Rural Missouri (St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia: rental, house, promotional)

[CaboolBound]

Try Cabool. We are moving down this June. It is rolling hills, clean and BEAUTIFUL. We just bought a 1600 sq.ft house, 5 acres, deck with pool for $65K and our taxes are just $273 a year. I believe there is only about 2400 people in the town. We live in the country but we are about 10-15 minutes to town. We can't wait. Check it out, you will be glad you did. Good Luck.

Kim and Jim

[Pirateman]

I would say that Hannibal is a good place to live it a rural community lol

[arjr]

Thanks for all the replies!

My wife and I will be flying down this summer, and checking out the Rolla, Cabool, Mountain Grove, Mountain View, and the West Plains areas.

We have been doing research using Neighboroo, and these areas seem promising.

We are really looking forward to finally checking them out in-person.

...and Thanks to FiddlersBabe for directing us to the MO., forum!

[brightmidnight]

I stumbled upon this thread, but I do have something to contribute.

What about Illinois rather than Missouri?

I grew up in a town called Greenville, Illinois, 45 minutes away from St. Louis. It's a close drive to everything that St. Louis has to offer, but it's a picturesque, small, rural "Norman Rockwell" town with an old-fashioned downtown and a bit of an old-fashioned way of life, with antique shops and festivals and that sort of thing. There is NO traffic and congestion and you can get any amount of property you like close by with no problem.

You're close to St. Louis, with its airport and Greenville is on the interstate, so it's easy to drive anywhere, too.

I'd HIGHLY recommend it. It's close to many things that you want, it has its own hospital and you could probably live like royalty on the lake, Governor Bond Lake, with the money from your house in upstate New York.

My boyfriend's family has a house in upstate NY, in Hunter, and when his dad visited Greenville he said that it reminded him of Hunter, a very cute little town. The upside is that there is such better weather! It will snow only once or at most a few times a year and there will NEVER be some of the foot-high snows that you'll get upstate.

It's an hour away from Springfield with all its Lincoln history and the state government stuff, and it's close to Illinois' largest man-made lake at Carlyle. (20 minutes).

[arjr]

What about Illinois rather than Missouri?

Thanks for your reply!

We are currently living in NY and do not wish to move to another Blue State.

[brightmidnight]

Well, Illinois is mainly a "Blue State" because of Chicago-- just as St. Louis is a blue city in a red state. You'll find in many small towns that there are Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians just as there are almost anywhere else. It's not heavily Democratic by any means. It also usually has had a Republican governor. My dad's friend is a major Republican politician in state government, which is usually evenly divided-- you wouldn't be out of place.

Greenville is more Republican than Democrat, I would say.

If you're looking at only red states, how about North Carolina? I live in a "blue" part of the state in Chapel Hill which I personally like, but I also like the red state parts such as concealed carry laws and that sort of thing. There are many parts of it which are so beautiful. I also like the farmland parts that remind me of IL.

[arjr]

If you're looking at only red states, how about North Carolina?

Out of curiousity, I am wondering.....do you have a problem with Missouri, that you would like to relate?

We are looking at a multitude of factors, which is why we have found <edit by mod> to be extremely helpful in narrowing down our search.

We do like North Carolina, but we are also looking for a tax friendly state.

At #28, NC is more tax-friendly than #2 NY, but less tax-friendly than Mo at #41.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lis...005/index.html

Of course, we are keeping open minds, but we can only visit so many places and at this time we are looking forward to checking out Mo.

[brightmidnight]

Originally Posted by arjr

Out of curiousity, I am wondering.....do you have a problem with Missouri, that you would like to relate?

No, actually, I didn't mean for things to appear that way. I like Missouri, and it's actually my third-favorite state and used to be my 2nd favorite after I moved to NC. I'm just not familiar with the rural areas there, and NC has quite a few of those and a lot of advantages. But anyway, I love the Show Me State!

For the tax advantages, you can't actually go by the overall rankings. Those take everything into account, including corporate tax, which an individual wouldn't be paying. You have to go by income tax alone to get an accurate picture.
(although if businesses pay higher taxes, often the price of goods will go up to match it)

[Carlidin]

New Franklin/Boonville are located in the central Missouri area close to Columbia, MO and in the center of the state between Kansas City and St Louis. You can get there in a couple of hours but far enough away not to have to deal with big city living. You have access to great shopping/dining/entertainment just 30 minutes away in Columbia or stay in Boonville. Close (1 hour) from the Lake of the Ozarks (53,000 acre vacation/tourist area. Four hours from Branson for a weekend retreat to hear great country music and theme park attractions.
Winters are usually not too bad. We have a couple of good snows and temps are pretty much in the 30's except for a couple of short colder spells. Usualy not over a week or so. You can experience all four seasons, Cold winters, beautiful fall colors, hot summers and amazing springtime temps.
The housing market in still going strong and there are a wide selection of homes available from $45,000 on up. The average new home cost is $120,000 to $200,000. Older homes are of course less. Taxes are very reasonable and the cost of living is great! If you need more information let me know. I am a new realtor and would be happy to email you home listings so that you can get an idea of what is available.
We would be thrilled to welcome you to the Boonslick Area!

Carolyn

[kearney_the_black_lab]

I agree with brightmidnight......southern Illinois is a great place to live!