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Where Would You Live

riflearm2

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Let's say you can live anywhere you want in the country and have an annual salary of $200,000. For practicality, you'd have to live within an hour's drive of a fairly large airport for business travel reasons, and for the same reason, it excludes Hawaii and Alaska.

Not considering proximity to family, where in the continental U.S. would you choose to live knowing what your salary can/can't buy for housing, needing to be within an hour of a decent airport, etc.? For added fun, use www.realtor.com to link some properties in that location that you'd buy to live in (based on what you could afford with that salary).
 
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Let's say you can live anywhere you want in the country and have an annual salary of $200,000. For practicality, you'd have to live within an hour's drive of a fairly large airport for business travel reasons, and for the same reason, it excludes Hawaii and Alaska.

Not considering proximity to family, where in the continental U.S. would you choose to live knowing what your salary can/can't buy for housing, needing to be within an hour of a decent airport, etc.? For added fun, use www.realtor.com to link some properties in that location that you'd buy to live in (based on what you could afford with that salary).
West Palm Beach Fl for me. My grandparents lived there and I visited them every summer growing up.
 
Not a bad choice considering the weather, beautiful location, and Florida not having state income tax. But Florida will rape you on property taxes, and property costs in WPB are higher than other parts of the country.

If you live within your means, assuming you have no other debt and keep a 43% debt ratio with the $200K salary, these are some properties you would have no problem being able to qualify for and pay:






 
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$700k is the very tip top I’d think you’d want to pay on a house with the salary you’re talking about (assuming you don’t already out 20% down). Most conservative personal finance writers would suggest mortgage is 2x yearly salary in reasonable cost of living areas.

I know others use higher but it seems risky to me to get a $700k mortgage on a 200k salary.



 
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This is a good question ( original thread).

A lot depends on if you like the beach or mountains....

Assuming you’re single/no kids, I think I’d like...

Nashville - maybe a few years ago but now pretty crowded, so maybe not. Some pro sports, drivable to SEC games (and Vandy). No state income tax. Music, obviously.

Asheville - a lot of hippies but I don’t mind that. Beautiful area, good outdoors stuff, good food and drink

Charleston, SC - great food. Beach nearby if that’s your thing.

I’m not as familiar with out West, but I’ve like Denver a lot when visiting.

I personally like the culture and people of the Midwest (like Minnesota , Michigan, Wisconsin) but I can’t do the weather there. Just brutal. Summer on those lakes is great though.
 
$700k is the very tip top I’d think you’d want to pay on a house with the salary you’re talking about (assuming you don’t already out 20% down). Most conservative personal finance writers would suggest mortgage is 2x yearly salary in reasonable cost of living areas.

I know others use higher but it seems risky to me to get a $700k mortgage on a 200k salary.

It's not even kind of risky.

Mortgage should be 2X salary? I've never heard that rule, and that's more conservative than a late night dinner between a dead Mother Teresa and @Always The Herd .

So a guy making $100K should only buy a $200K house? Absurd.

In Florida (West Palm Beach), a guy earning $200K annually brings in $12.2K per month after taxes.

If he were to buy one of the houses I listed above (https://www.realtor.com/realestatea...akes-Ln_West-Palm-Beach_FL_33412_M59268-38480), and if he put just 5% down, he'd be paying about $5200/month which includes his mortgage, property taxes, HOA, home insurance, and mortgage insurance (since he only put 5% down).

That means he'd still have $7K post tax after paying off all housing costs other than utilities. He could set aside $1K for utilities and repairs per month (it would probably be half of that), $1K per month for car/insurance/gas, $1K per month for food/clothing, $1K per month for non-essential spending (vacation, gifts, hookers), and still bank $50K in one year after having a fairly high allowance for those other things.

With $50K in savings after just one year of those numbers, even with a high allowance for other things, that means he'd have about seven months worth of living to fall back on if shit ever hit the fan . . . after just one year and assuming he had no other savings built up through his life. Usually, the rule is 3X - 6X your monthly living costs, so he'd be above that after one year even with no other savings.

I know you're thrifty, but god damn, live a little. Assuming you don't have a ton of other bills, paying a mortgage just 2X your salary (unless you make <$40K annually) is wasting what could be the best investment opportunity of your life.
 
Some of my top choices include Destin Florida, Charlotte, or the greater Orlando area. I have always wanted to consider living somewhere in the Midwest like the Dakotas, maybe Utah or Arizona, and I would like to have a cabin in eastern Tennessee as a 2nd/3rd home.
 
It's not even kind of risky.

Mortgage should be 2X salary? I've never heard that rule, and that's more conservative than a late night dinner between a dead Mother Teresa and @Always The Herd .

So a guy making $100K should only buy a $200K house? Absurd.

In Florida (West Palm Beach), a guy earning $200K annually brings in $12.2K per month after taxes.

If he were to buy one of the houses I listed above (https://www.realtor.com/realestatea...akes-Ln_West-Palm-Beach_FL_33412_M59268-38480), and if he put just 5% down, he'd be paying about $5200/month which includes his mortgage, property taxes, HOA, home insurance, and mortgage insurance (since he only put 5% down).

That means he'd still have $7K post tax after paying off all housing costs other than utilities. He could set aside $1K for utilities and repairs per month (it would probably be half of that), $1K per month for car/insurance/gas, $1K per month for food/clothing, $1K per month for non-essential spending (vacation, gifts, hookers), and still bank $50K in one year after having a fairly high allowance for those other things.

With $50K in savings after just one year of those numbers, even with a high allowance for other things, that means he'd have about seven months worth of living to fall back on if shit ever hit the fan . . . after just one year and assuming he had no other savings built up through his life. Usually, the rule is 3X - 6X your monthly living costs, so he'd be above that after one year even with no other savings.

I know you're thrifty, but god damn, live a little. Assuming you don't have a ton of other bills, paying a mortgage just 2X your salary (unless you make <$40K annually) is wasting what could be the best investment opportunity of your life.


Im more of a Boglehead/FIRE guy. Spend less, invest rest in market. I don’t view home as an investment. I do spend a lot on vacation (over home or cars).


Plug your stuff into this and see what you get:

 
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$700k is the very tip top I’d think you’d want to pay on a house with the salary you’re talking about (assuming you don’t already out 20% down). Most conservative personal finance writers would suggest mortgage is 2x yearly salary in reasonable cost of living areas.

I know others use higher but it seems risky to me to get a $700k mortgage on a 200k salary.



I use the 2x method. My wife wants Rifles approach and I get worried with 2x LOL
 
Well, I'm a redneck, so I'm not getting into a mortgage at my age. Sell current house, and pay cash for a new one. I've already been looking into this quite a bit, and I'm thinking Franklin, Tennessee, somewhere in North Carolina or Georgia in the mountains, or just head back to WV, maybe Renick or Lewisburg area. I need to be close to a beer joint though, where I can walk to it.
 
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You sons-of-bitches are awful at following directions. Half of your assignment was to post links from realtor.com of properties you could buy in the areas you selected based on the salary. There was a point to it (besides me loving to look at properties): If you chose to live in Manhattan, a place where millions want to live, you're going to get a house much different than if you chose to live in Clermont, Florida. How much are you willing to sacrifice in a house compared with living in a city you enjoy?

I was looking at properties in Cincinnati and Tulsa lately. What you can buy there for $750K (or even a third of that amount) is unbelievable. Compare that with places like the greater Salt Lake City area - even the suburbs - and it's absurd. Properties that are $1 million+ in SLC are $400K in Cincinnati and Tulsa.

Some of my top choices include Destin Florida,

I have a hard time accepting this based on the directions. You must be within an hour's time of a decently large airport, and I don't think Panama City will qualify.

Regardless, l couldn't do it Destin. Beautiful beach, then what? Three-quarters of the year you can't drive three miles down the road without it taking 30 minutes. Other than a great beach and weather, what does it have to offer?

maybe Utah or Arizona,

I've spent 50+ nights in Arizona over the last eight months. I try, but I just don't like it. Sedona is beautiful. Lake Havasu would be fun for a weekend every other month. The greater Phoenix area sucks. I don't mind the traffic. I don't mind the size of the area. It just offers very little for a region of its size. Are parts of Scottsdale nice? Sure. But nothing makes up for the utter blandness of the entire region. All of the cities (Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa, Phoenix, Glendale, Gilbert, Chandler) all just flow into each other but not in a good way. You almost always have to get in the highway to get to one or the other. Tempe seems like it should be cool since it is home to one of the biggest colleges in the country. But nope. It seems like a scattered college campus jammed into a bustling city. It has no identity. Housing is very reasonable for such a big city, but there is nothing that would draw me there.

Tucson is a bit of a shithole, so even escaping there isn't worthwhile.

Plug your stuff into this and see what you get:

I used the parameters we discussed: $200K salary, West Palm Beach, no other debt, 5% down . . . it spit back $1.05 million as the far end of the "affordable" category right before hitting the "stretching" level. So 5X the salary is considered "affordable" based on your link just before reaching the "stretching" level. The $1.05 million is actually the "suggested" amount they recommend. It won't even let you go less than $640K which is more than 3X the salary.

Based on your 2X rule, that means a guy bringing home $12K after taxes should only spend about $2500 on his entire housing cost (mortgage, home insurance, property tax, mortgage insurance, HOA), meaning he still is bringing home $9.5K per month after taxes and after all housing costs. He could easily double his housing costs and still have $7K after taxes to live and save.

I'm calling your wife. We are going to stage an intervention for you.
 
Nashville - maybe a few years ago but now pretty crowded, so maybe not. Some pro sports, drivable to SEC games (and Vandy). No state income tax. Music, obviously.



I’m not as familiar with out West, but I’ve like Denver a lot when visiting.


From personally having lived in a ton of places and talking to a lot of people who've lived all over, the three cities I continue to hear as being the best are Denver, Austin, and Nashville. Like Austin years ago, Nashville has exploded over the last five years, so it may have lost a lot of what people loved about it. I have a couple of friends who have lived all over and then settled down in Denver over the last five years. They claim they will never live elsewhere, and that's what I tend to hear from people who are there.

I keep looking at the housing costs in Cincinnati and am blown away at what you get for your money. What is the city like overall? I've been there many times but just for a day visit or to watch a game. I've never explored it. Hell, even Reds season tickets are reasonable. You could buy a beautiful house outside of downtown, have a condo/townhouse downtown, and still get two Reds season tickets all or less than $4500/month.
 
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From personally having lived in a ton of places and talking to a lot of people who've lived all over, the three cities I continue to hear as being the best are Denver, Austin, and Nashville. Like Austin years ago, Nashville has exploded over the last five years, so it may have lost a lot of what people loved about it. I have a couple of friends who have lived all over and then settled down in Denver over the last five years. They claim they will never live elsewhere, and that's what I tend to hear from people who are there.

I keep looking at the housing costs in Cincinnati and am blown away at what you get for your money. What is the city like overall? I've been there many times but just for a day visit or to watch a game. I've never explored it. Hell, even Reds season tickets are reasonable. You could buy a beautiful house outside of downtown, have a condo/townhouse downtown, and still get two Reds season tickets all or less than $4500/month.
I’ve always found the West Chester, OH area to be nice.
 
From personally having lived in a ton of places and talking to a lot of people who've lived all over, the three cities I continue to hear as being the best are Denver, Austin, and Nashville. Like Austin years ago, Nashville has exploded over the last five years, so it may have lost a lot of what people loved about it. I have a couple of friends who have lived all over and then settled down in Denver over the last five years. They claim they will never live elsewhere, and that's what I tend to hear from people who are there.

I keep looking at the housing costs in Cincinnati and am blown away at what you get for your money. What is the city like overall? I've been there many times but just for a day visit or to watch a game. I've never explored it. Hell, even Reds season tickets are reasonable. You could buy a beautiful house outside of downtown, have a condo/townhouse downtown, and still get two Reds season tickets all or less than $4500/month.

Austin great too - but grtting huge like you said. Austin needs to stay a cool Texan city first and foremost and not become Silicon Valley V2.



I personally really like Cincy, but my wife disagrees. Cincy is getting better - Rhineguest brewery awesome. I think Pittsburgh is better. Good call on Cincy though, it’s a sleeper good city.
 
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Port St richey Florida
Litchfield Beach SC or Pawleys Island SC
Charleston SC
 
Tulsa, Oklahoma

 
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So I have to keep it within range of a major airport...OK.

I am choosing the hills around Boulder CO. I am going to be somewhat frugal in price and stick to under $700k, because I am going to need a weed budget and an older Land Cruiser with triple lockers. And I am going to grow a killer beard.

I value views and nature over convivence. And I need a proper deck for drinking craft beer and toking a bowl.

Home #1 looks cozy and has been recently remodeled. There's a creek out front, listening to the water while baked would be nice. I will have to build a garage, so I can tinker on my Land Cruiser as needed in the winter. And rip out that goddamn electric baseboard heat shit.

Home #2, look at that fvcking view! And it has a garage with two bays, sweet I get room for a project car as well...V8 swapped Miata for summer? V8 swapped Porsche 911? Lots of possibilities to ponder while getting high. What is up with these people and goddamn baseboard heat???

Home #3...winner winner chicken dinner. Recent remodel is very much in my style, I like the Southwest inspired colors they used, and I have a good friend that is an artist in Arizona that paints in that same style so I would get my art from her. I like the kitchen, very country kitchen-ish. Garage for both vehicles. Great deck for toking. Radiant in floor heat, proper.

Home #4, added because it is funky. Funky is good. Looks to have room to build my garage.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatea...ulder-Canyon-Dr_Boulder_CO_80302_M28301-44320

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/893-Logan-Mill-Rd_Boulder_CO_80302_M18716-21787

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/475-Deer-Trail-Rd_Boulder_CO_80302_M22539-91879

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/12-Dime-Rd_Boulder_CO_80302_M11317-87327
 
Tulsa, Oklahoma


I'll pick you up in May for storm chasing.
 
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Interesting question.

Around Clear lake area south of Houston on the Galveston county side.
Somewhere in the hills of NC Ashville or somewhere like that.
Phoenix AZ area if it is moneywise ok, nice area been there for work don't know how much it costs to live.
Birmingham AL
Where ever my son ends up after he finishes college. As long as it is not CA, IL, NY, or NJ

none of those would be in town at least an acre of land 30 minutes or so out of town.
 
Let's say you can live anywhere you want in the country and have an annual salary of $200,000. For practicality, you'd have to live within an hour's drive of a fairly large airport for business travel reasons, and for the same reason, it excludes Hawaii and Alaska.

Not considering proximity to family, where in the continental U.S. would you choose to live knowing what your salary can/can't buy for housing, needing to be within an hour of a decent airport, etc.? For added fun, use www.realtor.com to link some properties in that location that you'd buy to live in (based on what you could afford with that salary).
if you like cincy look across the river at Fort Mitchell Ky.
Here is something that you might like

https://www.realtor.com/realestatea...empelman-Dr_Ft-Mitchell_KY_41011_M30809-27203
 
Central KY/Bluegrass region.
Great cost of living.
Hour or so to CVG/SDF.

And most importantly only a couple hours to watch the Herd!
 
Lived in Cincy for a year...loved it. Some great neighborhoods..lots of clubs with live music. An hour and a half from Lexington, Louisville, Indy and Columbus. 5 hours from Chicago....3 hours to see the Herd.

Also spent a good bit of time in Tulsa - great city. Very different from OKC - much greener.....IMO, can't miss with either Tulsa or Cincy, but I would go with Cincy. Its only knock.. flying in and out of that airport used to be stupid expensive. Folks would drive to Dayton, Louisville, Indy or Columbus to avoid the cost.

There was a time when Portland. OR was high on my list - guessing that would be a "no" now. Would consider Denver or Colorado Springs - but it's been a while since I've been to either.

If you don't mind a change of seasons - with a stout winter - you might consider Grand Rapids, MI. Neat city with a decent airport....3.5 hours from Chicago or 2.5 hrs to Detroit....plus minutes from Michigan's Gold Coast and northern MI is pretty awesome.

If you like what large cities have to offer...you could consider Chicago burbs. Oak Park, Riverside, Western Springs....$200K won't go as far in terms of housing and you'd have to factor in property taxes....but the city is one hell of a playground.
 
@riflearm2

Seeing a lot of chat on Twitter (and referencing clubhouse discussions) regarding mass exodus of founders/tech from SF to other places. Used to be talk mostly of exodus to Austin or Nashville, but now Miami seems to be hot topic. The Miami mayor is well versed in crypto and is actively recruiting the exiles.

I personally don’t really like Miami much as a city, but there may be some momentum there.
 
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Let's say you can live anywhere you want in the country and have an annual salary of $200,000. For practicality, you'd have to live within an hour's drive of a fairly large airport for business travel reasons, and for the same reason, it excludes Hawaii and Alaska.

Not considering proximity to family, where in the continental U.S. would you choose to live knowing what your salary can/can't buy for housing, needing to be within an hour of a decent airport, etc.? For added fun, use www.realtor.com to link some properties in that location that you'd buy to live in (based on what you could afford with that salary).
Islamorada, FL
 
Could be happening...


Aside:

I invested in a West Texas bitcoin mining farm not too long ago. Unfortunately Thiel has a new startup going in there with a massive investment, probably going to dwarf the one I'm investing in.
 
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