Trying to decide if paycut is worth it

[Houston321]

I think you should move here, however there is one requirement. When you do move here, please don't tell everyone how great everything was back there. Deal? Good luck.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by crossev

Thanks all for the comments. I have run numbers up down left to right and in the end it appears that financially we would come out slightly ahead assuming that our rent/mortgage drops to x amount and we live relatively close to the space center. It is the intangibles that are harder to quantify. I am curious to hear if anyone else has taken a paycut to move to the Houston area and how has it been for them.

Also is there a big difference in the cost of living between Clear Lake and Houston. When we have looked at home prices for clear lake they seem quite a bit higher then what we have seen in Houston (Granted we have not looked in every neighborhood in Houston ... mostly downtown).

It seems like Houston would probably be at least slightly better for cost of living, but there are several things to think about:

1) Family: Would your family situation be better in NJ or Houston? Being close to family can be a huge factor that can easily trump finances, depending on your specific situation (Happy Wife = Happy Life).

2) Career: Which job, NASA in Houston or your current job in NJ, has better long-term prospects for promotion/raises and stability? This is huge - it's not just a snapshot on where things are right now. If you're interested in Houston, is there another company in Houston that could match your current salary with your background?

3) Location: Do you prefer a subtropical climate with mild winters and hot & humid summers or the 4-season NJ weather?

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by jek74

Of course you can. Unless you are making the assumption that he is putting every single penny from his salary into his home. Most people use the formula of 35% of AGI (adjusted gross income) for their mortgage allotment. That means he has A LOT of room to pay a few extra hundreds bucks a month (which he can borrow) to make both boxes equal. Honestly, your argument is a ridiculous one to make in deciding if one should move or not. Your whole premise of absolute dollar growth could work if debt never entered the equation. The whole synthetic state currency theory revolves around situations where one is making a high number of transactions in state A vs State B. Not in a longer term investment scenario.

First, I never stated as the basis on whether or not to move, but simply one factor to consider. Second, ability to take on debt is related to income, so his ability to apply more to investments by taking on debt is greater with the higher salary.

But this notion of taking on debt to invest is utterly ridiculous and foolish. You're suggesting take on new debt (borrow) to service old debt (pay into home). Given mortgage debt is probably in the 4% range, where are you getting this new debt at a lower rate than that? It's your understanding of economics that is obviously impaired.

[K9Veteran]

You are stuck with the school taxes, no way around that in Texas, but even the rates vary by district size. Living outside of a city limits in the County will reduce your taxes. Also, IT DEPENDS ON THE COUNTY as to added taxes. Counties like Dallas, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Harris, Bexar have ADDED property taxes in the form if HOSPITAL DISTRICT tax and COMMUNITY COLLEGE tax.

I lived in Ellis County. My house was 1/2 mile south of the Dallas / Ellis County line and my propety taxes were $1000 LESS per year and my car insurance was about 30% cheaper since it was ¨Garaged¨ in a smaller county with statistically less claims / losses.

IMHO, you should contact an EXPERIENCED real estate agent in the area you are thinking about. He / she will be able to explain in detail how the property taxes work in Texas and help you find what you are looking for as well as explain the pros and cons of living in an unincorporated area vs within a city limits.

Hope the information helps !

[Firefly in sweet land]

Originally Posted by houston321

i think you should move here, however there is one requirement. When you do move here, please don't tell everyone how great everything was back there. Deal? Good luck.

:d