In the midwest you can get a passable house for 50k. That is near the minimum price though, but it can be done. I was scouting condos in Indianapolis and there are several that are 50-70k or so that seem to be in safe neighborhoods (based on the indy crime map). In a smaller town the cost will be even less.
It can get hot here in the summer though, it is already getting to 90F with the humidity. I would recommend the OP look further north if they are looking at the US. I would assume Wisconsin would offer some cheap rural housing combined with colder climates. I have no idea about the rest of the world.
I’d like to see a cite that says the average house in Reno goes for 30-40K. Anything for that price is going to be pretty bottom of the barrel. You *definitely * can’t live “anywhere in the world” for that price.
How’s the weather? Some of the extreme weather I’d like to avoid are floods, tornadoes, etc.
Sure.
Europe will hit the tax clause I think, unless there’s non-socialist countries there I’m not aware of.
Not average, just available. I look on Craigslist and set the min/max values in the real estate for sale category. As I mentioned earlier, there’s usually a floor to land prices in an area. If I can find one house for 20k, for example, there’s probably 2 for 25k, 5 for 30k, 10 for 35k, etc.
Missouri may be out then. It is the lower Midwest so they have all the weather variety you could hope for and more: Really cold in the winter, really hot and muggy in the summer, tornadoes AND floods. As a bonus, you can also get big snowstorms in the winter and huge thunderstorms sometimes with hail in the summer.
All of New England is out based on your cost of living and housing cost criteria. Vermont and New Hampshire are great places to live if you can put up with winters but they are not cheap even in the rural areas. Colorado is a a great state to live in as well and I go there all the time. You can’t buy anything in one of the more populated and desirable areas for the money you are talking about but they do have an immense amount of unpopulated private land that can be had fairly cheaply especially if you just want a couple of acres or less. Buyer beware however. You can buy some beautiful land there that is essentially worthless and useless if you don’t know what you are doing in terms of water rights. Not all land has access to any water at all so you can end up with land that is essentially uninhabitable. The laws regarding water are strange and strict in Colorado so you have to have a specialized lawyer help you before you buy rural land that doesn’t have an existing home on it.
Like i said, bottom of the barrel. Odds are highly against finding such housing that is both relatively “nice” as well as found in a neighborhood that isn’t dirt poor.
Florida would be a good choice. The taxes are low, good food, good weather, (humid in the summer, but nothing’s perfect). I don’t live in Florida, but am considering moving there at some point. I like Arizona and California too, but Arizona can be extremely hot in the summer, and the taxes in California are too high.
I think $50k is a a decent figure, especially from a world wide perspective. Right now, I think Greece is probably the best buy. Though it may be a bit corrupt. Meditarranian, culture, food. Taxes are not high as nobody seems to actually bother paying them.
Lots of people who moved to Argentina and Thailand when there economies tanked are now very happy.
Sure, tell me about it. Are they communist? Communist countries have low taxes but crime is out of hand.
Florida would hit the “socialized crime” tag. Also, not sure if you are aware, but the rest of the country thinks Florida has completely gone insane. Yep, california hits the tax tag. I’ve heard lots of good things about Arizona though.
Isn’t greece bankrupt? I’ve heard good things about Thailand in general, my main worry is that like other Asian countries it hits the food tag. I’m not familiar with all the countries in South America, but it seems like crime is out of hand. I just watched a documentary about mercenaries and one of their main customers are businessmen traveling to South America/Africa/etc. in danger of being kidnapped for ransom.
Yeah, bankrupt. Which is why it is cheap. Just as Argentina & Thailand WERE cheap when they were bankrupt. Supposedly so many foreigners moved to Buenos Aires in 00 it is now the happening cosmopolitan place to be. Risky? Yeah.
Also, I am curious what is up with Ireland, seeing as how they massively overbuilt.
A couple of Craigslist ads, which are sure to be overpriced as they are being sold by English speakers.
I’ve never been there, but I know a couple from Albania and from their photos and descriptions, it seems to hit most of your criteria although I am unsure about the cost of real estate.
My mother and stepfather own some land and a small house in Greece on Skiathos; they bought it about 20 years ago for a steal and the house was basically a foundation. They (and us family) spent many summers there rebuilding the house while living in tents. But it’s about a 5-minute walk to the ocean and incredibly gorgeous. No internet where the house is, although they do have it in the main town.
Other than that, somewhere in the lower Midwest would work - you can certainly buy decent houses for about 50 grand in many areas.
No. It isn’t. I live in Reno and own rental property here too. You can’t find anything for 30k-40k here. You might get a trailer in Sun Valley (about 5 miles north of here) for that.
I have heard good things about Slovenia, Latvia, and Estonia. The latter two are known for their high quantity of unusually gorgeous women. I don’t know if you can just move there though or how much it costs. They are all rather poor and still developing in general.
Central America can be a problem in terms of crime except for Costa Rica and select parts of Panama and Belize. Guatemala and most of Mexico are right out. Nicaragua and Honduras are generally disqualified as well except there are a few safe places with ex-pat communities that offer a whole lot for your money.
Costa Rica is generally very safe (safer than most of the U.S. in terms of violent crime) but they have had an increase in petty theft in the last decade or so because the population is still fairly poor in dollar terms (and they will happily accept dollars just about anywhere). You probably won’t get kidnapped or hurt no matter what you do but you could lose your stuff if you leave it unattended.
I had to take hitchhiking rides several times in Costa Rica when planned rides didn’t show and I didn’t think anything about it. Everyone was nice and I never felt threatened even for a moment. However, Costa Rica is popular for ex-pats for a reason and American style houses are not cheap at all. You can spend just as much on a house there as you will in the U.S. You will generally get a whole lot more for your money but it comes with some extra hassle especially in terms of property security on real estate laws. You can buy a typical Costa Rican style house in your price range. They are cute but very basic like these photos.
Thailand is going through something like a Civil War or coup right now depending on how you describe it. We have at least one ex-pat Doper that lives there that can explain that one better but it wouldn’t be a top pick for me right now based on stability concerns. Malaysia may be a better pick for the general region unless you are feeling unusually adventurous.
South America can be a problem as well based on your criteria. I would rule out most countries including Brazil and Colombia based on crime concerns. Argentina is a little unstable and economically suspect to put it mildly but you may be able to come up with something there. Paraguay and Uruguay may have something to consider as well.
How about Baja California, though? It doesn’t seem beset by the drug and crime problems found in mainland Mexico, once you get south of Tijuana. I’ve driven through Baja to Cabo a couple of times and have fantasized about buying a house in La Paz or somewhat south of there.
My mother and stepfather are considering that. They bought a timeshare in Los Cabos just to go a few weeks a year and feel things out in the general area (I know; I wouldn’t have done it either). It is supposedly a great place but decent properties aren’t cheap there either. They are looking to buy something decent in closer to the half million range rather than the 50K range and they haven’t had much luck so they are looking at the Yucatan Peninsula in far southern Mexico now. It is my personal bias but I want absolutely nothing to do with Mexico. I am convinced that country is going to destroy itself even worse than it already has with no end in sight. There are much better places to live in Latin America for my money. Costa Rica, Belize and even parts of Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua are greatly preferable to me over any place in Mexico.
I think I should point out the obvious here just because it hasn’t been mentioned. You can’t just pack up and move to any country you want just because you are an American and think you should be allowed in. Every country is different and the requirement vary wildly. Even moving to Canada or Europe semi-permanently can be quite difficult legally speaking and you may or may not qualify at all depending on your job and your financial and legal circumstances (ever get a DUI in the U.S. ever?; Canada may not let you visit at all let alone emigrate). You easily become an illegal alien in another country in the exact same way that a Mexican sneaking over the border into the U.S. is if you aren’t legally qualified.
There are some countries that are fairly generous about visitation and property ownership. I will use Costa Rica as an example because that is the one I know the most about. You can ‘live’ there indefinitely and have full ownership of property like houses and cars but you have to leave every 90 days on the dot to go out of the country and then come back in. That may be as simple as taking a car ride into Panama or Nicaragua, getting your passport stamped and getting a cheap hotel room just over the border for the night before you return back ‘home’ but you will become an illegal alien subject to potential prosecution if you do not do that.
All countries have similar rules otherwise they wouldn’t be countries. You have to take that into account and learn about the rules specific to your country of interest before you attempt to pack up and move there. You are a visitor until you get the equivalent of a green card or citizenship and you have to play by their rules.
For some reason, I started looking up property in Ireland (stupid internet). Cheapest counties seem to be Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim, Longford, & Roscommon. Lots of stuff for under $50k.
