Help me find a place to move.

[caitlinsmom]

We will be putting our house up for sale this week. We are already reciveing calls for showings. Things are moving here.

 

Anyway we have always talked about moving to northern Maine, mainly because of the cheap cost of housing. However we want to have a few more options throughout the country. So this is our list of wants, if you know of a place that meets some of these let me know! :)

 

1. HS friendly

2. Cheap housing, and I dont mean 150K cheap I mean rock bottom C.H.E.A.P, like 70K (or lower) for a 3bd. (Yes these do exist)

3. Fairly cool in summer, no baking 90 and over days for us anymore! (Humidity is fine, actually more prefered)

4. Small town within an hour or two to a decent sized city.

5. HS group available

 

I know its a list, but surely somplace besides Maine fits it! :)

[ravengal]

Northeast Ohio fits your bill. Most of the hs groups are conservative Christian here, but secular, inclusive groups can be found.

[Aubrey]

You had me until you got to the heat requirement. I guess triple-digit summers put us off your list? ;)

[newbie]

Alaska?????

[tnmomofboys]

I searched the local MLS to see what was available and here is a link to a house in Whitwell TN. http://www.chattanoogamls.net/(tt5t1n55afuew0v2h0ynkjfg)/propertyDetails.aspx?mls=1126121

About 40 minutes from Chattanooga. It is warm in the summer but not oppressive. If you have seen the documentary Paper Clips then you may have heard of it. It is where the local middle school did a project on the Holocaust.http://www.paperclipsmovie.com/synopsis.php

The area is very picturesque. I don't live there but have driven through on the way to a crafts festival.

[MamaT]

I'm not sure if you could find a house for that price here (maybe?), but otherwise the mountains of Western North Carolina fits the bill.

[Guest Katia]

Central Iowa fits all your requirements....with the possible exclusion of a local hs group. However, they do exist and can be found if not in the town you choose, perhaps in a neighboring town.

[RoughCollie]

Pittsburgh and environs fits your housing needs.

 

I have no idea what it is like to homeschool there, though.

[newbie]

Pittsburgh and environs fits your housing needs.

 

I have no idea what it is like to homeschool there, though.

 

Isnt Pitt horribly humid in summer.

[DawnM]

I would look at Michigan. So, can you work from wherever? Are you that flexible?

[vettechmomof2]

We will be putting our house up for sale this week. We are already reciveing calls for showings. Things are moving here.

 

Anyway we have always talked about moving to northern Maine, mainly because of the cheap cost of housing. However we want to have a few more options throughout the country. So this is our list of wants, if you know of a place that meets some of these let me know! :)

 

1. HS friendly

2. Cheap housing, and I dont mean 150K cheap I mean rock bottom C.H.E.A.P, like 70K (or lower) for a 3bd. (Yes these do exist)

3. Fairly cool in summer, no baking 90 and over days for us anymore! (Humidity is fine, actually more prefered)

4. Small town within an hour or two to a decent sized city.

5. HS group available

 

I know its a list, but surely somplace besides Maine fits it! :)

There are some homes around here still selling for under $75,000 and not needing any major repairs.

HS friendly for the most part, you get used to the law quickly.

Summers are okay because we get a very seperate 4 seasons.

Small town setting with the closeness factor of city settings within an hour.

Secular and Christian Homeschool groups available.

Northeastern PA. Some town names are Montrose, New Milford, Hallstead, Great Bend. Susquehanna County PA.

Good luck

[Laurie4b]

Pittsburgh and environs fits your housing needs.

 

I have no idea what it is like to homeschool there, though.

 

Pennsylvania has very burdensome homeschool laws compared to other states.

[Jennifer in MI]

I agree with MI!! I live in an area that's a bit more expensive than that. But, there are parts of MI that are cheaper. My sister just bought a really nice 1300 sq ft, 3 br, 2 ba house in W MI for $69,000.

 

PM me if you have more questions! Homeschooling is a breeze here and the weather surely fits your bill!

[jpklehm]

Yep, Michigan fits all your requirements. I don't think you can find an easier state to homeschool in than Michigan, and it's beautiful here. Lots to see and do, many homeschool groups, a terrific symphony, art institute, and science center! Check us out at

 

http://www.michigan.org/

 

and at

 

http://www.michigan.gov/.

 

Enjoy and good luck!

PAM

[K&Rs Mom]

We have ALL of those things! I'm in a small town (less than 5K people), with a small "downtown" area (about 8 square blocks) and rural surroundings, about 45 min from 3 different larger cities (one is 2nd biggest in MI) and 3 hours to Chicago or Detroit. We have a homeschool group in town, plus others if you're willing to drive. Michigan requires NO reporting to school districts or registration requirements. We do get 100" of snow most winters, but not all at once and it's all gone now. :D Summer days hit 90 degrees maybe 7-10 times, if that. You can get a fixer-up house for $40K, one in good shape for under $100K, probably $80K if you spend some time searching.

[Karen sn]

Alaska?????

 

No cheap housing there.

[Tutor]

You had me until you got to the heat requirement. I guess triple-digit summers put us off your list? ;)

 

I was thinking the same thing for here. But that's why they invented a/c and mint juleps, right? ;)

[MamaSheep]

Wyoming? It has the added bonus of no income tax.

[whitestavern]

My sister lives in Morgantown, WV which is a college town w/lots to offer, very affordable housing and close to Pittsburgh. I don't know anything about homeschooling in WV though...perhaps someone from there could pipe in...

[SherryTX]

We will be putting our house up for sale this week. We are already reciveing calls for showings. Things are moving here.

 

Anyway we have always talked about moving to northern Maine, mainly because of the cheap cost of housing. However we want to have a few more options throughout the country. So this is our list of wants, if you know of a place that meets some of these let me know! :)

 

1. HS friendly

2. Cheap housing, and I dont mean 150K cheap I mean rock bottom C.H.E.A.P, like 70K (or lower) for a 3bd. (Yes these do exist)

3. Fairly cool in summer, no baking 90 and over days for us anymore! (Humidity is fine, actually more prefered)

4. Small town within an hour or two to a decent sized city.

5. HS group available

 

I know its a list, but surely somplace besides Maine fits it! :)

 

Well - #3 ruled out TX. It can be pretty cheap down here.

Maine is absolutely beautiful! I am from NH and loved to visit Maine. NH is nice too (depending on where you go) but I have found the north east is very expensive. I would love to move back up there some day, but there is no way - even though we make a lot more than we did up there, we could afford a house.

TX is very friendly for home schoolers as well. On second thought - perhaps the pan handle area would work for you?

[kalanamak]

Central Iowa fits all your requirements....with the possible exclusion of a local hs group. However, they do exist and can be found if not in the town you choose, perhaps in a neighboring town.

 

Central Iowa stays below 90??

[Brindee]

Western Washington, Puget Sound area--We sound pretty close except the housing costs. You can find SOME, but not much near there. Our "cheap" has really gone up in the last few years! Where I live, the housing is much cheaper than the Seattle side. But, it's gorgeous here! I LOVE it! We have small cities, and large (Seattle), sports teams (except we don't have basketball anymore, but we do have a soccer team now!), water, mountains, cleaner air than many places, and it's EASY to homeschool here! We get into the 90's sometimes in August. :)

[Starr]

There is always Northern New York. You have to go to Ottawa to find your big city but it's a fabulous one. We have a couple of college towns and housing is in your range. Ok, well it is a long ways from a highway to take you home to visit your relatives. But I am making the best of it. :)

[LUV2EDU]

You had me until you got to the heat requirement. I guess triple-digit summers put us off your list? ;)

:iagree:

[MommyJo]

I am in Eastern Tennessee and it seems to fit your bill. We live in a medium sized town and there are even smaller outlying towns that have fairly cheap housing. Also, you get the benefit of cheap housing with acreage and we have beautiful mountain views everywhere. Anywhere you go, into any shop you can see mountains in the distance. The best part is the winters are no longer very, very cold and the summers hardly ever get to 100 plus degrees. Nighties mostly and occasionally you have the 100s but that's on occasion. It's worth a look. :) We love it and wouldn't move for anything. The biggest perk for us is....the SAFETY!! There is hardly any "real" crime where we are. There are also some very nice homeschooling groups because we are in the mix of three different larger cities that "have it all". I know of at least 4 homeschooling co ops that run all week. Oh and the best thing is one of our local homeschooling groups offers a prom for hs children in junior and senior years, year books with homeschool pictures twice a year. And that's just a little.

[caitlinsmom]

Western Washington, Puget Sound area--We sound pretty close except the housing costs. You can find SOME, but not much near there. Our "cheap" has really gone up in the last few years! Where I live, the housing is much cheaper than the Seattle side. But, it's gorgeous here! I LOVE it! We have small cities, and large (Seattle), sports teams (except we don't have basketball anymore, but we do have a soccer team now!), water, mountains, cleaner air than many places, and it's EASY to homeschool here! We get into the 90's sometimes in August. :)

 

We ADORE the pacific northwest! We lived in Portland area for a couple of years and would love to go back. We just couldnt afford it. When we started this whole searching bit PNW was the first place to check out and I didnt even find foreclosures in eastern WA for under 100K. <<<Sigh>>>

 

We have the ability to work anywhere we just dont make a lot at all. So the housing above all else is most important.

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I dont think Michigan has ever been on my radar so I will be checking that out for sure. We spent the night looking at WI and MN. We liked what we saw around the Twin Cities and will definatly be looking there more.

 

Any more suggestions?

[Kim in Appalachia]

East TN or SE KY would fit your bill. You can get a nice house fairly cheap, we are an hr from a major city, but we do get a few weeks of 90 degree weather.

[TXMomof4]

Well - #3 ruled out TX. It can be pretty cheap down here.

 

TX is very friendly for home schoolers as well. On second thought - perhaps the pan handle area would work for you?

 

The panhandle is HOT and WINDY and DRY. I grew up there and while it's beautiful, it isn't where I'd choose to live if I was given a choice.

 

Texas is just hot in the summer all over. You're going to have 100^ several times a summer - if not most of the summer no matter what part of the state you live in.

[Melora in NC]

Another vote for western North Carolina! The weather is beautiful, there are lots of homeschoolers, and we are less than an hour from Winston-Salem. Lots of houses in your price range, too.

[DawnM]

I would move to the Pacific NW in a heartbeat if DH would agree!!!!! I lived in Seattle for 4 years in college and LOVED it! The only reason I moved to CA was because the grad school I needed couldn't be found in WA at that time.....

 

Dawn

 

Western Washington, Puget Sound area--We sound pretty close except the housing costs. You can find SOME, but not much near there. Our "cheap" has really gone up in the last few years! Where I live, the housing is much cheaper than the Seattle side. But, it's gorgeous here! I LOVE it! We have small cities, and large (Seattle), sports teams (except we don't have basketball anymore, but we do have a soccer team now!), water, mountains, cleaner air than many places, and it's EASY to homeschool here! We get into the 90's sometimes in August. :)

[BikeBookBread]

I have two suggestions. One will make you think I'm a crazy woman :lol:, and the other not so crazy, but you will just need to do a bit of searching:

 

1) Minot, ND. I know everyone complains about the HS climate in ND, but I just DON'T see it! My girls were tiny while we were there, but I had a large circle of HSing friends while we were there, and not one complained about a negative climate towards HSers. If you can survive the winter (and it is BRUTAL believe me) you will love it. Besides, you get some BRAGGING RIGHTS that you live someplace as cold as Siberia. The people are the most amazing, wonderful, genuine I have ever met. The only reason we moved was because Uncle Sam told us to. :001_smile: The summers can be warm, with a few days well above 90, but are humid, certainly not blistering like here in Almost Mexico AZ! Some crazy weather -- at the north end of Tornado Alley. It has 4 Seasons, a nice farmers markets for 6 months out of the year, a really old-fashioned zoo (that would drive PETA nuts), a decent mall with a Barnes & Noble, multi-plex, a decent sporting good's store, Norsk Hostfest in the fall (North America's largest Scandinavian festival...really fun and folksy), a real State Fair (not big, but fun), a Starbucks (we cheered when it opened), a good hospital, a beautiful Y, lots of churches (I can recommend there, too), parks, curling clubs :001_smile:, extremely low crime, a civic opera that's half decent and arts in the park in the summer. Bismarck (90 mins from Minot) is a decent-sized city, but honestly, Minot has almost everything that Bismarck does and the housing is really, really affordable. I can even give you the name of a real estate agent...a really decent single Dad who is HSing his kiddoes. He chose that profession so he would have flexibility with his time.

 

2) Olympia, WA. My husband and I are both from Washington State, outside of Seattle. It is SOOOOO liberal there that you can do whatever you want! HA! But I wouldn't suggest Olympia proper, but the areas outlying...towards the coast is beautiful (Montesano is a really cute town, and west) and not difficult to get to multiple big cities -- Olympia, Tacoma, etc.) South of Olympia is rural and agricultural and still quite reasonable in areas. In fact, we have been looking to buy land in this area when DH retires out of the AF so that we can spread out a bit and have a bit of rural buffer...we've had enough of living 10 feet from our neighbor.

 

God bless your home sale! We're facing this challenge next year as we anticipate Uncle Sam's phone call again soon.

[SonshineLearner]

Tulsa, Oklahoma was nice when we were there.

Carrie:-)

[GWOB]

Nebraska! Everyone always forgets about us. I like that though. Less people=less crazy people. We are in the southeastern part of the state near the Missouri River. Homeschooling is super easy here. You just tell the state what curriculum you are using every year and they leave you alone. We are about 1hr. from Lincoln and 1 hr. from Omaha, both rather large cities with everything you could ever want. There are a lot of nice small towns near Lincoln or Omaha with cheap, affordable housing. The eastern part of the state has a moderate climate. The summers are appropriately warm, with only a day or two of 90 degree weather before it cools down. Winters are extremely do-able. The western parts of the state experiences more extreme weather- super hot in the summer and insanely cold in the winter. If you'd like more info just pm me.

[ciyates]

We too are planning on buying in Northern Maine AFTER our son is finished HS. Friends who HS there tell us how difficult it is.

 

Now where we currently live is great for HS. It is the most HS friendly area I have ever been. Housing can be found between 40k-100 depending on what you want. I can give you a name of a great real estate agent who will be happy to work with you. We are 30 minutes from Cincinnati Ohio (which has great museums and other wonderful educational resources). Summer can get up to 90 but don't stay that way for more than a few days. We have decent skiing and water sports in the summer.

 

Ohh the area is Lawrenceburg Indiana.

[BikeBookBread]

Oh, I forgot EASTERN Washington! Spokane is a great area. Has everything that Seattle has, just less of it (except for major league sports...) Still some very reasonable parts, but it, too, is creeping up. Just over the border into Idaho is nice. Lots of mountains and just beautiful.

[caitlinsmom]

I like the look of North Carolina. Very Pretty! I will show dh the area too.

 

Anyone have any opinions of Bemidji and the surrounding areas (clear over to Moorehead)? This area looked nice and rural (the way we like it lol) but still close enough to bigger and big cities.

 

Michigan moms.....any reccomends on specific areas to look at? I know I do not want to look anywhere near Detroit so probably western MI.

 

Oh and I have looked at NE. I liked some of what I saw but Dh says way to flat and he isnt a fan of tornadoes. Go figure. :D

[Guest Katia]

Central Iowa stays below 90??

 

Easily below. We've lived here for 10 years now, and I've never seen 90......I've seen 80's and humid (this never lasts long)......but I've also seen 60-70 the entire month of June.

[kalanamak]

Easily below. We've lived here for 10 years now, and I've never seen 90......I've seen 80's and humid (this never lasts long)......but I've also seen 60-70 the entire month of June.

 

WOW, you learn something new every day. I'd have bet a 1000 bucks it was as hot there as Missouri and Nebraska. I have often wondered about why Iowa has some of the schools and other things it has. This might well be the answer. Heck, maybe I'll retire there!

[TN Mama]

I love living in East TN. I live near the largest city over this way and not only is it very hs friendly, but it is gorgeous! It is hottest in July & August where our average temps are in the high 80's. There are several hs groups, enrichment programs, co-ops and classes. If you have any specific questions, I'm more than happy to answer. Good luck!

[MamaT]

While you're looking in NC, you might want to look further west. We live just north of Asheville. It is very rural where we live, but close enough to Asheville, Charlotte, and Greenville/Spartanburg, SC.

[clementine]

Anyone have any opinions of Bemidji and the surrounding areas (clear over to Moorehead)? This area looked nice and rural (the way we like it lol) but still close enough to bigger and big cities.

 

I love the Bemidji/Brainerd/Walker area!! It is so beautiful! We used to visit an aunt there when I was in jr. high/high school. I think there are a fair amount of homeschoolers up there too. Definitely worth looking into.