As a low income person is small town idaho still worth it? (Rexburg: sales, real estate)

[shadowmoses]

Hello, I've been thinking about moving to idaho because it's such a beautiful state with great looking small towns but my only concern is that if I do move up there I'll be priced out in a few years due to inward migration. I'm currently training for a better career and hope one day to not be low income but still, this is my reality at the moment. So, should I just pass on it?

[f5fstop]

Where in Idaho? Down in the SE; yea, that is going to be a problem in years, but you have advantages of places to work and a decent college (I think). For northern ID, someone will, hopefully, step in.

[shadowmoses]

I was thinking away from the boise area, rexburg and a few other towns seem nice and peaceful. I heard that idaho real estate is overvalued by at least 25 percent. Anyways, I still have alot of research to do when it comes to idaho and every state has its hidden gems.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

You won't find any low cost housing in North Idaho and the cost of living is mixed.

Gasoline is reasonable, food is high and has a sales tax on top of that.

Low cost of living is in the north central states where rent and real estate is cheap. Or on the south east coast, well away from the oceans where rent is cheap and there are some nice mountains.

[NW Crow]

Rexburg is a city of 28,000 people and a small metro of 51k. It is the 7th biggest metro in state.

You said you are looking at small towns. Does this qualify for you? It is still growing a little. How small a place would you consider / choose? Which other places are you considering?

[mtngirlatheart]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

You won't find any low cost housing in North Idaho and the cost of living is mixed.

Gasoline is reasonable, food is high and has a sales tax on top of that.

Low cost of living is in the north central states where rent and real estate is cheap. Or on the south east coast, well away from the oceans where rent is cheap and there are some nice mountains.

I believe Idaho is getting to the point where you won't find any low cost housing in any part of the state. Things have changed big time over the last 10 years alone. Even housing in smaller, remote towns is becoming outrageous.

[banjomike]

The cost of living is a real mixed bag.
Buying a home in a small remote town like Carey probably would be cheaper than in a larger city, but every other necessity would be more expensive because food, fuel, etc. costs more.

A big expense is all traveling that must be done for almost everything. The distances here are great, so a trip to the doctor can take a full day of travel for a 30-minute exam.

There's other stuff too.

[nm9stheham]

Depends one where and what you do for a living. There are some low demand areas where the housing prices are pretty low but job opportunities are thin. Like Challis. The big mine there closed down in 2014 so things are not hopping as far as house prices or jobs. Similar situation on far SE ID, in areas like Soda Springs.

[shadowmoses]

Thank you all for the replies, from what I can put together idaho is destined to be an extension of California within 20 years so I probably should just look elsewhere. In my opinion though I think the whole country will become like that, just rich and poor with nothing in between. It's a shame.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by shadowmoses

Thank you all for the replies, from what I can put together idaho is destined to be an extension of California within 20 years so I probably should just look elsewhere. In my opinion though I think the whole country will become like that, just rich and poor with nothing in between. It's a shame.

No. I seriously doubt any other states will ever be like California.

The thing you must understand is right at this moment, Idaho has the right combination of elements that make it attractive to outsiders.
That moment has come and gone many times before, in about all our surrounding neighbors. The moment never lasts for very long in the West; it hit Oregon, Montana, Washington, and even Utah before Idaho became the hot state.
It was almost like Idaho got the hot spot by default as the last one left that hadn't been looked over.

And there's nothing that says the West will remain the last great open frontier in people's minds forever either.

Most of that emotion came to be in the 20th century, and the 20th century reinforced it in our most popular media for a full century. But now, in the 21st century, that emotion is fading. The South is rapidly replacing it, and all our most popular media are now turning there, not to the West.

The real facts of the matter is whether and for how long the West is seen as the most desirable place to uproot a person's life to move and to live in forever afterward.

That's really undecided now, but the fastest growing region in the nation is no longer the West.

It's the South.