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I recall that when we applied for a home loan, we were approved for $210k. That figure both amused and terrified us. Why on earth would anyone think we would spend over $200k on a house?
This was in Orange County, California. Those were the days, all right.
I've said this a dozen times before, but if all I cared about was a job and a big, cheap-ish cookie cutter house I'd probably still be toiling away and growing my waistline in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sub
In reality, day to day life isn't all that different from one place to another. People go to work, send their kids to school, go out to eat no matter where they live. I bet most people in Colorado don't climb up mountains every day or people in southern California go to the beach every week, so really it almost seems like they're paying for the prestige of saying they live in those places.
You're right. I don't spend every day in the mountains, but I can look at the weather and on the spur of the moment decide to take next Wednesday off, play in the mountains all day, and be back home in time for dinner - all for roughly $25-$40 depending on where I go and what I eat.
Someone living in Des Moines or Dallas can't easily do that without spending hundreds of dollars on airfare/gas, rental car, and lodging, along with wasting 2-12 hours flying or driving here.
I've enjoyed (enjoyed being the keyword) more time outdoors in the last two years than I did the entire 12 years I lived in DFW. To each their own.
FWIW - I just checked the property taxes on the house we owned in DFW. They're about $2000 higher than our house here, and that house (in a less-than-desirable suburb) recently sold for $200,000 less than the one we own here.
You're right. I don't spend every day in the mountains, but I can look at the weather and on the spur of the moment decide to take next Wednesday off, play in the mountains all day, and be back home in time for dinner - all for roughly $25-$40 depending on where I go and what I eat.
Good thing you picked a Wednesday, because if you tried to do the same thing on a Sat/Sun you'd be spending 5~8 hours in the car along with the rest of the weekend warrior masses from the Front Range.
Been There, Done That ~ you can have it.
There is absolutely no joy in dealing with the traffic and crowds. Even in Denver, I still took "vacations" back up into the interior.... yeah, it took less time to get there but I had to leave sooner to get back and make more money. When the pay was hardly different but the cost of living was 4 times more, it wasn't worth it.
My wife and I just went through this process in the past year. Is it better to live where you want but have to work more to afford it and settle for less time to enjoy it? Or is it better to live where it's cheap, but you have Lots of time and extra money with which to do as you wish? Our choices were here in GA where I don't work and my wife has a 3-day work week, all finances point to her retiring at 55 and she's free to take up to 2-month long leaves from work (unpaid). Or somewhere along the Rockies (we've been looking between Santa-Fe, NM and Alamosa, CO) where we would both need to work full time, no guarantee of matching time off, almost certainly pushing retirement back a decade and stuck with 2-weeks of vacation (hard to know, just going by normal work environments, cost of living and advertised pay rates for the areas we've checked).
When we sat down and Really thought about it, logic kept us in GA. Emotionally we want to be out west again, but then we've vacationed in the above mentioned area for 3 weeks since May of 2017 (3 trips), will be spending 2 more weeks in Montana in the next month on a ski vacation and have a ~8 week roadtrip planned for Sept~Oct that'll carry us through to the PCH and back with ample time to play. We've spent more time out there on vacation in the past year than the 3 years we lived in Denver... AND we're on track to fully retire 10~12 years sooner.
I've said this a dozen times before, but if all I cared about was a job and a big, cheap-ish cookie cutter house I'd probably still be toiling away and growing my waistline in Dallas-Fort Worth.
You're right. I don't spend every day in the mountains, but I can look at the weather and on the spur of the moment decide to take next Wednesday off, play in the mountains all day, and be back home in time for dinner - all for roughly $25-$40 depending on where I go and what I eat.
Someone living in Des Moines or Dallas can't easily do that without spending hundreds of dollars on airfare/gas, rental car, and lodging, along with wasting 2-12 hours flying or driving here.
I've enjoyed (enjoyed being the keyword) more time outdoors in the last two years than I did the entire 12 years I lived in DFW. To each their own.
FWIW - I just checked the property taxes on the house we owned in DFW. They're about $2000 higher than our house here, and that house (in a less-than-desirable suburb) recently sold for $200,000 less than the one we own here.
$250,000 in a lot of the country would definitely not be a cheapish, cookie cutter house. In fact, you can buy a nice historic home in a walkable neighborhood in many parts of the country for that kind of money.
Good thing you picked a Wednesday, because if you tried to do the same thing on a Sat/Sun you'd be spending 5~8 hours in the car along with the rest of the weekend warrior masses from the Front Range.
I do plenty of hiking on the weekend and in 6 years I've gotten stuck in I-70 traffic maybe three times. One of those was for a fatal motorcycle accident on Floyd Hill that required them to shut down the highway for a Flight For Life chopper. The others were just bad timing/planning on my part.
I'm aware that the outdoor options in Atlanta are better than they were in North Texas, but there's no amount of money in the world that would make living in the soupy southeast again palatable to me.
There are a total of 2 houses for sale around $250k in my town. Both went under contract within days of hitting the market and are 2 bedroom and just over 1,000 sq ft. Median listing price is $340k. A price I would gladly pay to live in this neighborhood. I love it here.
We were in Toledo, OH this past November, and were cruising around town. We were in a beautiful, leafy neighborhood, and saw a Cape Cod for sale. We pulled over, grabbed the flyer.
$109K.
I knew prices that low (or lower) existed, but to see it, and see what the neighborhoods are like is a whole other story. Excellent values.
I would live in states/cities like that, but I don't ask for much, and actually prefer more off-radar places as opposed to the current big things.
The reason people still move to CA, CO, big eastern cities, et al, is because what they offer, or perceive to offer. It's also immensely easier to chase money in more expensive areas, and much harder to do in the "boring" cheaper locales.
The real question is would you like living in places like Ohio, Iowa, or Arkansas?
Here in Colorado, I've met plenty of people from those places that have moved here, but not one who has moved from here to any of those locations.
There's cheap real estate outside of the Midwest. For example, the entire Southwest. Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada are pretty affordable across the board. With the exception of a couple towns, most of which are ski towns.
I would never live somewhere with weather like the Midwest.
Someone somewhere in this thread said that your day to day doesn't matter regardless of where you live. Not entirely true. You may still shop at the same stores, buy groceries, and go to similar schools, but your day to day does change with a change in surroundings. Isn't the East going through some polar vortex thing right now where it's super cold? I've been enjoying the 70s where I am. Is there a difference between 11 and 70 degrees and how that affects your day to day? I think so. Someone also mentioned mountains. Here in AZ it's pretty easy to find a mountain to hike on. Can't do that in the Midwest. The Midwest also can't melt you in July but hey, there are trade-offs, right? I still would take the summers here over winters in Minnesota.
It all depends on what you like.
I am NOT a mountain person. At all. Went on vacation to Colorado couple years back. Enjoyed the scenery, enjoyed the national park, but didn't leave with a burning desire to go back soon much less live there. I don't hike up mountains or have the desire to ski down one.
I do enjoy the outdoors, but I'm good with a quiet fishing spot or a nice trail for running or biking. I like the cooler weather because it's more comfortable for me to do those things in.
I like quaint old neighborhoods with sidewalks and shops to walk to. I like bowling and playing cards. My kid likes to build a sandcastles in the summer and a snowmen in the winter. I like natural lakes, lots of water, wetlands, tallgrass, frozen ponds, museums, flat farm land, gently rolling hills, architecture, community-oriented cities and towns. I like clean. I like orderly. I like the upper midwest and Great Lakes region. I like to travel. I don't like Dallas.
Spending money to see something different from time to time is fun, and I sure wouldn't want to limit myself to mountains out west when there is so much more I'd like to see in the world. But hey, when I want to see mountains, Colorado hits the spot.
Winter is a non-issue. Weather is way down on my list of things to give much thought to. Adapting isn't that big of a deal.
I wouldn't live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan because they're cheap (often, they're not that much cheaper if anything), but because I like them. Even Iowa. Shocking, I know.
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