Mississippi, LA or Alabama Where To live (Hattiesburg: sales, insurance)

[BEVH]

I am moving out of Southern CA and want to move to a low cost state with low taxes and insurance rates. I will need to secure employment so area where that is possible is important.

Also would buy a house 150=185 is that possible and what would I get.

If you could live anywhere in those states where would it be and which state?

[astrogirl]

We too are looking to retire from SoCal to either MS or AL and we have found AL, especially the Huntsville area, to be both less expensive and better job opportunities (if want PT jobs later) than MS. You'll generally find that MS has higher car taxes and property taxes. Home prices are similar but vary by area. If you are looking at MS, I have heard that Hattiesburg is a fairly decent place to live, but you will find alot of different opinions on this board about that.

[NWS]

Originally Posted by BEVH

I am moving out of Southern CA and want to move to a low cost state with low taxes and insurance rates. I will need to secure employment so area where that is possible is important.

Also would buy a house 150=185 is that possible and what would I get.

If you could live anywhere in those states where would it be and which state?

What type of employment will you need? Some jobs are easier to find than others.
Do you want to live on the coast, rural, city? How important is your social life?
What do you like to do and what do you need to do?
Do you need schools for children?
The house will not be a problem. I know you can find something nice in MS or Alabama in that range. Hang out in all 3 forums. Find a city that sounds right to you. Ultimately you will have to visit to make sure, so plan on traveling.
Try searching MLS websites like the realtor or homes ones. use City Data to check crime and make up of each city that interests you. I went through the search myself 2 years ago. I went from 14 possible states and picked Mississippi. Mainly I wanted a certain lifestyle and property.

Good Luck

[jsherman9901]

Originally Posted by astrogirl

We too are looking to retire from SoCal to either MS or AL and we have found AL, especially the Huntsville area, to be both less expensive and better job opportunities (if want PT jobs later) than MS. You'll generally find that MS has higher car taxes and property taxes.

While it is true that job opportunities in Huntsville are much, much better than anywhere in MS, I don't think that it is necessarily "less expensive" than Mississippi. While it is true that car tags and property taxes are a little more in MS (still quite low), Alabama's sales tax is 2-3 cents higher, depending on where you live. Income taxes are similar.

The main thing about Huntsville is that the booming economy is racheting up housing and land prices. As a result of the last base closure process, there are still 5000-7000 good paying federal and contractor jobs to be moved to Huntsville in the next 3 years. And I think you will find property taxes creeping up in that area soon to pay for all the new infrastructure necessary to keep up with the boom.

That being said, I would gladly live in Huntsville again, given the chance.