Pre-Existing vs New Construction Homes: Which Is Right for You?

So. Fredricksburg, Texas is one of the top 15 towns to retire in the state of Texas, according to Wealth tinder.com. But it's not for everyone. So I asked a local Facebook group what they dislike most about living in Fredericksburg, and you will not believe what the number one reason was. So make sure you stick around. Here are the top seven reasons you will hate living in Fredericksburg, Texas. Reason number seven. There are very few family activities to do in the area. Let's go ahead and take a look at a comment from that local Facebook page. Lack of facilities for kids. The tax rate we pay with high valuations should allow the city and county to provide a lot more to our youth. A portion of the entertainment hotel tax should fund a multipurpose athletic theater, dance, indoor pool facility available to the local youth. The older golfers and tourists shouldn't get all the gains of high taxes, and I must partially agree with her comment. It would be nice if we had more facilities for our youth, but I must say there are several great places to visit if you have a family. For instance, hiking a chain rock is always a great time and it seems like kids really, really love to do that one. There's also seeing a movie at the Fritz Town cinema, and then we have the awesome Hill Country Escape Room, which is a wonderful time with the entire family. And then finally, we have several pools to enjoy during the summer months. So sure, we could use more family friendly facilities around Fredericksburg. But I must add, there are several great places you can enjoy with your entire family. Reason number six the summer heat. So if you're thinking about moving to Fredricksburg from California, or maybe a northern state and your average summer temperatures below 90 degrees, this is one that will take some time to get used to. So quick story. I actually spent six years on the central coast of California, and our average temperature for the entire year was 68 degrees. I mean, come on, that's basically hoody temperature all the time. So when I moved back to Texas, it took me almost two years to get used to the Texas heat again. But I promise you one thing. You will get used to it. Reason number five. Everything closes down so early in town. So most of the boutiques and shops close about 5:00, and the hours do vary. So make sure you plan it out accordingly or you'll miss that special something. We do have a decent amount of restaurants that stay open till about nine and 10:00, so if you're looking for a later dinner, we have several options for you when it comes to that. But if you're looking to have a late night drink and do a little partying, we do have several bars here in town that stay open till about 2:00, but make sure you stay safe and get yourself a designated driver. Reason number four we are loaded with wineries, so if you are someone that doesn't really like to drink wine or go out to wineries on a summer afternoon to relax while sipping on a bottle of rosé, you probably won't like the fact that Fredericksburg has over 50 wineries. Maybe wine is not the problem. Maybe you're more of a cocktail drinker. Or maybe a beer drinker or whiskey drinker. Well, you're in luck. We actually have three separate breweries the Fredricksburg Brewing Company, All Stop Brewing Company, and the new one called Overall Brewery. We also have several distilleries and just to name a few. We have Luke and Back Road Whiskey, the Elk Stone Winery and Distillery, Dietz Distillery, and Salvation's Spirits Distillery. So again, if you're not much of a wine person, we have several different options for you to partake in. Reason number three high property taxes. So according to this survey I took on this local Facebook group. A lot of locals think that we have very high property taxes here in Fredricksburg. Now, if you look at the Gillespie County Appraisal District website, we said about 1.49% for the county and city property taxes. And if you reside out in the county alone, we're at 1.29%. Now, let's go ahead and compare that to the rest of the state of Texas. According to the tax sharp OECD. Com, the Lone Star State average property tax rate is approximately 1.8%. In other words, if you own a house in Texas valued by a tax assessor at 350,000, your property tax rate is 6300. Let's go back to Fredricksburg rates. If you own a home that's assessed by a tax assessor of 350,000. Your annual taxes will be 5215 per year. So we actually have a lower tax rate than the rest of the state of Texas, which is awesome. But what I think the people have the biggest problem with is not necessarily the tax rate, but what the tax assessor is valuing their property at. But that's not necessarily the tax assessor's problem. Since January of 2019, we've seen a 26% increase in the real estate market here in Fredericksburg. So again, it's not necessarily the tax rate or the tax assessor that has the problem. It's our real estate market and how much we've grown since 2019. Reason number two lack of affordable housing. So when I was gathering the real estate market data for the month of November, I calculated that the median sales price in Fredericksburg is 527,500. Now let's go ahead and see what the mortgage would be on our median sales price using Nerd Whatcom. If you put 5% down on the sales price of 527,500, that puts you at a $26,375 down payment and an interest rate of 6.5%. Your monthly mortgage payment, including taxes insurance, would be $4,000 a month. And according to Zipcar, the average salary in Fredericksburg is $42,000 a year, which, if you divide that by 12 months, that doesn't even cover all of your mortgage. So unless you're married or you have some money you can split that mortgage with, you're likely going to be renting. Rental rates can vary from about $1.15 a square foot for an older home in about $1.80 per square foot for newer construction. So all you have to do is multiply that price per square foot by the square footage of the home, and that will give you your monthly rental rate. And most apartment complexes are well over $1,000 a month. So affordable housing in Fredericksburg is definitely something that is a little concerning. Reason number one the cost of living, which obviously is associated with number two. Let's go ahead and take a look at what best places dot net has to say about the cost of living here in Fredericksburg. They use a scale of 100 for the US average and overall for experts sits at 101.9%, which is 7.7% higher than the rest of the state of Texas, which comes in at 94.2%. What is interesting, though, is that the grocery prices are 95.7%, which is 4.3% lower than the rest of the United States. But our healthcare comes in at 102.3%. And this is the big one. Our housing cost of living comes in at 130.9% compared to the rest of the state, which sits at 83.5%. That's a whopping 47.4% higher rate than the rest of the state, which is absolutely mind boggling to me. And it's no wonder that this was the number one comment on that survey I took on the local Facebook group. And on the other hand, if you have the funds to purchase real estate here in Fredricksburg, we've seen tremendous growth and appreciation over the last 2 to 3 years due to the rise of the wine and tourism industry. So Fredricksburg just may be the place for you to park your money or relocate your family too. If you're interested in hearing about the best wineries in Fredericksburg, make sure you watch my next video, which is the ten Best Wineries in Fredericksburg, Texas. 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