Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Austin ain't no Atlanta that's for sure.

Texas has no state income tax so property taxes are fairly high here, mostly municipal and not state, so you get relief by moving further from city cores.  Still makes more sense to buy here, if you can afford it.

I checked into states with no income tax for obvious reasons and "discovered" that they merely tax something else instead.  Funny about that.

Georgia has a $130 K "deduction" on retirement income on their taxes at least.  The state income tax is actually higher than that in Ohio.  I just got hit with a property tax bill that was double what we paid in Ohio.  Well, the condo cost about double what the house did in Ohio.

I liked that house, nice location and back yard.  Liked the area in general, but not the winters, nor the upkeep.

We had a woodpecker that loved to peck holes in our siding.

We figure on living here until they cart us out in a wheelchair, or some other variation on that theme.

One lady just left at age 95, we were told.  She was an original owner, the last one, the building is 30 years old now.

SO, if the RE market collapses, I'll be OK, though that likely means the stock market went south and that won't be great for me, but I'm pretty well insulated now.

Most of the condos around are 2 bedroom and around 1500 sf.  We sort of lucked out, I think, as we really like it here, the building, the neighbors, the location.

My buddy who is a big OSU fan is coming down in November and we plan to see a GaTech game with Miami.  I've been to Grant Field one time in my life in 1971.

Reminds me of the time we met up in Austin and Gatorama and I decided to sit and watch the WLOCP at the tailgate.  Someone had asked us to dog sit, get this, a bulldog named Pearl.  I told Gator that was bad news for his team, and the Dawgs did win.  He called it "Pearlgate" from then on.  He was very nice to that old dog, who mostly slavered saliva and slept.

He had some really cool stories, did he not, and was a kind gentleman.

The wife and I just bought what we plan to be carted out of. We went from a 2 story to a one story (no more stairs). From a postage stamp backyard to one with plenty of room and a pool. Also has a casita, which currently houses my home office, so my business is totally separated from the rest of the house.  We hire people to tend to the yard and pool, so no work on my part. 
In phoenix renting is getting to be much more expensive than buying. Housing prices are jumping and while there is usually about 3 months inventory at any given time, currently there is just barely over a month of inventory. 

Leasing is an interesting concept.  Let's take a $40,000 car for an example.  You lease 3 years and they predict a residual value of $20,0000, so you pay that difference over the 36 months, plus whatever interest rate they cite, presuming you don't get wear and tear and additional mileage (which is a killer).

If you buy the car outright, you can usually negotiate a deal on it and perhaps pay $37,000.  Now after 3 years your vehicle might be worth $20,000 and you're out $17,000 in depreciation, in simple terms, not including taxes etc.  If you keep the car 5 years, or better, 10 years, you end up way ahead if course, but if you keep it only 3 years, leasing can be more attractive because you don't have to try and sell or trade the car and get a lousy deal on that.

We kept our last car only 4 years, so we'd have been better off leasing, but the salesman told me he couldn't give us that price on a lease so it had to be a sale, it was a "loaner car" with 4,000 miles on it, so there was a steep discount (fortunately).  I traded it in on the GTI and the dealer allowed me what the book had said, which was a surprise.  It was fairly low mileage (41,000) and in perfect shape.

The problem with leasing IMHO is that folks can buy a more expensive far for the same payment as they would if they bought it, so they do, and they of course end up after 3 years with zero equity, and get "hooked".  It's best to pay cash for the car and keep it a long long time, and better yet to buy used if you can, something off lease.  Don't get swayed by these "Factory Reconditioned" or "Certified preowned" whatever claims, those are mostly bogus.

Best option is to buy a preleased car and let someone else take the depreciation, and then keep it a long time.  Cars last a long time these days with little or no repairs.

Reminds me of the time we met up in Austin and Gatorama and I decided to sit and watch the WLOCP at the tailgate.  Someone had asked us to dog sit, get this, a bulldog named Pearl.  I told Gator that was bad news for his team, and the Dawgs did win.  He called it "Pearlgate" from then on.  He was very nice to that old dog, who mostly slavered saliva and slept.

He had some really cool stories, did he not, and was a kind gentleman.

Very lucky to have known that fine kind gentleman

My whole house, 3bdr 2ba, is 1200 square feet. 40+ years old. No basement. It's... Cozy.

Looking at Zillow, similar houses in my neighborhood can be had for a mere $600K...

Lol. I read stuff like this and it makes me think we not only live in different states,but different planets.  I live in a 4 BR, 2.5 BA,  2700 SQ that I paid 275k for 8 years ago.  Occasionally, my wife and I will watch these House Hunters type shows and it blows our minds. 
It will be a couple where the dude is like in IT and the wife walks dogs part time and their budget is 600k which will apparently get them a 900 SQ loft in San Francisco.  We can’t even wrap our heads around any of it.

Lol. I read stuff like this and it makes me think we not only live in different states,but different planets.  I live in a 4 BR, 2.5 BA,  2700 SQ that I paid 275k for 8 years ago.  Occasionally, my wife and I will watch these House Hunters type shows and it blows our minds.
It will be a couple where the dude is like in IT and the wife walks dogs part time and their budget is 600k which will apparently get them a 900 SQ loft in San Francisco.  We can’t even wrap our heads around any of it.

this is why I stayed in NW Iowa
cost of living