Houston Texas anyone?

[RockMiner]

I did five years there in the 80's and it looks the same today only even bigger...

Positives: Good eats, Jobs, Cheap houses

Negatives: Climate, Tx Rednecks, Big bugs, Climate, Ugly, Flat, Traffic, Crowded, Polluted


I've seen few less appealing cities in the US...no thanks.

Edit: Sorry REWahoo, just my biased opinion

 

[REWahoo]

Negatives: ... Tx Rednecks,...

HeY!!

 

[REWahoo]

If you didn't have enough information already, here's one more "recommendation".

Teenager infected with rabies dies in Texas

HOUSTON (AP) — A teenager stricken with rabies he likely contracted when a bat flew into his bedroom and bit him died Friday.

 

[2B]

I've been knocking around the Gulf coast since 1973 and am currently a resident of Katy (out west).  No income tax but about $7K in property tax on a 3080 sq ft home worth about $220K.  I never go to downtown unless its on business.

I'm from Seattle (Kent/Des Moines).  My family think I must be a millionaire based on my house.  They live in $400-500K cottages about half the size of my house.

I don't think I want to retire here but I may have trouble getting DW away from the grandbaby.  Texas has some great areas that would be better for retirement.  I'd suggest looking into San Antonio, San Marcos, New Braunsfels or Fredericksburg.  The climate is much less humid.

One great scam I've decided would be worth doing would be setting up a permanent residence with a small apartment for visiting family but spend most of the year traveling.  You avoid the worst of the property tax issue but preserve the freedom from income tax.

Another approach is to get a few acres and get it rated as agricultural land.  That just about eliminates property tax but you have to deal with critter crap.

 

[REWahoo]

...Texas has some great areas that would be better for retirement. I'd suggest looking into San Antonio, San Marcos, New Braunsfels or Fredericksburg. The climate is much less humid.

Another approach is to get a few acres and get it rated as agriculture land. That just about eliminates property tax but you have to deal with critter crap.

Ol_Rancher, this one is all yours...

 

[soupcxan]

I'm a young dreamer currently living in houston, I grew up in Florida and Georgia and to me it seems much the same. Personally, I would favor Dallas if I could pick anywhere to live in Texas, but Houston isn't bad. The traffic kills me, however (just as bad as Atlanta, if not worse).

A fun fact: Houston is larger in square mileage (1750) than the entire state of Rhode Island (1550)

 

[Rustic23]

I am a native Houstonian. Moved out (military), moved back, moved out, moved back, and will move out again end of June. Houston is a big city. It has all the stuff other big cities have. Zoo, baseball, football, basketball, soccer, crime, festival, airports, and yes traffic. If you are a ‘mass commute’ type of guy, stay away from Houston. Here we like our cars! Most of the freeways into town are eight lanes or more. I-10 from the west is being expanded to 24 lanes. Should be finished in about a year or two.

Weather, yep hot and humid! But for the most part first of May through end of Sept. Takes a little getting use to. Beach at Galveston is about an hour away, depending what side of town you live on. Lots of big lakes. (we are moving to one)

Best part of all is you can afford to eat out here, and there are lots of places to do it. Because land is reasonable and abundant restaurants abound! Fast food on almost every corner. Semi fast food, less than $25 for a meal for two, on every other corner. Every type you can imagine. Today gas is at $2.86.

Property taxes are high, but there are real advantages when you reach 65. The Harris County exemption is large enough that the average home owner in that bracket doe not pay the county tax. That is about a third of your tax. Your School tax is frozen and some of the smaller city taxes. Also, there is a bill in the legislature to reduce school tax by 1/3. There is another quirk in the law that allow over 65’s to defer all property tax with a 8% simple interest charge. Tax due 180 days, I think, after death. (We plan to pay the tax to a saving vehicle of some sort. If we need the money it will be there, if not the kids will have it plus interest to pay the tax) There is a 8.5 percent sales tax. No tax on groceries or medicine. LOTS OF GOLF COURSES!!! Both public and private. Waterwood National, where we are moving to, charges $900 a year per person, for unlimited golf Sunday thru Thurs. (it use to be a PGA qualifying course) Until the California real estate guys found about Waterwood, you could buy an interior lot for $5,000. They are selling them for $30,000! My guess is there are still far sale by owner lots for a lot less. We have 2,800 sq. ft. home with 200 ft on the lake, 1.1 acres. Total cost was less than $300,000. I figure it at a million or three in California. I can pay a lot of property tax for a long time with the difference.   

So would I retire in Houston. NO. Close to Houston, in a heart beat. 

And for some, Houston is called the city of ONS…..Without malathion and Freon, Houston would not exist!