Where to move if you have $500,000
 

If you have about $500,000 to buy a home and the "stuff" you need to live - and you have about $3,000/month income - what would be a good place to move?

It has to be relatively safe and clean. Not too hot, but nice climate most of the year AND - good, fresh and "cheap" food. The kind where you can go to the boats and get fish that is just a few hours old....

If the women looks good, that is not a negative :1orglaugh

bora bora - i wish to stay here forever

costa rica

all yr Summer country, my dream

I hear good things about Costa Rica....

I see that you live in Texas... That was actually one of my childhood dreams. Move to Texas, get a ranch, be a cowboy and play music with Charlie Daniels :1orglaugh

funds in motion :winkwink:

Poland :-)

I would need a boat :1orglaugh Do they have internet at Bora Bora? Seriously....

Australia. Best climate in the world, safe, clean, democratic, friendly and one of the best health systems in the world. For $500,000 you can buy a house close to a University, live downstairs and rent out 4 rooms upstairs at $150 per week which will give you an extra $2,400 a week on top of that $3,000.

And if I recall they are making porn illegal. so if you work in this industry you might want to think twice about that option.

I kind of like Poland. I have been there twice, just as a tourist. Food is cheap and good, women are beautiful, but.... Most of the places I have seen is kind of depressing. Gray and a bit dirty. Warsaw center was nice. Stayed at a hotel next door to the president palace. Good place. Krakow was also nice. A lot of history in Poland. And a lot of men with mustaches :1orglaugh But... winters can be HARD there!

Nop, not correct. They are not making porn illegal.

i like move

new york

Good suggestion!! I like Australians, mate!

In general - a nice and medium big house in the suburbs of Sidney or Canberra - How much, approx., would that cost? USD500k would be enough?

Cool place, but too noisy! 2 weeks holiday yes, live there - noooo! And as I understand from my father in law - too damn hot during summer!

Dubai :winkwink:

Nah but how about curacao or Aruba?

San Diego , but hurry before the home prices go up.

Baja California can be fun.

~Ray

Take my advice and stay out of Sydney unless you like Muslims.
Canberra is the capitol and beautiful, but very cold. I would recommend Perth or Brisbane.
Brisbane is the best, next to the Gold Coast and North Coast tourist areas and probably the safest city in Australia. A house can go from around 300,000 upwards. I would suggest a good brick two level that will cost just under the 500,000. But keep in mind the Aussie dollar is volatile. Right now its too high, but when it drops it goes freefall and you can turn that 500,000 into 800,000 and buy two houses.

Czech Republick !

Cyprus! Check it out.

:thumbsup Thank you! Making a note about this. I have been thinking about moving for a year or so, but got to make sure that the place where I finally settle, is the right place.

Will book a holiday trip and visit Brisbane sometime in feb.- march. Visit first and see and "feel" the place :)

yup texas is super cheap to live aswell

no state taxes :D

Mercer's ranking for best cities

1 Vienna Austria 108.6
2 Zürich Switzerland 108
3 Geneva Switzerland 107.9
4 Vancouver Canada 107.4
5 Auckland New Zealand 107.4
6 Düsseldorf Germany 107.2
7 Frankfurt Germany 107
8 Munich Germany 107
9 Bern Switzerland 106.5
10 Sydney Australia 106.3

But if you can handle living in a warm climate close to jungle or on an Island I myself would choose Costa Rica or Curacao

Good luck and hope you find YOUR spot ;-)

Recommend you stay in Lennons Hotel in the Queens st mall. Its the centre of the city. While there, take a day trip down up to Steve Irwins Australia zoo. Also take a trip to Movie World, Dream World and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Then get on a bus and head inland to Stanthorpe to see the REAL australia. Stay overnight and back to Brisbane the next morning.

you have $500,000 cash and only a $3,000 a month income?

guess that would be pretty typical for an adult webmaster these days :Oh crap

36k annual income ... thats not going to get you far at all here in the states.

Your best plan is to rent. You do not have the money to have a home at this time. Even without a mortgage payment if you blew $500k on the house the upkeep, taxes, utilities would far outweigh the $3k. If your $3k is your top end revenue, plan on loosing 50% over time with a downturn ... then you are truly hosed.

Rent a place and work towards a MINIMUM of $6k a month post taxes ... bank the interest on the 500k for a few years.

ive always wanted to go to london to live

St. Louis, MO

The only place I would buy a place would be the south of France (must be the most solid real estate climate in the world!), all the rest -> just rent.

But with 500K$ you wouldn't get that far :-(

A nice apartment is doable!

new york hands down.

with 500k?

I hope he's ok living in a shoebox in a bad part of town, lol

Not here - median home price for the island is about $525k but you could easily live in most of Kitsap County for that much or over the sound in Seattle.

Boquete Panama google it you will see it is in the top no5 places to retire. i am not retired but i love this place.

What that man said. Living here near Brno is great. Loveliest women and very broad minded, great cost of living and for $500,000 you can get a nice house and have a nice chunk of change left over. You can come and live near me. :1orglaugh

http://www.paulmarkham.com/temp/home.jpg

Or I can rent you a room or two.

actually, you can move to where I live in central Pennsylvania. I lived in LA for years and thought it was were I'm going to spend the rest of my life, but moved back to PA to be with friends and family.

really nice houses go for $300-$400k, you can buy a small mansion for $500k. property taxes in most areas are inexpensive. I really like it because its CLEAN and there is a good amount of things to do, plus the night life scene is pretty cool too.

Yeah its the north east, but you are 1 to 1.5 hours from philly, 2.5 from NYC and 2.5 from DC.

Florida near tampa sounds good or southeast louisiana. Hell you could buy a nice house in either location for 300 - 350K both places could tend to be a little hot in the summer.

camgirls had 300K cash and $0 income. You never know where people with little montly income get their "lump sums" from, but in most cases it isn't from savings, obviously. They likely just came into money from other sources like a lawsuit or inheritance etc , in most cases at least.

states with no state taxes usually rape you somewhere else like prop taxes or state sales taxes. If they don't get it from one source they typically make up for it in others.

Also, in his situation, on 36K a year, the no state income taxes really wouldn't save him that much. If he is buying a 500K house he needs to focus on a location with lower prop taxes not so much worried about state income taxes.

Must not make an age or fossil joke or mention a burial plot. ... . :pimp

Malpais, Costa Rica Beach House $350k

If you like Costa Rica.... check out that link... Mel Gibson would live down the street
*finally a reason to get drunk and FIGHT!!! *

Nicaragua. All of the perks of Costa Rica but much less expensive. Check out San Juan Del Sur.

Texas, bro. I've lived here six years and I would never live elsewhere in the US. You can buy a beautiful ~4000sq. ft. house for around $350k (where I live, in North Austin) in fantastic neighborhoods with excellent schools, and with very low property taxes.

Also, we have a bevy of excellent and inexpensive dining options here. :)

Prague,nothing else.You can live as king with that income there(since you wont have rent cost then)

upkeep on a 500K house that is in decent shape? i lived in a house for over 10 years - the landlord put ZERO into upkeep until he was ready to sell, did roof repair and a new fence and patio for the yard. if something major needed done he's got 500K equity to borrow against.

taxes at most 500 a month, utilities 500 a month - the house is paid for, there are tons of older people living in homes bought in the 60's paid off long ago with fixed retirement income of 3K per month.

bank the interest for a few years? at 3%? that ain't gonna do much for him.

Thailand. Get's pretty hot in the summer but it's so fucking cheap. you can just fly to the UK or EU.

I wouldn't go near Nicaragua, many reasons, Costa Rica is beyond beautiful. You can get an amazing house for a decent price near the beach and surrounded by nature. Most locals speak English and are educated (and wouldn't you know it they are NICE) and they all take dollars its very practical...

North Idaho! Alot of Californians have discovered it. It's a great time to buy real estate. You can buy a gorgeous piece of property for alot less than $500k. There are many beautiful large lakes. You get four seasons. You get show in the winter, but it is not bone chilling cold like the Great Plains.

New York or San Diego.

Get yourself a nice apartment and enjoy the city.

If you want to go outside the US I would recommend:

Argentina
Costa Rica
Uruguay

:) Don't worry so much about the $3000. My actual income is higher and so is my wife's income :)

Australia sounds interesting. France as well, as I like France very much. Or living as a cowboy in Texas... :1orglaugh

What I have been thinking a lot about is Spain. Climate is good, decent pricing on houses. Good food and wine. Not so much hot women, but... I am married, so I guess that is enought :D Czech Republic, I have just been to Prague and Kutna Hora. Prague is awesome. My wife say she would like to live in Prague.

Costa Rica looks and sounds like a prefect place for me, but my wife is not so sure...

I will take a look at all the places suggested. Thanks, all!

Don't do it!

I hate to be a downer, but it sounds to me like you haven't been there for a while, and have never lived there.