Moving to Idaho, need help choosing the right location (Coeur d'Alene: how much, house)

[Libertariansmovingtoidaho]

Hello,
My family is currently living in Northern California and would like to move to Idaho within the next year or so. We would like to live somewhere somewhat rural and by this I mean some acreage between neighbors and homes with personality and not so cookie cutter. We would like to grow a garden in our backyard and have some chickens and enough land for our wild boys to roam and explore. Must have trees all around. Somewhere close enough to a city center so that my husband, who owns a concrete improvement company will be able to book jobs. Also, probably in a warmer part of Idaho where people will want this specific concrete service. I don’t expect to get any help in this area but we also homeschool so an area where there is a solid homeschooling community or even a charter school with home study option that has an enrichment program would be ideal.
Thank you in advance!
Cindy

[NW Crow]

"Must have trees all around."

Around Hayden or Sagle?

Housing requirements (size, land, price)? How far is willing to commute from home / equipment location to jobs?

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by Libertariansmovingtoidaho

Hello,
My family is currently living in Northern California and would like to move to Idaho within the next year or so. We would like to live somewhere somewhat rural and by this I mean some acreage between neighbors and homes with personality and not so cookie cutter. We would like to grow a garden in our backyard and have some chickens and enough land for our wild boys to roam and explore. Must have trees all around. Somewhere close enough to a city center so that my husband, who owns a concrete improvement company will be able to book jobs. Also, probably in a warmer part of Idaho where people will want this specific concrete service. I don’t expect to get any help in this area but we also homeschool so an area where there is a solid homeschooling community or even a charter school with home study option that has an enrichment program would be ideal.
Thank you in advance!
Cindy

Sounds similiar to what I need.

[nm9stheham]

What is 'concrete improvement'? Painting or staining? Concrete cutting? Shotcrete? If it's painting or staining, I'd not expect that to be very popular in ID.... not like in CA. But we really need to know what this it about.


So do you want trees in your yard or all over the property? That is going to limit thing somewhat.

[banjomike]

You need to come spend 30 d ays here looking the state over before you make any plans to move.
Those specifics you mentioned are so common here you could throw a dart on a map and hit them.

ham's comment is good; if your husband is offering a service for concrete that's been poured, I think his work should be a very important consideration in your decision of where your best place here is.

Since I don't know his biz, I can't say anything more, except for the simple fact that more people equal more demand for services.
If your husband's work isn't something that's very needed, a move to the country wouldn't be a very good one.

We're all much more spread out here than in California. A wise move might be much closer to where the most biz is.

[Libertariansmovingtoidaho]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

"Must have trees all around."

Around Hayden or Sagle?

Housing requirements (size, land, price)? How far is willing to commute from home / equipment location to jobs?

Thanks for your response. We will be looking for 2- 5 acres as far as house size goes we want something simple one story, easy to manage about 1500 sq ft. My husbands equipment all fits in the back of his truck. He stains and seals concrete [mod cut]. He’s willing to travel 35-45 minutes to jobs. I’d imagine he would probably get more work in the bigger cities but we wouldn’t want to live the big city life.

[Libertariansmovingtoidaho]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

What is 'concrete improvement'? Painting or staining? Concrete cutting? Shotcrete? If it's painting or staining, I'd not expect that to be very popular in ID.... not like in CA. But we really need to know what this it about.


So do you want trees in your yard or all over the property? That is going to limit thing somewhat.

Hi, thank you for responding!
My husband stains and seals concrete. [mod cut]
We would like trees all over the property. Love feeling as if we are living in the forest and hearing the birds sing in the spring. We currently live near many pine trees, cedar and oak trees and love it here. Problem is the politics in our state.

[Libertariansmovingtoidaho]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

What is 'concrete improvement'? Painting or staining? Concrete cutting? Shotcrete? If it's painting or staining, I'd not expect that to be very popular in ID.... not like in CA. But we really need to know what this it about.


So do you want trees in your yard or all over the property? That is going to limit thing somewhat.

We are also thinking about buying land and building on it.

[FrankLeeSpeaking]

Originally Posted by Libertariansmovingtoidaho

Hello,
My family is currently living in Northern California and would like to move to Idaho within the next year or so. We would like to live somewhere somewhat rural and by this I mean some acreage between neighbors and homes with personality and not so cookie cutter. We would like to grow a garden in our backyard and have some chickens and enough land for our wild boys to roam and explore. Must have trees all around. Somewhere close enough to a city center so that my husband, who owns a concrete improvement company will be able to book jobs. Also, probably in a warmer part of Idaho where people will want this specific concrete service. I don’t expect to get any help in this area but we also homeschool so an area where there is a solid homeschooling community or even a charter school with home study option that has an enrichment program would be ideal.
Thank you in advance!
Cindy

This doesn't exist here, like it really doesn't exist anywhere else. Idaho isn't some magical land that is immune to the conditions and problems of modern life in the US.

You can find affordable rural acreage - likely it will be further away from job centers.

You can find places with trees all around - likely it will be in or near the mountains, or in North Idaho, all of which are in the colder areas of the state.

The warmer areas of the state are high desert and will lack the trees and greenery you're looking for.

Most of Idaho is newer development, so it won't have the charm and "personality" you're looking for - it will be cookie cutter suburbia, or else some mid 80s ranch that needs repair. Most homes here will be built after the 1970s.

Taken in whole you seem to fit the profile for North Idaho, and likely in the suburbs of the Coeur d'Alene area. Whether you can buy acreage depends on how much money you have and how much you're willing to commute into town. But give up any ideas of warm weather, and prepare yourself for 4-5 months of snow, and short, gray, and dark days (sunsets at 4:30pm to 5pm).

[Cnynrat]

I think the key point is "probably in a warmer part of the state." That pretty much dictates somewhere near one of the metro areas in the southern part of Idaho. In north Idaho, which is where Hayden and Sagle are located, you're looking at long winters with 50-60"+ of snow.

Even in the southern part of the state you will have real winters with below freezing temps and snow, unlike pretty much anywhere in CA other than in or near the mountains.

I second Mike's suggestion that a visit to several areas of the state would be a good idea.

Dave