Fastest Growing Millionaire City

Random Ramblings
1

You guys think I am just a Texas hick that thinks his little city is the best…but it is. I don’t understand why anybody would live anywhere else. I am not by myself. Forbes has this study that shows that Houston is growing millionaires faster than any other city in the country. http://blogs.forbes.com/stevenbertoni/2011/07/14/americas-fastest-growing-millionaire-cities/ I say duh all you had to do is listen to me. You need to move from the frozen north to the lifestyle and opportunity of Houston if you want to be rich and live like you are rich. You can get rich in New York but live like an ant or get rich in Los Angeles and live like a school teacher or you can live in Houston like the millionaire that you are.

Just saying don’t be mad at me, I told you what to do.

2

I have to admit it…

You’ve been saying this for YEARS here…Obviously you know what you’re talking about! :beer

3

Texas pride… :beer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru,_Indiana Heres my town if you wanna see what im working with :flush

4

Just read the article bluemoon… 9.6% of the cities population are millionares?!? HOLY F!!! Thats impressive… wow.

5

hoosier,
The RATE of increase in millionaires in Houston went up 9%, not the total in the population.

The percent of millionaires there was about 2%, lower than in California.

Thanks for sharing pictures of your town with us, too. Doesn’t look like such a bad place.

What’s tough about Houston is the weather, right? Lots of humidity, heat, and the smell of money coming off those oil refineries!? But the water access to Galveston is right there. We enjoyed driving through it last year.

Furnishedowner

6

I actually don’t live in Houston (I live in Cypress) because of several reasons. The schools system, the government and of course the smell. The heat and humidity doesn’t really bother me much because I get home from work pounce into my pool and then I am actually quite comfortable.

It is hot here but we also get to play golf Christmas day.

My neighbor’s house is for sale if you guys want to get down here. http://search.har.com/engine/13307-Cypress-Pond-Dr-Cypress-TX-77429_HAR72213456.htm it is currently the most expensive house for sale in the neighborhood.

7

Bluemoon06,
It looks stunning, a whole other world.

Texas is so rich, compared to our poor 'lil state of New Mexico.

Here in our furnished rental home office, we rate prospective Texas tenants dead last. We know they will have a hard time adjusting. We do a lot of eye-rolling at each other when we get fresh, new unacclimated Texans in.

Texas wife to husband: “Honey, my CLOSET at home is bigger than this whole unit!”

Texas husband: “We prefer a gated community. We don’t like to drive through poor areas.” (Whoops, that ruled out 95% of the town, ahh, maybe the state. The only gates here are for cattle.)

Texas big city wife: “What IS that horrible smell? And the noise?”

Me: “Oh yes, the stockyard for cattle is conveniently located downtown, but you only notice when the wind is right and they’re having a cattle auction.”

Texan: “We would like a swimming pool, dishwasher, and a modern kitchen with granite counters, you know what I mean. We like a high quality of life.”

Me: “Unhhh, sorry but only a few of our units have dishwashers because the water is so heavily mineralized that you have to wash them by hand anyways. Ain’t got none 'o them pools, either. What is granite?”

Californians are another matter. They have been paying outrageous prices for crackerbox houses for so long that they like anything they can get. We like our Californians.

We like our Texans, too. As they keep us amused. And it is customary to bash your neighbors, right?

Furnishedowner

8

Nice house…and if you run out of toilet paper your neighbor can hand you a new roll through your window!!!

WOW…Those houses are CLOSE TOGETHER :shocked

9

Well you know how we are. But the great news is you can be one of us also. Come on down.

10

They are not zero lot line. I don’t think there are any houses that are closer than 20 feet to each other. Now my brother’s wife did tell me she would have thought the lots would have been bigger. I told her these are houses not farms.

11

They built 4500 sq ft homes on 1/4 acre lots???

Man…That is CLOSE.

Texas is suppose to be BIG right??? Lot’s of LAND???

Some builder made a BUNDLE in that development!!!

Beautiful homes, don’t get me wrong…But WOW!!!

I like my neighbors…But not THAT much!

12

Ok Jake. I don’t know how much land you want to move here. The house is still about 4500 sqft and costs around $400k and you have your land. I looked in this neighborhood when I bought my house but my kid would have to change schools. It is still a great school. Now you have no excuse but to get your butt down here.
http://search.har.com/engine/13111-Park-Forest-Tr-Cypress-77429-5385_HAR85404491.htm

And for you other guys that really want a small lot here is one for you.

http://search.har.com/engine/16030-Comal-Bend-Ln-Cypress-77429-6451_HAR36926304.htm

13

There’s some big advantages to a smaller lot…

Less maintenance

You pay less in property taxes

Security…It’s easy for neighbors to keep an eye on each others homes

Bluemoon…You live in a BEAUTIFUL NEIGHBORHOOD, with Super nice homes! :beer

And…As you’ve been telling us for years here…You’re doing it for FAR LESS than that same home would cost in many other parts of this country.

Smart…Very smart! :beer

14

House looks great to me. Hopefully I own something like that someday. :beer

15

I need to start over. My intent is not to just say look at how many people in Houston are getting to be millionaires, what I want to show is that these people are actually becoming rich. First ask yourself why are we doing this real estate thing. We don’t do real estate for money. If we want money we can get a job. We do real estate because of the quality of lifestyle that real estate can give you. In other words we are doing real estate because we want to be rich.

I always say that money is not the same everywhere. I saw a show about this woman that grew a business and sold if for a million dollars. She lived in New York City and she said although she has a million dollars she didn’t feel rich. That is because she has a million New York dollars. If she had a million Birmingham AL dollars she would absolutely feel rich, but then again she would have to live in Alabama. That is when I realized that it costs the same to be poor everywhere. If you live in Los Angeles and all you make is $15,000/year you are poor. But if you live in Dallas you are poor also. The question you must ask yourself is where is it cheap to be rich?

If you buy a $400k house in Los Angeles you will not be living in a house that can remotely pass for the lifestyle of a rich person but if you buy a $400k house in Houston you are in a 4,000 sqft house with a pool and home theater. But you are not in Alabama, you are in the fourth largest city in the USA. You have all the professional sports but you also can get you lawn professionally done weekly for $25/week. You can get a lady to clean your house everyday from 9:00am until 5pm for less than a car note. In Los Angeles you are paying $5million for a house of this type. It costs a lot to be rich in San Diego. But in Houston it is cheap to be rich and you are still in a world class city. That is what I am trying to say.

You guys need to get your butts down here.

16

Las Vegas is also a fast growing place for million dollar real estate.

17

What are property taxes like in Houston? Coming from NY they are a nightmare. Up here in the “frozen north” there are nothing but costs. That may not make me move to Texas, but Florida is looking more attractive.

18

Property taxes are high here. We have high property tax but the school taxes are higher. School tax is around 1.5% all by itself. Then we have MUD tax (municipal utility district) etc. All told you are probably looking at around 4% of fair market value. But we don’t have income tax.

19

Amazing the price of oil climbs and there are more millionaires in Texas, Gouging must be good for business. Besides I spent a week in Houston and it was the longest year of my life. Besides the red tape required from Mexico City is overwhelming whenever you want to do something, living in the Colonies De Norte Americana and doing business isn’t easy, all those bribes, etc. and being a gringo doesn’t help.

On the serious side, I avoid most newscasts now days, Just can’t stand to watch the dumbing of America any longer. I Just heard about that proposed pipeline from Canada to Texas, can anyone explain to me why the pipeline has to go to Texas, wouldn’t it be smarter to build a refinery in say Detroit and create new jobs there, and forget the rest of a truly unnecessary pipeline, or is it a case of the lobbyist put out the required influence money, and the job offers for after the bribed lose office, and they want results now.

20

The main problem with the pipeline is the capital it costs to build a new refinery is not justified. Oil companies can’t really get their minds around the fact that they have 3 different businesses. They have exploration and production (getting the oil out of the ground and moving it down stream), retail (gas stations and tiger marts) and downstream (refining and distribution). Of the 3 businesses they like and understand the first 2 because the margins are huge and it is like printing money and they make money despite themselves. On the other hand the third business downstream refining is more like chemical manufacturing. The margins are like those of a normal business and require actual management. They see refining as a drag on profits and only do it where it is required.