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Never been there just talked to co-workers who have worked there and one of the biggest fears outside of a flat out lay off is being transferred to Houston. This has not been one person but several people who don't have much good to say. This may be specific to Houston.
I would rather ride a train across Siberia before I went to Texas. Maybe the squelchering heat boils everyone's brain down there?
Agreed Texas and California are no go zones for me. It's too bad that there are some many Texans and Californians moving all over the country reshaping those areas into more of the same.
For those who don't live here that have "heard" this and that:
I will let you in on reality in the Houston area (wife is a licensed home inspector) and keeps a bead on the market from other home inspectors, as well as termite and mold inspectors. I can't speak for other areas in Texas, of course.
It appears there has been a slowdown in home sales here, though it is very difficult to get accurate figures. Realtors will ALWAYS deny that this has happened, even if there is a slowdown, because it is bad for their business. Low gas prices affect Houston home sales negatively. Not only does it affect our oil and gas workers, it affects the RE market, retail, medical employees, construction, everything. It has a trickle down affect.
I am currently laid off myself (I'm in medical) and my wife has been very slow with her home inspections. Many commercial real estate projects have been canceled, and there is a larger number of apartment unit vacancies than in years past. Despite this, new home constructions have continued as before, it seems. Cheap crappy houses are forever being put up, but they are selling slower. Many times the homes are sold while it's still a bare lot, but now the house may be completely built before it's sold. I agree that Texas has no worker protections at all. I wish there were more. We deserve more that a guaranteed minimum wage, because that is all the protection we get.
My husband spent yesterday afternoon visiting open houses in two of the north Dallas suburbs.
One nicely updated house he visited had been for sale for 3 days. They had 6 offers already. Asking price was $450,000. The realtors he spoke to said there is a housing shortage.
Honestly, the hot market in DFW almost made us turn down the new job.
I would rather ride a train across Siberia before I went to Texas. Maybe the squelchering heat boils everyone's brain down there?
That's just silly statement. Good luck to you in Sibiria (if it should come to this). And no, our brains are doing just fine. Thank you.
RE market in Houston is down, absolutely. Houston is depending on oil and medical, that's a known fact. I came to Houston 12 years ago and saw the potential and booming. I love Houston(and no, my brain is not melted), I love Houstonians, they are very nice people and will help you if you need it.
Houston = diversity. And hopefully will grow more diverse in economy.
Let's face it, no state is perfect. Everyone has different views because of their believes. Just don't judge because "you heard", that's simply wrong. And don't insult other people, please.
DFW is still crazy right now with so many companies moving in. Houses sell in days in our neighborhood. I am very tempted to sell and make a nice profit. However you are then stuck with where to move.
I would rather ride a train across Siberia before I went to Texas. Maybe the squelchering heat boils everyone's brain down there?
That's just silly statement. Good luck to you in Sibiria (if it should come to this). And no, our brains are doing just fine. Thank you.
RE market in Houston is down, absolutely. Houston is depending on oil and medical, that's a known fact. I came to Houston 12 years ago and saw the potential and booming. I love Houston(and no, my brain is not melted), I love Houstonians, they are very nice people and will help you if you need it.
Houston = diversity. And hopefully will grow more diverse in economy.
Let's face it, no state is perfect. Everyone has different views because of their believes. Just don't judge because "you heard", that's simply wrong. And don't insult other people, please.
Most of the beef with Houston was the working conditions, even all the way up to engineers. I have heard that employers can get away with alot poor behavior due to the fact that there is so much H1B visa competition. Offices can play alot of games before they finally start angering the clients and get contracts cut.
I am sure if you are working directly for the federal govt (nasa, etc) or have an ownership stake in an owner company then things are better but I have heard that most places of employment in Texas are deplorable.
The people I talk too are not too concerned with the real estate as the real estate in Texas is significantly cheaper than here. It was more to do with the supply and demand causing employer behavior to become caustic.
I did not mean to insult but one poster on here already showed his hand that employers like to treat employees like dirt, maybe thats rare but I have no issues doling out insults if it is warrented. IF what I am hearing is a total fabrication then I will conceed but if employers are having wet dreams about being able to can a guy for showing up at 6:10 instead of 6:00 or they are not percieved as working up to standards and because the employer knows there is a vast pool of people willing to work for cheap then that is the very definition of the race to the bottom being finished. Everyone trying to cut each others throats for low wages and crumby working conditions with bosses who dont care about you, weak osha protections, no unions, etc etc.
Now if none of that is true then I stand corrected.
I picture him standing there with a whip spewing out redneck english gosh dagnabit you best get here when I say boy or you done, I pay goood money here ($12.00) so I wanna see some hustle lol.
I heard this crap was permiating even the engineering jobs as well.
Workers with hourly salaries are not the ones driving up housing prices. It is the influx of professionals from other states who are. When half million dollar houses are getting multiple offers over asking price, these are higher income salary types.
DFW is still crazy right now with so many companies moving in. Houses sell in days in our neighborhood. I am very tempted to sell and make a nice profit. However you are then stuck with where to move.
The thing with major job hubs like DFW is that these cycles appear to be self-sustaining and even increasing now. While there may be dips, the overall trend is up and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
The fact of the matter is that major cities/job hubs (usually one - perhaps two - per state, with large states like TX/CA being exceptions) are taking the lion's share of employment growth, and probably an even higher proportional share of new quality jobs.
I've seen this happen in my area of Tennessee. This area is manufacturing dependent. Not only have the jobs "in the factories" declined, but many office and support jobs were also lost locally when these companies either failed or shifted offices to major cities. I know we've had at least two manufacturers in this city that not only closed the plants, but shifted their professional staff and HQ from here to metro Atlanta.
These mega job centers are grabbing more and more of the quality jobs, while many formerly self-sustaining, middle class type smaller metros are becoming increasingly economically irrelevant. You may have slight local dips and corrections in local markets, but the overall trend for major job centers is overwhelmingly positive.
Workers with hourly salaries are not the ones driving up housing prices. It is the influx of professionals from other states who are. When half million dollar houses are getting multiple offers over asking price, these are higher income salary types.
And coming from places where they sold their previous home for enough to come into Texas with a lot of cash.
A friend of mine, who has lived in north Texas for 30 years, finally decided a year ago to buy. Worst time, for her price range. Anything under $350k is getting snatched up in minutes. And she's getting beat out by cash offers.
We bought our home here 6 years ago, and it had sat empty and for sale for a year and a half. We got it for 10% less than asking, and it's now worth 25% more. We couldn't be happier right now.
Things will calm down in a year or so.
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That's just silly statement. Good luck to you in Sibiria (if it should come to this). And no, our brains are doing just fine. Thank you.
