawn more to McKinney. We use to live in North Dallas, then onto Amarillo, then Abilene, then Austin, then Plano, then Iowa, and now....back to Texas!!! A friend suggested I rent for awhile before I decide. My 250+K home is paid for here, have no bills as such but then have no idea what type of house I can rent there that is not sky-high. Wonder if I should look elsewhere than Collin County and come back to North Dallas??
Unless I am missing something, the administration in the state of Texas looks fantastic! I am an Australian, and am very strongly considering moving to Texas. I am here as part of my research and cost analysis. For those who think that the property tax is "too high", please let me provide you with some perspective on prices here in Canberra, AU:
I am a Degree Qualified Electrical Engineer on $75,000 p/a for around 60 hours work per week. I have a trade as an Aircraft Mechanic, Army, and have been on active service. We receive no pension and no exceptions on anything in the country as ex-service members here. I am married and have three children.
On my income I pay $14,550 income tax per year. That includes Medicare levy, but if we want decent health cover, we must be in a private insurance scheme which is around $200 per month. There are ABSOLUTELY NO houses for LESS than $340,000 in this entire state. The median house price is over $500,000. These are NOT huge house on huge land. There is not enough room for a swing set or trampoline in most places under $700,000. There is also fee payable to the local council as rates on your house of $550 + (0.2727% of the land value). Bank interest rates are around 7% compound. For a $400,000 home (a very modest home here), the monthly repayments over 30 years at variable rates is $2661 per month.
Our vehicle licenses cost $120 for 5 years. We have a 10 year old medium 4cyl sedan and that costs $850 per year to register. We also have a 20 year old Toyota pickup that costs $1033 per year to register. Comprehensive insurance for both vehicles cost $1800 per year. Fuel is currently $1.6 per litre ($6 per gallon)
I am a sporting shooter, so my firearms license costs $180 for 5 years, and my hunting permit costs $80 per year + I must be a member of SSAA to keep my permits/licenses , which is also around $100 per year.
Our electricity costs 12.6c per kWh with an additional service charge of 70.5c per day. To keep my family at 20 degrees C inside our home between 6pm and 9pm when it is -1 degrees C outside, then down to 16 degrees C while we sleep, the cost is usually around $1000 per three months.
In summary, the APPROXIMATE per annum cost of living here for me are:
Expenditure (Mandatory)
-----------------------------------
Income tax = ($14,550)
Rates = ($2000)
Mortgage = ($31932)
Home and Contents Insurance = ($2000)
Registration 1 = ($850)
Registration 2 = ($1033)
License 1 = ($24)
License 2 = ($24)
Fuel = ($3900) - only going to work, school and shops
Vehicle Insurances = ($1800)
Electricity = ($3000)
Home Phone = ($30) - connection fee only. no calls included
Total Mandatory Expenses = ($61,143)
This leaves $13,857 per annum, or $266 per week to buy FOOD!, clothes, Internet, vehicle maintenance, unexpected costs, school outings ect... Not much else for fun or vacations. We have a 10% Goods and services tax (GST) on everything, which when compared with the online Walmart prices are a fair bit higher. There is an additional Excise (Tax) on smokes ([SIZE=2]$0.34474 per stick = $8.50 per pack of 25[/SIZE]), booze ([SIZE=2]$3.05 per litre of alcohol calculated on that alcohol content by which the percentage by volume of alcohol of the goods exceeds 1.15[/SIZE] for heavy beer) and fuel ([SIZE=2]$0.38143 per litre[/SIZE]). This excise applies to all fuel products such as oil, grease, kero ect, and is additional to the GST.
Please note that I have no credit cards, nor personal loans to repay (if i did, i'd be fu%@d). I am sure some people will jump in and say I am doing something wrong, or that my calculations or quotes are incorrect, or that I should move somewhere cheaper, or my wife should get a job ect... Before scrutinizing me, please consider that the reason I am looking here is that I am planning to make a (big) change - because this is RIDICULOUS! I did not get a degree in Electrical Engineering because I am unable to do maths... the opposite is true. Whilst I have done cost analysis in different areas of Canberra, then Queensland and the NT, moving to Texas is looking MUCH, MUCH more promising. The worst is yet to come here... Julia Gillard's Carbon Tax is next... then what?
How much is your vehicle rego there in Texas? $50 is written on transport website? I got an insurance quote for $500 per year for BOTH of our cars if we were in Texas... is this correct? Are you allowed to use fireworks in Texas? They are now banned in entirety. The ONLY place left in the country for fireworks (fun) is the NT, and that is just one day per year.
My research into Texas makes it look wonderful by comparison. The lifestyle, events, beaches, massive destructive storms (we get our fair share in QLD / NT), the heat and humidity (my favorite place to have lived in Oz was the tropics with 35 degree days at 99% humidity), work opportunity in world leading companies like Boeing, Texas Instruments, Lockheed Martin ... Don't get me wrong... the thought of leaving Australia saddens me deeply. I am a sixth generation Aussie, with ancestors who were shipped over with the very first English "settlers", and I LOVE Australia, and the Australian way of life. The saddest part is that in my eyes, the Aussie way of life is eroding so quickly... our freedoms are almost all gone in the name of nanny states, and the cost of living has become stupendous.
Although the idea of moving so far from my home country is genuinely terrifying, I hope that in a few years that I may be welcome in Texas. I would like to integrate and embrace the opportunity to live within my means and have something left over for it, the freedom to be act as a responsible adult (not so much nannying), and the lifestyle there. Besides, all the cool stuff comes out of the US :-)
Sorry for the dumb question, but I was wondering if those "adults only" communities pay less property tax based on the fast the most of the property tax amount goes towards high schools and those residents don't need high schools 'cause they don't have any kids.
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Mike, sorry, but no... property taxes here are an "equal opportunity" for everyone, with or without kiddos... and you'll pay the going rate for the ISD boundaries your property happens to reside within!
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I know this is a very old thread but I must comment. The complacency and acceptance of high taxes, wherever you may live, is appalling. Look at the more recent post of cjgainer in Australia. If you continue to be complacent about the amount of your freedoms that government bureaucrats take from us, we will all see our incomes and our very lives spent on keeping THEM happy. Government "services" are completely fraught with waste and abuse. You may say you are happy with what you are receiving. However, don't you think you should be able to pick and choose what service YOU pay for? Your income is your LIFE and government is taking your LIFE from you! Wake up! Government is NOT a charity. Do NOT approve that extra tax on the next ballot because the government bureaucrats say "it's for the CHILDREN!!" It's a LIE and a SCAM. The price of a house is FINITE. You pay it off with the interest and you eventually don't have to pay anymore. Taxes go on FOREVER. Because one thing I do know is that the courage to FIGHT them is a VERY rare commodity.
I know this is a very old thread but I must comment. The complacency and acceptance of high taxes, wherever you may live, is appalling. Look at the more recent post of cjgainer in Australia. If you continue to be complacent about the amount of your freedoms that government bureaucrats take from us, we will all see our incomes and our very lives spent on keeping THEM happy. Government "services" are completely fraught with waste and abuse. You may say you are happy with what you are receiving. However, don't you think you should be able to pick and choose what service YOU pay for? Your income is your LIFE and government is taking your LIFE from you! Wake up! Government is NOT a charity. Do NOT approve that extra tax on the next ballot because the government bureaucrats say "it's for the CHILDREN!!" It's a LIE and a SCAM. The price of a house is FINITE. You pay it off with the interest and you eventually don't have to pay anymore. Taxes go on FOREVER. Because one thing I do know is that the courage to FIGHT them is a VERY rare commodity.
Just to be clear, are you against all taxes? Or just any new taxes? I pay a S-Load in taxes, but I don't begrudge the amount in taxes. I do have real concerns about government waste and incurring massive amounts of debt, but that does not always correlate with the amount of taxes.
Just to be clear, are you against all taxes? Or just any new taxes? I pay a S-Load in taxes, but I don't begrudge the amount in taxes. I do have real concerns about government waste and incurring massive amounts of debt, but that does not always correlate with the amount of taxes.
Neither. I am against waste and fraud. We are being conditioned to believe all the "services" we are paying for are essential. That is not the case. One major fraud we are paying for in most city, county, state, AND federal governments is unionized government workers. The unions strike for more pay and benefits...who negotiates with them? It certainly is not the people who will end up paying for these new salaries and perks. It is immoral for government workers to be unionized for this very reason.
Neither. I am against waste and fraud. We are being conditioned to believe all the "services" we are paying for are essential. That is not the case. One major fraud we are paying for in most city, county, state, AND federal governments is unionized government workers. The unions strike for more pay and benefits...who negotiates with them? It certainly is not the people who will end up paying for these new salaries and perks. It is immoral for government workers to be unionized for this very reason.
Immoral? Not hardly. The people that negotiate with them, for the most part, are the elected officials that the taxpayers elected (or their representatives, like the city manager).
Now, I am the first to say that the pension situation for government workers is out of hand. Moreover, I understand that elected officials are not apt to upset the unions because they want their votes.
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