True. We settled on three hard criteria for any move. Well, four actually.
1) Within an hour of a major airport.
2) Close to a city with university affiliated health care.
3) Close enough to a city to go shopping or whatever and then drive home.
4) Close to our kids. Which narrowed it down to Austin or the Charlotte, NC area, including SC.
The reason for #4 is based on our experience as our parents got older, we're going to need some support at some point. Hopefully not soon, but it's inevitable. We've both found doctors that we like, which is good. Mine is affiliated with the major teaching hospital in Austin, I'm not sure about my wife's.
Someone mentioned cost of living. I don't that Texas is that much cheaper to be honest. OTOH, we were able to sell our house in MA for enough that we bought a larger and newer house down here for cash. Plus we were able to cover the cost of the move, upgrades on our new to us house, and replacing the whole house generator.
Driver's License is $33.00 and good for 8 years.
LTC is $40.00 plus the cost of the class and fingerprinting, so about $100.00 or so. Good for four years, but don't need to take the course again.
Registration. $50.75/year. Plus you need to get your vehicle inspected ($18.00). That last is going away next year except for six or so counties. Of course including ours. If you are moving in from another state they will charge some portion of a sales tax equivalent.
Car insurance. Twice what you're paying in MA. And you have to renew every six months. Also, even if you are not at fault, you'll need to pay the deductible. Once you insurance company collects from the other insurance company, they'll refund that. BTW, it's pronounced INsurance.
Oh, and it's Pecahns, not Pea Cans.
Home owners insurance is a bit cheaper. The state mandates a deductible of 1% of the value of your house for claims.
Property taxes. Vary widely. You can Homestead and that reduces your tax rate, but the big discount is if you're 65 or older. Tax rates are more complicated here because the city has a tax, the county has a tax, and the Emergency Service Districts (ESD) and Independent School Districts (ISD) are governed by their own boards and set their tax rates subject to voter approval. There are also MUDs and SUDs, but they charge fee for service.
Food. About the same, but the selections are different. And, they are not big on low calorie foods down here. Lots of fast food down here, including some that disappeared from New England 40 years ago. Lots of Mexican and Tex - Mex as well. I still don't know how Taco Bell stays in business in Texas.
Gas. Cheaper, but the price per gallon can change during the middle of the day.
Electricity. It's unregulated by the state and and a state agency produces or buys all of it. Then independent brokers sell it. Prices vary, but there are far fewer taxes disguised as "fees" than in MA. Overall I think it's cheaper.
Natural Gas is regulated by the state and there is only one source. No idea on pricing as we don't have it.
We have Propane which is sold by a private company. We live in a "Propane Community." Which I thought was a typo when we bought the house. It's not. When the neighborhood was built the gas company didn't have lines in the area, so it was piped for propane. There are two huge tanks buried underground at one edge of the development. I don't know how they get filled as I've never seen trucks there.
I expect that most of you know this, but I'll mention it anyway. Just as I did in MA before hiring anyone to work on the house I demand proof of insurance (liability and Workers Comp) and a license. As I mentioned in another post, roofers don't have to be licensed in Texas.
HOAs. Yes, everyone hates them but the properties that we looked at that weren't in one were older and all of them needed a lot of work. We didn't want a "project" house, so we passed. Plus, in Texas and likely much of the south zoning laws are loosey goosey. Some areas are strict, but Harris County (Houston) has none at all. One house we looked at had a truck shop on one side and a motorcycle club on the other. You may be in a nice area, but there is that one house that takes $25,000.00 off the value of your house.
So, we bit the bullet and found a property with a low ($150.00/year) fee. The lower the fee, generally the older the neighborhood and there will be few or no amenities.
Note that everything I wrote is true in central Texas and may be different in other areas. As much as we love it down here, there was a period of adjustment. As my wife said one day, it's easier to think of Texas as a different country than a different state. Of course it was and might be in the future.
Sorry, I didn't mean to write a book.
This, think about every aspect of your life and how it would change in a move. As we are considering this some things are not a big deal, others, yea a big deal. Cardiac care is a biggie for me. As for jobs Me and the Mrs. both work in fields that jobs can be had easily.