Texans actually pay more in taxes than Californians do? (Houston: for sale, rent)

[DillyDilly97]

No, overall Texas doesn’t pay as high as Taxes as California. But Texas has other problems that have somewhat recently emerged that are making a lot of Native Texans start to leave the State. Property Taxes in Texas are now the Fourth Highest in the Nation, knocking on the door of being the Third highest. They are really getting ridiculous. Home prices in Texas now average in the top 10-12 of all States and still rising. Home and Apartment building is not keeping up with demand in Texas. What makes this all worse? Average wages in Texas rank 24th Nationally, Texas isn’t known as a high paying State. Even though some people that don’t get out much like too think differently. Texas Public Schools and Health Care both rank 45th Nationally in several studies. In other words, Texas doesn’t give you as much “bang for your buck” as it once did. Majority of the growth is coming from the West Coast States. The exodus from Texas is going too places like Tennessee, Southern Indiana, Kentucky etc. where the Dollar goes much further and you can get the same house for cheaper w/land and pay MUCH lower property taxes. Been looking at some areas in Kentucky and Tennessee that are beautiful. You can get a nice home for $200k in a lot of areas up there, some with a little land and covered with trees. The wages are about the same as well. Some wages are even higher depending on the line of work. The Dollar just goes further, not so much in Texas anymore.

[supfromthesite]

What big city that rivals Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin can you get a nice home for $200k in?

If you are offput by the high housing costs in those cities there are plenty of smaller cities that are still affordable.

[Need4Camaro]

Yeah. There is almost nowhere in the country that you will find a home valued at $200k in a decently desirable place. Heck there are homes in rural Tennessee that are going for $500k + right now.

Avg wages in Texas is about $57k.
Avg wages in California is about $62k.

There is not a big difference despite California costing about twice as much as Texas on average to live in. Avg wage by state isn’t a good way to measure prosperity because lower income areas (both urban and rural) will drastically skew those numbers and despite Texas having a relatively high population, most of the state is very rural. The same applies for California and both are enormous states.

[detachable arm]

There are still lots of affordable places in Texas. But as Texas gets more minority by the day, you’ll have to deal with more diversity.

If you want to separate yourself and live an apartheid-lite lifestyle then it’s going to cost you a lot more than it used to. As they say, the rich get richer. Some people need to tone down their stereotypically entitled attitude.

[Ice_Major]

Originally Posted by supfromthesite

What big city that rivals Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin can you get a nice home for $200k in?

If you are offput by the high housing costs in those cities there are plenty of smaller cities that are still affordable.

The average price of home in Columbus OH is $240 - $260 depending upon your source. The city has over 800k and the metro over 2 million people. Fairly decent economy so t would say it rivals Austin and San Antonio and compares favorably to Dallas and Houston. People sleep on the Midwest, and I know it's cold there, but many of the cities offer bang for the buck.

[DillyDilly97]

Originally Posted by supfromthesite

What big city that rivals Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin can you get a nice home for $200k in?

If you are offput by the high housing costs in those cities there are plenty of smaller cities that are still affordable.

Not all of us think living in a big Metro is desirable. Yes, I’ve been there and done that for many years. If sitting in traffic and staring at bumpers for numerous hours a day is considered a great quality of life and a great way to spend precious time then like I say, too each their own. Do I like California? No, but Texas is heading in the same direction quickly if some things don’t change. As for the cost of living in other places, if you live around Nashville then it’s going to be pricey. Nashville is booming like crazy. But some of the smaller and more rural areas in the States I mentioned, yes you can get a reasonable home for 200k with a little land. Many of them within 20-30 miles of a city with a population of 100k. Like I stated, depending on your line of work, the Upper South has Tons of Factory and Warehouse type Jobs. Something Texas doesn’t have a lot of. Those Factory Jobs have become too pay well above average as the population has started to age out. Places like Gibbs, Ford, Toyota, Berry’s, Century Aluminum etc. are all adding huge plants and warehouses all over Kentucky, Tennessee and Southern Indiana. Most of them are being built in somewhat rural areas. And as for “desirable”, go spend a few days driving thru the Smokies and Appalachians. If you think Texas has anything with that kind of beauty and scenery. Then we must live in completely different versions of Texas. And I’ve been in Texas for 45 Years. And saying that Austin/San Antonio is something great, in my opinion it was nothing special. I lived in both. Just typical big cities with a lot of urban sprawl, endless traffic and cookie cutter houses everywhere. Worked in DFW several times as well. Nothing unique about it. Just my opinion

[supfromthesite]

Originally Posted by Ice_Major

The average price of home in Columbus OH is $240 - $260 depending upon your source. The city has over 800k and the metro over 2 million people. Fairly decent economy so t would say it rivals Austin and San Antonio and compares favorably to Dallas and Houston. People sleep on the Midwest, and I know it's cold there, but many of the cities offer bang for the buck.

San Antonio is around $300k. Not that big of a difference. That is a pretty good comparison as the cities metros are similar sized. Still, the cost of living is very similar when you factor in everything besides home prices. San Antonio is an 89 and Colombus is an 86 with 100 being the average.

[supfromthesite]

Originally Posted by DillyDilly97

Not all of us think living in a big Metro is desirable. Yes, I’ve been there and done that for many years. If sitting in traffic and staring at bumpers for numerous hours a day is considered a great quality of life and a great way to spend precious time then like I say, too each their own. Do I like California? No, but Texas is heading in the same direction quickly if some things don’t change. As for the cost of living in other places, if you live around Nashville then it’s going to be pricey. Nashville is booming like crazy. But some of the smaller and more rural areas in the States I mentioned, yes you can get a reasonable home for 200k with a little land. Many of them within 20-30 miles of a city with a population of 100k. Like I stated, depending on your line of work, the Upper South has Tons of Factory and Warehouse type Jobs. Something Texas doesn’t have a lot of. Those Factory Jobs have become too pay well above average as the population has started to age out. Places like Gibbs, Ford, Toyota, Berry’s, Century Aluminum etc. are all adding huge plants and warehouses all over Kentucky, Tennessee and Southern Indiana. Most of them are being built in somewhat rural areas. And as for “desirable”, go spend a few days driving thru the Smokies and Appalachians. If you think Texas has anything with that kind of beauty and scenery. Then we must live in completely different versions of Texas. And I’ve been in Texas for 45 Years. And saying that Austin/San Antonio is something great, in my opinion it was nothing special. I lived in both. Just typical big cities with a lot of urban sprawl, endless traffic and cookie cutter houses everywhere. Worked in DFW several times as well. Nothing unique about it. Just my opinion

For what it's worth I agree that living in a big metro is not the end all be all. Just like you can live in smaller and more rural areas in the states mentioned, you can do the same in Texas.

Tennessee is certainly more beautiful than Texas and I won't argue that. Much of the beautiful locations (the mountains) are getting infested by city people and people from other states just like the Texas Hill Country. If it is cheap now, it won't be for long.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by lakehighlands

Every last commercial and residential property in Texas pays property taxes unless exempt. For commercial properties, property taxes typically are the single largest expense incurred. Your assertion that folks that rent pay no property taxes is laughable.

Rent prices are mostly based on supply and demand. Of course property taxes are part of that equation, but what you pay in rent is mostly just because of where the rental is located and what people are willing to pay and how much demand there is.

When I lived in Chicago, my rent on the south side was lower than my friend who lived on the north side, yet the value of the buildings were the same and had essentially the same property value.

Also, based on your logic, shouldn't rent prices in Texas be higher than in California because Texas has a much higher property tax rate?

[done working]

Originally Posted by DillyDilly97

No, overall Texas doesn’t pay as high as Taxes as California. But Texas has other problems that have somewhat recently emerged that are making a lot of Native Texans start to leave the State. Property Taxes in Texas are now the Fourth Highest in the Nation, knocking on the door of being the Third highest. They are really getting ridiculous. Home prices in Texas now average in the top 10-12 of all States and still rising. Home and Apartment building is not keeping up with demand in Texas. What makes this all worse? Average wages in Texas rank 24th Nationally, Texas isn’t known as a high paying State. Even though some people that don’t get out much like too think differently. Texas Public Schools and Health Care both rank 45th Nationally in several studies. In other words, Texas doesn’t give you as much “bang for your buck” as it once did. Majority of the growth is coming from the West Coast States. The exodus from Texas is going too places like Tennessee, Southern Indiana, Kentucky etc. where the Dollar goes much further and you can get the same house for cheaper w/land and pay MUCH lower property taxes. Been looking at some areas in Kentucky and Tennessee that are beautiful. You can get a nice home for $200k in a lot of areas up there, some with a little land and covered with trees. The wages are about the same as well. Some wages are even higher depending on the line of work. The Dollar just goes further, not so much in Texas anymore.

Bye dont let the door hit you as you leave.