Another "best places to retire list"

[Big_Hitter]

Ok, now time for me to turn my day dreaming off and get back to work....

reported for language!

 

[Eagle43]

I love it. One more example of why you shouldn't move to Texas - it's a red state, and I'm NOT talking about politics.

Gawd, are they moving into DFW. Way too many. Traffic gets worse by the day. Hey it's going to be 100 degrees here today. Before you move here, check the weather. Just saying.

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[GravitySucks]

All way to subjective. Number of golf courses and non stop international flights don't mean much to me.
If it wasn't for the property taxes here I'd be perfectly happy while most would be horrified with the weather.

 

[mh]

We are 43 in the Thousand Oaks - Ventura area. Actually we live east of Ventura- a little higher and inland, so we do not get the low coastal stratus. That is South Mountain-2000 feet high and the view from our porch

I'm in Thousand Oaks also but I've been here since I was 4 , no need to retire to somewhere for me. It's pretty close to perfect ( for me )

very few places with better weather, I can bike everywhere I need to get to and if I feel the need to travel i can usually get out via Burbank airport which is about as painless as airports go these days ( usually ) housing prices are high at the moment. being a long time resident I had the luxury to was just wait out the market for a real estate trough before buying. Kaiser has been pretty good for me on the health care front.


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[Just_Steve]

All way to subjective. Number of golf courses and non stop international flights don't mean much to me.
If it wasn't for the property taxes here I'd be perfectly happy while most would be horrified with the weather.

I'm in the same state and I am horrified by your weather at times.

 

[bmcgonig]

The Woodlands, TX is where we retired to, ranked 166/200. These days we spend less than half our time there.

Amazing SF Bay Area ranks lower in housing and taxes than the Woodlands.


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[aja8888]

I'm in Thousand Oaks also but I've been here since I was 4 , no need to retire to somewhere for me. It's pretty close to perfect ( for me )

very few places with better weather, I can bike everywhere I need to get to and if I feel the need to travel i can usually get out via Burbank airport which is about as painless as airports go these days ( usually ) housing prices are high at the moment. being a long time resident I had the luxury to was just wait out the market for a real estate trough before buying. Kaiser has been pretty good for me on the health care front.


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We left Thousand Oaks in 1991 when the drive by shootings started north of T.O.Blvd, and the rental houses had multiple families in them. Of course, north of Houston is not much better except the shootings aren't drive by and there are 2,500 apartment complexes here.

Kidding aside, T.O. was the nicest place we have ever lived.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Amazing SF Bay Area ranks lower in housing and taxes than the Woodlands.

Property taxes are pretty low relative to current housing prices in SF Bay Area for some of us long time owners due to Prop 13.

 

[aja8888]

Amazing SF Bay Area ranks lower in housing and taxes than the Woodlands.


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This alone shows how bad that study is.

Our home here in The Woodlands is worth $250 K and in the SF Bay area (where we have family) you couldn't buy it for $1.5 Mil.

 

[aja8888]

Property taxes are pretty low relative to current housing prices in SF Bay Area for some of us long time owners due to Prop 13.

I'll bet there are not too many long timers living off Prop 13 left.

 

[aja8888]

no, just Austin

.....and suburbs.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I'll bet there are not too many long timers living off Prop 13 left.

Our neighborhood actually has many original owners. Prop 13 has a lock in effect. It is not something to live off of - there's no income unless homeowners rent out their house. It just keeps property taxes from skyrocketing when there is a boom in housing prices.

 

[unclemick]

Wow, this is a tough list to max out on.

New Orleans is #91. So, according to this study, there are 90 MSA's that are better to have retired in, than here.

Even Springfield, Missouri is only #78.

Honestly, I think the best place to retire ultimately depends on the individual.

Out of the 200 in the list, Rockford, IL is listed as #200. I have never been there but it must be worse than it sounds.

Having lived in those 'gosh darn awful' greater metro areas of Portland, Seattle, Denver and New Orleans aka the suburbs I like where I'm at:

Kansas City.

heh heh heh - of course I usually find a way to like where I'm at beings thats where we live.

 

[aja8888]

Our neighborhood actually has many original owners. Prop 13 has a lock in effect. It is not something to live off of - there's no income unless homeowners rent out their house. It just keeps property taxes form skyrocketing when there is a boom in housing prices.

When we left there in 1990 and sold two homes, the new buyers had to pay property taxes based on 1.25% of their purchase price of the house. Has that changed?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

When we left there in 1990 and sold two homes, the new buyers had to pay property taxes based on 1.25% of their purchase price of the house. Has that changed?

The exact rate depends on the locality, but I think 1.25% is pretty common for new purchases. I've read the average effective tax rate statewide is .81%.

 

[Al in Ohio]

It's not really about overall rank based on a variety of important variables . This guy just ranked places by how hot and humid they are!


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[mh]

Another "best places to retire list"

Deleted

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Amazing SF Bay Area ranks lower in housing and taxes than the Woodlands.


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From what I remember, RE Taxes in Houston are just plain silly.

 

[Big_Hitter]

It's not really about overall rank based on a variety of important variables . This guy just ranked places by how hot and humid they are!


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number 6 is not humid, at all

 

[alaska55]

He lost me when he placed Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA higher than Portland Or, maybe he hadn't been to Riverside since the 70's.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I'll bet there are not too many long timers living off Prop 13 left.

You'd be surprised. Umm, let's see. Chevron in Richmond, and all the other refineries and big land businesses that never were sold. Any property business that didn't change hands is making a killing in California. My family orchard. Because it is all inherited, we pay <0.5% in property taxes. Prop 13 killed the local schools, but was a windfall for the big huge businesses all across the state as well as us landowners who followed inheritance laws. We have a dear friend who inherited his parents' house in Silicon Valley. It's now worth over $1M but he is only subject to property tax based on minimal increases since 1978 allowed by Prop 13.


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[bmcgonig]

You'd be surprised. Umm, let's see. Chevron in Richmond, and all the other refineries and big land businesses that never were sold. Any property business that didn't change hands is making a killing in California. My family orchard. Because it is all inherited, we pay <0.5% in property taxes. Prop 13 killed the local schools, but was a windfall for the big huge businesses all across the state as well as us landowners who followed inheritance laws. We have a dear friend who inherited his parents' house in Silicon Valley. It's now worth over $1M but he is only subject to property tax based on minimal increases since 1978 allowed by Prop 13.


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My prop taxes in Bay Area are less than half they would be if a new owner took over. Also, if I stay within the same county, or move to a select handful of other counties, I can keep the low prop taxes. That's a one time deal for someone over 55. I can understand the need for prop 13 for regular homeowners but never understood it for businesses, or at least large businesses.


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[aja8888]

From what I remember, RE Taxes in Houston are just plain silly.

We live in The Woodlands, probably the fastest growing community in the greater Houston area. We pay about 1.75% of assessed value for our personal property tax. We are not taxed on vehicle registrations, and we have no state or city income tax.

One of our homes in Thousand Oaks, Ca was the same size (~2,000 sq ft) as the one we are in now. In TO we paid about $3,000 per year in property tax and about $800/year for the vehicle tax (here in TX the vehicle registration is $60 for a Ferrari). In CA I paid 11% in state tax and ~4% in City of LA tax.

Having lived in both locations for many years in both, I'll go with Texas. But please don't move here as we have enough new residents from CA already. Hey, we even have some Canadians too.

And please do tell me how many Texans you know that have recently moved to California?

 

[W2R]

Having lived in those 'gosh darn awful' greater metro areas of Portland, Seattle, Denver and New Orleans aka the suburbs I like where I'm at:

Kansas City.

heh heh heh - of course I usually find a way to like where I'm at beings thats where we live.

Wow, I checked and KC is #112. So it's even more "gosh darn awful" than the other places you lived in. Seems like you and your sweetie are having a wonderful retirement up there, though, so who cares. Same for us with New Orleans.

 

[Big_Hitter]

And please do tell me how many Texans you know that have recently moved to California?

or Idaho

not many that's for sure

how are those canadians liking the summer?