Might be escaping Kommiefornia soon

[glassparman]

Well here is an update:

My wife looked around OKC and fell in love. Especially around Blanchard.

Northrop Grumman, my employer, has all the special "networks" that I access, at the OKC facility just outside the gate of Tinker AFB.

My boss said "I don't care if you live there or here as long as the work gets done".

This would only be three and a half hours north of my daughter who is in Dallas. That's what started this entire idea.

My wife has given me my marching orders so it looks like I'm going to make this happen!

Mike

 

[smokeywolf]

Don't know about property taxes, but brace yourself for some pretty stiff homeowner's insurance rates.

 

[Ian]

Nah, just buy a cheap trailer house, furnish it with resale store furniture, and plan on replacing it every 3-5 years. Keep all your GOOD stuff in a bunker.

 

[fiver]

Midwest is just a few miles out from OKC and looks like a whole different world.
you can still see the skyline from there, but it's mostly farm land.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Don't know about property taxes, but brace yourself for some pretty stiff homeowner's insurance rates.

I suspect it will all come out in the wash.

When you get right down to serious cost of living calculations, and you don't lie to yourself - the cost of living usually works out somewhere VERY close to the standard of living, taxes, and costs you are willing to accept.
Some places are very inexpensive but are boom or bust communities. You can buy a house and make a fortune when you sell it OR take a huge loss – depending on the current market when you buy & sell.

Some places are more stable but far more expensive. You may make money when you sell but it may take a LONG time to see that profit.

Some places are very expensive to buy and expensive to stay there, but the profit is high when you sell.

In the end, you decide what is important and make your decisions based on that.

Don’t mind living in tornado alley? accept higher homeowner’s insurance and low taxes.

Want to live in a state with no state income tax (like Tennessee) ? be prepared to pay up to 9.75 % sales tax (7% state and up to 2,75% local)

Want good schools, and decent government services, move to the northeast and be prepared to pay some seriously high property taxes and have crappy roads.

Want low gasoline tax? , move to Georgia.

Want low cigarette tax, move to Virginia or North Carolina……

And it goes on.

There’s no free lunch. You do get to pick and choose a little bit and decide what you can tolerate and what you want, but none of it is free.

 

[RBHarter]

I'm about an even split for flood or tornado my insurance for the same 3 car and the house went down far enough on the cars that the house was "free" compared to Mineral co Nev . The house at market value is 1/3 less than NV . It's half as far to Walmart gas is about a buck less . NV has no food tax and no income tax . 45¢ on fuel , 7.5-8.7 sales tax. Until 06' there was no privilege tax on vehicles over 10 years old and registration was $33 on them now there is and my 99 explorer 5 yr ago was 107 . The personal property tax here costs us about 165/year on the same 3 trucks and 3.50 for.registration . The otherwise bare lot with a garage 1/4 acre is 825 for taxes plus 27/mo for water available. The full acre with the 3600 SQ ft shop at 1900 SQ ft house is 1200 and the water whether it's used or not . Here the .7 acre and 1500 sqft 3/2 has a $30 surplus on the $374 homestead credit . We have to pay state income tax and food tax but the sales tax is a split . We're in the positive on cars , insurance, and land about about 3,000/yr which covers the state income tax by a bunch . The down side is that the wages are about 2/3 of what I was making. That hurts a lot .

 

[glassparman]

My biggest takeaways is I'll be leaving the ultra high gas tax state, the "we the government hate you have guns" state, the homeless camps EVERYWHERE state, the anti-Christian state, the we the government hate everything about you state.

Gas is still about $5.60 at a Chevron where I live. I only see rain maybe twice a year here. I REALLY like rain and green!

The best thing is I'm a 30 year IT guy that makes decent money and I'll be able to keep getting my same pay for living in the OKC area!

I talked to a lady who is near retirement age at Northrop and lived her whole life around OKC. She said "the big tornados are far and few between. I've been to your Palmdale facility before. Your average wind-storms are bigger than our average twisters!" This is a true statement! I live at the base of the Tehachapi mountains which by the way has a ton of 90' tall windmills. From March to June the wind will average 25 to 35 mph sustained all day and can gust up to 45, 55 or more. I've always kept a pack of roofing shingles around to make repairs.

I've experienced some heavy duty wind here that has destroyed trees, sheds, carports, boats . . . you name it.

Either way, I'm looking forward to a move. Been in this valley for 37 years and the last 20 on my current 5 acres.

Mike

 

[Rick]

Well Mike, I lived there from the 60's until 2011 and one thing I can guarantee and promise you 100%. Living in America again is wonderful.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I've been all over this country and have friends & family all over the country.

You pick what you want. This is one of the great aspects of living in the U.S.A. - you do have choices.
In the end, it really comes down to what standard of living do you want and how much of the bad are you willing to tolerate to get the good that you seek.
It also balances out far more than people sometimes like to admit.

Pick what you want and adjust to the situation.


I think you will find Oklahoma to be a fantastic place and a new adventure.

 

[Rick]

I researched demographics online for about every state west of the Mississippi for four years before retiring. Researched about everything/anything you can imagine, it does come down to a compromise on many things except one. Whichever red state you choose will be a better lifestyle in just about every single category over CA.

 

[JonB]

Don’t mind living in tornado alley? accept higher homeowner’s insurance and low taxes.

I just gotta add my 2¢ here.
A recent local news/weather talk show on PBS, had a summary of Minnesota's summer weather.
Our State have 76 tornados during the spring/summer.
they mentioned a few other States,
Oklahoma had 13

PS, yeah I know MN 'typically' has smaller twisters than OK, but 76 ... wholly smokes!

 

[Glaciers]

I fled California in 1974. At that time there was about 20 million people living there. Won’t go back. Beautiful, beautiful State, run by crazy inmates.
Rick hits the nail on the head.

 

[JonB]

I talked to a lady who is near retirement age at Northrop and lived her whole life around OKC. She said "the big tornados are far and few between. I've been to your Palmdale facility before. Your average wind-storms are bigger than our average twisters!" This is a true statement! I live at the base of the Tehachapi mountains which by the way has a ton of 90' tall windmills. From March to June the wind will average 25 to 35 mph sustained all day and can gust up to 45, 55 or more. I've always kept a pack of roofing shingles around to make repairs.

OK, a little more about MN twisters.

This summer, I lost a Pear tree during a storm, while it wasn't a twister that took it, during that same storm, there was a confirmed twister 3 miles north of town. A farmer friend lost several fruit trees from that twister, and all his other trees had some damage, but luckily no major building damage, just some tin and shingles ripped off.

 

[Missionary]

This is all good reading. We are looking to live somewhere out west. Have family in NE AZ. But have no firm idea were to be looking. SW OK just may be an option... NW New Mexico another area....

 

[JonB]

I've been all over this country and have friends & family all over the country.

You pick what you want. This is one of the great aspects of living in the U.S.A. - you do have choices.
In the end, it really comes down to what standard of living do you want and how much of the bad are you willing to tolerate to get the good that you seek.
It also balances out far more than people sometimes like to admit.

Pick what you want and adjust to the situation.


I think you will find Oklahoma to be a fantastic place and a new adventure.

I'll choose MN. While I was born here and have lots of family and friends here, I'd still choose MN if that weren't true. And while it's a liberal high tax state, just behind CA and NY, it's like living in a garden (the Glencoe area anyway), but a Garden that freezes over for 4 to 5 months a year, LOL

 

[Rick]

This is all good reading. We are looking to live somewhere out west. Have family in NE AZ. But have no firm idea were to be looking. SW OK just may be an option... NW New Mexico another area....

When I was doing research on the different states before retiring, I stopped looking at anything in or about New Mexico the moment I learned the state owns every single drop of water in the state. Rainwater run-off, everything. Drill a well on your own property and the state puts a meter on it and sells you your own water. Since they own it, they also dictate how, if and when you can use it.

 

[Rick]

This is all good reading. We are looking to live somewhere out west. Have family in NE AZ. But have no firm idea were to be looking. SW OK just may be an option... NW New Mexico another area....

I do agree that is some beautiful country beyond description, the foothills of the Rockies from the NRA Whittington Center and west. It is from what I've seen priced accordingly.

 

[glassparman]

All great info! Thanks everyone.

Wifey dictates all . . . LOL. she wants to be close to our daughter plus I have to get out of the "Valley Fever" zone as it almost killed me two years ago. I will never completely get rid of it and the chance of recurrence is great if I stay here.

Yep, Valley Fever is a real thing and it exists in the soil in all the deserts and valleys of the southwest starting in west Texas.

Google coccidioidomycosis

Mike

 

[Rick]

Valley fever has killed many people, how many will never be known because it was unknown until fairly recently. No way to know how many died in the past before they started tracking it.

 

[KeithB]

Mold and fungi can be just as deadly as viruses and bacteria. And often harder to deal with both in the short and long term.