Woo boy - got busy and haven't been able to check up here and look at all the responses!
One of my friends and former employees keeps bugging me to look at Idaho - every time we speak he's like "so move to Idaho," especially when I complain about the 400th straight day of 100 degre weather (finally getting some relief from the heat + getting rain to help pull us out of the drought!) and he's like "Move to Idaho, it was 65 degrees today" - I've been studying a bit on SE Idaho - he's a deputy with Bingham County and makes a solid argument for that area. Its proximity to Yellowstone, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming puts it in the running for sure.
I'm hoping our economy doesn't completely turn to crap in the next few years, or if it does its back on the road to recovery by the time we're ready to move. We paid $212k for our house in 2020. Last year I tried convincing the wife to sell, as the market value was up to $400k. Our place is owned outright - no mortgage. That cash could've let us buy a lot more land in a smaller area - was looking hard at central Texas at the time and kept watching two properties that were 10+ acres that had ponds and were ready to build on that were $100k. Could've built a house or moved in a manufactured home and still had a pile of cash in the bank. Didn't happen...
She is onboard at this point for moving after kid is out of school. I'm really hoping the market value of this place has gone up again by then. Current market estimate is still over 300k, but its no where near $400 like it was last year. What I want to do when we're ready to move is sell this place and buy a bigger place outright. Preferably 10 or more acres - I want a place big enough to build a pond on + having my own shooting range. We don't need as big of a house as we have now - we've got 2130 sq foot, by the time we're ready to move we could probably be just as happy in 1700 or so, provided it has a good kitchen and good bathrooms. Also want / need a shop or garage.
Time will tell!
One of my friends and former employees keeps bugging me to look at Idaho - every time we speak he's like "so move to Idaho," especially when I complain about the 400th straight day of 100 degre weather (finally getting some relief from the heat + getting rain to help pull us out of the drought!) and he's like "Move to Idaho, it was 65 degrees today" - I've been studying a bit on SE Idaho - he's a deputy with Bingham County and makes a solid argument for that area. Its proximity to Yellowstone, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming puts it in the running for sure.
I'm hoping our economy doesn't completely turn to crap in the next few years, or if it does its back on the road to recovery by the time we're ready to move. We paid $212k for our house in 2020. Last year I tried convincing the wife to sell, as the market value was up to $400k. Our place is owned outright - no mortgage. That cash could've let us buy a lot more land in a smaller area - was looking hard at central Texas at the time and kept watching two properties that were 10+ acres that had ponds and were ready to build on that were $100k. Could've built a house or moved in a manufactured home and still had a pile of cash in the bank. Didn't happen...
She is onboard at this point for moving after kid is out of school. I'm really hoping the market value of this place has gone up again by then. Current market estimate is still over 300k, but its no where near $400 like it was last year. What I want to do when we're ready to move is sell this place and buy a bigger place outright. Preferably 10 or more acres - I want a place big enough to build a pond on + having my own shooting range. We don't need as big of a house as we have now - we've got 2130 sq foot, by the time we're ready to move we could probably be just as happy in 1700 or so, provided it has a good kitchen and good bathrooms. Also want / need a shop or garage.
Time will tell!