300,000 For House-Where To Buy (closing, income, live in)

[Arizona Bound]

Hi..
You may want to check out Kingman, Az
and the Verde Valley.. Cottonwood, Az

Both are cooler in summer because they are
at about 3500' in elevation.

Kingman has all the conviences needed. Close
to Vegas, the Colorado river, and Laughlin.
You can get a nice/decent home with an acre or 2
there for.. anywhere from 250K - 500K. Lots of
outdoor activities. Hualapai Mtns go on up to
about 5000' with a wonderful park/campgrounds.
Use www.realtor.com for checking out homes and
price-points. you can filter your search by using the
different options on the left-side of the webpage
after you have put in your search for city/state.
City of Kingman (Official Government Site)

Denied:1up! Software () local paper

Welcome to Keepers of the Wild Nature Park & Animal Sanctuary! (http://www.keepersofthewild.org/index.html - broken link)

Haulapai Mountain Park

Information for Kingman, Arizona (http://www.kingmanarizona.com/local/cityinfo.html - broken link)

Cottonwood, Az in also a nice smaller city with other
small towns very near by. Sedona and Flagstaff are to
the north.. with Flaggstaff being an hour or so away.
Cottonwood has all the conviences needed. has the Verde
river if you like to fish. Just like Kingman, it has great
outdoor activities, wildlife, and Mtn views. You have
Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Cornville, and nearby Camp Verde.
Affordable homes with an acre or 2. Again.. use the
www.realtor.com website for searching homes and prices.

Old Town Cottonwood Arizona - Home Page

Denied:1up! Software () local paper

Welcome to the Verde Canyon Railroad Homepage (http://www.verdecanyonrr.com/index.html - broken link)

Home Page

Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce :: Home

Arizona State Parks: Dead Horse Ranch: Home

Blazin' M Ranch | Chuckwagon Supper And Live Western Stage Show

Both cities have a medical center, Library, College, many stores..
grocery, retail, auto, restaurants and so-on..
Both will provide a seasonal growing period if you like to grow
your own veggies.. fruit trees may do a bit better in Cottonwood
area, from what research we have done. We plan to retire and
buy a home in one of these nice towns... Folks who live locally
in these towns, and who post on this forum will surely help you
with questions you might have. Most are very friendly and love
living in either Kingman or Cottonwood.. you'll have to sorta
read-between-the-lines from some of the nay-sayers who post
about Arizona.. lol!

[Alatex]

I'm considering eventually making the move to be near my brother in San Marcos, which is ideally situated between Austin and San Antonio. It's very easily within your price range, has a large university, a convenient library and activity center a short walk from the riverfront park.

That said, if I were in your situation, I would also very strongly consider Sarasota, FL.
Florida housing prices have gotten killed the last couple years. It's horrible for the sellers, but a great opportunity for buyers.

[Boomerbiker]

The problem is not finding a $300k house in the areas you mentioned - the issue is the taxes and insurance costs.

You can find a nice home in Florida or Texas in your price range - however the taxes can be as high as $7500 (plus very expensive insurance in Florida).

In Arizona your $300k home will only cost $2000 - $3000 in property taxes.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by misplaced1

Speaking of California, Paradise is a nice area. One of our neighbors sold a few years ago and bought there.

My oldest daughter and her family live there so we go there often. It is a nice place. Unfortunately, it's in Kahleefornia.

[AzDreamer]

AZ houses are going to be a lot more expensive than homes in other southern states. There may be deals here but that is relative to the high prices of a year ago.

If you like the idea of being near a college, here is a site that lists all the college towns by state.
College town - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[trailtramp]

Unfortunately Hikerjohn has McMansion-itis. I agree with the others...find an 1800sf house for 70% of the $300K someplace and stash the rest of the cash in safe investments.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by HikerJohn

We are both 60. We just sold our house and would like to take the equity of $300,000 to buy another house (total costs so no mortgage) as we enter early retirement. Our family is scattered across the country so we're not tied to any particular area. We've read that the BEST HOUSING DEALS are in Florida, Arizona, Nevada right now. Basically we want a 3000 sq foot house on a large lot or small amount of acreage in a town or small city that boasts a good public library system, a college would be nice and at least an average growing season.

Any suggestions?

Good afternoon Hiker,

I see you are here as well as on the NM board, good for you, this is a great start..

You know, from my comments on the NM forum how I feel. We have about everything here and I would guess for under $300,000.00. I have 2 suggestions for you or maybe 3. 1-you can email me and I will give you the name of our realtor (can't give it out here) she is great about working with people, sending information and not pestering you about when you will be coming. We wrote to her, then came and looked, then came back a year later and finally purchased. Never did I feel she was pushing us in any way. 2-you can write to the chamber of commerce in a couple of areas to get ideas and3-as for home prices, try realtor.com.

These are just some ideas I have, I am sure others will give you more.

Good luck,

Nita

[HikerJohn]

Hi Nita, thanks. Yes, we did post in NM, AR, as well as a few more. We're really open to where we can move. We just finished a week long house search in the ABQ area. Beautiful, just beautiful. One house we really liked north of town had a well problem, as in the well went dry a few years ago and they had to tap into their neighbors' line. I'm not sure how the water problem is overall.

Sure, would like to have your realtor's contact info. Thanks,

John

hikerjohn52@gmail.com

[nalabama]

There are counties in Alabama with property tax rates as low as $2.10/$1000. $300K will buy you a heck of a nice house in those areas. You could use the tax savings to buy your books online.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by HikerJohn

We are both 60. We just sold our house and would like to take the equity of $300,000 to buy another house (total costs so no mortgage) as we enter early retirement. Our family is scattered across the country so we're not tied to any particular area. We've read that the BEST HOUSING DEALS are in Florida, Arizona, Nevada right now. Basically we want a 3000 sq foot house on a large lot or small amount of acreage in a town or small city that boasts a good public library system, a college would be nice and at least an average growing season.

Any suggestions?

For someone who has quite a bit of wealth and is looking at early retirement, I would recommend any place but rural southern Missouri. We NEED your money, but you will not be happy. WE have a wonderful public library in Rolla, plus we have a top-notch university with a fantastic library that is available for public use. The university also offers many highbrow cultural opportunities to students; these, too, are open to the public. We're hillfolk, so we're all gardeners and we have a Master Gardener group plus an active floriculture club.

NEVERTHELESS, I would not recommend that you retire to Rolla. We're two hours from Springfield, two hours from St. Louis and about two hours from Columbia. Our chamber of commerce boasts that we are "The Middle of Everywhere" but actually we are the middle of nowhere and lots of us like that.

You've posted in the Springfield-Branson forum, so I think you recognize that particular area of Missouri would be perfect for you. I believe you could find retirement happiness there.

Best wishes and good luck to you.