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Why would anyone from California want to move to Arkansas?

By
Real Estate Agent with King Realty Group

I hope I don't open the proverbial can of worms.....but this is starting to happen more often that many people want to admit. Why? Well, it's actually fairly simple math. For example, a small family is working hard living the "American Dream" in California living in a 1300sf, 2 BR, 1BA 30 year old home that cost the family $250,000-$350,000 when they bought the home 5 years ago and it's now worth approx. $475,000. They sell the home for $450,000 , lets say, and they loaded up the truck and moved from Beverly....Hills that is...swimming pools.....movie stars.....and they find the best kept secret in America. The Mid-South, Arkansas, home of beautiful Lakes and Rivers, hunting, fishing, no traffic, 15 minute drive to anything. R U Kidding me? NO! Here is the best part, the family finds a home in Fort Smith, Arkansas with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, over 2,000 square feet a fenced yard on a half acre lot for $180,000. The family puts the rest of the profits from the sale of the California home in the bank or some other interest bearing investment and pay cash for little Johnny's College Education at the University of Arkansas which is onlt 45 minutes away. That only leaves the family somewhere around $295,000 to pay for college, invest, pay cash for a new car, etc.

NOW, WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER WANT TO MOVE FROM CALIFORNIA TO ARKANSAS.

Fact: Two-Thirds of the investors that my company assisted in purchasing multi-family property last year were from California, Arizona, Colorado

Tim Maitski
Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage - Atlanta, GA
Truth, Excellence and a Good Deal
Kevin,  Great strategy.  I see many people doing that here in Atlanta.  You still get a nice home for $200,000 on the outskirts of the metro area and still be pretty close to all of the amenities of a great city.  I'll have to check out Arkansas a little more.
Mar 18, 2007 05:41 AM
Fayette Wester
Scottsdale, AZ

The Sept. issue of SmartMoney had a cover article about cashing out now and living off your investments.  A big part of the strategy for most who had accomplished this was to move from a higher cost state to one that was more affordable.  They then invested their equity and lived off the revenue from that, and often scaled back their lifestyle to make it work.  Everyone in the article seemed really happy.  :-D

Oct 03, 2007 11:14 AM