Phoodilicious

I moved from UK to Texas in February this year and none of the houses I looked at to rent had water or sewage included.

Bob

That's weird, must be a texas thing then...it's usually included in the rent as the rate can be tied to the property tax, which is on the owner.

N1cky

Nope, not included in either of the CA houses I have lived in either.

Bob

Hmmm....weird...Admittedly, not lived everywhere, but even with the wifes cousin's living all over, not seen that before.

Learn something new every day I guess

scrubbedexpat097

Only included in Texas if you rent an apartment

Bomjeito

In the southwest and Texas, water and sewage may not be included. Sewage usually can be, as its a flat rate in most places. Water problem areas like the SW and Texas, it is based on useage, so normally not included in rent. However it won't be much in a flat vs a house, as you won't have sprinklers or a private pool.

Your property taxes are within the rent, but renter's insurance separately.

I think us folks in Texas could help more if you let us know which city you are coming to live.

MovingtoTexas

Wow! Thank you everybody - you've been very helpful!

Some of those figures were less than I expected which is good news

I'm moving to a small town in the Hill Country, and I'll probably live in a house, not an apartment.

Thank you again for your patience in answering my questions - I will be back

Bob

Expect high electric bills for the AC, especially in the summer then

Phoodilicious

Yes! Air con running the majority of the time the past 3 months, I have heard monthly bills from friends and colleagues ranging between $150 - $600!! I keep our air con temp set quite high (between 82 - 85F) and my highest bill was $152 last month (2,400sqft two story house, energy efficient home) but various friends/colleagues keep theirs anything from 70F and hence their high monthly bills.

Water bills also very costly in the summer months due to keeping the lawn and foundations watered. Friend with a swimming pool and her sprinklers on several times a week says her average water bill is $400 per month in the summer Water restrictions here in DFW area from this week and I gave up watering the yard so much a month or more back, seemed little point when the grass was trying so hard to die in the extreme heat!

scrubbedexpat097

Tell me about it



Hill country is my favourite part of Texas, the weather is a mixed-bag but never as humid as down Houston/Galveston way.

scrubbedexpat097

The grass can die, but I don't want the slab to crack. We have soaker hoses all around the house and garage that we use every couple of days for a few hours.

A friend just had their slab crack. He was quoted between $15,000 to 20,000 to fix it, but as so many are cracking right now there is a wait list to get it done I would rather have a high water bill than have to pay for that.

Phoodilicious

Yes we have continued watering the foundations just not the main lawned areas other than a sprinkling a couple of times a week just to tease it

cranston

wow! you like it hot.

Phoodilicious

I like our electric bills to not resemble a mortgage payment but I read a very interesting article about living in Texas and keeping the heat comfort levels and electricity bills in perspective. Basically the advice given was that the body very quickly acclimatises and that if you can keep the house around 10-20 degrees (F) less than the outside temperature at most then the house feels cool compared to the external temperature and then going back into the heat outside is not quite such a shock and uncomfortable as your body is not experiencing such a range in temperatures as having the inside temperature set at 72F and it is 105F outside.

We thought that made some sense and tried it and it has kept us cool for the most part and the electric bills less scary We also have ceiling fans in the house directly over wherever we are and that helps.

TimFountain

TX does not have state income tax, but does have sales tax and high property tax.

- Tim