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Post by bradmacmt on Jan 26, 2020 12:00:40 GMT -8
buying a smaller house in this same community would mean a massive increase in property taxes I'm not following... does not prop 60 cover you? California homeowners 55 and older can get a one-time opportunity to sell their primary residence and transfer the property tax assessment to a new home under Proposition 60.
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Post by bradmacmt on Jan 26, 2020 12:17:44 GMT -8
I'm about to turn 49, no matter how hard I fight it.
Married with two children, 21 and 16. Currently living in central VT. I see. I moved my family to Montana when I was 36 (I'm now almost 59). So my kids were raised here from small children. Raising children in a community helps one make relationships (school, church, etc.). Coming into a community as a middle-aged adult (especially a Northern community) can, at times, be an isolated existence. You REALLY have to work hard to find a social network in communities like the one I live in (ski/recreation based). I grew up in New England, though I was born in the West from Midwestern/Western parents. We didn't have any family within 1500 miles where I lived in CT. I left in my second year of college (1980) and moved to the Midwest (St. Louis) to finish college. I ended up marrying a girl there and stayed for 15 years. Montana beckoned (my parents used to live here), so in 1993 I bought ground here, and we moved in January of 1998. I don't regret the move one bit as I could never be satisfied living in a city anywhere, especially a Midwestern city. BUT... if I lived in a place like Vermont, had family, roots, land, and an income, I doubt I would move. As it was, I had a sort of vagabond existence from birth (my father was an airline pilot), so I'm somewhat fitted for moving hither and yon (as I mentioned I didn't grow up around family). You have to know yourself and be true to that... "wherever you go there you are." There's no change of locale that will change you, and leaving a social support group (like family) can really take a psychic toll... friends and family are more important than "place." Anyway, none of my rambling Sunday thought's are meant to discourage you, or even be a warning. Rather, just as an objective dose of reality to weigh in your decision.
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Post by absarokanaut on Jan 26, 2020 12:26:41 GMT -8
Zeke and Balzacom,
Have either of you looked into the Crestone, Colorado area? I'm biased but think it's the most spectacularly situated town in the state and it has found itself as a refuge for several spiritual and religous insitutions. Just an hour from Salida, proabbly my favorite town in all of the Rockies, and the magnificent Sangre de Cristo right out the door. COLD at times but otherwise generally wonderful if you get a place in the trees.
19 years ago I started a ten year stint livng the colder months in La Veta, CO and warmer ones on family Guest Ranch "near" Dubois, WY. 8 years ago I moved over here to Jackson not far from my childhood summer home. It costs a fortune to live here but I love it and there's more culture here than anywhere else in Wyoming. If by some joke of the Gods and I met a great woman this late in life I'd likely stay right here but as a single I think about moving back to the awesome historical community my two best friends live in on the North Slope of Pikes Peak. Maybe 2022.
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Post by bradmacmt on Jan 26, 2020 12:30:37 GMT -8
we moved to where my husbands parents are, to offer support in their final years. That's very thoughtful and admirable... where are you and your husband living now?
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Post by bradmacmt on Jan 26, 2020 12:34:37 GMT -8
it's hard for me to compare summer in Vt. to anywhere else Funny, having grown up in New England, and spent my summers in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, I think Western Montana and Wyoming have the finest summers on the planet. Now fall, my favorite season... Vermont wins hands-down!!!
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foxalo
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Life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind could invent.---Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Post by foxalo on Jan 26, 2020 12:59:53 GMT -8
I was born and raised in PA. I moved to VA right after college graduation with my then fiance who was from there. Since then, we've lived in AR, NY, IA, and now AL. All the moves were because of my husband's job. We used to discuss places where we would love to live. I specifically told him to never move me to IA. I was not happy with that move until we actually got there and it ended up being one of our better moves. I never thought I'd live anywhere in the South, but I have loved all the places. We used to talk about retiring to MA, but neither of us likes the cold much anymore. He still has dreams of moving to FL one day. I don't. I'm not sure if we'll stay in AL though.
I didn't choose to live in any of these places, but I support my husband and his desire to get ahead. That meant moving to places most people wouldn't consider. I've learned that you have to make the best of your circumstances or you will always be miserable. Change what you can and learn to deal with what you can't. We've lived in AL almost ten years now. It's the longest we've been in one place. I still think about moving elsewhere from time to time. Only time will tell.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on Jan 26, 2020 13:07:53 GMT -8
For many people, myself included, there is no perfect place to live. Nothing is perfect. So I've resolved to have a home base and travel. That travel could be to another state, another region of the country, or another continent. Then I come home, readjust, and eventually start to plan the next trip.
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Post by bobcat on Jan 26, 2020 13:18:44 GMT -8
I have majorly relocated four times in my life, and all of them have involved job changes until the last one in 2018, when I relocated back to Ohio to provide support for my mom as she ages. Two of the four stops have been in cold-winter-wonderful-3-season climates (Michigan, Minnesota) and the other two in 4-season milder-winter-humid-summer climate (Ohio River valley and southwestern Virginia). Being single with no kids, I can be selfish with my choices but let me tell you, moving to a new community can be a very lonely experience. This last move was back to the region where all my family lives, and that certainly helps. My previous location was on the outer ring of a major metro, for 28 years and now I am in a small college town and finding it rather provincial at times. Also, as my body had aged I can no longer count on community recreation to meet friends and integrate into the community. Never underestimate the value of small groups like volleyball teammates or church choir musicians at helping you get emotionally settled into a community.
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Post by bradmacmt on Jan 26, 2020 13:18:49 GMT -8
I've resolved to have a home base and travel. Where is your "home base?"
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reuben
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Post by reuben on Jan 26, 2020 13:25:39 GMT -8
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Post by liv4mtns on Jan 26, 2020 14:18:26 GMT -8
I was born and raised in Florida. Started going out West to Wyoming and Montana in 1980. Fell in love with Montana from first sight. Lost both my parents 2 years apart in 1991 and 1993. My wife, ( who was my girlfriend ) during this same time period, had 7 years left in 1993 to get fully vested with the State of Florida. So we put together a 10 year plan in 1993 to move to Montana once that was fulfilled. We sold my childhood home that we had been living in after my folks passed, in 2003 and packed up and moved to Bozeman MT.
We spent 9 years in Bozeman, and loved every minute of it. In 2011 things changed on my side, ( work ) and I thought a change was needed. Big mistake!! My wife has all her extended family in North GA, so we bought a house there and moved. Fast forward 8 years, and we're moving back to Bozeman. Bought a 1/2 acre lot this past summer, and will be making the move ( hopefully ) this Spring. There is really no other place I would want to live. I made a mistake in moving from Montana. But at least it's a mistake I can fix.
Living an hour away from one of the largest cities in America ( Atlanta ) has gotten to be too much for both of us. Give me the wide open spaces!!
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balzaccom
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Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Jan 26, 2020 17:14:46 GMT -8
"8 hours ago balzaccom said: buying a smaller house in this same community would mean a massive increase in property taxes
I'm not following... does not prop 60 cover you?
California homeowners 55 and older can get a one-time opportunity to sell their primary residence and transfer the property tax assessment to a new home under Proposition 60."
According to both my CPA and my real estate agent, There is one more condition--you have to buy something that is worth 90% of your current home's appraised value to make this work...and that pretty much defeats the purpose.
Rebecca--thanks for giving us something to think about!
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jan 26, 2020 17:59:18 GMT -8
we moved to where my husbands parents are, to offer support in their final years. That's very thoughtful and admirable... where are you and your husband living now? Chico, CA. Which isn’t exactly a penance.
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Post by hikerjer on Jan 26, 2020 19:01:12 GMT -8
Interesting question. I probably have bit of a different take since I've lived in my current city since my early childhood. There was a time when I was young and fancy free and I thought the confines of living in a largely rural state like Montana was just too limiting and I really couldn't wait to get out. For a variety of reasons, all good, that didn't happen and I'm still here after 60 years and I have no complaints. I like it.
Even after getting established in Billings, I had thoughts of moving to places like Missoula or Bozeman, both where I attended university, for a while, but it just never happened and in hindsight, I'm happy it didn't. Both the afore mentioned cities have become, IMO, far too hip, pretentious and expensive (apologies to bradmactm and liv4mts). With a population of about 160,000 in the metro area, Billings is probably the only place in the state that can really be classified as a genuine city, if that's large enough to be a city. Around here it certainly is. We're big enough to have most of the advantages of a real city, minus professional sports which bothers me not at all, but we really don't have the massive problems that large urban centers do. Of course, that doesn't mean we don't have problems. The city is experiencing growing pains - a rising crime rate, still not too bad, homelessness and sprawl but it's still very livable. We live in an area where I can walk or bike anywhere I need to be in 15 minutes and we love our neighborhood. Having just about finished a major remodel and addition to our house, I can't see us moving. While we aren't right on the edge of the mountains, they are only an hour away from some great skiing and some of the best hiking in the country. Right on the edge of town there are plenty of great walks/hikes and the city has a very good park system and the walking/biking trail system is constantly being expanded.
More encouraging to me, is that the city is becoming increasingly more progressive and liberal although it sure ain't San Francisco or even Missoula by a long shot. But it's much better than it used to be. The economy is strong and diversified and the cost of living is still quite reasonable by most standards. For the last decade it's experienced steady but moderate and manageable growth. What's more, both my wife and I have developed an extensive network of friends and acquaintances in town that mean an awful lot to us.
I'm happy here and the only way I can imagine leaving is that I become so old and decrepit that my children drag me off to Bozeman, where they live with varying degrees of satisfaction, to "take care" of me in my old age. I'm lucky being happy where I am.
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Post by johntpenca on Jan 26, 2020 19:40:02 GMT -8
Just home from a trip for my dad's 90th. haven't read all the responses. Your're 49, kids 16 and 21, living in a big house in central Vermont. Too many factors enter into it. So much is family, age, employment, income and asset driven. If you have a lot of cash and no obligations, can get a job anywhere, tele-work, you can do anything. If you need to be concerned about obligations, employment, housing costs, taxes (cost of living), it isn't easy. Any desirable mountain location will be expensive depending on your assets. hikerjer : paragraphs please?
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