Welcome to Austin, Taxes

[audreyh1]

Well I "rent" in the sense that I pay campground fees - but I travel all over the US and pay rent all over the country, so no I am not forced to pay property taxes in Texas - so there!

By the way - campground fees in Texas on average are same or lower than campground fees in many other states I have visited, so I am definitely not paying higher "rent" in Texas because of property taxes. There are obviously other factors driving campground fees - property taxes do not appear to dominate.

So I guess I'm already living your plan - but I really wonder if when you try the experiment with rentals how they will compare with renting a place in Texas.

Audrey

[Ol_Rancher]

I own a nice 606 sq ft. condo a couple or three blocks south of Town Lake and the bridge. Skyline view. It is rented for $550/month. The taxes are over $1550/year. There were so many apartments built that rents are quite low.

The taxes on my ranch over an hour west of Austin are less than $1000/year.

(25 acres, new home 1100 sq ft., new cabin (w/ loft), new 3 bay pole barn for parking and some feed.) plus I have grazing rights on 55 acres adjacent to mine.

I would sell the condo unit, but it is fully depreciated and do not want to pay the 25% recapture tax.

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by Ol_Rancher

The taxes on my ranch over an hour west of Austin are less than $1000/year.

(25 acres, new home 1100 sq ft., new cabin (w/ loft), new 3 bay pole barn for parking and some feed.) plus I have grazing rights on 55 acres adjacent to mine.

What Ol_Rancher isn't coming right out and saying is he has an agricultural exemption which dramatically lowers his taxes. I live roughly 75 miles south, 5 acres, new 2,700 sq ft home, no grazing rights (but I do occasionally raid the fridge ), and my taxes are ~$5,000.

[farmerEd]

I've got an ag exemption on 140 of my 175 acres...takes 95% of the value of the land out before applying the tax rate..so it helps a bit..still paying north of $6K per year on the house/barns/yard and 30 acres I didn't enroll (yet).

[youbet]

Originally Posted by !

Good advice...I go for weeks not seeing a traffic light, never mind a traffic jam.

But you do have quick access to live entertainment, music, etc., right?

[farmerEd]

Originally Posted by youbet

But you do have quick access to live entertainment, music, etc., right?

If I cared for that stuff, yes...just 15 minutes away is a college town (5 colleges actually w/in 10 minutes of each other) that together create a very a robust community of music/arts/nightlife/museums etc.

Its a "nice to have" feature, but for me one that would be easy to live w/out.