Places to live - input please?

[loonunit]

Actually, my AZ recommendation would be Tucson, not Phoenix. It's much easier to escape into the mountains or the desert: 30 or 45 minutes of driving to the trailhead, instead of 60 minutes just to get out of the suburbs. The city itself is older and much more politically diverse, but it still has that Arizona wild west feel going on under the hood. You can hang out at hip coffee shops and protest AZ's immigration policy, or you can take your 4WD out into the wilderness and shoot cans. In the same afternoon, if you like.

And there's lots of horse property 30 minutes from downtown, and yeah, AZ is more tolerant of snakes. If it doesn't rattle, it's probably okay.

And the Sonoran desert is so ALIVE. And you're really in it in Tucson. It's a surprisingly different feeling from the Colorado desert. I don't get that feeling much in Phoenix, it's too built up, too much down in the river valley and the farmland.

[loonunit]

And I do have a lot of friends who live in Minneapolis who absolutely LOVE it there. Also Austin, TX and environs. I can't vouch for either myself. (These friends all live in the internet, as far as I'm concerned.)

But if you're leaning towards the Pacific NW, it's hard to argue with that.

[sorraia]

Honestly it all depends on what you're looking for, how much work you're willing to put in, and what your expectations are. You can find some great deals in just about any area if you do your homework and don't hesitate if you find something you KNOW I worth it. This summer my mom found an absolutely GORGEOUS foreclosure 3,000 sq ft, 4 bed/4 bath with a wooded lot on a golf course near the IL/IN border, we walked away paying 150k. Granted,we spent the entire summer ripping down water damaged drywall in the basement, the furnace was dead, and we had to drag moldy, flea ridden carpeting out of the house in 105+ heat with no A/C, but she now has a beautiful property that is now valued around 500kand can easily be sold for more than that once the market turns around.

I understand that, I'm just really looking for averages. For example, a friend of mine lives in Tennessee, says you can find turnkey 2000sq ft 4 bedroom houses for an average of $120K. Not there. When we were looking to buy our house (almost 3 years ago), I could definitely find houses for under $100K, but nearly all of them were better off demolished than renovated. Decent houses were all over $100K, and finding a house with more than a quarter acre for less than $200K was even harder. Of course here it depends on location too, but averages are just that.

[MootWorm]

I understand that, I'm just really looking for averages. For example, a friend of mine lives in Tennessee, says you can find turnkey 2000sq ft 4 bedroom houses for an average of $120K. Not there. When we were looking to buy our house (almost 3 years ago), I could definitely find houses for under $100K, but nearly all of them were better off demolished than renovated. Decent houses were all over $100K, and finding a house with more than a quarter acre for less than $200K was even harder. Of course here it depends on location too, but averages are just that.

Oh yeah I definitely understand that. In IL, if you want to stick in/near the urban areas, you'd be hard pressed to find a home like that under 100, unless you want to live In the boonies lol. At least in the mid-state/Chicagoland area. Now in Phoenix or some other areas near here, you can easily find move-in condition houses for under 75k. A good deep clean and you're ready to roll! I'm pretty sure the markets picking up here, but I can't remember the exact percentages that I was reading. But both sales and prices are increasing as of now.

[Rob]

I lived all over the place, I gotta say you can't go wrong with Texas.

[BrandiR]

I've lived in TX (Blargh!), CO (quite nice), CA (for a little while very young) and WA.

Texas is crap, especially in El Paso! Never go there unless you're forced!

Denver CO is an awesome place, but we didn't call it the Chimney State for nothing! EVERYONE smokes, or so it seems, and I'm allergic. So yeah, I noticed that. Otherwise, it's pretty, rather warm but not stifling like TX, and has nice enough people and economy.

Washington, specifically northwestern in the Seattle/Tacoma area, is simply the best place on Earth as far as I'm concerned. It's one of the last ecologically stable states in the country , so we actually have all 4 seasons and they aren't extreme. The natural beauty is stunning and very hard to get tired of, The economy is actually pretty good, especially if you're tech or office oriented, and unless you're in the heart of a big city the cost of living is quite reasonable. I love it in the PNW and wanted to return ever since I left as a kid! And, bonus, we've got the ocean, Mt. Rainier, the only temperate rainforest on the continent, and where else can you drive through a forest just going from one city to the next?

As an added bonus, we have more bikini-type coffee stands than you can shake a stick at! And if that's not your thing, there's a Starbucks on every block!

[Mike41793]

As an added bonus, we have more bikini-type coffee stands than you can shake a stick at! And if that's not your thing, there's a Starbucks on every block!

Bikinis and coffee? What?! Do explain, im listening brandi...

[BrandiR]

Bikinis and coffee? What?! Do explain, im listening brandi...

They're drive-thru coffee stands where the baristas wear bikinis, lingerie, or are otherwise scantily clad.

[carlson]

What state has that? Are the girls hot?

[Mike41793]

What state has that? Are the girls hot?

WA, and nah not really imo lol.