LIFE in Review (s): Top 10 Need-To-Knows

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Top 10 Need-To-Knows

Howdy! And Welcome to Texas!

There are some things that took me either by surprise or just things I didn't know I needed to think about. Here is an ever growing list of the top things you need to know when you move to Texas:

Texas is the Friendly State! People here are just warm and friendly. If you meet an unfriendly person you didn't meet a native Texan you met someone who moved here and never adapted.
Texans LOVE football. They say that DFW is the birthplace of American football. I don't know if that's true. People asked me what team I was routing for in CA every so often, but not like they do here. 90 year women get spit-fire-hot over their favorite team! If you are not a sports fan (sshhhh, don't tell anyone, but I'm not...) go ahead and pick a team to route for, because it will make the conversation go smoother.

List of Texas Sports Teams

The Auto Registration is handled by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. The Drivers Licenses are handled by the Texas Department of Safety. Two different buildings. AAA does not currently have a contract with the state government to offer services for auto registration or license renewal but they do still offer roadside assistance, travel, and insurance in Texas. The Texas AAA has it’s own website as well. You can often accomplish renewals at local grocery stores such as Tom Thumb . Auto Registration renewal can also be done online at the TXDMVwebsite.
AUTO Registration requires TWO stickers both on the front drivers windshield. There is a Registration Sticker and there is an Inspections Sticker. The inspections is both safe condition of the auto (Mirrors, lights, etc) and emissions of the auto.
They will TAKE your out of state Drivers License when you ask for your Texas DL. So be prepared by taking a good picture of it with your camera/phone or getting a clean photo copy of it before you go to the DPS. You MUST have a new Drivers License within 30 days of moving here.
Roads are different here than any other state, get a GPS or use an adapter to hold your smart phone to the dash with it's GPS. They must know that it's confusing because they built in U-Turns into EVERY freeway on ramp and off ramp. All the roads along freeways have no real street names they are simply known as service roads and they only go one way in the direction of the freeway. If the store you want is on the other side you have to drive, sometimes a mile or more, to the next light and U-Turn back to the store.
You need a new business filing to do business here usually, check that out. Sometimes people in nearby states, like Oklahoma or Louisiana come over to do business. This should only be done if you have filled some sort of business certification here. This is especially true if you do things that are a liability risk like food or construction.
Forward your mail and process a change of address notification, also notify ALL your Banks, Credit Cards, Old Utilities, etc, or your new address, email, telephone. Helpful to make a list to cross off.
There are a LOT of counties in Texas. Find out where your county is for voting information.
Remember to register to vote BEFORE elections season comes, KEEP your card as you'll need it when you go. Texans usually vote in person and not by mail. They send you a new card every voting season, it's a bit larger than an index card. You usually need it to vote, if you did register but don't have it, they may be able to use your drivers license to ID you, but don't count on it.
Property Taxes are higher here. So that house you are looking at may cost more per month than you thought. Have that estimated into the payment by an independent real estate agent before buying that property. However, the high property taxes have helped keep the buy/flip market down here so you didn't see hyper inflation and then crashing here like other states had. So It's a blessing really. Plus there is NO state income tax, so this evens things out.