May Be Moving To Northwest Texas (1 Viewer)

Anthony Martino

Anthony Martino

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We are closing on our home tomorrow and then have 60 days to continue occupying here in Tampa while we relocate out of state.

We're looking at a home in Northwest Texas (not in Abilene but that "area"), hoping to fly out that way next week and see it in person. Had some questions:

HOME INSURANCE

What sort of insurance coverage would you recommend for that area (i.e. hailstorms, tornado, flood, etc) Obviously any insurance company we talk to is going to try and sell us more than we need because they're salespeople.

PROPERTY TAXES

Property taxes seem higher than we're paying here in the Tampa area (over 3x as much). This home is assessed higher than our property in Tampa, but still a fairly large difference that doesn't match the appraisal differential between the properties.

ELECTRICAL COSTS

And then electricity costs in the area. Right now in Tampa we're paying $0.06196/kWh for the first 1,000 kWh and then $0.07196 for anything over that. Then they tack on a fuel charge of $0.0379 /kWh for the first 1K and $0.04791/kWh for anything over.

Plus a few other odds and ends tossed into the bill that add an additional $35/month in costs.

CITY WATER/SEWER COSTS

And right now we're on a well and septic system, but this home would be city water and sewer, unsure what to expect that bill to be.
 
Property taxes are insane in Texas, but we do not pay a state income tax.

Texas has choose your own provider electric. Right now prices are high. Average cost of 13¢ per KwH, fees included. You can put your address into power to choose and select a plan. Use your zip code and see what's available.

Insurance - we use USAA and that covers all the storms. Hail is big in our part of Texas, not sure about our west. Probably tornados. Make sure whoever you use covers wind/tornados. I don't have any special riders.
 
No state income tax here in Florida either. We're stuck with one provider in our area, and my particular neighborhood always seems to be the one to lose power during storms too.

Looks like electric will be MORE expensive in Texas than in Florida which kinda blows my mind. Although I'm assuming because the heat is dry the HVAC systems don't have to work as hard as they do in our humid climate?

I have USAA for my car insurance so may go that route. Although when I tried putting the property into their online quote form it was cumbersome and giving me a bunch of options that I felt were ridiculous (the lowest it would let me select to cover the property for was roughly 4 and a half times what the property is listed for sale at.

So may need to call someone there and figure it all out.
 
I have a two story, 4,500 sqft house and I average 3,500kw in the summer and right around 2k the fall and winter months. My bill under my current contract is $350-$400 at 9¢ a KwH.

I just renewed a 36 month contract at 13¢ a KwH with plans to pay the cancellation fee when rates drop below 10¢ again.
 
CraigT78 said:
I have a two story, 4,500 sqft house and I average 3,500kw in the summer and right around 2k the fall and winter months. My bill under my current contract is $350-$400 at 9¢ a KwH.

I just renewed a 36 month contract at 13¢ a KwH with plans to pay the cancellation fee when rates drop below 10¢ again.
Click to expand...

We have a 1300 sq ft home and used 2,009 kWh, so was around $300 for our last bill. At least we have the option to shop our electric coverage in TX, it's all monopolies here in tampa
 
Holy. Hell. I'm moving back to Texas. We pay .34-.47 here. Our house is significantly smaller than @CraigT78 and our last electric was $720.23.

Fwiw Anthony, where we were in San Antonio we had extraordinarily few options for all services including electric. Maybe I'm off, but while we had the right to choose, we essentially only had one provider (CPS). I specifically remember every resident in the surrounding thousands of homes having to utilize them.
 
BarrieJ3 said:
Holy. Hell. I'm moving back to Texas. We pay .34-.47 here. Our house is significantly smaller than @CraigT78 and our last electric was $720.23.

Fwiw Anthony, where we were in San Antonio we had extraordinarily few options for all services including electric. Maybe I'm off, but while we had the right to choose, we essentially only had one provider (CPS). I specifically remember every resident in the surrounding thousands of homes having to utilize them.
Click to expand...

USA USA USA?
 
Anthony Martino said:
We are closing on our home tomorrow and then have 60 days to continue occupying here in Tampa while we relocate out of state.

We're looking at a home in Northwest Texas (not in Abilene but that "area"), hoping to fly out that way next week and see it in person. Had some questions:

HOME INSURANCE

What sort of insurance coverage would you recommend for that area (i.e. hailstorms, tornado, flood, etc) Obviously any insurance company we talk to is going to try and sell us more than we need because they're salespeople.

PROPERTY TAXES

Property taxes seem higher than we're paying here in the Tampa area (over 3x as much). This home is assessed higher than our property in Tampa, but still a fairly large difference that doesn't match the appraisal differential between the properties.

ELECTRICAL COSTS

And then electricity costs in the area. Right now in Tampa we're paying $0.06196/kWh for the first 1,000 kWh and then $0.07196 for anything over that. Then they tack on a fuel charge of $0.0379 /kWh for the first 1K and $0.04791/kWh for anything over.

Plus a few other odds and ends tossed into the bill that add an additional $35/month in costs.

CITY WATER/SEWER COSTS

And right now we're on a well and septic system, but this home would be city water and sewer, unsure what to expect that bill to be.
Click to expand...
I carry wind, hail and tornado insurance on my house Anthony. You should also get the hail insurance on your vehicles.
Being a very new home owner in West Texas, I’m still sort of still learning what the costs are. I don’t see much difference in my overall utility costs vs what I paid in Virginia.

As Craig mentioned, property taxes are high but there is no state income tax. Gasoline is about .50/.70 cents cheaper per gallon vs many other places in the country.

Moving here from Virginia last year, my overall savings tax wise is about 3% compared to back east. With the lower cost of living, tax savings
and better paying job, it’s been a win win for me.

Here in Canyon, the water, trash and sewer bill is all combined into one. Your bill will mostly fluctuate based on how much you water your lawn.
I would guesstimate year round average electric, gas, water and sewer to average $350-$400 a month combined. This is based on 2 people living in an 1800sqft home. Costs will vary based on consumption of course.

I don’t know much about Abilene except that you’ll be just under a four hour drive from me if you make the move.
Hope to see you soon and best of luck with it my friend.
 
CraigT78 said:
Property taxes are insane in Texas, but we do not pay a state income tax.

Texas has choose your own provider electric. Right now prices are high. Average cost of 13¢ per KwH, fees included. You can put your address into power to choose and select a plan. Use your zip code and see what's available.

Insurance - we use USAA and that covers all the storms. Hail is big in our part of Texas, not sure about our west. Probably tornados. Make sure whoever you use covers wind/tornados. I don't have any special riders.
Click to expand...
I’d kill for 13c
I bet it’s over 30c here maybe 40c with rate increases

Never so happy I went full solar long ago
 
BarrieJ3 said:
Holy. Hell. I'm moving back to Texas. We pay .34-.47 here. Our house is significantly smaller than @CraigT78 and our last electric was $720.23.

Fwiw Anthony, where we were in San Antonio we had extraordinarily few options for all services including electric. Maybe I'm off, but while we had the right to choose, we essentially only had one provider (CPS). I specifically remember every resident in the surrounding thousands of homes having to utilize them.
Click to expand...
Yup pretty close to Guam rates
I’d say it’s 35-45c by now after they keep raisins the fuel surcharge

I put full solar on my roof years ago knowing this was coming
12.5K system here with good sun year round and I’ve got no bill thankfully
 
FDLmold said:
wtf ?

That's not even affordable. I run two A/C units and a 1 horsepower pool pump basically 24/7, my bill maxes out around $350 in the summer.
Click to expand...
The cost of your bill is less than double just my "generation" charges. I don't even know what that means.

I took a look to see if maybe it was just using so much or whatnot, but it looks like we're coming in right at 2k kWh during the hottest months, so it's not our usage. I guess just crazy rates?

@Anthony Martino I guess CA isn't an option lol :(

1658280353081.png

1658280459447.png
 
Lil Tuna said:
I carry wind, hail and tornado insurance on my house Anthony. You should also get the hail insurance on your vehicles.
Click to expand...


Oooh, good idea on the vehicle coverage, I'll make sure to note to update that if we wind up getting the house. Looks like where we'll potentially be would be about 3.5 hours from you (and roughly similar to Dallas)
 
BarrieJ3 said:
@Anthony Martino I guess CA isn't an option lol :(
Click to expand...

Not looking that far west. We considered everything from as far northwest as Kansas all the way over to Virginia, then everything inbetween and south, something like 15 states.

We've got 27 homes saved but I think 12 of them are already in pending status. Some of them switch to pending very quickly after they're listed. We still keep them in our favorites just in case.

There was a really nice property, over 3 acres, big house. Needed some work, was in Carthage TX, really low price, about an hour outside of Shreveport where I believe I could find some live poker.

But they got bombarded with like 30 showings right off the bat well before we'd have been able to check it out unfortunately.
 
It's 10.6c per kwH here for the first 1000. In the summer, it goes up to 10.9c after that. In the winter, it goes down to 9.4c.
 
First, you are moving to a pretty nasty part of the state. I wouldn't call Abilene "west Texas" though. Very dry, dust storms and sand storms. If you aren't moving to an urban area, medical care can be a long way away. Desolate in every way imaginable.

Your homeowners insurance isn't negotiable unless you are owning outright. Wind and hail are the biggest part of the package. Fire is next. After that the costs are trivial.

Electric costs are totally on you. most parts of the state allow for competitive bids on power. The lowest cost plans normally come with MASSIVE high demand surcharges. You'll win almost every month, but a bad month can be very bad on a variable rate plan. Leave the AC and heat off to save huge bucks.

Property taxes are high at two to three percent. The price of paying no state income taxes. Ditto on sales taxes at 8.25% most places.

Make no assumptions about sewer / water / garbage. Every place is different. Often, private companies provide services. When you only have one water supplier, they can charge whatever they want.

There is no substitute for a local Realtor. Don't assume any of us know what you will run into. God help you in rural Texas. E.G you didn't ask if you have to maintain your own road. Yet there are plenty of places where you do pay for installing and repairing your own street.

In all seriousness you do need to check how far to the nearest hospital. It can be more than an hour. Even if you don't care now, someday you might.

Been here, seen that, know to be careful -=- DrStrange
 
DrStrange said:
First, you are moving to a pretty nasty part of the state. I wouldn't call Abilene "west Texas" though. Very dry, dust storms and sand storms. If you aren't moving to an urban area, medical care can be a long way away. Desolate in every way imaginable.

Your homeowners insurance isn't negotiable unless you are owning outright. Wind and hail are the biggest part of the package. Fire is next. After that the costs are trivial.

Electric costs are totally on you. most parts of the state allow for competitive bids on power. The lowest cost plans normally come with MASSIVE high demand surcharges. You'll win almost every month, but a bad month can be very bad on a variable rate plan. Leave the AC and heat off to save huge bucks.

Property taxes are high at two to three percent. The price of paying no state income taxes. Ditto on sales taxes at 8.25% most places.

Make no assumptions about sewer / water / garbage. Every place is different. Often, private companies provide services. When you only have one water supplier, they can charge whatever they want.

There is no substitute for a local Realtor. Don't assume any of us know what you will run into. God help you in rural Texas. E.G you didn't ask if you have to maintain your own road. Yet there are plenty of places where you do pay for installing and repairing your own street.

In all seriousness you do need to check how far to the nearest hospital. It can be more than an hour. Even if you don't care now, someday you might.

Been here, seen that, know to be careful -=- DrStrange
Click to expand...

Thanks Doc!

We would own outright, no mortgage, but want to make sure we protect the investment with appropriate coverage

Tampa is also 8.5% sales tax.

Interesting on the paying for your street costs. Nothing was mentioned in the ad for the house but I'll verify

While we would be in a small town, there is a hospital open 24 hours in town
 
Thank God you aren't moving to NC. We've got enough influx here already.
 
Anthony Martino said:
The town we're looking at has fast internet so would still play online

Being in-state I could make some trips to participate in livestreamed PLO possibly
Click to expand...
Lubbock has several card rooms and there are card rooms pretty much scattered all over the state. Several in Dallas and many of the bigger cities and towns.
If you log onto Pokeratlas.com, it’s literally like the Bravo poker app. You can find out what any club in the state currently has running.
They just opened a new club in Amarillo last weekend, Amarillo Social Club. I stopped in just to check it out and it was packed.
FBD438AF-606F-470D-B8C1-E4A71DA4CDB0.jpeg

Typically you buy a membership and pay hourly (usually $10-$12 per) for your seat.
Lots of $5-$15 on the button NLHE and Omaha.
West Texas Card House in Lubbock has a regular $10-$25 OTB big O game that plays huge.
 
Holy schnikes I narrowly avoided disaster. I was double checking my flights and saw I booked them.............FOR SEPTEMBER!

Managed to get the correct flights booked, would've been mighty pissed showing up tomorrow and finding out I was a few months early for my flight. Probably would've gone viral on someones Tik-Tok as they had to tase me and put me on the no fly list
 

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