Reply #40: I love Austin, but the prop taxes are killing us.

[Dora]

We were "lucky" enough to buy "low" in a central neighborhood in 2002. This is our fourth year in the house, and our taxes have increased our mortgage payment by $300 month. Meanwhile, our income has decreased by 33% (thanks to the UT layoffs of '03), and our expenses have gone up to the tune of one-baby-in-daycare and $3-per-gal gasoline.

I loooove Austin and the Hill Country. Regardless, I'm lobbying to sell high in two years and get the hell outta Dodge. With everything Austin has to offer, and it offers a lot, it doesn't offer enough to justify being a slave to our house payment for the next 26 years.