From CA to TX, need some advice...

[DeNguyen]

So I've been really considering a move from san jose to houston, but I'm still a bit undecided. Can anyone with a bit more experience with these two cities contribute a word of advice? It would much be appreciated. Heres a list of the pros and cons I have so far. It seems like the only thing thats really holding me back is the fact that I grew up here and I know everything there is to know about this place. Its always hard to leave something like that, right?

PROS:
1) I can buy and pay off a pretty big house/great neighborhood. As opposed to SJ where I can make a down payment and pay $2-3k monthly mortgage.
San Jose: 1375sq ft. house in a relatively poor neighborhood = $500k.
Houston: 3000+ sq ft. in Belaire residence= <$250k

2) This goes with #1, but I'll never have to make a house payment again.

3) I've always wanted to have an independent business, particularly a restaurant. Not only is it cheaper to do so, but theres less competition in Houston as opposed to SJ.

4) If #3 doesn't work out, jobs are more readily available in Houston than they are in SJ. I'm an IE.

5) real estate in the bay area has potentially peaked. possibly declining?


Cons:

1) I've lived my whole life in the Bay Area. That gonna be hard to put behind.

2) weathers not as nice.

3) I have a few relatives there, but otherwise I need to make new friends. I'm 24, I dont think it should be too tough, but still....

4) I have to leave my job. Theyre underpaying me by about 15k, but its a stable job. i think...

 

[flaminio]

I have a friend who moved from the Bay Area to Houston. He's happy as can be, but for me Houston is one of the most dismal places I've ever visited. Hundreds of square miles of polluted self-similar sprawl. No diversity of landscape or mindscape anywhere.

Keep in mind that with the housing and job markets, if you leave the Bay Area most likely you will not be able to come back.

Everyone's diffrerent, and everyone's gotta do what one's gotta do, but for me, in my opinion, there is no deeper hellhole than Houston, Texas.

 

[dynatac]

Why did you choose Houston?
Job offer?

If you're absolutely set on TX, why not San Antonio, Austin, or Dallas?

 

[Wheelman]

hi DeNguyen,

I am in Real Estate here in Houston and we get an enormous amount of people who initially invest in the Houston market then wind up moving here. The majority of people I talked with find that the salary in Houston is competitive nationally but the value of housing is extremely cheap. Of course, with all the people that are moving to Houston, housing will eventually start jumping up soon.

some quick facts about H-Town:

-Houston 4th largest city in U.S.
-Houston Port is number 1 in foreign tonnage
-Biggest medical center in U.S. where kings and presidents from other countries come to get treated.
-Energy capitol of U.S. minus Enron
-2nd Largest Vietnamese population only 2nd to Orange County

for $300k your house will be rocking here..for $1Million you can have a 6 to 7 thousand square foot home.

If I can help you out in anyway, whether it is Real Estate or regular NSX get togethers let me know..

Ricky

 

[Yellow Rose]

.....in my opinion, there is no deeper hellhole than Houston, Texas.

Go take a cold shower.

I've been to many major cities in the US - Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, DFW, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, DC, NYC, Columbus, Cleveland, Denver, Phoenix, Memphis, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Orlando, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee, St Louis, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Honolulu........the list goes on.

There are much deeper hellholes than Houston, if you care to look around, so you need do do a little research before making a comment like that. Begin with a Google search of America's worst cities to live in and see where Houston ranks.....certainly not at the bottom of your so-called hellhole.

 

[bling]

I used to live in the Bay area for ~ 3 years and now is my 6th year in Houston. In response to your questions:

Pros:
1) & 2): true, can't argue w/ lower living cost :smile:
3) Yes & no depends on what type of restaurant you want to open. The turnover rate of most Asian restaurants in the SW are high...we see 4 different names at the same location with 1 year...
4) Generally speaking, true. But I am in finance
5) Houston housing prices are not increasing as it used to be...very stable due to overbuilding within the city. :frown: I wanna sell now

Cons:
1) This is very subjective, can't comment on that.
2) Personally, I prefer SF's weather 100x over Houston's. It's sooo hot and humid here and that's my worst enermy :frown:
3) Again, subjective. I prefer the urban setting of SF much much more, but you're in SJ
4) Subjective again :wink:

I am seriously thinking of relocating back to SF now. The ONLY thing that keep me in Houston is my job, which is very very promising. Otherwise, I would just pack my stuff and move back to SF in a heartbeat. Of course, this is only my opinion. The decision is up to yourself :wink:

Hope that helps.

 

[mickeylex]

Its a tough call. There are pros and cons to both. I have good friends who live in Houston (relocated from CA) and they love it, but given the choice, I bet they would move back to CA. I think of it this way - if you move out of CA, don't plan on coming back and buying a house here again. Unless you are one of the lucky ones, price increases will outpace salary growth for some time to come.

 

[Mojorator]

I was in a similar dilemma LAST YEAR... I visited Austin Texas for the sole purpose of relocating my family. My son will turn 5 tomorrow and would have been great if he went to school in Austin as the schools are MUCH BETTER and the communities look fantastic.

I still want to move someday, but between the Higher Property Taxes and NO SET employment, I stayed in SoCal..

SOMEDAY, I WILL move to Austin, that place is BEAUTIFUL!!!


Mike

 

[DeNguyen]

Thanx for the speedy replies, and everyones $0.02. I really appreciate it. To tell the truth, I wouldn't move out out of CA is money wasn't the issue. But unfortunately it is... Buying a house here in this time period is just not a smart move to make (investment wise). Of course its a great place to live, but you also want your home to be an investment, right? Thats what got me into thinking about moving out of state. Houston being my first choice just because I already have relatives and family friends there. Anyway, I figure if I can pay for a house in cash, it would be a great burden off my shoulders plus a lot of extra cash in my bank (to spend on toys of course). And if and when I do get married, the double income would make things even better. Save money for any future kids, traveling, my ferrari, etc... So ya, nothing is set in stone yet, but I looking at all the possible routes I can take. I do realize that once I leave CA its very hard to move back. Fortunately my parents will still be here, so that probably means I'll be back and forth often.





Excuse me for breaking my train of though, but prices of houses in the bay are just rediculous nowadays. Some guy outbid me on a 1375 sq ft. house in a crappy neighborhood and he ended up paying over $600k. I mean, how is the younger generation of professionals supposed to live like that? I know most of my friends are either living with their parents or renting/sharing a apt/house. I honestly dont believe in renting when the cost of rent is about the same as the cost of mortgage. Its just throwing money away. Right? Average starting salary for engineer out of college is 50-60k. lets just say 60k.... thats 5k a month. 3k goes to mortgage, 500 car payment, 500 food, 150 insurance, 150 utilities, 200 general household items, 50 cell phone... the list goes on... and on... you pretty much end up saving about 50-100 bucks a month to spend on leisure. Isn't that sad? Sorry for ranting, but I'm still kinda buzzed from earlier tonight. I had a very long week guys.


Anyway, thanks for all the input again. keep it comin! I want to know what other people think of houston and the idea of leaving the bay.

 

[Autophile]

Average starting salary for engineer out of college is 50-60k. lets just say 60k.... thats 5k a month. 3k goes to mortgage, 500 car payment, 500 food, 150 insurance, 150 utilities, 200 general household items, 50 cell phone... the list goes on... and on... you pretty much end up saving about 50-100 bucks a month to spend on leisure.

Don't forget about income taxes, DeNguyen. For $5k gross income per month, that leaves about $3k net income per month. The lifestyle you described is for someone making about $8k gross income per month.

 

[flaminio]

.....in my opinion, there is no deeper hellhole than Houston, Texas.

Go take a cold shower.

I've been to many major cities in the US - Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, DFW, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, DC, NYC, Columbus, Cleveland, Denver, Phoenix, Memphis, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Orlando, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee, St Louis, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Honolulu........the list goes on.

There are much deeper hellholes than Houston, if you care to look around, so you need do do a little research before making a comment like that.

I've traveled the USA quite a bit, both on business and holiday. Of the cities you listed above, the only one I haven't been to is Indianapolis.

Based on my research, I stand by my comment. Although, Detroit is a very close second. Of course, this is just one man's opinion, and YMMV. The OP was looking for opinions; I opined.

 

[transdzn]

Why do you HAVE to buy a house? Think long term, buy a condo. Live there for a few years and with the equity, get a house. You sound like a first time home buyer so do not rush into it.

I'm doing this ATM. :biggrin:

Vizal

 

[DeNguyen]

Why do you HAVE to buy a house? Think long term, buy a condo. Live there for a few years and with the equity, get a house. You sound like a first time home buyer so do not rush into it.

I'm doing this ATM. :biggrin:

Vizal

even the nicer condo's and townhouses around here are 500k+. i know i shouldnt listen to everything i hear, but its been said townhouses and condos arent as good investments as buying houses.

I am a first time buyer. I thought i knew what I was doing, but the closer i get, the more confused I get. Maybe I'm just making things harder for myself than it should be...

 

[flaminio]

even the nicer condo's and townhouses around here are 500k+. i know i shouldnt listen to everything i hear, but its been said townhouses and condos arent as good investments as buying houses.

I don't know about that. Townhouse prices in my complex have just about doubled in the past five years. Doubling is usually considered "good" .

 

[2Dobes]

My wife and I moved to Houston, about 7 years ago. We LOVE Texas. It gets hot as hell here, but it beats the crap out of cold weather any day.

 

[NRG]

Chao De Nguyen,

I have been to Houston on many occasions such as family reunion, etc. Based on my cousin's real estate experience, housing is cheap over there. One of my cousin bought a new home and put 30K in upgrade to the house. Well, after 2 years, he wanted to move next to Galleria (a popular mall in Houston)...he sold his house for a 30K loss after 1 year on the market. The housing doesn't appreciate over there because of too much land to build. You have to watch out for flood season in some area...due to the flat land and bad sewage system over there. There are a lot of opportunities for you but it all depends on what type of business you want. My cousin owns 2 pharmicist business and he racks in the dough. His partner switches car every 6 months from Ferarri to whatever....etc. So, yes, you can make a great living over there with the cheap housing. The only thing I don't like about Houston is the heat and humidity. Watch out for mosquitos at night w/ the humidity. Yikes. Other than that, I like it. Oh..lots of girls (if you're single). If you have relatives over there, then it might make your decision easier. Why not keep your current home here and rent it out? (sorry if i don't remember if you own one right now) and after 1 year, you can move back without a problem.

Don't associate housing market with the stock market. Housing is a necessity in life...not the stock market. I agree with you that i think the bay area housing is crazy....but maybe a 10-20% correction is a possibility in the near corner. However, it will go back up and plateau for awhile. Before the housing market boom, the Santa Clara housing was plateau for 10 YEARS...no changes. I wouldn't be surprised to see that pattern again for the next 10 years. Who knows....

My other cousin just moved to SF from Houstin to be in a partnership for some medical firm. I met with him a couple of months ago, and he loves it here. He sees so many opportunities in CA than he recognized in Houston.

So...I think you should take the chance and find out for yourself. Don't buy a house over there yet...just rent it for awhile...test the water and the opportunities first. The housing market is not going to go up drastically like in the Bay Area.

If you need help for some inside info on the real estate, then PM and i'll hook you up.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[mickeylex]

I mean, how is the younger generation of professionals supposed to live like that?

Denny,
Lots of people (foolishly, in my opinion) do it by taking out interest only loans or 1 year ARMs for their primary residence. That's risky b/c if they can't make the payment, they lose their credit AND their place to live. They will likely feel the pain in the next 18-20 months when their adjustable rates increase significantly and they find themselves unable to make payments. Housing prices in the Bay will always be higher than the rest of the nation (save for NYC) and prices here will continue to go up, but in 18-20 months, it will become a little easier for buyers to find more homes to choose from. This is what I've heard from friends and family in real estate, loans and title businesses. They may be right, they may be wrong.

Someone here said if you move to Houston to rent for a while, then decide if you want to buy. That's great advice.

 

[steveny]

... but for me, in my opinion, there is no deeper hellhole than Houston, Texas.

All a matter of opinion. I consider any city or town which has a population above Five thousand to be a hell hole. I can not figure out why anyone would want to live on top of one another?

 

[W]

It sounds like your choices aren't limited to just Houston. Why not some random desert town?

 

[archangel0585]

jesus christ... houston is a great town. I lived in the bay( i was born in Fairfield even) but i really like houston. give it a shot you're just as young as I am and a little change is good

 

[flaminio]

Based on my research, I stand by my comment. Although, Detroit is a very close second. Of course, this is just one man's opinion, and YMMV. The OP was looking for opinions; I opined.

I've changed my opinion. Based on stories like this, I now place Detroit at the bottom of my list.

Now I'll probably get flamed in PMs from lifelong Detroit residents. Bring it on!