Will you retire in Texas? (Houston, Austin: school districts, pharmacy, taxi)

[BobTex]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Pretty well describing what I want in retirement except I want to do it in Wisconsin and only stay for half the year.

Well, if I had my druthers I'd make my half year (actually May1 thru Sept30) somewhere outside Bangor, Maine. Back to Texas just before the water gets hard. I could somewhat replicate this in Minnesota away from the big cities. Just want to chase smallmouth bass and stay away from dumb intrusive Leftist policies so my choices are limited.

I love Texas and it gives me some supreme outdoor opportunities and the other northern tier states give a wonderful change of scenery with wonderful outdoor opportunities.

[txdad99]

I would retire somewhere on the central coast of California if it wasn’t so expensive… plus it would be quite far from the kids assuming they stay here. In other words, we plan on keeping Houston as our home base and buying an RV so we can travel.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by txdad99

I would retire somewhere on the central coast of California if it wasn’t so expensive… plus it would be quite far from the kids assuming they stay here. In other words, we plan on keeping Houston as our home base and buying an RV so we can travel.

That would be nice too. Somewhere around San Luis Obispo or Monterey would be lovely if we could afford something nice there. But when I do retire I think Id want land which is cheap in the Midwest and Wisconsin and Minnesota are beautiful in my eyes.

[NewMexicoCowboy]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

I am not aware of any ag exemption you can get by feeding wild birds. Raising game hunting birds, or domestic poultry, could get an ag exemption if the scale was large enough. Care to share the rationale you're using for the wild bird feeders?

Most ag exemptions require a substantial investment, such as cattle, hay production, or horse breeding. One of the easier ones to get is with honeybees, but you have to have a minimum number of hives per acre, and you actually have to harvest the honey.

I talked to my dad about the property tax exemption for our ranch and it turns out its a wildlife exemption and not ag exemption.We are hopefully going to get the wildlife tax exemption from providing bird feeders to the neighborhood birds.

[eibyyz]

Moving to Magnolia / Montgomery County next week! Work from home until I retire, 7.5 years until 70.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by NewMexicoCowboy

I talked to my dad about the property tax exemption for our ranch and it turns out its a wildlife exemption and not ag exemption.We are hopefully going to get the wildlife tax exemption from providing bird feeders to the neighborhood birds.

There's a checklist of items, with a minimum number of things you have to do (unless somehow your county makes bird feeders alone sufficient). I would think you'll have to take other measures as well.

We have wildlife ag exemption on the 1/2 of our retirement property which isn't used for hay production.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

There's a checklist of items, with a minimum number of things you have to do (unless somehow your county makes bird feeders alone sufficient). I would think you'll have to take other measures as well.

We have wildlife ag exemption on the 1/2 of our retirement property which isn't used for hay production.

At least up until recently, you had to have an Ag exemption (for 3 or 5 years?) and transition to a wildlife - you could not go straight to wildlife exemption. Not sure if that is still true or not.

Edit: This link is similar to what I recall:https://plateauwildlife.com/wildlife-exemption/

How Do I Qualify For A Wildlife Exemption?

1) Your land must already be qualified for Agricultural use (1-D-1) in order for you to convert it to wildlife management use.

2) A wildlife management plan and application needs to be written and submitted to the County Appraisal District before May 1st.

OR as stated by TPWD:

In other words, in most cases the land must have qualified for and been appraised as agricultural land or timberland during the year before the year the property owner changes to wildlife management use For example, a property owner who wishes to qualify for wildlife management use in 2023 must be able to show the land was qualified for and appraised as agricultural land or timberland in 2022

[Phil P]

I'm pretty surprised by the results! I would have thought there would have been a lot more retire in a smaller TX town or neighboring state and less retire in a state further away. Since Texas has so much variety in the surrounding area, I would have guessed people would have plans to move a little ways, but not outside of roadtrip distance away. I guess if there isn't strong ties to the state or family in the state, no reason to keep the close distance. For me when I went remote, I really liked the PNW, but wanted to stay within close enough driving distance of the family in COS, so I anchored much closer by.

It's true being retired you can dodge the city congestion rhythms, but I would have guessed more people would have wanted to go somewhere smaller as well within state when they don't have a work connection tie.

I'm also shocked that taxes are such a big part of the equation for people! People will drop a couple grand on one vacation. To me, whether taxes are a couple grand one way or another, I'd rather just pick a location I just jive with rather than have that be such a part of the equation.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Leadville is one of the places in CO we have casually looked at, with the elevation being the one drawback. There was a significant drop in home prices up there in Lake County after the Covid refugees who drove up the prices decided it was a little too out of the way - especially in winter. Currently, we are looking more at Grand County (i.e. Kremmling area) or further south near Pagosa Springs. Both are more about 8000 feet.

Internet access, fuel costs, and grocery access are all potential negatives, so does take a bit of vetting when a place comes on the market.

I could not live in Leadville! Stunning part of the state, but you have to LOVE winter and not be bothered by the air. It messes with me above 11k and I live at 7600. 8K is about the limit of where I'd want to actually live elevation wise.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Phil P

I'm pretty surprised by the results! I would have thought there would have been a lot more retire in a smaller TX town or neighboring state and less retire in a state further away. Since Texas has so much variety in the surrounding area, I would have guessed people would have plans to move a little ways, but not outside of roadtrip distance away. I guess if there isn't strong ties to the state or family in the state, no reason to keep the close distance. For me when I went remote, I really liked the PNW, but wanted to stay within close enough driving distance of the family in COS, so I anchored much closer by.

It's true being retired you can dodge the city congestion rhythms, but I would have guessed more people would have wanted to go somewhere smaller as well within state when they don't have a work connection tie.

I'm also shocked that taxes are such a big part of the equation for people! People will drop a couple grand on one vacation. To me, whether taxes are a couple grand one way or another, I'd rather just pick a location I just jive with rather than have that be such a part of the equation.

Not sure taxes are as big a deal as people profess. At the end of the day, most people will look at taxes, but I think it falls further down the list than climate and family. Sure, taxes irritate people, but unless they are severe I don't think they top the list.

Also, we like the idea of retiring more rural but have come to appreciate the amenities that are in walking distance to us currently - HEB, a half-dozen restaurants, vet, haircut place, etc. It would be hard to give up and we are also very close to the oft-mentioned 'medical'.