price of housing in Houston

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by professorsenator

One thing to keep in mind, too, about houses in the Houston 'burbs is that asset appreciation can be iffy (or non-existent in some instances) and selling can be difficult. And some 'burbs that were hot at one time not too long ago have seen significant declines in house values (the FM 1960 area, for example). More often, price appreciation may only barely keep up with inflation for many houses, if that (this is due to the ever increasing amount of news housing being built -- your used home is in sales competition with the legions of new houses being built).

In NJ, your entry price will be much higher. But in most instances in good areas your home will hold its value better and have better opportunity for real asset appreciation. In Houston, lots of people own lovely houses in the outer 'burbs that are comfortable places to live, but their home is often a lousy financial investment in the long run. The places that have the best ROI potential are in the desirable closer in areas that are -- no surprise! -- much more expensive.

Houstonians often rationalize this by saying something like "I buy a home for a place to live, not an investment." But its common for poeple in NJ (and other places) to "cash out" when they retire, sell their home at a decent profit, and use the proceeds to fund their retirement. That's a lot less common among Texans because their home just doesn't appreciate in value in the same way.

The bottom line: its a VERY different real estate market with VERY different rules and expectations.

Good answer. But Im still laughing at the guy from Joisey. Im from there and know full well what he is talking about.

There is one other thing you didn't mention. Salaries are higher in NJ. Even uneducated broom sweepers make $50k but you can not make ends meet on that pittance of a salary. NJ also has the highest property taxes in the country. Somehing else Texans like to complain about. That $550K home in NJ would cost a healthy $25,000 a year in property taxes. Maybe $5-7000 in a good area in Houston. Am I close with that one?

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

That $550K home in NJ would cost a healthy $25,000 a year in property taxes. Maybe $5-7000 in a good area in Houston. Am I close with that one?

No, your numbers strike me as too high in NJ and too low in Houston. My guess is that a $550K house in NJ would have around $10K in taxes; it would probably be $10-13K in Houston on a $550K house. $550K in the outer 'burbs of Houston buys you a lot more house (i.e. larger, fancier, prettier neighborhood); the same amount in NJ buys much less but the house probably has better ROI potential.

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by professorsenator

No, your numbers strike me as too high in NJ and too low in Houston. My guess is that a $550K house in NJ would have around $10K in taxes; it would probably be $10-13K in Houston on a $550K house. $550K in the outer 'burbs of Houston buys you a lot more house (i.e. larger, fancier, prettier neighborhood); the same amount in NJ buys much less but the house probably has better ROI potential.

I cant agree. In the NJ forum there is an open thread where everyone is writing in their property tax bills. There are quite a few who say they are paying $25,000 for a larger home. Those who are paying $10,000 have just an average 2500 SF home.

Of course it depends on what area but for the most part those in the crime capital of the earth, Camden pay not much less then Alpine where the most wealthy will live.

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

I cant agree. In the NJ forum there is an open thread where everyone is writing in their property tax bills. There are quite a few who say they are paying $25,000 for a larger home. Those who are paying $10,000 have just an average 2500 SF home.

It's not about the SIZE of the home insomuch as it's about the appraised VALUE which is a function of LOCATION (Schools? Neighborhood? Shopping? Proximity to The City? Turnpike/NJ Transit/PATH accessibility?) and QUALITY (of which size is only one component).

$25K on a $1-1.5m home in NJ would not be out of line at all, and there are lots of larger (i.e. >3000ft.) homes in NJ well above $1m. A 2500ft. home, depending on the area, could easily be $750-500K (or more, depending again on the area) and $10K in taxes would be on the low side in some situations.

Texans are obsessed with home size, but there's a heckuva a lot more that goes into the equation is most other places in the U.S.