subzero1906

Looking at Walden on Lake Houston-Humble, TX

Can someone elaborate on this answer someone posted to my question I posed last week on another site regarding Houston area real estate taxes? (see very bottom) We are looking at Walden on Lake Houston. 220k 5br home....9000 in taxes sounds really expensive. that would be 750.00 a month on top of the mortgage and hoa fees. This would then make Houston one of the highest priced metro areas in the USA. This person must live in a really expensive home to pay 5-9k in taxes. Are the real estate taxes that high in the Houston area? I understand you are paying for good schools but I dont think most of us would pay 9000 a yr for elementary school. My wife and I want good schools for our daughter however we dont want to turn 40 and have $0$ savings. Cypress and Katy seem to have very high taxes...Humble supposedly not as bad...any suggestions?

Thanks!


Posted answer from another site:
"Humble is very high we stay in humble, i stay in walden on lake houston subdivision and this taxes are a mess they was 5500 now they jumped to 9000 because of the new schools they buiding what a mess"

BeachBoi

Go to the website of the central appraisal district...Harris County is www.hcad.org.....Go to "Records" type in the address and you will see the taxes listed...

dfr4848

Agree, look at records on appraisal districts web site. Walden is probably in Montgomery County,

Yes, our real estate taxes are high. That's how most local governments raise money. We have no income taxes (either state or local) and most expenses are pretty reasonable. While property taxes are high, $9000 for a $220K home does sound high to me too. They do vary by city, county and school district so just put in an address and check the web site (which can also give you a 5 yr history). FYI - they can not go up more than 10% a year (at least in Harris Co.) so the post you got doesn't sound right to me.

volcanogirl

I agree - $9,000 sounds too high to me; I was going to suggest hcad as well, but dfr is right - you may be in Montgomery County. Let us know what you find out.

P_M

There's no way that could be right. My home is worth a little less than 220K and I pay closer to $3,500/year. Please do some more checking, there's got to be a mistake.

mireaux7

"Texas", is a rather large state with diverse economic opportunity abound. May I ask why youre insistant upon only locating to a specific region? You may save money by considering other options/locales within the state.

jayne1973

Make sure you apply for the homestead exemption if it's available. It can knock up to 20 percent off the taxable value of your home. Even without one, 9K is way too much for taxes alone on a $220,000 home in just about any area of the state.

But property taxes do vary widely, mostly depending on the rates for the school district you are in.

happytourist

The dirty little secret of the state without an income tax is that it has very high property taxes. Texas is not the low-tax state it pretends to be. It simply shifts a lot of the load from the state level to the local level--hence, high property taxes.

rkkwan

On the other hand, property prices are much lower than some parts of the country. So, even if the property tax rate may be double or triple that of some place on the west coast or the east coast, you're still just paying the same amount of tax, for similar type of houses you get there.

pollyvw

happytourist...and high sales taxes!

rkkwan

Yes. That's why I buy stuff online from out of state merchants. Also, some sales taxes are local. TX state tax is 6.25%, but local authorities can tax up to 8.25% total. In Houston, 1% goes to the city, 1% goes to Metro (the transit authority). If one's buying a big ticket item, it may go somewhere outside the Metro area to save perhaps 1%.

happytourist

Yes...high sales taxes and other hidden taxes, such as utilties. Tax burden should be measured by total state and local taxes. The Tax Foundation, a conservative anit-tax group, ranks Texas low on taxes but admits its property taxes are very high. What it doesn't measure is what you get for the money. Quality schools and public recreation opportunities are not easily found in Texas. On the other hand, housing is much more affordable in Texas. A friend who recently moved to Dallas from California said he had to make a choice between home ownership and quality of life, and he opted for ownership.

P_M

"Quality schools and public recreation opportunities are not easily found in Texas."

I strongly disagree with that remark and I find it highly offensive. Texas is a very large and diverse state and you can't make such broad generalization on the word of one person you know.

volcanogirl

happytourist, I respectfully diasagree with your statement. I personally live next to a huge park with 10 miles of beautiful bike and walking trails; I can travel an hour from my house and go sailing. Have you ever been to Austin? It has beautiful lakes. And there are most definitely good school districts to be found in Texas. It's a huge state, and as PM said, you can't generalize like that. I'm sorry that your friend has not had a more positive experience, but his experience is atypical of my own.

happytourist

I lived there for 12 years. I still have family in Texas.

P_M

happytourist, too bad you lived in a part of Texas you didn't like but that doesn't make the entire state a bad place to be. If Texas is so awful, why is it the second most populated state in the nation?

I have quite a few friends who have moved from CA to TX and they don't feel they have sacrificed quality of life at all. As volcanogirl said, recreational activities abound (especially in Austin) and schools are good. My friends from CA are very happy to be here and they don't see it as a black-and-white choice of quality of life vs affordable housing. In TX you can have both. Of course things are not perfect here, but where is the perfect place?

Volcanogirl, I didn't know you lived around here. You might be interested in this recent article about Austin. It was posted on a thread by degas, which you will find by clicking my name.

happytourist, I invite you to check this out as well, then tell me if you think we still have a low quality of life.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/getaw...xas/index.html

kopp

happytourist, I would respectfully disagree with your statement about education in Texas.

According to Newsweek magazine, Texas has 11 schools in the top 100.

http://tinyurl.com/2xbvly

Now don't even get me started on our outdoor activities.

How did your state do?

kopp

volcanogirl,

Howdy! Didn't know you were from around these parts. Glad to have ya!

I have a question just for you. You can find me at swisshiker at yahoo you-know-what.

msdotliz

That sounds like a mistake, subzero. The only places in Houston that pay that sort of tax rate is inside the loop or possibly certain parts of Memorial area. I live just outside Galleria and my taxes are about $5K.

nanabee

Before buying anything, I would check with the local real estate agent. In San Diego the property taxes are a flat 1% (or close to that) of the sales price. So you know exactly what the costs will be upfront.

You can also check with the local tax accessor. You want to know what you are getting into before you purchase.