Thinking of moving to WIS from TEX (Milwaukee, Madison: for sale, real estate)

[ReDNeQ]

Ok here's the deal.

I am a Native Texan. Love hunting, fishing and the like. Have lived in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Nevada, California, Arizona. I have lived in the Heat pretty much my whole life.

Wife currently owns 2 businesses that we are really just ready to sell or shutdown. We are thinking about liquidating and making a move from our Austin Texas area to maybe let's say Hayward, WI or ?????

We would love to own at least 100 acres and be able to hunt, fish, and live off the land as much as possible. We will need decent internet to at least be able to communicate and remote manage a few clients. We would like to be within 2 hours of an Airport that can fly to major cities.

Any words of advice? Are we kidding ourselves with Wisconsin. When I do internet searches, I see such pretty land and beautiful towns. Is it all a hoax?

Also,
I am a 100% service connected disabled veteran. I would like to live in a state that recognizes veterans for our service and offers some extra perks, just sayin.

[ranger17]

My first 45 yrs were living in WI before heading south in 09 (south-central mostly but familiar with the Northwoods). For fishing and hunting and outdoor enjoyment one cant go wrong in that area of WI. Knowing that one of the biggest differences for you of course will be the weather. You will deal with snow and cold. Expect your winter fishing to be thru a hole in the ice, and i'd hit up the state DNR site to get some details on the various fishing & hunting seasons/regulations to compare to what you can and cant do in TX. You can find some large whitetail, wild turkey and water fowl, and depending on the draws one enters bear hunting as well. Fish for walleye and northern, as well as muskie; plus bass and panfish.

As far as an airport goes, the closest 'major' would be MSP in Minneapolis, but that's likely a 2.5-3 hr drive in good conditions. Snow of course will add to that drive time. There are smaller airports closer, you'd just have to weigh their cost vs convenience.

I would generally say taxes are high in WI, though someone who lives up near Hayward could give you a better feel for how hard it can hit there. But to give an idea, when we were in the Madison area (the city i'd have thought closest to Austin for a point of comparison) we were paying +/- $4k in taxes on a $220k home. But further up north with acreage? Best to get a local opinion...

I'm not a vet, but my step-dad was. He at times had issues getting assistance, but that was years ago so i dont want to use that one example to color my opinions of how vets are treated from a govmnt point of view (one would hope that vets now are taken care of as needed). I will say that there are many "American Legion" halls/branches throughout WI so it's quite possible you could find a group to be involved with as well.

[CowsAndBeer]

Like ranger mentioned, I think you'll be happy as long as the weather is not a deterrent. It's a very beautiful and peaceful part of the country, but it's pretty isolated and winters are long.

[northbound74]

There will be adjustments to the culture and quirks of Wisconsin, but generally worth it.
On the one hand, it's quite a bit different than down south, on the other, you might be surprised at some of the similarities you'll find.

Wisconsinites sometimes go on and on about the weather. Okay. I'm not always sure they understand the awful weather that other parts of the country endure. Different, yes, but just as difficult for Average Joe-who likes nothing too extreme-to deal with.
Winters are cold. However, summers are often fantastic (this from a guy who never liked summer until moving north), springs are like an Arkansas winter: still cool, damp, occasional snow, less ice. Same with fall, but with prettier foliage.
The weather isn't a big deal to me. At least I don't sweat half my body weight every day 8 months out of the year. That just makes me all sorts of happy.
Oh yeah, dry skin in winter. The one downside. Bundle up outside. Wear gloves... a lot. Snow tires, maybe chains if you're really in the boonies. Find things to do outdoors in the winter so you don't get cabin fever. Use common sense, though.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by ReDNeQ

Ok here's the deal.

I am a Native Texan. Love hunting, fishing and the like. Have lived in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Nevada, California, Arizona. I have lived in the Heat pretty much my whole life.

Wife currently owns 2 businesses that we are really just ready to sell or shutdown. We are thinking about liquidating and making a move from our Austin Texas area to maybe let's say Hayward, WI or ?????

We would love to own at least 100 acres and be able to hunt, fish, and live off the land as much as possible. We will need decent internet to at least be able to communicate and remote manage a few clients. We would like to be within 2 hours of an Airport that can fly to major cities.

Any words of advice? Are we kidding ourselves with Wisconsin. When I do internet searches, I see such pretty land and beautiful towns. Is it all a hoax?

Also,
I am a 100% service connected disabled veteran. I would like to live in a state that recognizes veterans for our service and offers some extra perks, just sayin.

The images of pretty land and beautiful towns are not a hoax. There are literally thousands of well-stocked fishing lakes in Wisconsin, anywhere in size from half-acre ponds to humongous inland seas bigger than the entire nation of Latvia with grand names like "Michigan" and "Superior." Terrain is anywhere from table-flat to gentle rolling hills, but nothing as dramatic as the mountains of west Texas. If you love hunting and fishing and outdoor activities, then Wisconsin is a great place to live. But you'd better love being outside when it's 10 below zero if you expect to get the most out of the outdoor experience up here.

It's common for folks to carry on about taxes in Wisconsin, particularly property taxes. They are in fact among the highest in the country. But what people around here may not realize is that Texas property taxes are probably even worse. So I don't imagine you'll be terribly shocked by property taxes up this way.

The major stumbling block is your desire for 100 acres. Even the most rural parts of the upper Midwest are simply not as wide-open as the Plains/interior West states (west Texas inclusive). You'll have no trouble finding plots of up to 8 or 10 or maybe even 20 acres. Once you start scaling up to 100 contiguous acres, now you're talking about buying either 1) prime farm real estate, or 2) prime development real estate. I'm not sure what you expect to pay, but 100 contiguous acres with no improvements will start at around a thousand bucks an acre. Throw a basic house on the land and now you're looking at nearly 2 grand an acre.

[Drover]

Oh yeah, major airport within 2 hours... that kinda limits you to western Wisconsin near Minneapolis/St. Paul or southeastern Wisconsin near Milwaukee or Chicago/O'Hare. Land near the latter is bound to be significantly more expensive as city folk from Milwaukee and particularly Chicago have long ago bought up and divided premium recreational lands for use as weekend/vacation retreats. Minneapolis folks don't put as much price pressure on Wisconsin real estate around them because unlike Chicago/Milwaukee folks they have highly desirable terrain in pretty much all directions around them.

Which brings me to another point: As lovely as Wisconsin is, you may have better luck finding similar acreage in a similar environment if you also look in Minnesota and Michigan. All three states are legendary for their recreational fishing/hunting/outdoor lands within two-ish hours of major airports (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Milwaukee, Detroit respectively).

[NoJiveMan]

Please, don't.

But, if you're really serious, you'll need to fill out an application to live in this state.

http://www.joke-archives.com/apps/appwisconsin.html

[CowsAndBeer]

Originally Posted by Drover

Once you start scaling up to 100 contiguous acres, now you're talking about buying either 1) prime farm real estate, or 2) prime development real estate. I'm not sure what you expect to pay, but 100 contiguous acres with no improvements will start at around a thousand bucks an acre. Throw a basic house on the land and now you're looking at nearly 2 grand an acre.

Nah, you can find 100 acres in the Driftless (SW WI) for fairly cheap. Taxes are cheaper out there, as well. If you want further relief, buy up a mixture of forest and pasture land and rent out the pasture. You can get further tax relief making it Managed Forest Program land (you can also purchase an existing Managed Forest Program). Most of these large parcels include trout streams, valleys, ridges, etc. Everywhere in the state's Driftless region is within the time requested to Minneapolis or Madison.

A quick check of Crawford county shows most acreage around 100 (75-120-ish) acres ranging from $170,000 - $350,000. Certainly there are parcels going for more, but those are exceptions. The thing about this area is it's about half forested/half farms, so it isn't unbroken forests like the northern third of the state. Because of the geography, you get streams and rivers but not many lakes, like in the rest of the state. The trade-off is you're in the quietest part of Wisconsin and it's very beautiful.

A quick example would be 131 acres overlooking the Kickapoo River valley with a spring-fed pond for $299,000: Gays Mills, Crawford County, Wisconsin land for sale - 131 acres at LandWatch.com

You could obviously find half the land for the $175,000 range - I don't have time right now to dig. And there are many other counties throughout the region, I picked Crawford randomly.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by CowsAndBeer

Nah, you can find 100 acres in the Driftless (SW WI) for fairly cheap. Taxes are cheaper out there, as well. If you want further relief, buy up a mixture of forest and pasture land and rent out the pasture. You can get further tax relief making it Managed Forest Program land (you can also purchase an existing Managed Forest Program). Most of these large parcels include trout streams, valleys, ridges, etc. Everywhere in the state's Driftless region is within the time requested to Minneapolis or Madison.

A quick check of Crawford county shows most acreage around 100 (75-120-ish) acres ranging from $170,000 - $350,000. Certainly there are parcels going for more, but those are exceptions. The thing about this area is it's about half forested/half farms, so it isn't unbroken forests like the northern third of the state. Because of the geography, you get streams and rivers but not many lakes, like in the rest of the state. The trade-off is you're in the quietest part of Wisconsin and it's very beautiful.

A quick example would be 131 acres overlooking the Kickapoo River valley with a spring-fed pond for $299,000: Gays Mills, Crawford County, Wisconsin land for sale - 131 acres at LandWatch.com

You could obviously find half the land for the $175,000 range - I don't have time right now to dig. And there are many other counties throughout the region, I picked Crawford randomly.

OK, so as a counterexample of my claim that land will start at least a grand an acre, you link to a property that is over 2 grand an acre...

[CowsAndBeer]

You're right, for some reason I'd "calculated" it wrong in my head, and it's not like the math was difficult