Don, there are many PY members in the greater Houston area.
Knowing where you were coming from would help greatly in the comparison shopping.
Albuquerque is a VERY nice area and would be hard to pass up considering the beautiful area and all the great mountains. Real Estate is considerably more expensive than Houston. In addition, ABQ seems to be growing at a very rapid pace.
I've lived pretty much all over and moved to Houston due to it's relatively mild weather, and the fact that I was tired of living in the rust belt. Houston has more annual rainfall than Seattle, WA. so it's wet here.. very wet! Humidity is a way of life and A/C in the garage is pretty much mandatory for me.
Temps are seldom in the 30s on the coldest winter days, with more typical temps over the winter from the 40s to the 50s. The summer is usually 60% humidity or greater, and temps in excess of 85 Degrees F. A typical summer day is 95F and probably 40% humidity, with strong afternoon thunderstorms.
Economically speaking, Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S. and one of the top ports. Houston is obviously a hub for energy related businesses and has enjoyed sustained modest economic growth. Unemployment in Houston is relatively low, and we've not seen a radical impact of the real estate bubble that other metro areas have suffered.
Real estate is cheap. Let me rephrase that: Real Estate is VERY CHEAP!!! My wife and I live in a good middle-class suburb called Kingwood in a 1650 SF 3, 2, 2 which I bought about 3 years ago for $97,000, improved a bit and is now worth around $130,000. Depending upon where you need/want to live you can find some really nice properties for a reasonably cheap price compared to practically anywhere.
We could buy a nice 4000-4500 SF home on a couple of acres in a NICE neighborhood for around $350,000-500,000.
A fantastic resource for real estate is
www.har.com which is site provided by the Houston Area Realtors Association. The site is easy to use and can be tailored to suit your specs on a home. As usual, I'd suggest shopping in areas with the best schools.
Texas doesn't have a state income tax, and the sales tax is around 6.25% plus the municipal taxes which usually results in around an 8.25% sales tax. Property taxes are steep, typically the lion's share of the property taxes are the school taxes.
With a Homestead exemption, expect to pay 2.0-2.5% property taxes on your home.
Classic cars are very popular, and there are a lot of activities for the gearhead. I could go on for a long while, but I think that get's the basics across.
If you can post your possible job location, I might be able to suggest some areas you might consider.
