OT - Looking for New place to call home soon...

[Hartley]

I have had it with Florida, Taxes, Taxes and more taxes and outragious insurance rates.

Maybe I am just tired of the weather or just tired...

I am looking for property 5 to 10 acres secluded/wooded and fairly flat with road and bus access around Tennesse
or surrounding areas where the taxes are low and living is acceptably cheap. No lot or deed restrictions
and low to no zoning problems. I want to put up a bus barn or workshop or find one already done.

I have found a couple so far but I figured I would ask if anyone knows of any that I have missed or might know of
something in thier area. I have my house up for sale and as soon as that happens I am outta here and back to living
in the bus for a while. Of course I have a LOT of haulage to drag along with me so I don't want to be mobile for
too long because having a shipping container with my stuff in it moved is a bit expensive.

The only catch is that I need to be within reasonable driving distance to a hospital with a cardiac care unit and
local cardiologist and doctors.

Dave.....

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Dave,

Good Luck to the both of you.... Maybe you can find one of thoose park management positions until you can find a new home?

I'll bet your even tired of thoose mini tornado's too

Nick-

[Paso One]

Hey Dr Dave How about a campground close to Dallas ...........    OUR DALLAS 

[HighTechRedneck]

While I don't know of a specific property, the Chattanooga area might meet your needs well.

• Memorial Hospital has a highly reputed cardiac center
• Plenty of rural property for sale around the area
• Enjoyable size city.  Not too big, not too small. (metro area about 400K)
• Weather is temparate with 4 seasons but a mild winter.
• Natural disasters are virtually unheard of here (one tornado in last 30 years and that was relatively minor)
• Low insurance rates
• Bus conversion friendly Title/Registration office
• Good Interstate connectivity (on junction of I75 & I24 and within about 10 miles of I59)
• Within 100 miles of Atlanta, GA and Nashville, TN and 150 miles of Birmingham, AL. (for those times when big city features are needed)

I have lived many places over the years and Chattanooga is my favorite.

[phunckie]

Dr Dave,

I know of a few places that might fit your needs in the Birmingham, AL metro area.
UAB Hospital is one of the top cardiac facilities in the US.
Feel free to e-mail me if you would like more information.

[Hartley]

Hey Dr Dave How about a campground close to Dallas ...........    OUR DALLAS 

Yahhaaa haaa haaa.... Yeah Right... I suspect that the little bit that I will get for my house and land wouldn't
even come close to pay the property taxes on that place. ( qualified humor )...

I ought to just rent a spot from Busted Knuckle for a while. I am sure I could make him miserable with my
technical skills and ingenuity. He might actually do a conversion just to shut me up...

[jjrbus]

Be careful Dr Dave. I sold my house in 1999 and bought a motor home cause I did not know where I wanted to live. Here it is 2007 and I still do not know where I want to live!!!! I'm not even sure I want to stay in this country.

[captain ron]

I know a girl who works for a forclosure co. here in Nashville and she says they have plenty of properties right now. They deal with Mobile homes so people really screw them over and all there left with is a chunk of land. She was telling me the other day about how one was sold dirt cheap. The greater Nashville area is really nice And has all your asking for. There are plenty of camp grounds here that you can stay in while looking for about $300.00 per month. Plus I'm here

[Paso One]

Here it is 2007 and I still do not know where I want to live!!!! I'm not even sure I want to stay in this country.

C'mon up to Canada  we need another person to pay our taxes 

[Hartley]

Be careful Dr Dave. I sold my house in 1999 and bought a motor home cause I did not know where I wanted to live. Here it is 2007 and I still do not know where I want to live!!!! I'm not even sure I want to stay in this country.

We sold our house in Deltona Florida in 1998 and lived in our RTS conversion until Oct 2004 after the hurricanes.
the trick to that was always find someone that needs nightime security and has enough room and tolerance
for the junk collection that seems to follow along. Power and Water is also highly recommended.

Florida has become a tax nightmare, crime is up around Orlando or maybe it's just that we hear more about
it lately. But when over 50% of my salary is just to pay property tax and insurance It's time to make a change.

I gave the RTS away for FREE about a year ago to someone who wanted to tow it away, It made it about
a mile from here to a local diesel shop back lot where it is being used daily as a dog house for the security dogs
and some storage while they work towards hooking up the engine and tranny that I put in it after I had it
hauled home here.

The MC9 will become the new temporary home while we figure out what to do next. It's functional even though
is unfinished inside and out. Hey it works and that's all that matters..

I had a 20 yard dumpster delivered today and the "SHTUFF" is gonna fly... If it dont fit in my 40 foot shipping container or usable in the bus
it don't go with me..... My wife has other ideas and has not quite understood what I am saying yet.... Ohhh.... Boy....
I am going to get into big big trouble over what goes and what stays.. I can just hear it now....

[bubbaqgal]

Dave, When stuff that she wants to keep goes into the bus, don't say anything much.  Just bide your time.  As she tries to function on a daily basis with all that "stuff" she will start to get rid of it on her own.  When we moved into our, I had to keep everything, and I mean everything, but not many days go by now that I don't toss something.  Dallas was patient with me and let me realize for myself that things aren't all that important.  Give it a try!  Cat

[belfert]

Are taxes really that bad in Florida?  I thought people moved there in part because of no state income tax?  I suppose they make it up on other taxes.

I'm prepping to move myself, but I'm only going to move maybe 30 miles or so.  I want a place where I can build a garage for the bus.  If I thought I could find a good job elsewhere, I might move to a new area, but I have a lot of friends and family locally.  My job now is somewhat secure.  If I started a new job in computers/IT now, I wouldn't be suprised to be laid off in a few years as companies only care about the shareholders not the employees.

Brian Elfert

[jjrbus]

 Tax's are not that bad in FL. But they went from dirt cheap to moderately expensive so everyone is in an uproar. Now insurance is that bad here. It really will drive you out of the state.

[Hartley]

Are taxes really that bad in Florida?  I thought people moved there in part because of no state income tax?  I suppose they make it up on other taxes.

I'm prepping to move myself, but I'm only going to move maybe 30 miles or so.  I want a place where I can build a garage for the bus.  If I thought I could find a good job elsewhere, I might move to a new area, but I have a lot of friends and family locally.  My job now is somewhat secure.  If I started a new job in computers/IT now, I wouldn't be suprised to be laid off in a few years as companies only care about the shareholders not the employees.

Brian Elfert

Well as a person who has been in IT/computers and technical supprt of sorts for the last 14 years, Low pay, High stress and all that goes with the territory I am getting tired. I once had a bumper sticker " Working in Florida is a Tropical Depression ", That about sums it up...
( I have had other lives too and wore out a few way early !)

I applaud anyone who survives and actually can make a living at it ( IT )...

The Tax situation isn't a surprise here. It's a political thing, The counties want more money so they find ways to add riders and millage numbers
to the property tax bills. The Homestead deal and tax rate limits are flipped over whenever the property ownership changes, I inherited the property from my parents who had been paying $1,500 a year or so, That was limited to a 3% maximum cap per year.

With the title change the county decided to up the value of the property by almost $200,000 over the previous value and taxed me accordingly.
Now at over $3,500 a year and climbing it is not going to jump now more than 3% per year, However. The jump in property value is calculated with a new tool called "GREED" and the old dart board of how much can we screw homeowners. There's been a lot of complaints since our county went completely nuts in their values.

In reviewing the tax bill and hearing all the hoopla about how the state wants to lower property tax by increasing the sales tax rates. I looked at what caused my tax bill to go crazy. It was the " Schools " part that went up about 200% .. The supposed tax reductions proposed would not affect the schools part of the tax bill and in effect only cut a couple hundred off the overall taxes id even that much. Not drastic enough...
and sales tax would then be 7.5 to 9%  with the current sales tax the "already" 6.5% plus county addon taxes of 1/2 to 1% that are already collected.

Homeowners insurance is another nightmare. Mine this time was around $2,000, next year it will be more and could even be up to 40% more.
My house is a little over 25 years old and passed the insurance inspections without problems. However... Because I have to spend better than 50% of my annual takehome salary just to pay taxes and insurance I cannot afford to "maintain" or "repair" should anything major happen.

Ok, So 4 hurricanes in 2004... Tornado through my back yard on Christmas Day 2006, Tornado wiped out the south end of town 4 miles away on Feb 2,2007 and who knows what else will happen.. I figure I better get going and move out from under that dark cloud that has found me again to someplace with a more predictable weather pattern.

Rain I can do, Hot I can do, Cold I can do, But not all at the same time... That's what it's like living in Florida, Freeze at Night and turn on the A/C when the sun comes up. ( Lately ).. Swamp or Sweat.. It still is a nice place for most people but just not me. Been here too long and the land is a little too flat and sandy for me.....

[captain ron]

There is a huge exodus of people leaving Florida and moving to the Carolinas and Tennessee. Do to Property taxes, Hurricanes, Crime and more