Anyone else fleeing their state?

[McMark]

11 years ago we bought a beach house in Daytona Beach Shores. Going to start wintering there and summering in PA, at least for a bit. Eventually we’ll end up just staying at the beach house full time and sell in PA. Can’t wait!

 

[PeterB]

@Dixie Highway sorry to see another neighbor go - though we live a few miles away and have never actually met! we also plan to list our house before the end of the year - would have sold sooner but summer came and my time priorities of course were on boating not prepping and emptying the house!
We would love to go south- my wife’s criteria is “warmer than N. IL (fairly easy) but “no gators” but for now just headed to Iowa, so I guess she gets half her wish!

 

[motomandan]

Well, we have decided to pull the trigger. Getting our ducks in line and putting the house on the market, heading to "LA" lower Alabama. We are going to be about 20 minutes from our beloved Gulf of Mexico. Some of you know I have recently sold my 210 FSH, this was part of the process. I really didn't want to, but the market is right and it will be one less thing to move, getting the loan off my credit will help with financing a new home (rates are crazy low right now, we were quoted 2.5% for a 30 year). This will be a long process as we are looking to build a new house there, but the wheels have started turning. Once we are settled in there I'll be looking for another boat. Can't say for sure it will be a Yamaha as I have big ambitions about learning to fish in blue water, more than likely though it'll have tuning forks somewhere on it lol. Bottom line though, we just don't see much of a future here in the People's Republic of IL. Taxes keep going up, crime is increasing, frankly the feeling I get is that the state doesn't want me here. Maybe I'm too middle class, they want rich donors and wards. Anyways, I'll be off to the land of sub $1000/yr property taxes by the end of 2020, wish me luck!

Best of luck!

 

[suke]

Born and raised on the coast of NC, my parents ended up here due to the military and eventually retired. Now living in the big tech/colleges part of the state and have for a long time. I've noticed quite the migration from people all over the country and the world fleeing their cities, states, and countries. Only thing I ask is to remember why you fled and don't continue to vote that same pattern.....or else we'll end up exactly like the same place you fled.

 

[Neutron]

4.5 years ago sold our high tax shoebox of
A house on a postage stamp of a lot in RI and move to Brices Creek, NC
Best move ever. Very low county taxes. No city tax. And 2.5 acres of land and buying another acre on the side of my land. 2 miles to my boat ramp.
Love it here. Best of all i work less hours and make way more money than I made in RI. Same for my wife.

 

[JBehrens]

Only thing I ask is to remember why you fled and don't continue to vote that same pattern

+1 to that, please don't vote for what you fled. Hopefully AZ and NV are still good options when I go to leave CA in a few years.

@Dixie Highway glad you are making the move to a better situation, good luck on everything. Maybe you can pickup a 255 FSH once you get setup

 

[I_squared_r]

Have a buddy in the Philippines that teaches math and English as a second language to college students. Makes the equivalent of a six figure salary and lives on the beach with his GF. Says it's an easy gig that pays well and is relatively low stress.

I've considered Australia a few times, and I've also considered Guatemala. Although I have done less than zero research on either of those. It's more of a fleeting thought, than an actual pursuit at this point.

You surprised me with Guatemala. My ex-gf is from Guatemala City and I know this much: Guatemalans are very friendly, but Guatemala City can be unsafe. During their civil war, militants would kidnap people and ransom money from their families. Apparantely the practice still happens today, but it's rare. She received random phone calls like "I know where your brother lives, if you don't pay us then we will kill him". We talked this over a few days and we decided that it was likely fake because they could only provide information that can be easily found on Facebook. But it's hard to know who is serious and who isn't.. A few of my friends went to Antigua and that is a beautiful area about 1 hour from Guatemala City. It's a popular place for expats. I wouldn't want to live there. Out of all the latin countries for retirement, i've been told that Panama City, Cartagena (Colombia), and Costa Rica are popular choices because they are safe cities with relatively reliable governments.

But it's the same thing for me, it's a fleeting thought that I like to day dream about lol

 

[svana]

While your individual move sounds great (I grew up in Pensacola, probably not far from where you’re going), I’m always leery of the mass exodus of people from “those states” to the adjacent ones. Situations get so bad where they live (and vote) that they just move elsewhere and bring the new state down with them (Maryland eating into Virginia, California into Utah/Colorado, etc). I apologize if this steps over the “no politics” line. My wife and I both grew up in FL, moved up to DC/MD/VA for work for a few years - couldn’t wait to be home. Luckily that happened last year.

 

[OCMD]

Me and the Boss have been discussing leaving the Peoples Republic of Maryland, but really don't know where to go. The taxes are outrageous, and the leftist policies are driving people out, especially so in our county which is run by extremists. Public schools are horrible and I don't want my tax dollars supporting the school system (my kids had to go private to receive an education), they are now literally handcuffing the police (it is really bad, and I was a cop in this county for 30 years) and crime will soar in the next few years, and the nut jobs running this county will be even more empowered if the radical left wins the upcoming election. The only issue is where to go. We have a house on the eastern shore of MD where we have been riding out the pandemic; it is a much better environment than our county, but it is still Maryland. We have a house in Florida and although I like the house, it is not a place I want to live the rest of my life out. We just haven't figured it out yet, but i could make a literal killing selling my main house right now people are just snapping them up with bidding wars and no inspections. Don't know why and don't really care, they will learn soon enough. Must be because we are so close to DC and the federal workers need housing . I was kind of hoping Texas will secede if the left gains control of the country, and we will move there!

 

[AZMark]

Unfortunately the transfer of "problems" from one state to the next is 90% from just the extra bodies and 10% how they vote (highly scientific estimate).
I've watched Phoenix's population grow by 5x in my lifetime and it certainly sucks a lot more now (higher cost of living and taxes, more regulation, crowds) without much of a change in our politics. It's just basic economics when you try to share the same space and resources with that many more people.

 

[drewkaree]

@Dixie Highway Hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave the state!!! We're not far behind, but going in the other direction.

Other direction? You coming further north? Wisconsin is all full, no more Illinesians can fit. Just leave your boat at the state line, I'll be down shortly to pick it up. You can visit, but they will have to be supervised visits. I've got a Comiskey as a neighbor, I tell him this all the time. Sounds like he's not taking the hint and telling others about our state.

 

[Crob83]

Yep, just bought an acre and a half right on Norris Lake in New Tazewell, TN. Getting a plan together for an escape from Indianapolis area. Probably going to be a few years since I would need to find an equally or close to equal job in Knoxville. Kind of hard to do when you work for a pharmaceutical giant. So excited I can hardly handle it, beautiful scenery with a private marina in you're own neighborhood

 

[Dixie Highway]

I promise guys that in my own situation I can guarantee I will not try to be “Illinois-fying“ where I move, in fact I am certain that I will only make Alabama more “tide” if you catch my drift. One thing that’s important to remember, when you have an state with a huge city in it that metro area controls what happens in the rest of the state by sheer numbers alone. For example Chicagoland holds 66% of the population in the state. There are large swaths of us in the outlying areas that do not agree, we are just outnumbered. I’d bet willing to be I’m more Alabama than a lot of Alabamans Lol.

 

[zipper]

We have been discussing a similar move back to Florida where we met. Not sure how we are going to do it yet. We own a 478ac farm property in Vermont's most populated county. I don't care much for how Burlington is run. They dump their waste directly into the Lake, during a storm event, and the people are starting to get pissed with all the beach closings. Saw this on the water treatment plant just outside the Marina last week.

One thing that’s important to remember, when you have an state with a huge city in it that metro area controls what happens in the rest of the state by sheer numbers alone. For example Chicagoland holds 66% of the population in the state. There are large swaths of us in the outlying areas that do not agree, we are just outnumbered.

We have felt this way for a while with what goes on with Vermont's biggest city 20mins away. My parents are Snowbirds, they decided not to sell their Lakefront property here just yet due to Covid outbreaks at their other place in Fla. We will be stretching our wings soon. Besides our accountant tells us Vermont is the 4th most expensive state to live in. I can believe it. Property taxes for our place just went up to $13,500/yr.

 

[anmut]

I'd like to say our 5 year plan is AZ or FL, but I've got to wonderful in-laws that seem to be stuck in their ways. I can't take their grand daughter away from them (they see her 2-3x a week right now) so I'm just constantly asking them "when will this WI winter be your last?"

I'm done with this state and the weather. 8 months of misery for 4 months of warmth, 3 months of boating weather. DONE. Like you though, it'll be a process of selling off most things, reducing the debt load, and finding a decent job. Thinking about it now seems like a nearly impossible task - then again, after a work accident in 2012 I was told I'd never walk right again. Three years later I was running half marathons - today I'm out wake boarding.

 

[props2you]

Other direction? You coming further north? Wisconsin is all full, no more Illinesians can fit. Just leave your boat at the state line, I'll be down shortly to pick it up. You can visit, but they will have to be supervised visits. I've got a Comiskey as a neighbor, I tell him this all the time. Sounds like he's not taking the hint and telling others about our state.

@drewkaree Ha! Nah you have enough FIB's! We're heading to Da U.P. Been going up there for years between boating, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling and our general love for outdoors and our growing disdain for people! Although, you Sconnies love the IL $$$$ just not the people! LOL!

I'm from Iowa, so this shit-box state is just a temporary parking spot!

 

[Babin Farms]

My problem with leaving Is my job. Benefits package & guaranteed job is hard to leave. The kids will both be out of school at the time I’ll retire so that will probably be when we move out of Illinois.

 

[anmut]

@drewkaree Ha! Nah you have enough FIB's! We're heading to Da U.P. Been going up there for years between boating, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling and our general love for outdoors and our growing disdain for people! Although, you Sconnies love the IL $$$$ just not the people! LOL!

I'm from Iowa, so this shit-box state is just a temporary parking spot!

I've got a new acronym for you I heard from my Milwaukee fam: FISHTAB.

F'ing IL Sh*thead Towing A Boat. ? ??

You know the type as they're easy to spot. 90mph towing a bayliner behind an SUV with a cheap walmart boat cover kite sailing behind it.

 

[drewkaree]

Although, you Sconnies love the IL $$$$ just not the people! LOL!

There's a handful of people from IL I enjoy, I'm certain many of you would make the cut on the "enjoyable" list. As for the rest, I don't see a dime of IL $, so THOSE people can take all their money back and spend it in-state. Isn't it funny, if IL wouldn't make it so dang spendy, all that money being spent here MIGHT just help keep the state stable by making it reasonable to keep the cash at home! I lived in IL for 2+ years, and thankfully, I didn't follow the career path I was on at that time. I beat feet back to WI as soon as I was done with that job.

 

[Enduro900]

@drewkaree Ha! Nah you have enough FIB's! We're heading to Da U.P. Been going up there for years between boating, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling and our general love for outdoors and our growing disdain for people! Although, you Sconnies love the IL $$$$ just not the people! LOL!

I'm from Iowa, so this shit-box state is just a temporary parking spot!

The UP is awesome! Lakefront is reasonable....snowmobiling is excellent!

There are only two downsides:

Summer water Temps.....

And unfortunately it is still connected to Lansing (made more apparent by the MI Governor treating the UP just like Detroit for covid-related restrictions).......