Reply to Opting out of coast madness to live a low overhead life

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]She's right. I live it and live it well.

Her article is better than the other one that was full of whine. She gets it. [/quote]

Smaller city living is the way to go.  Or inner ring suburbs of a smaller city.

Better cost of living than top-tier cities and more amenities and education than small towns.   [/quote]

True! There are plenty of nice lower cost in housing cities to provide a better balance of life. 
Minneapolis 
Madison, WI
Ann Arbor, Michigan 
Boulder
Portland, Maine
Burlington, VT
Austin, TX
[/quote]
I can only speak to Austin, which is where I'm from. Housing costs are lower than they are here but one thing that many people I know moving to Austin from CA, East Coast, etc. have realized is that it's not nearly as low as you think. Especially to live where you want. And it's offset by the increased property taxes, etc. These people are mostly doctors, engineers, other professions, so their salaries are high and they still can't just buy whatever they want. Not to mention the people who think they're going to get some gorgeous home for like...$400K only to realize they're priced into some zero lot cookie cutter crap in the boonies or a house closer in that's in major need of updating.

[/quote]

Yes, but compare apples to apples.  It is possible to buy a house in a good school district for $400k in Austin. Look at all the posts in the real estate section on this blog in which people are laughing at people for asking if that's possible in the DC area.  Is the nicest house in the nicest close in neighborhood $400k? No.  But that zero lot line cookie cutter crap or house closer in that's in need of major updating would be $1 million (or more) here. Austin real estate is appreciating because people want to live there, but it's still not at coastal levels, yet.  When I lived in Austin in the late 80's, you could buy a house for nothing, but the economy sucked. Everyone's looking for the perfect small city with cheap real estate, cultural amenities, great schools, and lovely climate. The problem is that when you find something even approaching that, everyone else does, too. Doesn't mean it's not a better deal than living here. [/quote]

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