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From the get go I said I thought you were underestimating the skill and amount of illegals in construction. You seemed to think it was only a few with carpentry skills which absolutely not true.
You say the vast majority of illegals can perform skilled labor work, well that might hold true for US citizens as well but that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of illegals working in the construction field
1 out of 10 in the construction is illegal, according to the data. That is not a lot of illegals. That means around 90% of the people in construction are local citizens!
If true, that is astounding. And it maybe explain part of the reason why Texas builders are able to keep cost low.
And it also raises the question why so many illegals go work in construction in Texas and not somewhere else. California for example, is only about 10% illegals in construction.
Just how cheap is the cheap labor in Texas? Sometimes, it's free. Guillermo Perez, 41, is undocumented and has been working commercial construction jobs in Austin for 13 years.
"[The employer] said he didn't have the money to pay me and he owed me $1,200," Perez says of one job. "I told him that I'm going to the Texas Workforce Commission, which I did. Then after that, he came back two weeks later and paid me."
Perez is brave. Undocumented workers are usually too afraid to complain to Texas authorities, even when they go home with empty pockets. And they almost never talk to reporters.
The economic collapse of 2008 brought with it an onslaught of wage theft, according to the Austin-based Workers Defense Project. At the end of the week, construction workers sometimes walk away with $4 or $5 an hour, sometimes less, sometimes nothing.
Cheated workers keep working, Tzintzun says, because contractors dangle wages like bait from one week to another, paying just enough to keep everybody on the hook.
"We're talking large commercial projects, even state and county projects," she says. "So it's a problem that's widespread in the industry."
Well, when a builder pay $0 to $5 an hour for his workers; yeah, that's definitely going to lower the cost.
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I don't know if you've ever owned in Texas but there is a year to year maximum increase of 10% for those who have the residential homestead exemption
Doesn't matter. Our 1800 sq feet home, built in 1997, has $5000 in property taxes/year with the homestead exemption. It appraises at $155K As others have said, we are not in Houston proper, but in a neighboring suburb (meaning, we're 25 miles away, which makes for a 1+ hour drive). The purchase price may be cheap (and they have increased a lot, BTW) but the property taxes and other fees will eat you alive. BTW OP, I'd never buy new construction here. The quality is crap, and the yards are microscopic. Buy a used house. You get more house for your money.
Doesn't matter. Our 1800 sq feet home, built in 1997, has $5000 in property taxes/year with the homestead exemption. It appraises at $155K As others have said, we are not in Houston proper, but in a neighboring suburb (meaning, we're 25 miles away, which makes for a 1+ hour drive). The purchase price may be cheap (and they have increased a lot, BTW) but the property taxes and other fees will eat you alive. BTW OP, I'd never buy new construction here. The quality is crap, and the yards are microscopic. Buy a used house. You get more house for your money.
I'm not sure how you can it's doesn't matter when I was responding to someone else about tax increases
Fwiw I pay 10k+/- on a house that appraises over 500k in Houston. Pick your poison. If you are paying more than 3% effective which is what you are claiming with a homestead exemption either your math is off or you have wicked mud/pud taxes in addition to school taxes
Counties in Texas cannot pass an ordinance without permission from the State legislature.
There are no building codes in unincorporated areas, where much of the new construction is.
No permits are required and no inspections. The roofs do not need to carry a snow load, and due to soil, there are no basements.
The builders need not do soil test on each lot. I know of a house in The Shores, Rockwall Texas that was built on top of a spring. It happened to be dry the day the put down the forms for the slab. There are several 500K houses built on a fault in The Woodlands. The builder was aware of the fault.
The law in Texas favors builders. So do the courts.
Half the cracked slabs in the USA are in Texas. Half the cracked slabs in Texas are inn the Dallas area.
Pay your money and take your chances. Now factor in the undocumented workers. If you doubt it, show up on the job site with a hat marked I.C.E.
Counties in Texas cannot pass an ordinance without permission from the State legislature.
There are no building codes in unincorporated areas, where much of the new construction is.
No permits are required and no inspections. The roofs do not need to carry a snow load, and due to soil, there are no basements.
Building permits are required for home construction. I don't know where you're getting your information. Actually, it's not because of soil, it's because of flooding issues, and not all homes in Texas are devoid of basements. Homes in the drier areas often have them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crone
The builders need not do soil test on each lot. I know of a house in The Shores, Rockwall Texas that was built on top of a spring. It happened to be dry the day the put down the forms for the slab. There are several 500K houses built on a fault in The Woodlands. The builder was aware of the fault.
The law in Texas favors builders. So do the courts.
Half the cracked slabs in the USA are in Texas. Half the cracked slabs in Texas are inn the Dallas area.
Pay your money and take your chances. Now factor in the undocumented workers. If you doubt it, show up on the job site with a hat marked I.C.E.
I'm not sure where you're getting that figure, but even if it's true, which it probably isn't, it's not the builder's fault a slab cracks. It is mostly due to the expansion and contraction of soil over years and years of moisture, alternating with dry weather, because our weather is extreme throughout the year, with droughts, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, occasional snow and ice, hailstorms, and of course, extreme heat. Builders have no control over weather patterns in the state. The new construction in Texas homes isn't the greatest, but the low upfront cost of a home in Texas is due to the fact that homes are less expensive here than in other states. I'm sure you'll find plenty of low quality homes in California and Connecticut, only you'll play $500K for them, if not more.
Exactly true. A number of things cause housing costs to be much cheaper in Texas, the first of which is
immigrant labor is so much cheaper. Not only in construction , but in agriculture- (particularly), hospitality,
landscaping, maintenance etc. Many of these people are highly skilled, highly skilled . Not always but in some cases yes.
John Wayne imported a specialist stone mason from Mexico, a little known fact, to build the replica of the famous Alamo structure located in San Antonio to make his famous Alamo movie, because he had to, no locals knew how. When Wayne asked the guy if "he could actually do it,an authentic reproduction?", the Mexican retorted," Can you make a movie about the Alamo?" Wayne laughed and said "well aright then".
"Good enough".
The immigrants are everywhere- oil fields etc. Everyone in Texas knows this , it is no secret. It is the secret of Texas everlasting economic success because labor is the highest cost in the production of anything.It is easy to make money if part of the cost is cheaper than anywhere else. It is easy.
Texas is also Mexico's largest single trading partner, more than any other state, the great mineral wealth of the state also adds to the wealth. It has always been a boom state. Barely felt was the recent "Great Recession". Texas is business friendly, low labor costs , low regulation, low taxes, in Texas.
Property taxes can be high depending on where you live. This is part of taking care of undocumented immigrants. Health care at publicly funded hospitals is expensive. Taxes can be murderous, yes, but do not forget that Texas has no personal income tax, a huge boon for Texans of substantial wealth.
All in all the average citizen, a married couple earning an average income will pay as much as states that have a state income tax.
Property taxes can be murderous in Texas, but try paying a state income tax, it is worse, far worse.
One cannot escape state income tax by a move- to avoid these murderous state income taxes.
Texas is better. If one has an education. Unskilled labor earns a mere pittance there. Low wages
are a part of the equation for the working poor and under educated in the south. In fact I would call it an anti-labor state. It is. It is kept that way.
"Just like the rest of the old south." There is of course more to this tale than what is listed here,
however note this. I have witnessed a construction site emptied of every last worker, every last trade,
instantaneously, when immigration pulled onto the site. Where they all went I never knew,
but every last soul was gone. Vanished. Carpenters, masons, plumbers, everyone. A beehive activity
was stilled in one minute.
The only people left there was me, and two immigration officers in their SUV. I was hardly ever so surprised.
Building permits are required for home construction. I don't know where you're getting your information. Actually, it's not because of soil, it's because of flooding issues, and not all homes in Texas are devoid of basements. Homes in the drier areas often have them.
I'm not sure where you're getting that figure, but even if it's true, which it probably isn't, it's not the builder's fault a slab cracks. It is mostly due to the expansion and contraction of soil over years and years of moisture, alternating with dry weather, because our weather is extreme throughout the year, with droughts, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, occasional snow and ice, hailstorms, and of course, extreme heat. Builders have no control over weather patterns in the state. The new construction in Texas homes isn't the greatest, but the low upfront cost of a home in Texas is due to the fact that homes are less expensive here than in other states. I'm sure you'll find plenty of low quality homes in California and Connecticut, only you'll play $500K for them, if not more.
I got that number when I sued a builder, the warranty company and the real agent. I won.
I live in Orange County California where the median home price is $645K. I just visited Houston last week and many of my relatives bought new homes for around $150K. In the OC, even if you have the land, the cost of building a new home is about $300K to $400K. I notice the built quality is not as good in Houston but why the building cost difference is so much?
Illegal aliens are doing the labor, that's why. Personally, I prefer an older house with good bones.
The new construction in Texas homes isn't the greatest, but the low upfront cost of a home in Texas is due to the fact that homes are less expensive here than in other states. I'm sure you'll find plenty of low quality homes in California and Connecticut, only you'll play $500K for them, if not more.
Do Texas builders pay less for the construction material? Lumber and nails, HVAC, water heaters, cabinets and appliances, etc are the same price here as any place else. If you know of a place in Houston that charges builders less the what builders pay in other states, let us know. That would be great info to have.
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As others have said, we are not in Houston proper, but in a neighboring suburb (meaning, we're 25 miles away, which makes for a 1+ hour drive). The purchase price may be cheap (and they have increased a lot, BTW) but the property taxes and other fees will eat you alive. BTW OP, I'd never buy new construction here. The quality is crap, and the yards are microscopic. Buy a used house. You get more house for your money.
