As I’ve been watching Roanoke properties, sometimes you can get it under 200k or 300k. Some of the places I’ve liked best have been the cheaper ones.
To the OP, my place in Chicagoland should be listing soon for 700k. 8 acres, 10 stalls and indoor arena. I hope to go from a 440k mortgage to 150k or less.
One of my guy friends recently did this because his house skyrocketed in value and he wanted to not have a mortgage. So he sold for a lot, and moved back in with his mother, and is waiting for the market to crash to buy again. I thought he was crazy at first when he did it (why would you move in with your mother?) But i think it was a really smart financial move.
I don’t think there’s realistically enough money for us to move. Key word: realistically. I mean, I think we could get 450k ish for where we are now, maybe. I can’t replace it for less than that, not for what I would want: privacy, swimming hole, access to loads of trails and one hour to a good airport and excellent hospitals.
I like to look at places, but for homes I could never afford. I’ve always been amazed at homes that are million dollar plus, and there is a complete lack of maintenance. I saw one near Aiken the other day, interesting place, lots of land, big house, and no one could spend $50 on paint to redo the front porch floor paint. And the homes that are for sale, but have pictures, decorations, and all kinds of items all over the walls, making the rooms look much smaller than they really are, and make it look like it would take months for the sellers to vacate.
Even selling for way over asking, there still are limits where I could move because of location, neighborhood amenities, and I wouldn’t move to a HOA neighborhood again. Some HOAs here are very controlling, over what the rules say.
I can move further out with my job, heck we have some people who commute an HOUR to get here. I commute 10 minutes depending on if I catch Navy traffic or not. But I don’t want to move just to commute, and I love my job too. And so I wait til closer to retirement and hope we get a crazy boom again 
My property is already worth about double what I initially paid for land + house construction, I did a refi to pull out equity for some improvements (arena) and I’m still sitting decent.
Did I miss where you guys picked to go??
My tax preparer reminds me every year! I have mine because I deduct 
Honestly I’d move east a bit, I’d like to get out of Washington eventually because of reasons, but I think it’s gorgeous so that sucks. I also like parts of Idaho and Montana, but brrrr… So maybe east and south 
. I love to look on Zillow and see what there is.
Nope 
I’m having some trouble getting Mr. Heinz to narrow it down but he’s mostly zeroed in on a few areas in TX. Our house is now under contract, so we will be moving to a temporary house next month while we shop.
My ex is in TX (literally) and it’s 100+ where he is right now. I dunno if I could handle that much change in weather, however I admit with it raining yet AGAIN today in what I have termed “Junetober,” I might take it.
Hard pass. It’s 85 with a feels like of 89 at my house currently and I am dying
65° here and relatively sunny for now, but 70% humidity and more rain later. I want out of the mud. At least this weather is making for good hay, according to my neighbor. His fields are nice and thick, although very wet still.
I don’t mind 100 degree temps, at all, as long as I have AC in the house. Our current house doesn’t have it and when it’s 105+ outside like those weeks we had last summer, it’s 100 inside. 
I’m outdoors too much, so I wouldn’t choose a place where I had to rely on AC. (Of course, I hate AC anyway, but I’m just pointing out if the idea is to have land for horses, and outside activities, you will be out in that heat some of the time.)
I also wouldn’t choose to move somewhere without water. Water pressures are going to become worse and worse with climate change. Too much (as The_Jenners points out) means mud and damp, but too little means costs skyrocket and you’re always in the seer. Gotta find the happy medium.
I mean I have always had AC, but I agree that it doesn’t help when you want to be outside.
It’s about as hot as I can stand it where I live currently. Summer is hell, but the other 9 months of the year are glorious. That and the fact that’s it’s totally doable to ride on native dirt and grass year round make the summers worth it. For me. Everyone has to “pick their poison” I guess.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear, I don’t intend to hide in the AC all day, my point was simply that it is nice to have a respite from the heat of the day. I’ve lived without AC (or central heating) for 15+ years, through 105+ weeks in the summers and single digit temps some winters, with horses at home. As long as I have a cool place to rest I am happy to live in a hot place, and arrange my activities of the day based on temps.
I am outside a lot too, and frankly tired of slogging through mud and rain up to my eyeballs 6 to 9 months of the year. I am one of those perpetually cold people, and SAD hits me worse every year. I need more sun!
I am in the Fort Worth area, our house is one of those ranch type houses that is over 110 feet end to end …it is orientated facing south… there is not a window anywhere in this house that does not get sun light shining through it at some time during the year. As we approach the Summer Solstice all the northern facing windows now have sun shining through them
The biggest issue with moving into the drier West is the lack of or the general size of the trees. It took me about five years to adjust to being able to see for miles rather feet as the vegetation in Kentucky was so dense a person can not see very far
My ex is in TX (literally)
Just had to like this one for the George Strait reference 
I’m in the same boat. We bought 20 years ago and it doubled after each 10 years. But we like the house and love the neighbourhood, and still have one child in high school for 3 more years, so don’t see the point in selling up yet.
Once she’s well settled in university we may look at downsizing to a winter home somewhere warm and a summer cottage on the east coast
We sold last year to take advantage of the market and because we knew we didn’t want to stay there long-term. It was only 40 miles from our previous home and even that little distance was total culture shock, I never would have guessed. It was enough to make me realize I will never buy in a new place without doing a short term rental first to make sure I like it. Renting now and while I sometimes feel like it’s throwing money away, I am really enjoying not stressing over the yard, maintenance, repairs.
I wished I had rented in the town I moved here from. I bought, and it took seven months to sell my house, and though I made a tidy profit over the amount of mortgage payoff, it would have been cheaper to live in an apartment, and not have the on-going maintenance, and other bills from home ownership.
I know it seems that you’re throwing money away, but if there is a downturn in the market, or just in the certain location you’re renting in, the selling process isn’t fun. When I was looking near Fort Benning, I briefly considered one city, and just didn’t get a good feeling about it. If I had bought there because of that city’s sales market, I would either still be sitting there trying to sell, or have to hand the keys back to the bank. They used to have less than five recent sales out of over 500 homes on the market, they now have just over 10 recent sales, out of over 500 on market.
Question: I have 5 acres in suburb of Chicago with a 6 stall barn with attached arena. The last time I had a property appraisal, which was probably about 12 years ago, it didn’t include any value for the barn. I am wondering if this is still the case, or are barns considered to have some value now?
here in Tarrant county Texas (Fort Worth) buildings in addition to the primary resident structure are accessory buildings, some are valued greater than others. In the appraisal district eyes a detached garage is worth more than a barn as a barn is viewed as having less desired need or overall usability.
You should be able to go online to see what your appraisal is, if like the site for our local appraisal district they will say it is “simple to use”. which is not the case but one can struggle through to see just what they believe about the place and others
When a friend’s house went doen in a tornado, they thought since their really long car port attached to their 2 story garage, that the garage was going to be replaced as a separate building. However, they found out because the carport, to the garage from the house was attached to both buildings, that made the garage part of the house coverage. So if they would have had a foot or two gap in the carport roof, the garage would have been covered as a separate building, and they would have received extra payments.
ALso, they had to prove the extra concrete, over the minimum size driveways, and the main walk to the front porch. Google maps, or one of the drone or other aerial maps proved the amount of extra driveway, and sidewalks, and patio they had before.
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