ddsrph

For overall tax burden Tennessee is hard to beat. No income tax and very low property tax. Property tax is especially low in our very rural (Moore) county due to having Jack Daniels. When I built my current small house on three lots worth about $35k each my total tax is $450 per year which breaks down to $300 for house, heated and cooled detached garage and $75 each for the other two lots. I was surprised by my first bill thinking a mistake had been made and rushed down to pay but next year was same. We do have a high sales tax of about 9 1/2 percent but overall I dont feel overtaxed.

tom169

Really enjoyed driving around the backroads of Moore TN!

ddsrph

if you are ever back this way look us up. Lynchburg is a very handy town for personal business. We live 8 miles away but when going to bank or licensing cars, paying taxes everything is in the 1880’s courthouse with no lines. We lost a very famous resident a few months ago. Little Richard lived about two miles from us, as the crow flies. I don’t think he spent much time here but had a house on several secluded acres.

Giantaxe

Richmond is a nice, if expensive, place.

Very true about cashing in on house price inflation. This is probably the major reason people retire and move out of state (or to a cheaper area such as the Sierra foothills).

Another large source of wealth for those in tech (and some other fields) is stock options at startups, which often generate wealth way in excess of stated salaries. California receives over half the total venture capital in the entire US:

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/04/2...oung-companies

And although the percentage is falling, in 2018 the San Francisco Bay Area garnered 44% of that total US figure:

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/...runchbase.html

Steerpike

So cost of living in "Places such as Concord, Walnut Creek, and Pleasanton come in at 23-25% more expensive than where I[pulaski] live". And income seems to be about 25% higher. So financially, that would seem to be a wash - the $27k higher income would get eaten up by the extra expenses. So money ('take home pay', as it were) isn't the determining factor. That was my only point - this idea that 'California taxes are high' is blown way out of proportion.

If owning acres of land is what floats your boat, you need to live where you live. Similarly, if 'square footage' inside your home is important, you need to live where you live. Personally, I don't think 'owning land' or 'square footage' is a measure of 'quality of life'; in fact, I downsized from a half-acre to zero land (Condominium) and from 2,700 sq. ft to 1,400 sq ft in my recent move and I'm extremely glad I did. I do love open space, don't get me wrong ... the condo I bought is in a 2,000 acre private community with amazing 'open spaces' and trails. I just don't have to lift a finger to maintain it, which is important to me.

Yes, you raise another factor here. I bought my CA house in the 90s for just over $400k. I sold a few years ago for over $1m (and my mortgage balance was negligible). So I netted out roughly $600k. That $600k contributed to my early retirement, and also funded the cash purchase of a second home in AZ (which happened to be 2,700 sq ft in size, which is quite ironic as I didn't want more space - I couldn't find a place small enough while achieving 'other desires' so reluctantly bought a big place!). This was going to be my 'retirement home', and I was going to abandon CA altogether, but after a couple of years of being 'full time' in AZ, I realized my quality of life was not what it was earlier (despite having a cheaper cost of living, bigger house, etc) and I set about finding the condo in CA I referred to above. Now I spend winters in AZ, summers in CA, and really it's largely thanks to the amazing property value appreciation I enjoyed as a result of 'suffering' all that time in California

johnwoo

Seems most of those posting here are happy where they are. So I will leave there. More discussion is pointless.
Hope the OP realizes her dream.

scrubbedexpat091

I am biased since I was born and raised in California, and well I can't think of any other state I'd want to live in. Every state has downsides, and seems some of the most vocal about disliking California have never lived there.

If it wasn't so dang humid in the south, I'd consider some states, but I can't deal with humidity, zaps the energy right out of me, but there are certainly some pretty places in the south.

If you really want to see insanity, try Vancouver, SF level cost of living, on North Carolina level wages.



And a lot of Canadian's from western Canada flock to So. California especially Palm Springs for 6 months of the year, September to April is like a mini-Canada in Palm Springs...

Steerpike

OK, I just can't even begin to figure out that one! They are so successful that their (corporate?) taxes cover the needs of the county? They are so politically powerful that they effectively control things like local property taxes ...?

ddsrph

i think our property taxes are low for two reasons. A very small county 7000 pop with a small very efficient govt. We are using the same court house from 1880. I really don’t know much about how much taxes JD pays to county but common knowledge is they do help out. You can do the math on my three lot house and garage with seasonal lake view for $450 per year. To me this equates to low property taxes.

My house is small by neighborhood standards 1200 sq feet but built better than most. Detached garage is finished inside, insulated with its own heat pump.

ddsrph

One other point about Lynchburg and Jack Daniels is the distillery is a major tourist attraction which brings in hoards of tourists who spend money in town. This greatly increases Moore county’s sales tax revenue and their share from the state is probably several times greater than it would be without JD.

Moses2013

In one way the US is such a big country but then you seem to have little choice when it comes to affordable coastal living with a pleasant sunny climate. In that sense we are quite lucky in Europe and a small weekend home near the beach is possible without loads of cash.

scrubbedexpat091

Canada is similiar, so much land, but most isn't suitable for human habitation or so isolated few choose to live in those areas, and even few places where winters are fairly mild (by Canadian standards) which leads to the high prices we have in southern BC, especially Southern Coastal BC like Vancouver, the mild climate by Canadian standards makes it a very desirable place for both Canadians and new arrivals, the being so desirable also keeps wages low because employers know people will work for less to live in a desirable place even if its expensive.

Giantaxe

I agree. For me most of the US is either a climatological or political wasteland. Or both. So the number of places I'd consider living in what is a continent-sized country is extremely small.

Jerseygirl

If my circumstances where different, I would definitely give California a go. If it doesn’t work out I could always move on...

ddsrph

I think the US has as much variety of climate as any country. We are all limited by our distance from the sun. If you like cold there’s Nome and Pt Barrow, hot and damp try south Florida, hot and dry there’s Death Valley and surrounding area. There is also Hawaii, Guam. How many climate zones are available just in the state of California alone? I for one have no interest in the beach.