odontophobia wrote:Gonna just put in some love for Grand Rapids, Michigan. Definitely reasonably happening. Up and coming. Some nice schools. Still very affordable, especially coming from CA.
good luck with the move though.
You guys have family in the Midwest?
Not in Ohio. We've got family in Oregon, Utah, Connecticut, North Carolina and a few other places, but we didn't find anything we really liked in the budget we wanted near good schools. It was kind of a brain scrambling process, going through tons of statistics, best of lists, housing listings and figuring out detailed budgets for everything. We limited our options the way we're doing it, but we're trying to buy a house outright, with a good solid chunk of savings left over, in a place with a lower cost of living and better schools that has decent jobs and is within driving distance of some larger cities. I also had to figure in a budget for living expenses while I look for work. If I was finding a job in another area first, relocating, renting for an extended period of time and then getting another mortgage, we'd probably have a lot more options. The prospect of owning without ANY debt is very attractive though and in order to get the same pay or a higher paying job in my current career I'd essentially have to drive most of the month around several states as a sales rep and I don't want to do that. I want to have the option of going back to school or changing my career path. I haven't been able to do that, because I've been the sole earner since our son was born and made pretty much our exact living expenses (if we lived VERY frugally, which we have). So yeah, fewer options, but more financial freedom overall was the goal.