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old member here; had to get a new email for the account.
due to retiring and a desire to move; which is better Texas or Oklahoma?
I've been visiting Texas for work and vacation over the last 35+ years and like it a lot.  
I've worked with Texans and Okies.  
A good friend lives there also but I don't need to live close to them.  
So it seems that you need a permit for just about everything (not sure what this is in regards to.  Firearm carry?  Won't be like that for long).

from what I can tell it might not be the best retirement state on the financial end of things. (not sure what this refers to - needs more detail.  Texas has no income tax while OK does.  But Texas seems to have high property tax.  You need to crunch your own numbers to figure out which is best for you.  Do you have income coming in that a tax on it would hurt more than property tax?  

I would like to sell property I have here and reinvest it into some land and barndominium.  
I already live where you turn right when you hear the banjos; so BFE is fine with me.    
Primary area I would want would need to have water available, and preferably ground good enough to raise a decent garden.
The further west the better I guess, don't really care for SE Texas.  Love the hill country, but so does a lot of other folks driving up the price.  Further west is less water, the state gets drier as you go that way.  Not much you're going to grow in El Paso for instance, compared to Orange.  
Like the desert but kind of need trees for shade also.  Gotta pick one or the other, or try to hide behind a cactus I guess.
I can tolerant the heat and humidity (born and raised); but I really do appreciate shade and coolness.  Not much shade or coolness in west Texas.  

Don't mean to pick on you, but you want a place with water, good soil, as far west Texas as possible, with trees and shade, and coolness.  Many of those are at odds with each other.  Need to decide what is more important that the other.  

I'm a fan of God, guns, guitars, and good Texas women.  And the need to keep Texas;  well...Texas.  
Any suggestions on where would be a good place to move?

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If I could talk my wife into moving again, I'd jump on this old place.

$189,000 Abilene, TX 2.7 Acre Stone Homestead

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If you are retiring Oklahoma is probably cheaper.  Cost of living down here in Texas is spiraling out of control.  Especially if you are not yet 65, because property taxes are increasing massively.

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Rural land is a bit cheaper - comparing similar land to similar land - in Okla.  

Taxes might be higher in Okla, due to the Texas ag exemptions for rural land.   For non-ag land, Okla is cheaper on property taxes.  

Both are relatively similar.   If you were in N. Texas or S. Okla, you likely would not see much difference in the culture.  Same with Amarillo vs. Western Okla.

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I'm looking to move out of Houston in the next year or 2. Can't stand the Houston heat & humidity any longer. If I've got to move after being here in the same house for 34 years then I might as well do it right and make it my final move!  This state is going down. Been here 42 years, and the writing is clearly on the wall. If you're the kind that doesn't mind moving every few years, then it may work for you for a few more years before it goes Majority Democrat. 70% of Californians that move are coming to Texas. I don't doubt it's the same numbers for other libs coming here from other blue states too. Add 2 generations of people who came here illegally from Mexico who dropped anchor babies, raised families, and now vote Democrat. (...and still come from across the border daily on Democrat welcome) Then we have our own generation of born & raised welfare people. You get the picture. Senator Cruz only beat Beto a couple of years ago by about 7%. Compare that with numbers that use to always be about a 20% margin.  This state has another 4 to 6 years before it votes in a Democrat Gov.

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I'm looking to move out of Houston in the next year or 2. Can't stand the Houston heat & humidity any longer. If I've got to move after being here in the same house for 34 years then I might as well do it right and make it my final move!  This state is going down. Been here 42 years, and the writing is clearly on the wall. If you're the kind that doesn't mind moving every few years, then it may work for you for a few more years before it goes Majority Democrat. 70% of Californians that move are coming to Texas. I don't doubt it's the same numbers for other libs coming here from other blue states too. Add 2 generations of people who came here illegally from Mexico who dropped anchor babies, raised families, and now vote Democrat. (...and still come from across the border daily on Democrat welcome) Then we have our own generation of born & raised welfare people. You get the picture. Senator Cruz only beat Beto a couple of years ago by about 7%. Compare that with numbers that use to always be about a 20% margin.  This state has another 4 to 6 years before it votes in a Democrat Gov.

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If you are retired, Oklahoma my be the cheaper place. Property taxes in Texas are out of control and only getting worse. Some places with gold plated schools are reaching above 2.5%. I'm at 1.8 % and the county recently tried to raise my value by almost 50%.

I'd post in the OK forum asking for specifics, but in many incorporated parts of OK the rate is below 0.5%. OK has an income tax, but if you are retired and not making large income then it works out better.

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The amount charged can only go up by 10% but the appraisal can go to the moon.  Then each year your taxes go up until they catch up.

I hope I can hold out long enough with the tax increases.  It is out of hand.  The government spending with these windfalls is out of control.  They should only be able to increase their spending by cost of living with an adjustment based on population growth and any excess applied as a refund or credit on the following year property taxes.  Not this out of hand BS.  People are being priced out of their homes.

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Got it.  Yeah, what happens is governments get an influx of money when real estate prices go up, which they use to buy votes with and otherwise waste on bloated government.  So then when the economy shrinks and house prices go down, they're out of money and beg for the Federal government to rain money from the sky, stolen from the future.

I pay about 5500 bucks on my cheap 250 grand townhome.  Is that chump change compared to what others are having to pay?

If you were starting a system from scratch, you'd have a very low property tax, and make up the rest via a state income tax, as that's a better way to tax than on a sunk cost like a house, where all of a sudden you're paying more for something that's not producing income.  At least with an income tax, if you are paying more tax, its from making more.

Problem is, if you add in an income tax, no matter how much elected officials promise (lie), they end up not reducing property tax by near as much as they rake in via a state income tax.  So you end up paying more when all is said and done.

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If I could talk my wife into moving again, I'd jump on this old place.

$189,000 Abilene, TX 2.7 Acre Stone Homestead