Have you considered moving away from the bay area? (Hayward: headhunter, public schools)

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by FloridaOrange

I don't blame you. I live in Houston and can't wait to get into the rural world.

Is El Paso any better or less people?

[FloridaOrange]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Is El Paso any better or less people?

El Paso is small, but I wouldn't want to live there. It has a little over a million residents, but it's so cut off from the rest of the state. I'd assume they have more in common with New Mexico than the rest of Texas.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by FloridaOrange

I live in Texas. There is MUCH more that's cheaper here than just bananas, gasoline for example.

As far as property taxes go, retirees are given (65 or older) will qualify for the homestead exemption ($15,000) and the senior citizen exemption ($13,000) That alone is a $28,000 value exemption. As far as my research goes, I've found that California exempts up to $34,000 in value for seniors.

Considering that property is much more expensive in California than in Texas. From the data I've gathered, the average list price for homes in California is $734,635, in Texas it's $327,173.

You are correct that gasoline is a little less. I was talking about groceries when I made the bananas comment.

Yes, our house in Austin is worth much less than the one we sold in CA. But with the higher rate, we pay about the same property tax as we did in CA, and that is with the homestead, 65 and older, and disability exemptions. My point is not really about small differences, but that, other than the actual cost of your home, it is not less expensive for a retiree to live in Austin than to live in CA. And yes, there are lots of places in Texas that have lower costs than Austin. There is a possible windfall in that if you sell your CA home, you will probably be able to buy a home anywhere in TX for cash. I advise people, however, to not go crazy with that. If you made $1mil on the sale of your CA home, buying a house in TX for that amount would mean a mansion that is extremely expensive to air condition and to pay taxes on. So one needs to buy small, and put those profits elsewhere. One downside is that if you don't like where you are living, it will be extremely costly to buy back into the CA market.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by FloridaOrange

Most people retiring to Texas would probably want to look at the coastal region between Lake Jackson and Brownsville, and ironically, beach front property in Texas isn't even close to being as expensive as California, Florida, or any state alone the Eastern Seaboard.

There are reasons why beachfront property is much less in Texas. The beaches are not nearly as nice - lots of seaweed and such. People moving from CA and Florida frequently complain about that. Second, beachfront property is always in danger of being obliterated by a hurricane. Third, the coast give little relief from the unrelenting heat of the summer. The coast of CA is blessed with cool breezes coming from the northwest. No such luck on the Gulf. The birding, however, is good on the coast, and there are areas that offer good fishing, if you can stand the heat.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by FloridaOrange

El Paso is small, but I wouldn't want to live there. It has a little over a million residents, but it's so cut off from the rest of the state. I'd assume they have more in common with New Mexico than the rest of Texas.

tHat is still too many people.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

You are correct that gasoline is a little less. I was talking about groceries when I made the bananas comment.

Yes, our house in Austin is worth much less than the one we sold in CA. But with the higher rate, we pay about the same property tax as we did in CA, and that is with the homestead, 65 and older, and disability exemptions. My point is not really about small differences, but that, other than the actual cost of your home, it is not less expensive for a retiree to live in Austin than to live in CA. And yes, there are lots of places in Texas that have lower costs than Austin. There is a possible windfall in that if you sell your CA home, you will probably be able to buy a home anywhere in TX for cash. I advise people, however, to not go crazy with that. If you made $1mil on the sale of your CA home, buying a house in TX for that amount would mean a mansion that is extremely expensive to air condition and to pay taxes on. So one needs to buy small, and put those profits elsewhere. One downside is that if you don't like where you are living, it will be extremely costly to buy back into the CA market.

Once you leave CA you don't come back

[pdizo916]

I moved out when I was a kid so I didn't have a choice in that matter. However, with the Bay being so expensive, I cannot imagine how a lot of people ARE NOT leaving there.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by pdizo916

I moved out when I was a kid so I didn't have a choice in that matter. However, with the Bay being so expensive, I cannot imagine how a lot of people ARE NOT leaving there.

IT might have been great before but now there are too many fish in the tank. So there is little left and $$$ goes fast unless you are rich.

[Potion of Boredom]

Yeah. I've considered before to move to LA or Seattle.

[KP007]

I'll probably move next year