Where should i move?

[ftpiercecracker1]

28, not married/no kids, renting, and home loans are at historic lows, which means i should be buying my first house.  . . I just don't know where. Budget is irrelavent at this stage as I'm just looking for general geographic recommendations. I am a handyman/hopeful entrepreneur who hopes to have a viable business of his own someday.

 

* = negotiable 

 

Some quick notes of what I'm looking for.

 

Contiguous US only 

 

Mostly white population (70% or higher)
High income/Low cost of living as possible
Low crime
No/low rioting
Close to the ocean, not neccesarily a beach, but the ocean in general, absolutely no more than 2hrs away.

NOT NOT NOT in a hollow/holl'er. I HATE rolling hill type geography. Give me serious moutains, flat as a pancake plains or some combination thereof.
Climate: hot/cold doesnt matter at this stage, however no where where the winter can be described as "slushy". Middle TN is the worst for this.
*Must be close (1hr drive) to large city 100k+ pop

 

Id also like to hear suggestions you might have completely regardless of the above criteria and your reasons why.

 

Thanks.

[75sv1]

Not to your specs. Only things I could say to your specs would be the Carolinas or West Coast. West Coast = $$ and pay not as good. Id say Midwest. With money = travel. Plenty of beaches around the World. 

[Minuit]

4 hours ago, ftpiercecracker1 said:

Mostly white population (70% or higher)

At least you're honest about it, I guess.

[rylee144]

Stay away from seattle but go an hour in any direction and it's nice. Mountains, ocean, sports games. The columbia river is just over the mountain too. Money is good, expensive to live but I'd say wages out weigh it. 

 

It's too far from the ocean for you but there are alot of lakes, my ideal is live in coeur d alene Idaho and work in Spokane for the better pay

[Dzimm]

I would look at state laws to make sure the state allows things you want.  Firearms, hunting/fishing regs, tax laws, vehicle inspection laws, ECT.  Weather/climate is another thing to consider.

 

I think your best bet is to find somewhere that you can get property away from towns, somewhere in the mountains would be my choice.  Only place you are going to get away from crime.  Crime is going up, even in small towns anymore.

[Dickinson County Comanche]

I’d like to ask specifically if you’d want to be next to the ocean. If a lake suits you, north Central Kansas would be nice. Milford lake is big, you can fish on it, and has several nice beaches (if you have a boat, you can get to the nicer beaches) Flatter than a pancake, lots of open dirt roads to cruise around on. Topeka would be pretty close, but it’d be on the lower side of 100,000, and you can get there in less than an hour if you roll down I-70. Housing is relatively cheap, and you can probably get your hands on a nice ranch (With no farmland) with a couple out buildings for less than $500,000. Then again, I’m not a realtor, so I’d take this with a grain of salt, or maybe the whole shaker.

[FrankTheDog]

New Hampshire, 93%, Manchester is over 100k population, Boston is a couple hours away. Southern NH doesn’t have many really big hills but it doesn’t really have hollers either. Most of the population is in the lower third of the state but the northern half has some really real mountains over 4,000 feet.

A 5,000’ mountain in NH has the same climate as a 12,000’ mountain out west.

Trees are really short over 4,000’ in NH.

Most job opportunities will be in the southeast part of the state.

 

The area of Maine that is near NH is a nice place also. Most of the jobs in Maine are near the southern coast.

Maine 94%

 

You’ll have really real winters in Maine and NH but near the coast it isn’t horrible.

[CaptainPatchy]

11 hours ago, 75sv1 said:

Id say Midwest. With money = travel. Plenty of beaches around the World. 

This is my life at the moment, too dull in Ne to demand anything in the way of high real-estate prices, but cost of living is crazy low along with crime and we don't have much in the way of rioting or major issues at the moment.  My lady and I are in the process of buying a house right now, and are trying to close on a typical suburban home for right around the $200K mark, even with the market being bonkers.  Not that I'd ever given it much thought, but as to your other requirement: 

 

According to the most recent ACS, the racial composition of Nebraska was:

• White: 87.49%
• Black or African American: 4.77%
• Two or more races: 2.55%
• Asian: 2.32%
• Other race: 1.89%
• Native American: 0.91%
• Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.07

[ftpiercecracker1]

12 hours ago, 75sv1 said:

Not to your specs. Only things I could say to your specs would be the Carolinas or West Coast. West Coast = $$ and pay not as good. Id say Midwest. With money = travel. Plenty of beaches around the World. 

 

Moving out of the country is definitely out of the question.

 

12 hours ago, Minuit said:

At least you're honest about it, I guess.

 

PMed

 

 

11 hours ago, rylee144 said:

Stay away from seattle but go an hour in any direction and it's nice. Mountains, ocean, sports games. The columbia river is just over the mountain too. Money is good, expensive to live but I'd say wages out weigh it. 

 

It's too far from the ocean for you but there are alot of lakes, my ideal is live in coeur d alene Idaho and work in Spokane for the better pay

 

What attracts you to that area? 

 

 

10 hours ago, Dzimm said:

I would look at state laws to make sure the state allows things you want.  Firearms, hunting/fishing regs, tax laws, vehicle inspection laws, ECT.  Weather/climate is another thing to consider.

 

I think your best bet is to find somewhere that you can get property away from towns, somewhere in the mountains would be my choice.  Only place you are going to get away from crime.  Crime is going up, even in small towns anymore.

 

I like guns, but i don't own any. Although i would prefer to live where gun laws are more lax than strict.

 

Never been hunting, would like to, but its never been a passion of mine.

 

I imagine fishing regs are fairly simliar state to state. Coming from South FL the old joke is its better to get caught with a lb of coke than a lb of snook out of season. They are deadly serious about snook season.

 

Vehicle inspection is a neccessary evil i think, although its an evil i would rather avoid. 

 

Good point on taxs/tax laws. I know someplaces practically smother any small businesses with all the regs/red tape/taxes.

 

Weather and climate is pretty flexible. My only caveat are "slushy" winters. Lived in middle tn for about 10 years, terrible terrible winters. Just wet muddy rainy and freezing for 6 months straight. 

 

 

9 hours ago, Dickinson County Comanche said:

I’d like to ask specifically if you’d want to be next to the ocean. If a lake suits you, north Central Kansas would be nice. Milford lake is big, you can fish on it, and has several nice beaches (if you have a boat, you can get to the nicer beaches) Flatter than a pancake, lots of open dirt roads to cruise around on. Topeka would be pretty close, but it’d be on the lower side of 100,000, and you can get there in less than an hour if you roll down I-70. Housing is relatively cheap, and you can probably get your hands on a nice ranch (With no farmland) with a couple out buildings for less than $500,000. Then again, I’m not a realtor, so I’d take this with a grain of salt, or maybe the whole shaker.

 

If your asking if i want to be near the ocean, the answer is yes. No more than 2hr drive. If you're asking why I want to be near the ocean, it's hard to explain, I just feel the ocean is the ultimate manifestation of freedom and life and I want to be close to that source. I actually don't like going to the beach all that much.

 

It would take some significant convincing for me to move to Kansas, being smack in the middle of the country. 

 

500k is about 5x what my theoretical budget will be.

 

Part of the reason why I want to move is because of that. A handyman/remodeling contractors earning potential is 75% dependent on his location. Replacing a toilet here you get $100 max, 50 miles up the road they start at $400. Significant median household income is paramount for securing a living wage in all service based economies.

 

 

 

8 hours ago, FrankTheDog said:

New Hampshire, 93%, Manchester is over 100k population, Boston is a couple hours away. Southern NH doesn’t have many really big hills but it doesn’t really have hollers either. Most of the population is in the lower third of the state but the northern half has some really real mountains over 4,000 feet.

A 5,000’ mountain in NH has the same climate as a 12,000’ mountain out west.

Trees are really short over 4,000’ in NH.

Most job opportunities will be in the southeast part of the state.

 

The area of Maine that is near NH is a nice place also. Most of the jobs in Maine are near the southern coast.

Maine 94%

 

You’ll have really real winters in Maine and NH but near the coast it isn’t horrible.

 

 

I have actually been looking at Main quite a lot. Problem is though the largest city in all of Maine only has 60k people and the median household income is significantly below the national average. House prices are good. Lots and lots of good first homes for around a 100k

Winters would be absolutely brutal. 

[rylee144]

My wife. Lived in coeur d alene  and spokane before. Met my wife and she wanted to be near her family so I live in Puyallup and work in Renton now. Better money on the westside of the state. Wa has decent hunting and good fishing. Fun area but lots of traffic over here 

[Dzimm]

26 minutes ago, ftpiercecracker1 said:

 

I imagine fishing regs are fairly simliar state to state. Coming from South FL the old joke is its better to get caught with a lb of coke than a lb of snook out of season. They are deadly serious about snook season.

If you aren't big into fishing it probably won't be a huge deal but you'd be surprised, regs very quite a bit.  Some states have limits on number of poles you can have, some don't.  Some states allow certain baits, others don't.  Some states and areas have different restrictions on fish you can keep and areas you are allowed to fish.

 

You are definitely correct, fish and game laws are taken very seriously.  That's pretty standard across all states, you definitely don't want to be on the wrong side of the law when it comes to fish and game.

[ftpiercecracker1]

5 hours ago, Dzimm said:

If you aren't big into fishing it probably won't be a huge deal but you'd be surprised, regs very quite a bit.  Some states have limits on number of poles you can have, some don't.  Some states allow certain baits, others don't.  Some states and areas have different restrictions on fish you can keep and areas you are allowed to fish.

 

You are definitely correct, fish and game laws are taken very seriously.  That's pretty standard across all states, you definitely don't want to be on the wrong side of the law when it comes to fish and game.

 

Limit on number of poles you can own? Sweet tap dancing jesus thats absurd. Definitely one i havent heard of yet.

 

I like fishing and would even consider myself avid. Although its exceptionally rare for me to keep anything. This kind of ties into why i want to be near the ocean. All the tastiest water critters come from salt water (other than catfish). 

 

[Dzimm]

2 hours ago, ftpiercecracker1 said:

 

Limit on number of poles you can own?

 

Number of poles/lines you can have in the water.  In Iowa the limit is 2 lines, makes for less productive catfishing.  Some states have no limit so you can be sitting there with 8+ poles.

[Eagle]

IMHO, several of your criteria are mutually exclusive. You're going to need to prioritize.

 

I'm considering Montana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Wyoming, and [maybe] Idaho.

 

[mjeff87]

For a young, energized guy like yourself, I would recommend the RDU/Triangle area of NC.  We had friends that lived there for years that we used to visit quite often (it's only a 2 hour drive from Richmond) and we literally watched the whole area blow up over the last 10 years or so.  For someone like me, it was a great place to visit but I personally wouldn't want to live there (too crowded, higher cost of living).  Our friends both retired last year, but they bought a house in Wilmington and had been rehabbing it little by little.  They retired, sold their house in Cary for a BOATLOAD of $$$ and moved to the beach.  Wilmington is @ 2 hours from the area, or about 45 minutes if you drive as crazy as our friends do LOL, so there's your ocean.  Plenty of work in the area, good wages (but higher COL as I mentioned), and it's a very "happening" area.  The only box it doesn't check is your demographic desire......there are alot of different nationalities there due to all of the IT jobs around.

[billyblankss]

I moved from DC to outside Apex / RDU / Triangle NC. It is a dream down here. 

[dasbulliwagen]

Ill third the area around Raleigh/Durham NC. There are a lot of smaller quieter areas outside Raleigh that have lower cost of living, but are close to the big city, and close enough to the coast. The mountains would be 4-5 hours to the west if you wanted. Gun laws are decent, we do have state inspections on vehicles, but they aren't overbearing or hard to get through... right now anything up to 20 years old gets a safety/ emissions check ( we plug into the OBD2 port to check for codes and readiness), 20-30 is just safety check (make sure all lights and horn, wipers, brakes are OK), older than 30, no checks. Snow is rare, maybe one snowfall a year.

[early comanche owner]

Texas has no state income tax and lots of fair properties.  you have access to the ocean/gulf of mexico.

 

florida panhandle    no state income tax as well.

 

Tennessee is a little over two hours but no state income tax as well.

 

texas has militia groups to stop riots, but Austin still has them.

 

Dallas police chief was arresting people who block the highways

 

I am a Texan that now lives in Nashville....   been happy hear for a year.     

[derf]

14 hours ago, ftpiercecracker1 said:

500k is about 5x what my theoretical budget will be.

That's probably going to be your biggest limiting factor.

 

$100K doesn't buy much in a whole lot of this country unless you're really out in the middle of nowhere.  You'll need to steer clear of very large metro areas.  Find smaller metro areas that meet some of your other criteria.

 

Best bet is to figure out what areas of the country are set for major growth in the future and get in before everyone else starts buying up the land.  Not only does that give you free equity in your own place, there's always tons of work as the yuppies move in and need stuff done.  Trouble is, predicting that growth is almost impossible.

[Eagle]

17 hours ago, ftpiercecracker1 said:

I have actually been looking at Main quite a lot. Problem is though the largest city in all of Maine only has 60k people and the median household income is significantly below the national average. House prices are good. Lots and lots of good first homes for around a 100k

Winters would be absolutely brutal. 

 

Winters in the Portland area aren't at all "brutal." The ocean moderates things quite a bit. I spent one winter checking the climate around Portland when I was considering a relocation there. It's not significantly different from Hartford, Connecticut. Which, admittedly, isn't Florida, but you're going to find winter is more wintery just about anywhere compared to where you are now.

[NHMJXJ]

@ftpiercecracker1

 

I live in NH and plugged it for Eagle a while back when he solicited suggestions for a destination.  Now, I'm not on a campaign to increase the population, but …

 

I wrote;  "New Hampshire.  No sales or income tax.  From the S. Western part of the state you can reach; the ocean, the mountains and Boston (if you really want to) in less than two hours.  Citizens government.  Not so Left (we're working on the MA transplants) and a good economy even in these times." 

 

The state meets most of your criteria.  The southern tier of the state has spots of concentrated population, but consider the largest city's pop is just over 100K. 2A friendly.  

Four distinct seasons (for the most part).  No yahoos burning buildings or removing history. 

 

As someone noted in response to my post on Eagles thread, property taxes are third highest in the nation, so there's that.  They're offset by the benefits.

[derf]

It's pretty common for states without income tax to have high property tax or some other way of generating revenue.  The tax man always finds a way to get his money.

[Muncher]

On 7/28/2020 at 4:24 AM, ftpiercecracker1 said:

28, not married/no kids, renting, and home loans are at historic lows, which means i should be buying my first house.  . . I just don't know where. Budget is irrelavent at this stage as I'm just looking for general geographic recommendations. I am a handyman/hopeful entrepreneur who hopes to have a viable business of his own someday.

 

* = negotiable 

 

Some quick notes of what I'm looking for.

 

Contiguous US only 

 

Mostly white population (70% or higher)
High income/Low cost of living as possible
Low crime
No/low rioting
Close to the ocean, not neccesarily a beach, but the ocean in general, absolutely no more than 2hrs away.

NOT NOT NOT in a hollow/holl'er. I HATE rolling hill type geography. Give me serious moutains, flat as a pancake plains or some combination thereof.
Climate: hot/cold doesnt matter at this stage, however no where where the winter can be described as "slushy". Middle TN is the worst for this.
*Must be close (1hr drive) to large city 100k+ pop

 

Id also like to hear suggestions you might have completely regardless of the above criteria and your reasons why.

 

Thanks.

Rhode Island is pretty cool😂😂

[rokinn]

Depends on what one means by brutal.  I spent a good many years living in Oregon (west of the Cascades).  The rain and clouds a majority of the winter were too much for me.  The humidity and cold, though admittedly not much temperature wise comparatively speaking, made me feel cold to the bone.  The grey is tedious to the point that even natives get sick of it.  It also has pretty high property taxes.  No sales tax though. 

[ftpiercecracker1]

16 hours ago, Dzimm said:

Number of poles/lines you can have in the water.  In Iowa the limit is 2 lines, makes for less productive catfishing.  Some states have no limit so you can be sitting there with 8+ poles.

 

Ah gotcha, that makes more sense. Same for crappie/speck fishing. Some guys will have a crazy amount of poles on riggers.

 

16 hours ago, Eagle said:

IMHO, several of your criteria are mutually exclusive. You're going to need to prioritize.

 

I'm considering Montana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Wyoming, and [maybe] Idaho.

 

 

 

Could you be more specific? I need to know where i should work on comprising.

 

Montana is undeniably beautiful, but to far from ocean, same for Wyoming and idaho.

 

TN is a good option for me logically, m&d live there. Although east TN is the only place i would consider looking. Lived in middle Tennessee for 10 years, hated it.

 

 

15 hours ago, mjeff87 said:

For a young, energized guy like yourself, I would recommend the RDU/Triangle area of NC.  We had friends that lived there for years that we used to visit quite often (it's only a 2 hour drive from Richmond) and we literally watched the whole area blow up over the last 10 years or so.  For someone like me, it was a great place to visit but I personally wouldn't want to live there (too crowded, higher cost of living).  Our friends both retired last year, but they bought a house in Wilmington and had been rehabbing it little by little.  They retired, sold their house in Cary for a BOATLOAD of $$$ and moved to the beach.  Wilmington is @ 2 hours from the area, or about 45 minutes if you drive as crazy as our friends do LOL, so there's your ocean.  Plenty of work in the area, good wages (but higher COL as I mentioned), and it's a very "happening" area.  The only box it doesn't check is your demographic desire......there are alot of different nationalities there due to all of the IT jobs around.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely be looking very closely at that area. The demographic criteria is merely a preference not a requirement.

 

That is the dichotomy isn't it? Higher-income paired with higher cost of living and vice a versa. Exceptions are extremely rare and coveted.

 

 

 

11 hours ago, early comanche owner said:

Texas has no state income tax and lots of fair properties.  you have access to the ocean/gulf of mexico.

 

florida panhandle    no state income tax as well.

 

Tennessee is a little over two hours but no state income tax as well.

 

texas has militia groups to stop riots, but Austin still has them.

 

Dallas police chief was arresting people who block the highways

 

I am a Texan that now lives in Nashville....   been happy hear for a year.     

 

 

Why did you move and more importantly have you been to Jack's ribs on Main Street?

 

 

 

 

10 hours ago, derf said:

That's probably going to be your biggest limiting factor.

 

$100K doesn't buy much in a whole lot of this country unless you're really out in the middle of nowhere.  You'll need to steer clear of very large metro areas.  Find smaller metro areas that meet some of your other criteria.

 

Best bet is to figure out what areas of the country are set for major growth in the future and get in before everyone else starts buying up the land.  Not only does that give you free equity in your own place, there's always tons of work as the yuppies move in and need stuff done.  Trouble is, predicting that growth is almost impossible.

 

 

I am keenly aware of how limiting my budget is. I am hoping to find a run-down Sub 1000 sqft foot foreclosure home that needs a lot of cleaning and repair. If the underlying structure is good i can handle anything else. A CBS home is my preferred choice. I also don't expect or want to live in downtown or even in the burbs. I expect to drive 30/45min one way to get to and from the city.

 

It's a hard choice for me, because the town I'm in right now is one of those towns that has experienced an extraordinary amount of growth and increase in outside interest. I also have my absolute most ideal living arrangement. House all to myself, about 30 minutes outside of town in a small very very secluded, not gated, neighborhood in the middle of an orange grove. Problem is i don't know how much longer i can continue on the path I'm on. I've been self-employed as a handyman for the past 5 years and while it keeps me relatively busy I have nothing to show for it, as far as savings. Bottom line is I'm not making enough money and i don't know if i should stick it out here and hope to ride that future growth wave or move someplace that already has a high median household income.

 

 

5 hours ago, rokinn said:

Depends on what one means by brutal.  I spent a good many years living in Oregon (west of the Cascades).  The rain and clouds a majority of the winter were too much for me.  The humidity and cold, though admittedly not much temperature wise comparatively speaking, made me feel cold to the bone.  The grey is tedious to the point that even natives get sick of it.  It also has pretty high property taxes.  No sales tax though. 

 

When I think brutal winter, I think weeks on end zero and below zero temperatures. Having to have a ladder on the roof of my house to climb down to access my front door because the snow drifts are up to the eaves.

 

 

I love rain. It's one of my favorite things about Florida. But cold and raining? Or sleet? No thanks