My husband and I are planning on moving to Texas in 2 years. We want to buy a house there next year?

We would like to rent it out for one year and move into the house the following year? Is this possibe? Do we need to actually be residents of the state to buy a house? What is the going rate to rent a 4BR, 2.5 BTH house in Houston, Texas? My husband's sister lives there so she will over see things for us in terms of rent collection - maybe, and her husband will handle any maintenance issues - we will pay them someting every month for taking care of this for us. Any feedback is welcome please.|||You do not have to be a resident of Texas to purchase a home here, and yes you can rent it out if you choose to, however if you do this you cannot claim the homestead exemption to receive a discount on your state property taxes. In Texas you have to be living in the home in order to receive this benefit, so while you rent it out you cannot, but once you move in you can then contact the local (Harris county) property tax office and claim the homestead exemption. As far as the going rate for a 4br 2.5bth in Houston...you do realize how darn big that city is right? Depending on the neighborhood, subdivision and general location of the home in the greater houston area you are looking at anywhere from at least $100,000 on up to over a million.|||mmm texas rocks!|||I agree with Shadow about the size of Houston. Depending on what side of 'town' your relatives live on is the first thing to look into. The population is growing so fast that many are commuting as far as 75 miles one way (I did for 15yrs) and these closer areas becoming full. That changes the going rate. As far as residents; my daughter just bought a house near me while being in Germany for 7 years. I would check into HAR.com, the Houston Chronicle, and craigslist Houston for current home prices.