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**Rain Man** · 07-14-2020, 05:38 PM

Here are my #66 to 70 rankings.

House samples:

Lawrence, KS
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-08939?view=qv

Galveston, TX
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-36075?view=qv

Eureka, CA
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-11594?view=qv

Manhattan, KS
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-46969?view=qv

Fort Morgan, Co
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-12980?view=qv

Starting from the bottom….

Fort Morgan is a bit more cost-effective than Denver, turning a couple of full-time work years into half time. It’s about the same climate in the summer, but gets half the snow of Denver (altitude, presumably, as it’s 1,000 feet lower). It’s hit or miss on home quality, but there’s potential. The sample house is kind of typical – it has potential, but needs some work on the landscaping in particular. It’s a small town, though reasonably accessible to Denver and the airport, but daily life would be in a small and pretty conservative town.

Manhattan KS is the home of Kansas State University, so it’s a major college town, which is always good. The sample home is nicer than it looks, because it backs up to a country club and is close to campus. It’s slightly more cost-effective than Denver, but not much, just moving my retirement up six months. They get little snow, but the summers are a little hotter and a little more humid so the climate is a minor win at best.

Eureka CA is very intriguing. I like the climate a lot, with very mild winters, even though the summers aren’t really summer. It apparently seldom reaches 70 degrees, being coastal and notably north of San Francisco. I wouldn’t mind that at all, though. It’s got some interesting houses (see sample), but it’s not as cost-effective as staying in Denver. I’d have to work a little longer and move into a notably smaller home. It may not be worth the tradeoff, but I remain intrigued.

Galveston – I really thought this would rank higher. In part, the problem is that I priced it on a nice oceanview condo that has very high monthly fees. The challenge in that particular housing market is that there are a lot of interesting houses but they’re mostly on stilts for hurricane protection, so they violate my single-story rule. They have very mild winters, but the summers are slightly hotter and a lot more humid. Oh, and hurricanes.

Lawrence, KS, is the home of the University of Kansas, and I like the college-town vibe. However, Kansas isn’t overly friendly on taxation, so it’s not very cost-effective. Similar to Galveston, I picked a condo that’s got a high monthly fee. But it’s a very nice and very large condo with lots of community amenities, so it would be a nice retirement home post-covid. Not sure it’s worth the trouble of moving, though. Slightly better climate than Manhattan KS above, and generally seems to have a good inventory of home choices.

Most of these seem to be kind of a wash at best compared to staying in Denver, in my opinion. I think they all have too much of a tradeoff in some way, and not enough offsetting advantages, to rise to a high level of contention.

07-14-2020, 05:38 PM	#142
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $3298491 VARSITY	Here are my #66 to 70 rankings. House samples: Lawrence, KS https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-08939?view=qv Galveston, TX https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-36075?view=qv Eureka, CA https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-11594?view=qv Manhattan, KS https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-46969?view=qv Fort Morgan, Co https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-12980?view=qv Starting from the bottom…. Fort Morgan is a bit more cost-effective than Denver, turning a couple of full-time work years into half time. It’s about the same climate in the summer, but gets half the snow of Denver (altitude, presumably, as it’s 1,000 feet lower). It’s hit or miss on home quality, but there’s potential. The sample house is kind of typical – it has potential, but needs some work on the landscaping in particular. It’s a small town, though reasonably accessible to Denver and the airport, but daily life would be in a small and pretty conservative town. Manhattan KS is the home of Kansas State University, so it’s a major college town, which is always good. The sample home is nicer than it looks, because it backs up to a country club and is close to campus. It’s slightly more cost-effective than Denver, but not much, just moving my retirement up six months. They get little snow, but the summers are a little hotter and a little more humid so the climate is a minor win at best. Eureka CA is very intriguing. I like the climate a lot, with very mild winters, even though the summers aren’t really summer. It apparently seldom reaches 70 degrees, being coastal and notably north of San Francisco. I wouldn’t mind that at all, though. It’s got some interesting houses (see sample), but it’s not as cost-effective as staying in Denver. I’d have to work a little longer and move into a notably smaller home. It may not be worth the tradeoff, but I remain intrigued. Galveston – I really thought this would rank higher. In part, the problem is that I priced it on a nice oceanview condo that has very high monthly fees. The challenge in that particular housing market is that there are a lot of interesting houses but they’re mostly on stilts for hurricane protection, so they violate my single-story rule. They have very mild winters, but the summers are slightly hotter and a lot more humid. Oh, and hurricanes. Lawrence, KS, is the home of the University of Kansas, and I like the college-town vibe. However, Kansas isn’t overly friendly on taxation, so it’s not very cost-effective. Similar to Galveston, I picked a condo that’s got a high monthly fee. But it’s a very nice and very large condo with lots of community amenities, so it would be a nice retirement home post-covid. Not sure it’s worth the trouble of moving, though. Slightly better climate than Manhattan KS above, and generally seems to have a good inventory of home choices. Most of these seem to be kind of a wash at best compared to staying in Denver, in my opinion. I think they all have too much of a tradeoff in some way, and not enough offsetting advantages, to rise to a high level of contention. Attached Thumbnails __________________ I'm putting random letters here as a celebration of free speech: xigrakgrah misorojeq rkemeseit.
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