Re: First time home buying..
Sugarland is nicknamed “Meethadhar” by desis here… 
Re: First time home buying..
Oh and Texas has no state tax right?? So who cares about natural beauty? With the amount you save one can afford to go to a tropical destination every 6 months!
Oh since we're also house hunting our prime concern is location so we have access to good schools and good neighbors. I am not sending my kids to private schools and paying $20 grand a year because I think they are overrated. I'd rather use that money for a good university.
Re: First time home buying..
^but then their salaries must be in line with the cost of living.. you cant be earning $150k where you can buy a mansion for $300k?
In north east, you earn more, you pay more.. simple as that!
We are kind of stuck as it turns out Guidance Residential will not finance the homes that are eligible for rehab loan.. so we have to buy something that is in pretty good condition... changes a lot for us including our budget!!!
Re: First time home buying..
sugarland/meetha dar sucks. majority of desis are rude and jahil. you cant find educated environemnt there. many of them are business owner/boutique owner/methai walay/mechanic/cell phone shop owner. they do have money, but they dont respect other people. however, spring/nw area is pretty good. people are educated and they do respect and meet with aajzi and ankasari. so big no no to sugarland. 
Re: First time home buying..
Yes, salaries are definately in line with cost of living, but like cherryontop says, we have no state income tax..that makes a big difference. And like any part of the country, it also depends on how much of a down payment you are putting down. 3.5%? 10%? 20%?
As far as salaries goes, the average IT/Computer/Engineering job for a college grad who has been in the workforce is probably $70K-$80K..if you're in upper management /qualified MBA, then $100K-$150K is not out of reach.
The thing have to keep in mind is that the D/FW metroplex is more like a cluster of suburbs spanning 4 counties. Each city/suburb is contained within itself, since we have no real mass public transportation to speak of. There i)s no downtown core living,like Chicago or NYC. There are no urban highrises and the hip, trendy uptown pockets are few and far between. There obviously are areas of the cities, like Highland Park/Preston Hollow (the Souther Methodist University campus) where George W. Bush now lives where $300k will get you a 2 bedroom shack, and homes that are 30 years old start in the millions, however that is a very elite area. Dallas county has higher property taxes than Denton County where I live. So it's all relative to where you are here. But for the most part, $300K will get you a very nice, sizable home in an excellent school district in the classic suburban dream. Most desi families here that only have the husband working can usually afford that lifestyle.
Re: First time home buying..
ahhhaaa interesting… you will make us all move to TX 
so just for fun I checked homes in my county and Sugarland, TX for 200k and boy what a difference… they do have beautiful houses there (I even saw one with the 99 names of Allah hanging on the wall, felt so Pakistani 
)
I guess I will have to convince husband to move to TX in oil field.. he will be able to find a job there.. me, not so much but I guess I can just sit at home and do the BBQ in yard year around
Re: First time home buying..
^but then their salaries must be in line with the cost of living.. you cant be earning $150k where you can buy a mansion for $300k?
In north east, you earn more, you pay more.. simple as that!
It's really not as simple as that. I know for a fact that physicians actually earn more in the Southern States such as Texas as opposed to the Northeast. And as Khattichic has mentioned, even other professions pretty much have the same median income. Only corporate lawyers and finance professionals earn significantly earn more in NY since NY is the hub for these fields.
I wish we could move to Texas or Florida but home is where family is and all our family is here!