USA -- low budget repatriation specific locations that aren't horrible

[Jingthing]

Anyhoo...  

JT after 70 odd pages of discussion, you coming to any conclusion?

 

If not at this rate we might as well list every US city with a population > 50k, and get you you blindfolded and stick a needle in the donkey!

 

No I have not. I hope that's OK with you.  

My decision process about whether to repatriate at all (and if so when) is complex.

 

The thread isn't only about me. It's for anyone interested in repatriation destinations.

 

I'm not trying to mislead anyone about my personal repatriation situation. I've not promised I will ever do it just by starting and participating in this thread.

 

Any more questions maybe PM me.

 

To add if I do repatriate the leading list includes

 

Tampa St. Pete Bradenton general area of gulf coast

 

Tucson AZ

 

Suburban Atlanta (Asian / Latino area)

 

But not really sure I'd be able to afford these places. So open to cheaper and more horrible places at least for discussion purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

[GinBoy2]

13 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

No I have not. I hope that's OK with you.  

My decision process about whether to repatriate at all (and if so when) is complex.

 

The thread isn't only about me. It's for anyone interested in repatriation destinations.

 

I'm not trying to mislead anyone about my personal repatriation situation. I've not promised I will ever do it just by starting and participating in this thread.

 

Any more questions maybe PM me.

 

To add if I do repatriate the leading list includes

 

Tampa St. Pete Bradenton general area of gulf coast

 

Tucson AZ

 

Suburban Atlanta (Asian / Latino area)

 

But not really sure I'd be able to afford these places. So open to cheaper and more horrible places at least for discussion purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

Like I've said before, figure out a list of where you can afford to either rent or buy a home, thats the determining factor, Then you can ask the question where from the list of where you can afford. 

Like I said in an earlier post living expense in the US vs Thailand is pretty much awash, it's just housing.

If I had the choice I'd live in San Diego, but I cant afford it, so I compromise. You may well have to face the same a similar choice

[Jingthing]

Indeed. I definitely can't afford San Diego.
I agree housing is the key and it's quite a difficult key.

[GinBoy2]

23 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Indeed. I definitely can't afford San Diego.
I agree housing is the key and it's quite a difficult key.

Yeah it is. 

I always figured when I moved to Thailand all those years ago, I needed a bolt hole back home., hence I always maintained a house.

As things turned out, it wasn't any personal implosion but more an overload of Thailand that made me decide I couldn't be there 100% of the time. 

So, life in the Black Hills of South Dakota through the summer works out great, winters in Thailand.

That being said, this year Mrs Gin wants to see snow for the first time in her life....we wait with bated breath to see how that works out! LOL

Edited August 18, 2017 by GinBoy2

[amvet]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

No I have not. I hope that's OK with you.  

My decision process about whether to repatriate at all (and if so when) is complex.

 

The thread isn't only about me. It's for anyone interested in repatriation destinations.

 

I'm not trying to mislead anyone about my personal repatriation situation. I've not promised I will ever do it just by starting and participating in this thread.

 

Any more questions maybe PM me.

 

To add if I do repatriate the leading list includes

 

Tampa St. Pete Bradenton general area of gulf coast

 

Tucson AZ

 

Suburban Atlanta (Asian / Latino area)

 

But not really sure I'd be able to afford these places. So open to cheaper and more horrible places at least for discussion purposes.

I was in the Tampa St. Pete Bradenton general area of gulf coast for 8 hurricanes.  That's the major reason I sold my home there.  We had four in one year.  I was lucky as the next year the housing market crashed and my home lost 50% of it's value but there were some real estate bargains for a few years. 

[Jingthing]

Yes the storms are definitely a negative.

[Jingthing]

Wallet hub best places to retire.

 

Funny how closely it gels with the top of my list.

 

Scottsdale of course is outside Phoenix not Tucson.

 

Orlando number one. I've just never been attracted the that place though.

 

The one real surprise on that list to me is Cincinnati. I've researched Cleveland and Dayton before but not Cincinnati.

 

Honolulu though? I thought you needed to be rich to afford a grass shack there?

 

 

http://wfla.com/2017/08/16/tampa-2-best-place-to-retire-in-wallet-hub-2017-rankings/

 

 

 

 1.      Orlando, FL

 

2.      Tampa, FL

 

3.      Miami, FL

 

4.      Scottsdale, AZ

 

5.      Atlanta, GA

 

6.      Salt Lake City, UT

 

7.      Honolulu, HI

 

8.      Denver, CO

 

9.      Austin, TX

 

10.   Las Vegas, NV

 

11.   Pittsburgh, PA

 

12.   New Orleans, LA

 

13.   Cape Coral, FL

 

14.   Minneapolis, MN

 

15.   Fort Lauderdale, FL

 

16.   Madison, WI

 

17.   St. Petersburg, FL

 

18.   Port St. Lucie, FL

 

19.   Raleigh, NC

 

20.   Cincinatti, OH

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GinBoy2]

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Wallet hub best places to retire.

 

Funny how closely it gels with the top of my list.

 

Scottsdale of course is outside Phoenix not Tucson.

 

Orlando number one. I've just never been attracted the that place though.

 

The one real surprise on that list to me is Cincinnati. I've researched Cleveland and Dayton before but not Cincinnati.

 

Honolulu though? I thought you needed to be rich to afford a grass shack there?

 

 

http://wfla.com/2017/08/16/tampa-2-best-place-to-retire-in-wallet-hub-2017-rankings/

 

 

 

 1.      Orlando, FL

 

2.      Tampa, FL

 

3.      Miami, FL

 

4.      Scottsdale, AZ

 

5.      Atlanta, GA

 

6.      Salt Lake City, UT

 

7.      Honolulu, HI

 

8.      Denver, CO

 

9.      Austin, TX

 

10.   Las Vegas, NV

 

11.   Pittsburgh, PA

 

12.   New Orleans, LA

 

13.   Cape Coral, FL

 

14.   Minneapolis, MN

 

15.   Fort Lauderdale, FL

 

16.   Madison, WI

 

17.   St. Petersburg, FL

 

18.   Port St. Lucie, FL

 

19.   Raleigh, NC

 

20.   Cincinatti, OH

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting list, and I would agree Honolulu is an interesting one.  That is one location where my assumption that living expenses minus housing are comparable to Thailand falls apart. Just about everything in Hawaii costs more than on the mainland, from a gallon of milk to a gallon of gas.

Salt Lake would not be my taste, but a few short miles outside, Park City most certainly would be.

Madison is a great city, although I suspect the weather would not be to your liking

 

As for the list of Floridian cities, I'd prefer to stay in Thailand

[Jingthing]

Well, I guess Honululu got on the list because affordability is only one of the factors they look at.

 

Quote

Wallet Hub looked at affordability, activities, quality of life and health care when ranking the cities.

Even though St. Pete made the top 20, I'm curious as to why Tampa did so much better on their ranking. 

 

I know and like Ft. Lauderdale but my impression is that it's more expensive in general than the Gulf coast places.

 

Yeah, Madison no way, that's got to be much colder than Pittsburgh even! 

Edited August 19, 2017 by Jingthing

[JLCrab]

I lived in Florida before moving to Thailand and am still a legal resident of Florida. I always lived in inland locations including Orlando. All I'll say is that you never see one of these signs pointing TOWARDS the coast:

[GinBoy2]

JT,

Also from wallethub this is a pretty good ranking of smaller cities grading affordability, economic health among others.

 

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-small-cities-to-live-in/16581/

[Jingthing]

The message is clear from a financial POV -- go SOUTH old man!

 

Quote

The upshot: If you want to stretch your dollars as far as they can go, you need to head down south. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-21/how-far-does-1-million-savings-go-in-retirement-state-by-state

[GinBoy2]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

The message is clear from a financial POV -- go SOUTH old man!

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-21/how-far-does-1-million-savings-go-in-retirement-state-by-state

The interesting point is, that if you eliminate the usual suspects; Hawaii, California, New York, and New England, most of the he country is pretty much awash

[Jingthing]

So so y'all have a cool million saved for retirement? Statiscally most definitely don't.

 

Referring to the Bloomberg article.

 

 

[bendejo]

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

The message is clear from a financial POV -- go SOUTH old man!

 

To think that  Charlottesville was on my list of possibilities.

I'm too much of a damn Yankee to live that far south.

 

 

[Jingthing]

Just now, bendejo said:

 

To think that  Charlottesville was on my list of possibilities.

I'm too much of a damn Yankee to live that far south.

 

 

That's silly. 

Athens, GA is often mentioned as an affordable southern college town more often than Charlottesville. 

[bendejo]

12 hours ago, Jingthing said:

affordable

I was not talking about cost.

 

 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, bendejo said:

I was not talking about cost.

 

 

I know you weren't. 

I assume you were suggesting it's some kind of KKK haven. It is nothing like that. 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Jingthing

[ChouDoufu]

haven't read thru all 74 pages of course....but have

you considered smaller towns in southwest texas?

 

plenty of small towns within easy drive of the cities

with malls and v.a. hospitals.  generally low crime

rates.  clean air, warm weather, no traffic.

 

housing is super affordable.....can still find nice

smaller houses (800-1200 sqf.) under $25K.

no state income tax, "homestead" deductions

on real estate means $100 or so annual

property tax.

 

 

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

haven't read thru all 74 pages of course....but have

you considered smaller towns in southwest texas?

 

plenty of small towns within easy drive of the cities

with malls and v.a. hospitals.  generally low crime

rates.  clean air, warm weather, no traffic.

 

housing is super affordable.....can still find nice

smaller houses (800-1200 sqf.) under $25K.

no state income tax, "homestead" deductions

on real estate means $100 or so annual

property tax.

 

 

No, that's a new idea for me.

I'm sure not ideal choices for me or most people, but if affordability becomes the only factor, and of course owning a home of some kind would be a huge advantage, I suppose such towns would be on the list of having the basic requirements:

 

-- flush toilets

-- electricity

-- no visa needed

-- internet connection

 

Could you more specific about towns in that region?

 

I had looked before at a place in New Mexico not so far from that region, Las Cruces, but housing definitely not as cheap as 25K for a house there!

 

Edited August 26, 2017 by Jingthing

[ChouDoufu]

look at towns around marfa or fort davis.

check listings of local real estate offices.

note that in many unincorporated towns

there are no building codes, no building

permits, no inspectors.  you can do pretty

much as you like.

 

outside of town, you can pick up land

for $250/acre.  buy yourself a square

mile (special VA loans available) and

park an RV.

 

and no commercial/residential restrictions.

wanna buy an old post office or school

or department store to live in?  go for it!

i just checked one site i'd used before,

they have a small commercial building

(office/storefront) on the main street

for $25K.  also have a friend out there

with a residence for sale.

pm me and i'll send you a link.

[Jingthing]

I just found out about Marfa. Sounds relaxing!

 

This area sounds very, very isolated though. 

 

I'm sure Marfa itself, as an arty little town, isn't as cheap as you say though, and of course I'm definitely not the type to want to live in an RV on an isolated bit of rural desert land, but it's a concept that some people might be interested in. 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2017 by Jingthing

[ChouDoufu]

depends what you want.

you can live in a town of 500-1000

and have a good social live.

or you can live in bangkok and feel isolated.

 

i had a house out there that i only used

half the year.  other times on vacation or

doing contract work in other states.

no problem locking up the house for

3-4 months at a time.

 

good roads, an hour (60 miles) from the

interstate, and an amtrak stop in town.

no city government, no mayor (just a

county judge), no cops (one sherriff

and two deputies).

[Jingthing]

I can see that area does have its charms, but I'd have to be incredibly desperate indeed (it could happen) to voluntarily move to an area without Chinese restaurants! 

[ChouDoufu]

dragon buffet, happy dragon, great wall buffet,

all in fort stockton.

 

but y'all are gittin' briskit, ain't ya?

[GinBoy2]

I'll say this again, but you're hung up on weather. Most of the midwest have great summers, much much better than the south, hot, but without the dripping humidity and don't forget the bugs!

Winters can be harsher, but go somewhere you can ski, snowboard. Winters, after years in Thailand are something I actually enjoy...and at worst it's 16 weeks of the year

[Jingthing]

I'll say this again, but you're hung up on weather. Most of the midwest have great summers, much much better than the south, hot, but without the dripping humidity and don't forget the bugs! Winters can be harsher, but go somewhere you can ski, snowboard. Winters, after years in Thailand are something I actually enjoy...and at worst it's 16 weeks of the year

 

I think weather is especially important for a retirement destination. But it's usually something. Too hot or too cold. Arizona is definitely too hot. I really don't like Northeastern or Midwest winters from personal experience. I detest winter sports. If Pittsburgh had the same weather as San Francisco it would be similarly expensive. One more central location still on my radar is Fayetteville Arkansas.  

 

Overall I would still choose too hot over too cold.

 

 

 

[mogandave]

Another vote for Sandy Eggo


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[Jingthing]

Here's something that's impacting my decision about whether to ever repatriate at all.

Just being at Medicare age which I'm not yet doesn't mean that health expenses go away.

This is seriously concerning.

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=45532714&nid=151&title=health-care-will-cost-couples-275k-in-retirement

[mogandave]

Why politicize the thread? If your looking for a cheap place to live, it's likely you're going to qualify for Medicaid anyway.




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