$320K to invest

[Gabi Ashenden]

Hi!

I've recently moved to the US, my husband is a US citizen, I have a green card and we bought a house in TX that's our primary residence. I have an apartment in Europe that my parents bought for me when I was in college, that is now worth around 340 - 350k . I'm thinking about selling it, because even though it's in a great location (Warsaw city center), and I've never had a mortgage on it, I only get around $1200 a month out of it. The issue is, that I will have to pay capital gains taxes here in the US, which will be around 30.000-40.000. 

My question is, how to reinvest that money? Is it better to put that money down as even 50% in an expensive market like California, etc, or buy a couple of cheaper properties?  We also live in a great area of Houston (the woodlands), and thought about investing here, but the taxes are very high, and can't get anything under $320.000. What are your thoughts on that? Is it bad to invest in areas with high taxes? 

Thanks!