Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices, the houston boom is over

I don't think wages are that much higher than Houston's, especially when you have to consider state income tax. I don't know if they have local taxes. Property taxes I would think are almost comparable since you have a higher base even if its a lower rate. Maybe there are better job opportunities and better weather but when you talk about affordability in this sense I think Houston is more affordable.

 

That's a pretty nice neighbourhood not too west of Houston. You can get cheaper homes in different areas. Take the Willowbrook (NW) area or Mission Bend as examples. Anyone calling Houston not affordable doesn't know what they're talking about.

 

Mission Bend and Willowbrook are like the hood.

 

That's pretty far out there. Plus you'd have to get on a toll road to get anywhere.

But yes it is a nice neighborhood. We looked at it not too long ago, but it cost a bit too much and was a bit too far out.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/L...,12.5z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x87c311178741e7b8

 

But Klein and Champions aren't.

 

Of course, there is no reason to doubt that. State tax, gas, real estate, etc, makes Houston much more affordable.

Property taxes are a little different I think which favors LA. The county has a current property value that is based on the last sale. Even if the property value goes up 100% in a year, the taxable value can only go up by a meager 0.5%. This means that you can buy a house at 500K and have it increase to 1.5 M but your property tax will only be based on the yearly increase of the 500K value. I believe in Texas, it uses the current assessed value of the property. Meaning, an LA house might be worth a lot more but the property taxes might be lower(if you have owned the house for a long time)

 

I live in champions forest. Next to million dollar homes. I never see my neighbors. All the vehicles are kept inside the garage. We have our own mall cops, they stopped us about 10 ten times and not 1 ticket issued.

 

Bro if you guys are really calling champion forest the hood lol wow man.. 5th ward now thats the hood.

 

Where the F is champions forest?

LOL I only know downtown, midtown, rice village, city centre and the galleria.

 

Ive been to 5th ward. Scary to say the least.

 

Anything Northeast of downtown, thats not touching the belt, is straight up hood. I had to go pick up some supplies one time over around Ley rd and Mesa, where a lot of supply warehouses are and DAMN! Everything was run down over on that side. I would not advise rolling through without packing.

Also, I like how this thread became a discussion of homes and ghettos. LOL. I hope everybody in the O&G field land back on their feet.

 

I started working out near 249/Beltway not too long ago and still don't know what the **** is going on out there. Champions this, Vintage that, Klein, Spring? All I know is I cant wait to leave early and get back to civilization, away from that long street (Jones Rd?) that has 13 fast food joints per block on it.

 

5th ward is the best place to live in Houston. Helps suburb kids grow up quick.

 

How about we discuss O&G in this thread? Rumblings today about Russia and a few OPEC members being open to 5% production cuts to reduce the supply glut.

 

The only problem is Iraq and Iran won't go with it. Both of them are looking to up production rapidly.

I was just doing some more reading and this story was pretty heavily refuted by OPEC. It would tend make sense that the Saudis would not be open to cutting production at this point.

 

Half a percent is pretty good. In Houston the cap is at 10% increase per year. You also get a homestead exemption which can reduce certain taxes by 20% I think. But either way I think we are both coming to agreement about the same thing. I was commenting on the other poster who said Houston isn't affordable.

 

Just curious how Iraq and Iran can increase production without the necessary infrastructure? Who is willing to invest in these high risk areas when oil is so low? Iran could be lower risk but Iraq seems really unstable with ISIS etc.

 

What makes you think that they don't have the infrastructure? Oil seeps from the ground Beverley Hillbillies style over there.

If there's only one thing in the world that they can efficiently do over there, it's pumping oil out of the ground.

 

Well for whatever it's worth Iraq is already at all time highs with oil production in spite of the security issues. The Iraqis have said they are targeting 6 million bpd by 2020. Maybe too aggressive, but their goals are clear. Also, Iraq has a **** load of oil that hasn't even really been explored. The IEA has said Iraq could be producing 8.3 million bpd by 2030.

Iran does neeed to upgrade their infrastructure as well, but it is still very profitable for them to produce oil in this $25-$40 range that we will be in for a bit. Iran is pushing for a 1 million bpd increase this year no matter what the price is.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/27/news/economy/iran-oil-price-exports/

Also, oil demand is projected to increase by 1.5 million bpd this year.

 

Why are foreign companies/countries able to profit from the low price of oil while the US is not? Do they have cheaper drilling cost? If so, why can't we emulate their practices?


Sorry for the naivety..