SD Home Prices/Personal Finance Rant

[mixxalot]

Or buy used with a warranty like I did for my BMW M3. Bought it for 30K with every option and still had 2 years left on warranty. New they cost close to 80k! Much nicer than any new 3series and better than a Porsche. Never liked the stripper interior of Porsches until you spend 30K in nicer upgrades.

[zk]

My two cents on Temecula/any long commute:

Your time (well, mine, anyway – I think most people’s) is vastly more important than the size of the house you live in.

The only time I had a commute longer than about 17 minutes in my 34-year career was when I worked in Ontario. This was the ’80s, and the smog was really bad, and plus I really didn’t like the area. I lived in Canyon Lake, which was about a 45-minute drive. A beautiful ski lake with mostly fresh air. There’s nothing like that anywhere near(er) Ontario, and it was worth the hour extra out of every work day (over the 1/2 hour I’d have spent driving on a 15-minute commute).

Short of a rather drastic improvement in lifestyle such as the above, I can’t see spending hours per day on a long commute. This is your life we’re talking about.

[millennial]

Personally I like the new M3’s better than the old ones. Actually in the market for a used M4, which I found online for around $55k-$60k with another 25k-35k left on the warranty. I do like the Porsche’s too but I would want a turbo which would come in at another 35k. In terms of bang for buck though, I think it’s hard to beat the Nissan GTR. The only thing about those is the launch control which I heard takes a beating on the tranny. I would be worried about buying used because of that.

[flyer]

I’m a vintage Porsche collector, and love driving them. Same with planes, helos–and even golf clubs. Have some clubs my Dad loaned to Clark Gable back in the day–love stuff with a history.

[millennial]

I really love the old Porsche as well. I have a 1967 912 that I absolutely love to drive. Cant afford helis or planes yet…maybe in another 20 years.

[Escoguy]

This may be useful to you when planning where to buy in Dallas:

http://www.dallascad.org/TaxRateCalculator.aspx

A typical $300,000 home in Dallas in a good school district can have $9-$13K/year in property taxes.

Keep in mind also that your utility costs are generally higher as $400/month is not unusual in Texas due to the heat. (Lived there myself). Solar isn’t as viable as the utility rates are lower but the amount of power consumed is higher.

http://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Electricity_amp_Gas_charge_for_a_sq_ft_home_-482839

Overall Dallas isn’t bad but do be ready that much of what is saved in housing ends up going to transportation.

http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/assets/Uploads/pubheavyload1006.pdf

There is also a very pervasive culture of eating out a lot.

http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/09/dallas-fort-worth-spends-more-on-eating-out-and-booze-than-anywhere-in-us.html/

Current prices are overvalued by some measures:
http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/05/texas-dallas-fort-worth-home-prices-are-significantly-overvalued-analyst-warns.html/

Keep in mind, there is A LOT of undeveloped open space in Texas with almost no restrictions on development. One of the reasons for booms/busts like in the 1980s.

There is still some uncertainty about the full impact of oil prices on broader income:

How Oil’s Price Collapse Will Affect Dallas

Just know these things going in, as it may not be the easiest place to save money given the social dynamics/costs/property taxes/utilities.

But good luck, there are wonderful people in Texas!

[bewildering]

>A typical $300,000 home in Dallas in a good school district can have $9-$13K/year in property taxes.

3-4% property tax rate? That can’t be right?

[The-Shoveler]

I had a colleague who moved to Dallas area,
her Property Tax was 16K on a 300K home.

Best hint I got was to get a home with as little land as possible unless you actually plan to farm/ranch it.

relocating to TX works better if your the CEO or Cxx IMO.

[an]

Base on those numbers, if you have $200k down payment, in TX, if you buy a $300k house, your $100k loan would cost you $477.42/month + $1,333/month is taxes + $400/month in energy. Your looking at ~$2200/month.

Lets say a comparable house in SD is $800k, your mortgage would be $2,864.49 + $733/month in taxes and ~$100/month in energy. You’re looking about ~$3700/month.

It’s still cheaper to be in TX (assuming my house price assumption is correct). However, after 30 years, after you pay off your house, it’ll be MUCH MUCH cheaper to be in CA than TX (assuming they don’t take away prop 13).

[spdrun]

Holy shiteballs — $1300+/mo in tax on a $300k house? That’s ‘spensive even by Northeastern standads.

[The-Shoveler]

You would need to also factor in that there is no Prop 13 in TX so the property Tax would most likely continue going up.

Some area’s the property tax are not so high in TX it has more to do with schools and added services etc.. of a given suburb etc…

Also Land not being used for Farming etc.. is Taxed very high.

[Escoguy]

Use the link and put in the value for the school district.
It’s shocking but true. My brother lives in Austin and his taxes are in that range although the house costs 1/2 of SD prices. That is the effect of no state income tax.

Some districts are better than others, but with $62 million dollar HS football stadiums being built, the cost falls on the backs on homeowners.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/10/texas-high-school-to-build-628-million-football-stadium.html

And this is not a one off.

And yes, there is no cap like in CA so the taxes do go up every year.

In the top school district in Texas: Southlake. A home with 3,000 sf rents for about $4-5,000/month.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Southlake-TX/house,mobile_type/47783_rid/4-_beds/3000-_size/33.024496,-97.070218,32.900776,-97.231751_rect/12_zm/

[FlyerInHi]

Haha, football in TX… so true.

Maybe one should buy in communities with lots of Asians so your kids will study instead of play football.
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/residential-real-estate/20151130-chinese-cash-floods-area-nation.ece

No state income tax is a big thing. I’m now used to living is small, architecturally well designed, euro spaces, so I would live in a townhouse like my friend does in Frisco, TX or a small 1500sf 1 story house.

I am now a resident of Las Vegas, and I love not having state income taxes. I still have stuff in Cali, but I don’t mind paying taxes on CA related income.

[Escoguy]

Yes, the school district in Plano is much more reasonable relying on Asian wisdom to make smart economic choices. 🙂

They only spent $20 million on their stadium.

The homeowners and tax payers can now sleep at night! 🙂

http://www.texasbob.com/stadium/stadium.php?id=303

[FlyerInHi]

$20 million stadium is crazy.

The Asian comment was facetious… Where there are Asians, the schools will be good.

Toyota is in Plano. Panasonic relocated its Sanyo division previously based in SD to Dallas. Hyundai Capital is in OC but they are expanding in Dallas.

Dallas has a good economy, and overall, without state income tax, you can save money and live better there vs. San Diego.

And an $800k 3000sf house in SD is a house on small lot. In TX, you’re surrounded by trees and a big lot (which to me are just more maintenance but the physical house and land are not exactly equivalent)

[Author]

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