Joe and I are edging closer and closer to moving out of this godforsaken state. Between brother B feeling too ill to ever really get together, my parents and other brother acting like driving an hour to my place is like visiting Siberia, and Joe’s kids always being too busy to barely acknowledge texts, let alone get together in person, we’re (sadly) running out of reasons to stay here. Yes, we have some friends, but even they aren’t available as often as we’d prefer.
Plus we’d really like a house and it’s far too expensive here. We could afford it, but a) we like living below our means and b) we don’t really like the idea of paying this state any more money since it’s so corrupt. Also, a change is in order. It feels like time is passing by so quickly with the same old routine & scenery year after year.
The problem is deciding where to go. Right now the #1 city on our list is Fisher’s Indiana which was rated the #1 city to live in according to Money Magazine last year. The city is booming yet home prices (and more importantly, property taxes) are relatively low. We could get a beautiful larger-than-we-need new construction home for around $300k, or an older home, but still built within the past 10 years, for between $200k and $250k, and the annual taxes would only set us back between $2k-$3k instead of $12k here. We could still visit family a few times a year since it’s only a three hour drive from Chicago too. Plus we’d still experience all the seasons which, even though I abhor winter, I would miss spring and fall. While I’d consider living in Arizona part-time when we’re retired, I really don’t want to live in the desert full time. I need green grass and trees to be happy, plus I like cloudy and rainy days which you rarely see out there.