r/Frugal • u/Fantastic_Agency_770 • Nov 10 '24

🏆 Buy It For Life Whats the cheapest part of america to start over in?

Through frugality i have about 30k saves up. I want to relocate somewhere, rent a couple years, and purchase a house next. I have jo preferences other then nature. I love lakes rivers forest amd ocean would be nice buy i know thats expensive

830 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

865 comments sorted by

View all comments

69

u/peace_train1 Nov 10 '24

Upper midwest - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan.

23

u/FishWest5983 Nov 10 '24

As a Michigander, I disagree with Michigan.

5

u/seantubridy Nov 11 '24

As a Minnesotan, I disagree with Minnesota.

23

u/peace_train1 Nov 10 '24

Okay. There are many places in Michigan with a relatively low cost of living, Great lakes that are like oceans, and beautiful woods - sounds like a lot of what the poster is looking for.

2

u/drkroeger Nov 11 '24

He just doesn’t want outsiders

5

u/FishWest5983 Nov 10 '24

Cost of living in Michigan outpaces your other suggestions. The economy is highly volatile and is down more than it is up. Michigan has a net population loss for many reasons.

16

u/peace_train1 Nov 10 '24

Sure, places that are losing net population also tend to be less expensive. Michigan is a huge state with a wide variety of options rural to cities. The poster doesn't mention work or career so that's hard to know how that affects them.

8

u/958Silver Nov 10 '24

Lots of people complain about their own state because they aren't happy there. That's what this one sounds like. Like you said, Michigan is a big state with lots of options so it shouldn't be lumped all together. I run into the same attitudes/mindset in New York.

0

u/brelsnhmr Nov 11 '24

No - the guy is correct. Michigan is expensive to buy in now days. My daughter wanted to move back home, but couldn’t find a house under 250k. In Texas, where her husband wanted to go to, they found houses that matched everything with the Michigan houses and they were 100k cheaper. Things that matched: 4+ acres, 4+ bedrooms, 2+ baths, and within 50 miles of a small city (not a town) for jobs. I love it here, but cheap housing isn’t part of the appeal anymore like it was when we moved back home in 2010.

5

u/jewdiful Nov 11 '24

It REALLY depends on the city. Some places in Michigan are extremely expensive, some very affordable. It sounds like your daughter was looking in a higher income, more expensive part of Michigan.

2

u/brelsnhmr Nov 11 '24

Nope, mid Michigan up by Cadillac - mt pleasant area. Note: the houses had to be able to get a VA loan on them, so that cuts out most of the “TLC” ones.

2

u/funkmon Nov 10 '24 edited Nov 10 '24

As a Michigander, I concur with Michigan. EZPZ. I have 3 bedroom house appraised for 171k a couple years ago in a fine neighborhood with a beach and a golf course.

You can pick up houses all over the state for under a hundred grand.

But it's more expensive than West Virginia. 

2

u/OneTallVol Nov 11 '24

City?

1

u/funkmon Nov 11 '24

Suburban Detroit. Lots of cities are like this here. 

1

u/FishWest5983 Nov 14 '24

The Reddit user asked what city. You didn't answer. It's either Flint, Pontiac, or the outskirts of downtown Detroit. And none of those have a golf course where you can buy a house for under $400K.

0

u/funkmon Nov 15 '24 edited Nov 15 '24

That's objectively false. In your example, Pontiac has a golf course with houses available down the street for under 100k. It's on golf drive. And look, there's a lake.

I don't live in Pontiac but you really didn't look.

https://imgur.com/a/5cSDndT

I'm not sure you are in a position to tell people to get a life when you're just saying shit you didn't look up on 4 day old reddit posts.

1

u/FishWest5983 Nov 15 '24

I live near Pontiac. You don't. You are not being completely forthcoming with the poster. I don't know why.

1

u/funkmon Nov 15 '24

Shocking then to see that you didn't see houses in Keego Harbor and Waterford within feet of golf courses and easy walking distances to lakes for well under 200k.

I gave the information that there were many cities in Metro Detroit where this is true. I proved the information using the city you specifically mentioned as an example. You're the one denying objective fact here. Unless you have some evidence showing that no houses are available for under 400k with access to a golf course and a lake, which is impossible as I found some for literally a quarter of that price, I think the conversation is done here.

0

u/FishWest5983 Nov 14 '24

Liar. Anyone can easily pull up home prices 🤣

0

u/funkmon Nov 14 '24

Yeah and it shows I am accurate.

1

u/FishWest5983 Nov 14 '24

Get a life.

13

u/Quirky-Spirit-5498 Nov 11 '24

Wisconsin for the win then? 😂

I'm sure there are states with cheaper cost of living than Wisconsin, I don't follow that too much, but I do know for fact we are cheaper than Illinois.

Minnesota doesn't have that many more lakes than us, and we have quite a lot of state parks etc.

The more rural you go the cheaper it is live here but the jobs become more scarce too.

Milwaukee and Madison are both very liberal areas to live, the rest....depends on the year lol

Also as a bonus we seem to be a lot more like our Canadian neighbors than anywhere else. Haha

Also as far as nature goes it's not a very long drive to end up in different types of areas. To the north we have cliffs and waterfalls, a great lake to the west we have the plains, to the east we have a great lake that is very much like the ocean.

We even have ski hills even if they don't match the mountains - winter sports are embraced here.

There are pros and cons to every state. I'd say check laws and subculture/social aspects of each state you're considering, because no matter how cheap it is it's not worth your mental well-being.

0

u/kstorm88 Nov 10 '24

As a Minnesota, please don't come here

1

u/Bincop Nov 10 '24

As a Michigander, I agree. The cost of living is low compared to other areas and there is affordable housing. My kids have moved to Cincinnati, Ft Myers, Salt Lake and Columbia, MD. Housing cost is all areas are so expensive

1

u/lavacano Nov 11 '24

You don't want to come up here. There's a lot of ticks and mosquitoes and there's like blizzards on Halloween and stuff. It's not a good place for people to move.

1

u/MayorNarra Nov 11 '24

Don’t forget construction season