No, their eggs aren't in on basket. But they have more cash on hand than most of these other companies that are tied into O&G. They have enough cash to ride out any storm just like they always have, it's a matter of how many people they decide to keep on and cut loose as well as potential hiring freezes across the board. Also, the exuberant amount of money they've been throwing at some of these kids right out of college won't be the same.

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Yes, but they appraise you who dictates how much you are taxed. HTH

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HCAD is the defacto lever on taxes because of taxpayer apathy to the taxing jurisdictions and total focus on HCAD described in this opinion.

The taxing jurisdictions have spending budgets. It costs $X hundred million to maintain and fund the utility district, or $X billion to run the school district. They need to raise that budget through taxes. All the HCAD value does is ALLOCATE that budget among taxpayers based on value. If the housing prices in a school district goes up 20% across the board, because there is very little taxpayer pressure, the school district just maintains the same tax rate and sends out a bulletin mailer that says "OMG! WE ARE SO AWESOME WE DIDNT RAISE TAXES THIS YEAR!" (oh but we're having this public hearing cuz revenue went up more than 8% but dont worry about that, theres some fine print in the back that might be smudged that tells you when and where) " and pockets a 20% budget spending increase.

HCC system I think has a 15% value increase AND a 15% tax rate increase or something silly like that this year for something like an effective 33% increase in taxes, but only HCAD takes any heat for it.

If real estate values were to skyrocket across the board and HCAD raised values perfectly correspondingly, but the levels of tax revenues were maintained by all the govt entities we pay taxes to, your tax bill wouldn't change much despite the HCAD value increase.

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If the housing prices in a school district goes up 20% across the board, because there is very little taxpayer pressure, the school district just maintains the same tax rate and sends out a bulletin mailer that says "OMG! WE ARE SO AWESOME WE DIDNT RAISE TAXES THIS YEAR!" (oh but we're having this public hearing cuz revenue went up more than 8% but dont worry about that, theres some fine print in the back that might be smudged that tells you when and where) " and pockets a 20% budget spending increase.

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That's true to a point, but in general property taxes have gone up because the population is growing. This means that the increase in money that comes in goes right back out by providing more students with the current level of services. In addition, in the housing and construction market we have now, planned projects such as new schools or renovations that were planned years ago are suddenly off schedule and over budget as materials and labor become scarce.

Don't ever take advice from people like Katyag99. Small picture thinkers are dangerous to ones financial well-being.

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That's true to a point, but in general property taxes have gone up because the population is growing. This means that the increase in money that comes in goes right back out by providing more students with the current level of services.

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That's sort of true, but some (most?) of that value is captured in new development, not price appreciation. If nobody is building new homes, unless people are starting to pack em in 3 families deep in housing (which is generally not the case in the gentrifying areas with high price appreciation) the student population is not going to increase with the price appreciation. There will still be about the same number of kids. If a builder comes and builds 1000 new homes, then 1000 new homes are added to the tax base anyway, and the required revenue increase shouldn't be very great on the existing homeowners.

I agree for at least parts of HISD, because many of the people who are moving inside the loop now either don't have kids in school or are planning to send them to private school. For some of the outlying and suburban districts, the increase in students is real. I also know that Aldine ISD has lowered its tax rate for the second straight year. Not sure how many other districts have done that, though.

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I work in the construction sales industry. Let me give you a word of advice HOUSTON IS A SELLERS MARKET! If you want to sell your house the average time on the market, per the Houston Business Journal, is 2 weeks MAX. Now, the flip side of that is you might want to put a contingent on the sale that if you can't find a house to buy then the deal is off. Gas prices have ZERO effect on the housing industry. The housing market in our city is driven mainly by one thing, demand. There is only a back log of 3 month supply of new homes on the market. Therefore, if you have a house in an established, no new houses being put up around you, and someone wants to buy that house, they have to buy your house.
This isn't 1980 man. Actually, if you look at the trade deficit/surplus this will be the first year that the U.S, in a very long time, will be at a trade surplus due to our exportation of natural gas to China and other countries. Fracking has helped with this as well.
So no man, do not in any way determine whether to sell your house or not by the price per barrel of oil. U.S., despite Obama (well Texas at least) is trying to become more dependent on natural gas, and not crude oil.
Now, I will say this, if you see the sub-prime go to zero and no down payment hold on to your hats! That is when the writing is on the wall and banks are lending to anyone with a heartbeat! This is when you will see notes getting called and builders such as David Powers, Wilshire Homes, and the like dry up like a raising because they pulled an Enron.

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I read this in a Samuel L. Jackson voice.

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I work in the construction sales industry. Let me give you a word of advice HOUSTON IS A SELLERS MARKET! If you want to sell your house the average time on the market, per the Houston Business Journal, is 2 weeks MAX. Now, the flip side of that is you might want to put a contingent on the sale that if you can't find a house to buy then the deal is off. Gas prices have ZERO effect on the housing industry. The housing market in our city is driven mainly by one thing, demand. There is only a back log of 3 month supply of new homes on the market. Therefore, if you have a house in an established, no new houses being put up around you, and someone wants to buy that house, they have to buy your house.
This isn't 1980 man. Actually, if you look at the trade deficit/surplus this will be the first year that the U.S, in a very long time, will be at a trade surplus due to our exportation of natural gas to China and other countries. Fracking has helped with this as well.
So no man, do not in any way determine whether to sell your house or not by the price per barrel of oil. U.S., despite Obama (well Texas at least) is trying to become more dependent on natural gas, and not crude oil.
Now, I will say this, if you see the sub-prime go to zero and no down payment hold on to your hats! That is when the writing is on the wall and banks are lending to anyone with a heartbeat! This is when you will see notes getting called and builders such as David Powers, Wilshire Homes, and the like dry up like a raising because they pulled an Enron.

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I see KatyAg99 as the guy on the right. But I like it. Keep it coming man. Gotta keep this board interesting.

diggity or other realtors, what are you seeing in the market? I'd imagine things have to be slowing down. Oil continuing to fall and majors are announcing big cutbacks for 2015. I haven't seen any big layoffs yet, but if you get more M&A activity (like Halliburton/Baker) that could lead to some significant job losses over the next couple of years.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-10/wti-crude-declines-as-iran-sees-further-slump-on-opec-division.html

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Oil Resumes Drop as Iran Sees $40 If There's OPEC Discord
By Grant Smith and Rupert Rowling Dec 10, 2014 8:04 AM CT

Brent crude fell near to a five-year low as OPEC said it expects demand for its crude next year to be the lowest since 2003. West Texas Intermediate also sank.

Futures slid as much as 2.2 percent in London. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its estimate for demand for its crude in 2015 by about 300,000 barrels a day to 28.9 million. Crude could fall as low as $40 a barrel amid a price war or if divisions emerge in OPEC, said an official at Iran's oil ministry.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reduced its price forecasts for next year while also downgrading its production outlook for a second month.

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