Am I missing something? (Appleton, Waukesha: sales, real estate, coupons)

[MovingCrossCountry]

Hi, I am also posting in the thread "can't decide where to live", but thought i'd ask another question while i'm here.

As far as cost of living goes in wisconsin, i am seriously starting to wonder if i am missing something here? is everyone in wisconsin rich or what? they must be with all the money they have left over after their monthly expenses are paid. i mean, are the salaries a lot lower there or something to make it all relative?

we live in california right now and are wanting to relocate to wisconsin soon. but i'm starting to wonder if its all too good to be true and i must be missing some part of the picture, otherwise wisconsin residents would be very well off indeed!!

can someone fill me in on what i'm missing or is it really that cheap?

[Hntr]

Having lived in Wisconsin all my adult life, I have nothing to compare to the cost of living in CA. As far as wages for IT I have no idea what they bring in either.

In the small towns you can probably buy a nice three bedroom ranch for anywhere between two and three hundred thousand, taxes will be around four thousand, homeowner insurance another seven hundred to a thousand. Living in the larger cities will probably increase the price of an equivalent home by twenty-five percent and the taxes along with it.

FormerCaliforniaGirl might be able to answer more of your questions.

And no not all the people in Wisconsin are rich, if we were we might all move to California!!!! At least every winter.

Seriously, I would imagine the standard of living here is pretty much the same as in California.



Take the leap, Wisconsin is a wonderful place to live in.

[MovingCrossCountry]

i guess i just don't understand why everyone isn't rich who lives in wisconsin! the prices i see blow my mind - so much so that i have to call my hubby at work just to have him "guess the price" for fill in the blank! here in california we are being bled dry out of all our money, which is why we want to move there.
i can't imagine how an average Wisconsinite wouldn't be able to be socking away tons of money every month after bills and mortgage. Here in California, by the time you pay bills and mortgage, your bank account is in the negative, you owe money to someone who had to loan you some just to get by, and you're clipping coupons to get enough groceries for the week!!

When I saw rent there for a 2 bedroom apartment I almost had a stroke! We pay 3 times that much here and we are forced to live in the ghetto to be able to have this place and afford it! And 5% sales tax - what a dream!! we pay 8 here! anyway, just wondering if it was really this crazy cheap or not? My mom always used to say if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is....

[FormerCaliforniaGirl]

Originally Posted by MovingCrossCountry

Hi, I am also posting in the thread "can't decide where to live", but thought i'd ask another question while i'm here.

As far as cost of living goes in wisconsin, i am seriously starting to wonder if i am missing something here? is everyone in wisconsin rich or what? they must be with all the money they have left over after their monthly expenses are paid. i mean, are the salaries a lot lower there or something to make it all relative?

we live in california right now and are wanting to relocate to wisconsin soon. but i'm starting to wonder if its all too good to be true and i must be missing some part of the picture, otherwise wisconsin residents would be very well off indeed!!

can someone fill me in on what i'm missing or is it really that cheap?

I think I can add a bit of enlightenment to this thread.

I was born and raised and lived my entire life in San Diego...just moved to WI two years ago.

YES, the housing prices here are profoundly lower than California. What would cost you $600K in CA, will cost you half that here in WI. Property taxes are higher here though (depends on what city/town you live in). My hubby and I pay 1.75% (whereas I paid only 1% in CA).

Salaries in WI are a bit lower than in CA. If you're making $50K in CA, you'll probably make $40K here doing the same job.

Utility bills are really high in WI during the winter (think $200-$250 for heating alone), vs. the $50 I paid in CA.

Overall, it's less expensive to live in Wisconsin, and you can enjoy a higher standard of living here than in CA. But that's mostly with regard to housing.

[ranger17]

I'd add that there are many rural areas and communities in WI where $$ does not run deep. So it may be cheap to live there but you either drive a long distance to work or you make lower wages where you live. Of course not all locales are like that, but there are plenty.

Think Wi is cheap to live? As a life long resident ( until a few weeks ago ) I thought it was high, esp the prop taxes. Moving to SC surprised me on what my $$ will buy down here. So it's all relative.

Wi is a nice place to live depending on your climate flexability... just remember that in WI one wears boots cuz they need to, not due to fashion...

[berries]

Wi....Cheap????? The median house hold income in San Diego is over 61K the median income in my town is 33K. How much was your heat bill in Jan. Mine was 575.000 and property taxes are ridiculous. when people in WI want to move to move to someplace "cheap" we move to missouri or Arkansas. Trust me, I have checked this out, but then again if you move to Misourri you will make EVEN LESS than in WI.

It really is all relative. Wherever you are they are going to take all your money, so I would at least choose som eplace nice!!! And if you think everyone in WI is rich,boy will you be suprised by us cheap and poor sob's!!!!

Good luck, but when people think the grass in greener in WI..they are looking in the wrong place... We only see the grass for 3 months out of the year the rest of the time we are shoveling the grass....

[KateDaum]

My heat bill from December to March was less then $30 a month. We heat with wood.

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by Hntr

In the small towns you can probably buy a nice three bedroom ranch for anywhere between two and three hundred thousand, taxes will be around four thousand, homeowner insurance another seven hundred to a thousand. Living in the larger cities will probably increase the price of an equivalent home by twenty-five percent and the taxes along with it.

$200,000-300,000 sounds way too high for most small towns in Wisconsin. If I had to make a guess, I'd say most houses are in the $100,000-150,000 range unless you live in a very affluent area like Door County or Waukesha County. Searching online I found a 3-story 5bd/4ba brick Victorian mansion for $269,000 near Lawrence University in Appleton. A house like that in Northern California would easily sell for double if not triple.
Listings Details - Valley By Owner

[crazyme4878]

The most important thing to do when looking for housing in Wisconsin is insulation and heating methods. Winter heating bills can literally bleed you dry. Although you can't see the insulation under the siding, you can ask. The upkeep of the siding can be another clue (although some landlords just put the vinyl siding right over the crappy siding without adding extra insulation). Are the windows double or single paned? Can you feel air through them (a very, very bad sign). Is the furnace electric, gas, or oil and how new is it? Is the house laid out well for heat distribution? Once moved, there are further things you can do to help keep in the heat.

Seriously--spend some time on the heating issue if you want to keep your costs down. A wood stove is a bonus above all bonuses! (Not a fireplace--a wood stove that actually burns wood!)

Back to the original question--yes, WI is much cheaper than CA. My husband and I grew up in WI and have lived mostly in WI, MN, and MI. My husband has researched quite a few CA towns because of job openings, but so far they have all been too expensive for our $40,000/year income. However, we could move anywhere in the northern 1/3rd of WI and do really well (we also keep our expenses very low).

[Hntr]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

$200,000-300,000 sounds way too high for most small towns in Wisconsin. If I had to make a guess, I'd say most houses are in the $100,000-150,000 range unless you live in a very affluent area like Door County or Waukesha County. Searching online I found a 3-story 5bd/4ba brick Victorian mansion for $269,000 near Lawrence University in Appleton. A house like that in Northern California would easily sell for double if not triple.
Listings Details - Valley By Owner

Well, I guess "a nice house" is a relative term, most house in my area are in the 200k plus range or were a year or so ago. I'm not sure how much the prices have dropped since then.


I would search for a newer home, five years old or less. They have six inch walls, they are well insulated, have energy efficient furnaces, double pane windows at least and you will be carefree for another ten, fifteen years or longer, other than painting if it isn't some kind of maintenance free siding.

Here is a listing for a home in a small town near us, with another three listing in Stevens Point and Plover by the same agent. Stevens Point is a college town, Plover is a suburb of Stevens Point. Amherst Junction is a tiny town about ten miles from Point.



4108 Sonday Drive, Amherst Junction, WI, 54407 - MLS ID#900548 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®


And another home in the same area with a couple of other listing by the same agent.

9528 Woodland, Amherst Junction, WI, 54407 - MLS ID#902334 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®