Texas

[Shuffler]

I have several yankee friends. They seem tolerable.



I like the joke that yankees are like hemroids.... they come down and go back up, they are OK. If they come down and stay down, they are a pain in the arse.

It's just a joke of course.

[Skuzzy]

It is attractive, at that price and cost of living, even I could have a house of my own if I had the job out there.  But call it the Californian in me, I just don't see where the profit off your investment is to be made in it.

You being from California Skuzzy, you can verify for me with your opinion better than anyone.  Are these new dream homes in Texas the same "little private pieces of suburbia" that the rest of this country has already been building and stockpiling for decades, located a convenient 30-90minutes outside the main central mass of our major cities/hubs?  If they are, then I have a second honest question for you: what is Texas gonna do different in the next 20-30 years than what the entire nation just tried for the last 20-30?
<snip>

I am not from California.  Born and raised in Texas.  I have traveled a lot.

There is no stockpile of homes here.  Never has been.  The home I was referring to is probably available in every major city in the state, within minutes of anything in the city.  Texas has never suffered a glut of available homes as people from all over the country continue to move here.  People do move all over the state so there is usually a reasonable number of homes available in any given area.

The ones you are describing would be about 1/2 the price I stated and on a larger lot.  If anyone feels the need to pay stupid prices, then you can always get a condo within walking distance of many downtown areas for two to three times the price of a home that is half a block further down the street.  Home prices range from ten cents a square foot to ten dollars a square foot.  Pick your spot.

When the housing bubble burst, the price of homes in Texas did not suffer too much and have recovered nicely.  More likely due to the lower cost per square foot as compared to those states who really got hit hard.

[Babalonian]

Ah, well the bubble definetley hit California (SoCal yes, but more in the central valley, where they were building new homes by the metric ton), Arizona and Neveda over here.  Primariy because of the surpluss of homes located on the outskirts of major hubs in their little corner of suburbia. 

[B4Buster]

Whoops, thought the thread title was 'Taxes' at a quick glance.

[AHTbolt]

Well we dont have any state tax

[Ardy123]

Ah, well the bubble definetley hit California (SoCal yes, but more in the central valley, where they were building new homes by the metric ton), Arizona and Neveda over here.  Primariy because of the surpluss of homes located on the outskirts of major hubs in their little corner of suburbia.  

Often times the 'outskirts' were as much as 60+ miles away from the urban core. Also, it was the outskirts that got hit the hardest, often as much as 50%. The closer you got to the urban center, the less of a decline was experienced.

It has had an interesting effect, in many areas it has accelerated the affluency shift where the inner city is the 'nice' part and many of the burbs are less so.

Well we dont have any state tax

EDIT:   Texas has a sales tax. (I forgot that the property taxes although often high, are at the local level there)

[AHTbolt]

And you can appeal the tax.

[Ardy123]

And you can appeal the tax.

I believe sales tax is the states largest revenue source.
Is that just for nonresidents?
Whats the point of the tax if residents can appeal it?

[bmwgs]

I believe sales tax is the states largest revenue source.
Is that just for nonresidents?
Whats the point of the tax if residents can appeal it?

You can appeal the assessed property value, not the tax.

Fred

[dedalos]

I believe sales tax is the states largest revenue source.
Is that just for nonresidents?
Whats the point of the tax if residents can appeal it?

  No state tax as in no state tax is coming out of my paycheck like in Illinois for example. 

[Ardy123]

No state tax as in no state tax is coming out of my paycheck like in Illinois for example.  

ahh, he was referring to state income tax

[AHTbolt]

yep sorry I wasn't clearer. Each county sets its own property tax rate, and each year they appraise all property in that county and there appraised value of a property is whats taxed. But there is an appeals process that you can present evidence of why the appraisal is to hi.

And the sales tax here is under 8%

And each county sets how much you car license is.

[Ardy123]

yep sorry I wasn't clearer. Each county sets its own property tax rate, and each year they appraise all property in that county and there appraised value of a property is whats taxed. But there is an appeals process that you can present evidence of why the appraisal is to hi.

And the sales tax here is under 8%

And each county sets how much you car license is.

I'm guessing that means much of the service traditionally heavily supported by the state are pushed to the county level?
This must make it hell to deal with intra-county initiatives as there is no single authority. Also, this must mean the quality & funding of state government provided services varies wildly between county.

EDIT: to add the word "state" in "state government"

[lunatic1]

I was born in Louisville ky. but have lived in south Texas for 30 years...30 miles south of
of San Antonio in Pleasanton.my dad was born in somerset,1 bro in San Antonio and 1 in elmendorph..so I'm 1/2 Kentucky blood--1/2 Texas blood

[bmwgs]

And the sales tax here is under 8%

And each county sets how much you car license is.

The state sales tax is 6.25 percent, each city can impose a tax up to 2 percent greater than that.  Where I live they elected to go the entire two percent so the tax rate in my city is 8.25%.

The state regulates the vehicle registration fees, but like the sales tax the counties can add to it.  In my county they add $11.00 or so to the required registration fee.  The registration fee varies based on the age of the vehicle and some other factors that I am not sure of. The fee is collected through the county, but most of it is paid by the county to the state after they take their cut out.

I have no complaints about the system, it beats a state income tax.

Fred