Unreal Estate Game: Alaska
 

Assume that you idly buy a state lottery ticket while getting a doughnut at 7/11, and voila! You're a winner! You win your choice of one the five houses that will be shown.

I'll give you five houses in a state, and you vote on the house you would take.

Background rules:

Assume that your job situation won't need to change - you can find an identical job or work from home or whatever, so jobs don't matter.

Consider the house itself and the location and anything else that's important to you (schools, restaurants, lot size, etc.). Feel free to do a google map search to check out the neighborhood and the area.

You cannot sell the home. You can live in it as long as you like, but when you move out, it reverts back to the state as a prize for a future winner.

All houses will generally be in the $900,000 to $1 million price range.

All maintenance and utilities and taxes are cost-neutral compared to your current home.

If you wouldn't move into any of these homes, you can instead accept a cash prize of $50,000 (tax free).

Today's state is Alaska. Here are your five houses:

Anchorage - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...9718507#photo0

Big Lake - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...1-01868#photo0

Chiniak (Kodiak Island) - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...7-19108#photo0

Homer - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...0-71440#photo0

Ketchikan - http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...4-97750#photo0

Big Lake.

That house is dope man

Big Lake is quite nice. I'd do that for a couple of years then give it up. I need civilization sooner or later.

man...this one is tough. I'm going with Ketchikan

but Big Lake is bad ass too.

I like the Ketchikan house, but I've been to Ketchikan and it is thousands of cruise passengers everywhere all day, and the businesses are all catering to tourists. Blechhh!

Big Lake has a nice house but the neighborhood around it can be sketchy

Anchorage - house decent but large city. IF you're going to live here why not get away from it;

Ketchikan - beautiful house but: 1) lots of rain; 2) city has two parts - blue collar/industrial and tourist - and they don't really mix; 3) Ketchikan has some weird crime; 4) Ketchikan does not get a lot of snow and it is really beautiful but you're on an island and you have to fly or take the ferry to get anywhere, including a ferry to the airport (look up bridge to nowhere);

Homer - great town and great views. I'd probably take this one simply because of the surroundings even though I'm not as wild about the house. But if you like lots of bald eagles and want to fish, Homer is your place;

Kodiak - great location but the house is for shit. You'd have to fly to Anchorage to get anywhere but life in Kodiak would be fun. It's large enough for a large Alaska community but it's still the Bush. great hunting and fishing and wildlife

Big Lake


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Homer. Love that area and the views are unmatched. I can deal with the house.

Taking the cash until we get to a warm State.

Voted stay. Again, too cold.

The Big Lake house is nice. But forever? Short days. Long cold winters. Not how I plan to spend the rest of my life. $50K me.

I lived in Anchorage and I fly up and fish in Homer.............Homer.

Also home of the Salty Dawg Saloon, I love that bar.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...oon_1850px.jpg

My rankings:

#1 - Ketchikan. Awesome views, and really nice outdoor spaces. I can't figure out what's going on in Picture #20, but I can deal with it. I think maybe the house has low curb appeal from the front, but is nice in the back. I particularly like this option because I suspect it's a lot warmer being so far southeast in Alaska. It's really more like the Pacific Northwest than my traditional view of Alaska. And the fact that tourist ships come in a lot is a good thing. They import money into the area and also probably increase the quality of local restaurants.

#2 - Homer. I really like the look of the house, and it's pretty near a town. I think the ferry comes into Homer so you could also make it to other places without flying. And those views are spectacular.

#3 - Big Lake. I really like the interior of the house and I really like the views. It's relatively convenient to the city as well. The only downside is that the exterior of the house is so so, but this would still be a nice place.

#4 - Anchorage. Having an airstrip is kind of cool but I wouldn't use it. There are some nice views and the house is nice, but it doesn't wow me or anything and it's smaller than most of the other choices. I like the location near a city, though.

#5 - Chiniak. While complete isolation is intriguing, I suspect it's a pain in the neck. The house is a scraper for the most part, so you're getting 24 acres of land that's inhabited by gigantic carnivorous bears. I liked the town of Kodiak when I visited a few years back, but this house is way too isolated and not luxurious at all. I do wonder if you drive to Kodiak or take a boat, though.

How did you like Anchorage? I passed through a couple of times, and I'll just say that I hope I wasn't in the nicer part of town.

Do you ever fish in Chenega? That's one of the most gorgeous places I've seen, and the salmon kept trying to jump onto the ship.

Been there myself. Great bar on the Homer Spit.