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Old 06-15-2014, 10:34 PM
 
5,579 posts, read 4,958,313 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodrow LI View Post
Not very long ago, it was a buyers market here. But there were no buyers. Add to it the spring floods 3 years ago destroyed thousands of houses. Many have not been replaced. the 2011 flood destroyed 4,100 homes in Minot alone.

SOURCE
Again thanks for that info. I didn't know that. I have alot to learn. But I know one thing......
California has become an insane aslyum. Cost of living, stupid laws, getting nickel and dimed to death.
just too many people in one place. Like too many fish in the tank which means resources get used up faster and quality of life goes down down down as the water gets filthy faster in the tank. As we continue to live here in a rat race routine that never ends.
Unless you come to a realization which I maybe onto.
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Old 06-15-2014, 10:37 PM
 
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Also, it's really hard to compare house prices between SF and ND, just because there are more factors than just the raw data of a price tag. In ND you will be paid ND wages. A high salary, numberwise, with a high housing price in SF, can translate to a similar condition in the end if your ND housing cost is less but your salary is, too. So sure, you won't find too many million dollar houses here (they are more in the $100-300K range)--but you will have a much lower salary to spend on that, too. The best way to compare is to find out average salaries for the kind of work you'd be doing, check out online real estate listings for the kind of house you want in the town you're interested in, and see what percent of your salary it would be.

Now, if you're independently wealthy and won't be needing a ND salary, then you just might find the housing costs a steal compared to SF.
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Old 06-15-2014, 10:46 PM
 
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You are right, though, that there is a very big difference in the general human climate between California and North Dakota. Um...almost like different planets? Yes, there are cities in ND--but Fargo is the largest one at 113,000 people. Grand Forks has about 50,000, and I think Bismarck is somewhere in between. The rest are smaller. There is a LOT of space in ND. California feels fast and trendy and new. North Dakota feels older and a little worn, not slow like the deep south, but not fussed about being Absolute! Cutting! Edge! either. A lot of people have generations of family in the area and haven't done as much traveling outside the area. California feels more transient to me. There are great things about both places, but if I was going to pick a place the dead opposite of California, um, yeah, North Dakota comes to mind. (My husband was born in Fargo and grew up in California, so I have some idea of the comparison and what you're talking about.)
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Old 06-15-2014, 10:50 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderer7 View Post
Also, it's really hard to compare house prices between SF and ND, just because there are more factors than just the raw data of a price tag. In ND you will be paid ND wages. A high salary, numberwise, with a high housing price in SF, can translate to a similar condition in the end if your ND housing cost is less but your salary is, too. So sure, you won't find too many million dollar houses here (they are more in the $100-300K range)--but you will have a much lower salary to spend on that, too. The best way to compare is to find out average salaries for the kind of work you'd be doing, check out online real estate listings for the kind of house you want in the town you're interested in, and see what percent of your salary it would be.

Now, if you're independently wealthy and won't be needing a ND salary, then you just might find the housing costs a steal compared to SF.
I wish I were wealthy
Wages here are too low for the rents and mortgages to make ends meet at least for me and majority of people here.
Certain occupations here do pay well but yet they still have problems to qualify to buy a house here. It's wide spread across the careers paths.
Still better off to retire if possible and get out of here. Can't depend on finding work in a new place. Just retire and enjoy life to make what $$$$ I get from retirement go further in a reasonably priced place and safe neighborhood.
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Old 06-15-2014, 11:00 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderer7 View Post
You are right, though, that there is a very big difference in the general human climate between California and North Dakota. Um...almost like different planets? Yes, there are cities in ND--but Fargo is the largest one at 113,000 people. Grand Forks has about 50,000, and I think Bismarck is somewhere in between. The rest are smaller. There is a LOT of space in ND. California feels fast and trendy and new. North Dakota feels older and a little worn, not slow like the deep south, but not fussed about being Absolute! Cutting! Edge! either. A lot of people have generations of family in the area and haven't done as much traveling outside the area. California feels more transient to me. There are great things about both places, but if I was going to pick a place the dead opposite of California, um, yeah, North Dakota comes to mind. (My husband was born in Fargo and grew up in California, so I have some idea of the comparison and what you're talking about.)
Well it is a start. I know lower population (not going to a city is a must = less crime, less traffic, less noise perhaps time goes by slower in rural/country living)...
Little or no traffic. Here you can't go one block without having to stop. Auto maintenace will be high here because of that and the beat up roads we have.
Less government red tape involvement, less taxes....
So what you have said so far sounds good.
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Old 06-15-2014, 11:09 PM
 
Location: Logan Township, Minnesota
15,501 posts, read 17,023,829 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nowhereman427 View Post
I wish I were wealthy
Wages here are too low for the rents and mortgages to make ends meet at least for me and majority of people here.
Certain occupations here do pay well but yet they still have problems to qualify to buy a house here. It's wide spread across the careers paths.
Still better off to retire if possible and get out of here. Can't depend on finding work in a new place. Just retire and enjoy life to make what $$$$ I get from retirement go further in a reasonably priced place and safe neighborhood.
From a personal view I do not have the problems a young person has. Came here 5 years as a long retired person. Life is much easier when you do not need to worry about being within commuting distance of a Job.

We also have no concerns about getting snowed in. It does not upset us to stay in the house from November to April. It is no hardship for us to stay indoors without going out the door for 6 months, or longer if need be,

For us ND is a wonderful place to retire in,

For those needing to earn a living, it might not be as enjoyable.
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Old 06-15-2014, 11:23 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodrow LI View Post
From a personal view I do not have the problems a young person has. Came here 5 years as a long retired person. Life is much easier when you do not need to worry about being within commuting distance of a Job.

We also have no concerns about getting snowed in. It does not upset us to stay in the house from November to April. It is no hardship for us to stay indoors without going out the door for 6 months, or longer if need be,

For us ND is a wonderful place to retire in,

For those needing to earn a living, it might not be as enjoyable.
YOU JUST hit a nail in the head. Thanks for bring that point up.
Yes so very true. My friend in Idaho got snowed in he didn't like it but he was retired so you can only imagine how bad it would be if one had to do a commute or be somewhere on a consistent basis.

retirement is part of the solution.
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Old 06-16-2014, 04:20 AM
 
Location: Logan Township, Minnesota
15,501 posts, read 17,023,829 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nowhereman427 View Post
YOU JUST hit a nail in the head. Thanks for bring that point up.
Yes so very true. My friend in Idaho got snowed in he didn't like it but he was retired so you can only imagine how bad it would be if one had to do a commute or be somewhere on a consistent basis.

retirement is part of the solution.
Although retirement is a lot of work------It sure makes life easier.

It is probably good to learn the posistion a person is in when you hear their opinion about a place.

Things are quite different for a retired person and a young married man needing to house and feed a growing family.
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Old 06-16-2014, 10:07 AM
 
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I don't know about rural areas, but Grand Forks is fantastic about plowing. We moved here from a small town in Idaho where they didn't start plowing until there was at least 5" of snow on the ground. Here, by the time we get going at 6:30 in the morning, a lot of the roads have already been plowed. It's like snowplow fairies or something. Of course, it depends on how important of a cross street you live on, and if you live in town or not. But I'm pretty sure that you would view even the largest cities in ND as a quiet change from where you are now. And being retired would definitely open up possibilities for you, since you wouldn't be dependent on job location. If you owned a house in CA and sold it, you could DEFINITELY afford whatever house you wanted here.

GF has quite a lot more crime than the Idaho town we came from, but it's small peanuts compared to the Bay area. It's all relative. I'm told that Williston can be pretty rough (one of the huge oil areas)--like the Gold Rush days, with all the attendant evils brought up to modern day. But the non-oil areas feel generally quite safe.
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Old 06-17-2014, 12:02 AM
 
5,579 posts, read 4,958,313 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderer7 View Post
I don't know about rural areas, but Grand Forks is fantastic about plowing. We moved here from a small town in Idaho where they didn't start plowing until there was at least 5" of snow on the ground. Here, by the time we get going at 6:30 in the morning, a lot of the roads have already been plowed. It's like snowplow fairies or something. Of course, it depends on how important of a cross street you live on, and if you live in town or not. But I'm pretty sure that you would view even the largest cities in ND as a quiet change from where you are now. And being retired would definitely open up possibilities for you, since you wouldn't be dependent on job location. If you owned a house in CA and sold it, you could DEFINITELY afford whatever house you wanted here.

GF has quite a lot more crime than the Idaho town we came from, but it's small peanuts compared to the Bay area. It's all relative. I'm told that Williston can be pretty rough (one of the huge oil areas)--like the Gold Rush days, with all the attendant evils brought up to modern day. But the non-oil areas feel generally quite safe.
tHANKS FOR that info. I will have to learn the names of the different small communities in ND. I wouldn't want to be in a city anyway. Where I am at now you will never die of loneliness. No privacy here whatsoever. Wherever you go there are people and long lines, people ahead of you. It is so crowded you cannot walk a straight line on a sidewalk.
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