Posted on 09/29/2014 1:56:12 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
More Americans moved to Texas in recent years than any other state: A net gain of more than 387,000 in the latest Census for 2013. And Austin was the fastest growing major city.
Jobs is the No. 1 reason for population moves, with affordable housing a close second.
"It take two things to draw people inland in big numbers: jobs and housing affordability," said Nela Richardson, chief economist for the real estate broker Redfin.
Texas and other heartland states have two advantages that translate into affordable housing: Plenty of cheap land around cities and easy regulations that enable developers to build quickly.
Nine of the top 10 fastest growing U.S. metro areas last year were ones where homes were more affordable than the U.S. average, according to Redfin. Many were in Texas, Oklahoma, Utah and other heartland states. Five Texas cities -- Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth -- were among the top 20 fastest growing large metro areas.
Some smaller Texas metro areas grew even faster. In oil-rich Odessa, the population grew 3.3% and nearby Midland recorded a 3% gain.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
CA has its advantages...one is either a glass 1/2 empty or glass 1/2 full type...I try to find the pony in the room so to speak.
A FR "reunion" would be interesting...great FReepers out there from all over.
I couldn’t agree more, FRiend. :)
Everyone has their breaking point...and I don’t blame them one bit for bugging out when it’s been reached.
I thought everybody knew why.
According to a MENSA member of the house whose name I can't remember, it's because without a significant increase of population in Northern Texas, the entire state will slide into the Gulf.
That's what I heard.
“There might be some disagreement from some...”
That probably applies to all of us. :)
I was in California a number of years ago on vacation...beautiful state.
I just convince myself that the humidity is actually sultry and keeping my skin supple, lol.
I’d heard some great pro-gun things about Stephenville, Texas.
Too bad I wouldn’t have a prayer making the money I do if I move out of where I currently live.
Bookmark
I guess I better stop hoping I end up looking like a mummy then...all dessicated and wrinkled...
This last one wasn’t NEARLY as bad!!
Yes Texas is hot in the summer and part of the state is humid but no one ever talks about the rest of the year. Fall, winter and spring are beautiful here. Yes we have rainy periods and it even freezes and snows (rarely) but in between those occasional events the weather is great. I am on the Gulf Coast so our weather differs from D/FW but 365 days considered we have some great weather.
My husband has some relatives in California and I don’t want those liberal idiots to even think about visiting much less moving here but we would welcome you. :)
The humidity is great for our skin berdie. I am going to be 74 tomorrow and no one can believe how much younger I look.
I think you mis heard. The only reason that Texas hasn’t slid off into the Gulf is because Oklahoma sucks. :)
I have been to Texas many times and there is nothing about it that appeals to me. Lol. I visit Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and sometimes down into Texas a couple of times a year since I have relatives all over the place there. After I’m there a week I can’t wait to get back home to California. Each to his own I guess.
May or may not break even. Our property taxes on a 310K home in Phoenix were around $1500/year. Here, they’re $5040 — or an additional $420 per month on our mortgage payment. I haven’t gone through past Arizona state taxes to see what our final tallies were, but the property taxes in Texas were VERY unexpected — and ours are on the low side!
Bottom line, the property taxes really complicated things when we were house hunting because we never were able to compare apples with apples. A 285K home might have the same monthly payment as one priced at 200K, if the first home’s property taxes were lower. It was CRAZY — we had to create a spreadsheet, just so we could compare the houses we were looking at. And, to make things even more complicated, the tax rates aren’t the same on all the houses on the same street, much less the same neighborhood. Some moderately priced homes, around 2800 sq. feet or so, had taxes over 8-9K! The rates made no sense. It’s like having a car payment all over again.
We love it here, but the “no state tax” is a little misleading if people think their overall taxes will be lower.
Since I am back to work the rest of the week and won’t be at FR...Happy Birthday a day early.
I just tell everyone I’m 20 years older than I am. :D They are amazed at how good I look for my age, lol.
LOL! My sister lives in a southern state in her own little slice of paradise. She likes to reinforce the stereotypes that liberals love to make about southerners as being backward rednecks. She’s hoping that false image will serve to deter northern libs from moving into their area.
Are you maybe thinking about the valuation that fluctuates?
The tax rates (set by county, school districts, etc) should be the same, across the board, within each area (unless a street or neighborhood has more than one school district, or crosses counties).
My home or land property taxes CAN vary (for comparable size), from my neighbors, based on the valuation, though. (Nicer location within neighborhood, improvements, etc.)
Happy Bday....early ;) So....humidity does have it’s benefits.
SZ, for that, I’d have to dig out a few years worth of tax returns. I don’t believe we have ever paid that much in state taxes.
No worries, I’ve been trying to do the over-under for some time and I figure the intangibles are worth more. Was just curious.
If I get out of here, that is a huge +, if I get a couple of acres in addition to a similarly sized house, another huge +, if I live in a conservative or “sane” area, another huge +, etc.
Sometimes $$ isn’t the only factor to consider in deciding where to live...
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