Hi I am BobMax - thinking about moving to Tx

[MichaelB]

There are sales taxes on food in restaurants. Actually there are sales taxes on food meant to be immediately consumed. If I'm in the grocery store and buy a coke that is taxed. If I buy a prepared sandwich in a grocery store, that is taxed.

A fact well known among people who actually live in Texas, in contrast to those that post about the real estate.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Let me introduce myself. DW and I are in our mid-fifties and are looking forward to ER in the next few years. We are long time residents of the greater Houston area and can offer some comments re: your questions.

.....

If you like baseball the Houston Astros may be moving their AAA team to the Woodlands in the next 2-3 years. (No jokes about my lowly Astros please! yes its been a tough 3 years)....

Meh. Try the Chicago Cubs for a tough 100 years and the ensuing jokes. Now that is a team to follow.

 

[mchalkley18]

I am a native Texas and all we do is spend our time searching for somewhere else to move to! So funny to read posts of people thinking of moving to Dallas or Houston. The older we get the more intolerable this heat is getting. I am very active and healthy and find that from mid-June to late September we are basically shut-ins at the house or in our backyard pool (which is like warm bath water by July.) Texans are friendly people and this do love our State, but man, be prepared for the weather. Oh, and don't forget that winters here can be brutal.

 

[Katsmeow]

I am a native Texas and all we do is spend our time searching for somewhere else to move to! So funny to read posts of people thinking of moving to Dallas or Houston. The older we get the more intolerable this heat is getting. I am very active and healthy and find that from mid-June to late September we are basically shut-ins at the house or in our backyard pool (which is like warm bath water by July.)

We just bought a treadmill even though we love walking outside. This was because we were spending the whole summer huddling in the house because of the heat. Even waiting until late at night or walking early in the morning didn't make enough difference to help.

I would strongly advise anyone who hasn't lived in Texas or a similar climate to spend, say, August here and see how you feel about it. If you don't like going outdoors at all, you may find it tolerable, but it is really tough on those who like to go outside of air conditioning.

 

[Hamlet]

I doubt if taxes will ever become a major factor in where I choose to live.

I think people really let the tail wag the dog on this one.

Weather, amenities, personal connections, and the general attitude of the people I interact with seem much more important.

Minnesota to Texas seems like a pretty dramatic culture jump. I'd only consider it if I was unhappy in Minnesota, and the culture of Texas appealed to me.

Where do your kids live?

 

[BobMax]

Hamlet - my kids are typical professionals who change locations about every 5 yrs. One daughter lives in L.A. and the other (with the grandkids) live in Minneapolis. Two years ago they lived in NY,NY and Indianapolis respectively.

My only experience living in Texas was 6 weeks in March/April - I know, the best time to be in Texas. However, we lived in Biloxi, Ms for 4 years which has similar hot, humid weather like Texas.

Death taxes are very significant in states like Mn and is the primary reason for our desire to eventually leave the state. If we died today - Mn would take $650,000 of AT dollars from our estate. If we live into our 80's that number could easily increase to over $1.5MM. Establishing our permanent residence in a no income tax, no estate tax state would save that money for our daughters.

 

[haha]

Hamlet - my kids are typical professionals who change locations about every 5 yrs. One daughter lives in L.A. and the other (with the grandkids) live in Minneapolis. Two years ago they lived in NY,NY and Indianapolis respectively.

My only experience living in Texas was 6 weeks in March/April - I know, the best time to be in Texas. However, we lived in Biloxi, Ms for 4 years which has similar hot, humid weather like Texas.

Death taxes are very significant in states like Mn and is the primary reason for our desire to eventually leave the state. If we died today - Mn would take $650,000 of AT dollars from our estate. If we live into our 80's that number could easily increase to over $1.5MM. Establishing our permanent residence in a no income tax, no estate tax state would save that money for our daughters.

True, and a worthwhile goal, but TX may be an extreme price to pay for those goals.

If the border ever settles down, there are reasonably mild places to live in Mexico, where one could be in driving distance of Houston or San Antonio. Get a decent condo or apartment in one of these cities and establish residence, live there part time, live in Mexico other times, go to big excellent US hospitals for medical care and Medicare. Or, you are well off, spend your summers on the Pacific coast ( I mean on the actual coast, not in some valley cut off from ocean winds by a coast range.) It is hard to beat for summer weather. Or New Mexico mountains for a shorter drive, which seems to be an extension of TX in summer.

Ever think of El Paso? Great in the winter, and IMO better than most of Texas in summer. Hot, yes, but not so humid.

Ha

 

[Alan]

Hi Bob,

Welcome to the site.

In 2004 we moved close to the area you say your sister lives and really like it here, apart from the hot, humid summers as mentioned above. Since retiring in 2010 we have been fortunate to leave Texas each year and avoid most of the summer. This year we left end of March and on arriving back a few days ago the pilot announced that it was 95F as we came into land at Houston at 7:20 PM

Gotta try and remember to stay away another couple of weeks next year.

 

[MooreBonds]

Feb 2010 and Feb 2011, Snow 30 miles East of Dallas. In 2010 we have about 13/14 inches overnight. The first pic was Feb 2011, the next two was 2010. I stuck a ruler in the snow and dug around it so you could see how deep.

Please tell me you at least have a few pictures of you in the pool with a Hawaiian shirt, drinking an umbrella drink with the snow in the background