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Florida is the best choice, in my humble opinion. But I only know St. Petersburg and Tampa because my aunt lived there with her relatives. Many retirees lives in Florida, and there you may find small town in best climate (subtropical). I vote for Stuart and Inverness, FL. Stuart is bigger and placed on east coast, and Inverness is smaller and placed on the west coast of Florida - and Inverness placed off open Atlantic ocean unlike Stuart. Open Atlactic can cause big storms etc. This is important particularity. And if you prefer sunset against sunrise, you may live on the west coast.
MN and IN will be too cold for avoiding the north dakota style winter.
I selected Chattanooga because the costs are reasonable and the weather is actually fairly nice. I've seen too many horror stories with people moving to Florida. Ironically several of the cities you mentioned, such as Bend, OR and Boise, ID, were on my initial list when I was deciding where to move. Have you looked at Colorado and New Mexico? Since you specifically listed states that were mountain cities for their respective states (okay, most of Idaho is at elevation, and much higher than boise, but there aren't many other real cities in the state).
In Colorado Springs or Pueblo for Colorado, or around Albuquerque for New Mexico, there are plenty of wonderful houses for well under 240k. I bought a house for about 225k that is slightly over 2500 square feet with a fantastic view of the mountains. Not a huge lot size, but I didn't want to have to commute in too far for work every day so the suburbs were a fine place for me. Colorado Springs, by the way, is the birth place of libertarianism.
You also mentioned perferring the west coast. Generally speaking, especially with any mountain type locations, the small cities (under 50k people) have expensive real estate because there are no economies of scale. One option that is kind of cold, but not as bad as North Dakota would be Spokane. I wasn't very familiar with their housing market but a quick glance suggests you might find the kind of property you're looking for in the right price range. Here's a few I found in 2-3 minutes: http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...l_PhotoGallery
Not sure if you were only interested in new properties on five plus acres, but I figured it was worth a glance if you wanted to stay west coast. Out of your options, I easily like Chatanooga best.
Having grown up in MN, I can tell you that St Cloud is very nice, but also brutally cold in winter. Many of your other locations in Appalachia I would associate with the troubles of that region (poverty in KY and the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in WV), not to mention your stated aversion to attitudes of the Deep South.
I chose Bloomington, IN for you. Although much of IN is flat, the area around Bloomington is very hilly and picturesque. The people in Indiana are the friendliest I have ever encountered. Somewhat conservative, but the libertarian attitude should be well accepted, especially in Bloomington which is a college town. Climate is warn humid summer and mild winters. Beautiful in spring and fall. Not too far to drive to Indianapolis if you want to take in a sporting or cultural event.
Everybody likes to blame everything on Californians. So silly.
You can find what you want right here in CA. Look around Redding, Crescent City, lots of options.
The entire state does not have LA or SF pricing.
And you will have to pay taxes based on the original sale price of your home, but it won't go up more than around 2%/year as long as you own it.
But, if you want to pay NO taxes, based on your list, and not wanting to deal with a cold winter, I would choose FL. I lived in TN for 5 years and the winters were very cold and icy. While I was living in the Nashville/Franklin area, it was not uncommon for temps to go below zero. And it's a wet cold, so the roads get very icy. It's very common for people to just abandon their vehicles on the roads because it gets too treacherous to drive.
So, TN might not be as brutal as the Dakotas in the winter, but it's no picnic.
The best winter option is FL, IMO, from your list.
But, I still think you should revisit moving to an inexpensive, yet beautiful area of CA.
I did a search for properties within 20 miles of Redding, CA with either a SFH or mobile on 5+ acres with max $250,000 price tag. I think you should check it out:
Dunellon. We looked there for a year. My neighbors loved it there. Not sure if Stuart is in Alachua county but if it is, forget it, the taxes are awful.
I wouldn't consider any of those places myself, but I like your list of requirements. You asked for suggestions too, so may I suggest the Charleston, SC area? We are from the Midwest (Illinois) and that is where we're heading in another year or so, God willing. I don't think anyone is still fighting the Civil War down there, but it WAS a big part of local (and, obviously, American) history and you know what they say about people who ignore history...Well, I happen to be a history buff who loves hot weather and is willing to pay a little more (or give up a bigger home) to live closer to the beach.
Last edited by PrairieGirl; 08-14-2014 at 02:36 PM..
Reason: correct punctuation
This Minnesotan moved from Minnesota to the Ozarks of north Arkansas 2 years ago and am very satisfied with my decision.
Other places on your list that I am confident would have worked for me would be Chattanooga TN, Murray KY, Berea KY.
key words being.........." for me "
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Charleston, SC
