Forbes article: States most people are moving from and to

[VacationForever]

Just the overage on that house from list price would buy a 3,000-4,000 sqft brand new custom built luxury house here in Oklahoma. That's why we have a lot of Californians moving here, and it's amazing how many did not even realize the whole country doesn't share their pricing. A tiny fraction of what they sell their house for funds early retirement and a brand new house. Before we moved to our final home here, we lived in McKinney Tx, a Dallas suburb. Our 3,600 sq ft house was 3 years old when we bought it, purchase price, $140,000. But we did not want to retire there, property tax too expensive since TX has no state income tax, so, moved across the border and can afford a brand new car payment the rest of my life just on property tax savings. And property tax here freezes when you become a senior, so that savings over Texas grows every time they increase rates. Close enough to DFW to fly most anywhere. Close enough to Tulsa to fly cheaper sometimes.

Used to know a guy in the same field as I was, IT. He moved to San Francisco because he "made more money" than me in Tulsa. I lived in a typical $90,000 2,600 sqft house custom built on acreage surrounded by 100,000 acres of forest (great in winter for hiking with no bugs up and down hills near Leonard OK and a Russian base!), with a typical new car. He lived in an old worn efficiency apt. with an old beater scraping by. But sure, he made "more" money.

I guess it's good there are a lot of states, something for everyone. Most people seem to like where they live, which is good. There's no correct answer as to where to live, individual choice. For me, I don't think it likely I'd be retired today had I had lived in most other states, at least the bigger ones pop wise.

Ah... the best of both worlds would be to get higher pay in CA so that social security and pension, if there is one, will be higher in retirement and then move to a low cost state when done working.

 

[Steve Fatula]

Ah... the best of both worlds would be to get higher pay in CA so that social security and pension, if there is one, will be higher in retirement and then move to a low cost state when done working.

Technically you are right, though you'd have a much lower standard of living all those years trying to make slightly higher social security, which you may never actually get if something happened to you. He made maybe 25% more. He had far less money actually. But really, live where it makes sense for you.

 

[Steve Fatula]

You don't need to leave California to profit. Our neighbor and a friend sold their homes and moved inland to a brand new home that is bigger/better than their old home. They pocketed close to a million dollars by moving from a $1.8m home to a $750,000 home. Since property taxes in Calif are based on sales price, they also significantly reduced their property tax.

That is absolutely true of course. But it is also true if you could instead move to a $200,000 house, with a lower property tax rate as well, lower insurance, lower living expenses, etc., it might make retirement possible that may not have been otherwise. It all depends on your circumstances. The Californians I am speaking of are my neighbors, and, that's their story not mine. And you may love California of course, so, a million dollar or more premium may be good for you as happiness and preference mean a lot. I certainly vacation there a lot, every year, so I like it there. Hopefully, many older folks decide to downsize. I've never understood why people want massive houses or expensive houses when they are retired, we downsized and cranked up the amenities. I've know a bunch of senior folks in DFW area that have two story houses of 4000 sqft+ and actually close off the upstairs as they can't get up there any more. I'm too cheap, I would move to a one story that is smaller and reduce property taxes and insurance for something I cannot use. But to each his or her own.

 

[geoand]

Same story here. Added to that, there are people who move to my small town who then commute more than an hour's drive to Seattle to work because they can't afford housing there. But housing here has gone up considerably this last year, partially due to supply and demand. Houses with what I consider inflated prices go up for sale, and are sold within days, at or above full asking. The County Auditor sent me the tax bill for the coming year that raises my property taxes by nearly 15 percent. A large part of the increase is for property value, but the greater part is for infrastructure, like schools, fire departments, and such. It's a real problem for some.

Dave

We moved to Anacortes in July 2013. We drive to Seattle several times a month. We live very close to entrance to city and find that we take a minimum of hour and half just to get to Fairview Ave exit. We don't drive in rush hour so it is hard for me to see your comment about folks who commute to Seattle for work. I am guessing that from Bellingham proper, it would take a minimum 2 hour drive to get to same exit on I-5 because of the congested traffic starting at Marysville. Just saying