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Living in Austin I can say that the biggest "negative" to real esatte appreciation is property taxes. Own a million dollar home in Arizona? Maybe, if fully assessed and not in a historic district (where you get 50% off tax on personal residence) $10,000 a year. Austin? $30,000 a year if fully assessed! Most people can't afford taxes that can be higher than a mortgage so it reduces speculative appreciation. The average $300,000 home can cost $7800 a year (with homestead exemption of 20%) so any so called "low price" can add at least $100,000 somewhere else to have the same costs so a $300,000 home really is $400,000 for mortgage costs.Insurance? Higher? Not for me. Better coverage on our cars and house for a lot less, at least 20%, over Phoenix.You don't think every state has awful places to live? Try Bullhead city Az, Blythe Ca, Bakersfield Ca, Sacramento Ca, just about any place in Central Florida or the panhandle, can you say anything about Mississippi or Alabama? And just about every state if you leave the BIG cities. This site isn't about bashing places to live, one man's paradise another mans......" but realistic valuation of cost and value of homes across America.We all know (and yes, not everyone would buy or live in all places) that if you could buy the exact same home in La Jolla as Phoenix for the exact same price La Jolla would win out for value but that is why a house costs more in La Jolla in the first place, location, location, location and supply and demand.I may think a house cheap in Taylor Texas but to live there? NOT! Only 28 miles to downtown Austin but miles away in ambience, charm and attitude. I may also love Monterey California but to pay a mil for a shack to see the ocean to me isn't worth the cost either even if I could manage the payment.And yes, until just recently one couldn't borrow against their equity past 80% loan to value and there is a lot of land to build on across the state. In Austin prices are high because of high environmental costs, desirability, regulatory rules but even there you can see the distribution by area. Anything near the Edwards Aquifer or Barton Springs in the Hill Country side of Austin (also some of the prettiest parts) low density and strict regulations and high cost of land even though there is just as much land to the west as the east. Go to the North or East away from the environmentally sensitive areas and lots of growth and cheap houses. Nine miles SW of downtown, expensive, nine miles east, cheap! On the east you can buy 3,000 sq ft for $195,000, on the west side double to triple that cost.Taxes though are the problem. Regressive and needs to be corrected. If the state imposed an income tax and reduced property taxes to the national average say 1% of value instead of upwards of 3% (and a little more in the city) Texas would suffer the same price appreciation as many other parts of the country. Either way you're screwed. You can pay less for the house but your costs won't go down. If I were still in Phoenix I could pay $400,000 more for a house and my costs would be the same for the house I bought here for half the price. The only advangtage? The same quality house might cost another $200,000 on top of that and I would have to endure 115 degree summers and no TREES!
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(VISITOR) AUTHOR'S NAME
Yadira
MESSAGE TIMESTAMP
17 december 2014, 00:09:22
AUTHOR'S IP LOGGED
62.210.78.179
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