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[quote=Mike Horrell;7562425]Yeah, bottom feeding for a home across the entire country doesn't sound like
a very viable plan.
QUOTE]
I Gotta agree with this line of reasoning. Yeah there are some "great deals" in the far reaches of Phoenix right now, but if you hate the environment (long hot summers, lots of traffic, empty homes etc.) surrounding your location, it's not really a great deal any more. Better to find the area you really want to be in and maybe settle for a little less in sq footage or acreage.
I think 300,000 for a 5000 sq foot house on 10 acres is very good. I've been looking in Northern New Mexico for a while and as rural as it is up there, that would be a incredible deal. Price and what you want you'll have to go the South I think and not in a big city. I live in rural Oklahoma and a nice home on 10 acres will be more than 300,000. Now, as I mentioned before Bella Vista where I would like to move my parents is a wonderful location for retirees I believe and you'll get quite a bit for that amount of money.
Look at Knoxville, TN. I love it here. We have an excellent library system. WSJ said it's one of top 10 in country. Also have the University of Tennessee with great college sports plus lots of opportunities to learn. Very friendly population, lots of things to do indoors and out, good art scene. Lively downtown. Excellent medical facilities.
It's a pretty setting in the foothills of the Smokies. It has city amenities with a small town feel. Easy to get around, not much traffic compared to other areas. Four real seasons but no extremes. A great place to garden. The University of Tennessee Gardens are trial gardens and provide wonderful information and help to the public. Volunteers to help with programs and the gardens are always welcome. UT Gardens | About the UT Gardens
You can easily find something in the $300,000 range on a big lot. Those are the ones where the market has sort of stalled here. People aren't moving up. You can choose between new mcmansions in Farragut, older established homes in Sequoyah Hills and West Hills and craftsmans and Victorians in revitalized neighborhoods close to downtown and in Fountain City.
If you want a smaller town, Maryville, to the south of Knoxville, is lovely. There's a small college there.
I love how everyone is telling the OP not to buy...or too buy something different...when all they asked is WHERE to buy! They are 60....I think they know what they want!!
To that point...I say look in the SW (not California!) or the Great Basin.
This is what we did, research both via the library and the net, decided on about 3 states that met our needs, then did extensive research. When we had nailed it down to areas within those states we took about 10 days, lined ourselves up with realtors, got all the written material we could and started our investigation. Actually we started years before we were really ready to r3retire, then we did the trip (on of several) before we sold our home. Looks like you are doing it the other way.
to be honest we choose NM and it just didn't work for us. We still miss certain aspects of the state, but are much happier here..I will admit, part of our reason for liking NWA, we are a little closer to part of our family..
Again, it is hard for any of us to help you without knowing your hobbies and where you live now..You have given us some idea and yet, what you are saying is important can be found in a million places.
Debbie, Bella Vista, for us, is the perfect retirement area..we have the best of all worlds, wonderful homes, lots of great people, rural life style and yet we are only 20 minutes or so from great shopping, outstanding medical facilities, good entertainment and a certain amount of cultural life. We can watch the deer walk down the street, golf, fish, enjoy walking, boating, clubs for abount any interest anyone has from politics to quilting..
We have a little bit of winter, but not too much, humidity, but not like Texas, more academia than many would believe and overall a good life.
Debbie saw a coyote Wednesday while walking a block from our house.
Does that count for more than a deer?
well Mike it certainly does, but deer don't eat little kittens and doggies.
Do you know we haven't seen a coyote yet, well we say something in the forest next to our house a few months ago (late fall) I don't know what it was as it moved to fast, could have been one, but more likely was a grey fox....I have never heard the coyotes at night like in NM
Where can you get good interest rates on new money these days? I'd love to know.
And what good will that even do if the expected big inflation caused by all this gov't money comes to pass. It that does happen, owning a fully paid off house--exactly as big as one wants it (it's nice to have space when the kids come visiting) might be a better deal than money losing value in the bank.
But I live in CA so I don't know many appealing places where you can get a 3000 sf house for that amount--if I knew, I'd be buying.
Good luck!
You have to pay to cool and heat that big house. Also you have to consider future property tax assessments.
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