I haven’t lived in Austin but doing a cursory property search while visiting, it’s one of the more expensive cities in Texas. Moving to the suburbs can cut down housing costs I’m sure. Be sure to check property tax rates as it will vary by county/school district/city (suburb). When I do FIRE, we will be looking to move out of TX. I find that the summer heat keeps me indoors more than I like to be. Tired of paying $7500 on property tax... I like the idea of WA except the idea of earthquake insurance with a 15-25% deductible scares me. High on our list is cooler and wetter (green) and not too rural (20 min drive to a decent sized city) ... oh and affordable. (Paradise on a budget
)
Wife has been looking at Cedar Park and Leander, at least from a distance, although she did get to see parts of Cedar Park last October (when it was in the low 70s there, while near 90 a few days before Halloween here! LOL). It appears the properties taxes in some parts of Cedar Park are at a lower rate than in Austin.
The plan is to rent while looking for a place to purchase. Of course, if the weather gets to us, I am not sure what we would do. The main reason to move is because our only child wants us there. Having three indoor-only house cats just adds to the pain of moving long distance. Outside of weather, we have little desire to remain in California.
I guess everything is perspective. We're paying $10,500 for property tax right now, and it's only that low because of Prop 13 in California. I figure it is just a matter of time before Sacramento neuters Prop 13 and long-time homeowners start seeing accelerated property tax bills. I'm surprised they haven't gotten around to taxing Social Security like some states do.
We paid $300+ in our electric/natural gas bill on average three months per year during the last 6 years. Sometimes in the summer. Sometimes in the winter. Usually at least one month in each season with this cost. For a 2,400 sq ft home near San Jose. The weather is not that extreme here.
There is always the earthquake threat, poor air quality, massive congestion and getting worse. While the idea of hot Texas weather seems daunting from a distance, there is the relief of being able to cash out on our house while the real estate market here is still desirable (absolutely wonderful public schools in this area - definite plus).
While he have other assets to pull from, we're looking at netting $1.4M+ after capital gains taxes are paid on the sale of our house. Financially, I don't think Texas will be a big challenge.
