Buying a house in Iowa...

CyPhallus

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Oct 19, 2021
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Not sure at all. It's not red and it's a lot thinner than a standard tomato based salsa. I am willing to conduct a field investigation on behalf of the site in a few weeks.
It is tomato based. One of the keys to the recipe is using a pretty hefty amount of the dirt cheap La Costena (or similar) pickled jalapenos also have carrots with them. When it all gets blended up with the added char on the tomatoes it does lose that red color so I can see why you would think that.
 

dmclone

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Oct 20, 2006
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I lived in Elkhorn and the taxes are $8,200 this year on the house I sold. I paid $5,400 this year on the house I live in Ames. The current assessed value for the house I left is about 390k and my Ames house is about 350k.
Yes, everyone knows that Texas has high property taxes because zero income tax.
 

AuH2O

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Sep 7, 2013
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For instance My last place was an acreage, close to a tiny town, closest "big City" was over 2 hours away. I had people wanting to buy my place before I even got it listed. They heard I might be moving and started calling. I put a price on it, and it sold instantly on a private sale(probably could have gotten a lot more). It is almost impossible to get an acreage there, because they sell before even going to open market. And in the last few years the price of acreages has doubled. An acreage that you paid 150K for a few years ago is now being listed for well over 300K, if not 400K+. And that is in an area about middle of nowhere there is.

Close to the DM metro, you wont touch a decent acreage for that, there are a few sub 500K, most good ones are north of 1M.

But to each his own. Some love the small town atmosphere, way more than city living.

You obviously havent priced acreages in Iowa lately. They have skyrocketed in price and rarely last on the market more than a few days, no matter where they are.

For instance My last place was an acreage, close to a tiny town, closest "big City" was over 2 hours away. I had people wanting to buy my place before I even got it listed. They heard I might be moving and started calling. I put a price on it, and it sold instantly on a private sale(probably could have gotten a lot more). It is almost impossible to get an acreage there, because they sell before even going to open market. And in the last few years the price of acreages has doubled. An acreage that you paid 150K for a few years ago is now being listed for well over 300K, if not 400K+. And that is in an area about middle of nowhere there is.

Close to the DM metro, you wont touch a decent acreage for that, there are a few sub 500K, most good ones are north of 1M.

But to each his own. Some love the small town atmosphere, way more than city living.
I don’t know, a quick search shows 22 available in a 50 mi radius of Humboldt of more than 2 acres under $300k.

Maybe that is skyrocketing, but compared to some houses in really small towns I don’t think it seems too bad.
 
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2speedy1

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Jan 4, 2014
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I don’t know, a quick search shows 22 available in a 50 mi radius of Humboldt of more than 2 acres under $300k.

Maybe that is skyrocketing, but compared to some houses in really small towns I don’t think it seems too bad.
Did you actually look at any of those for under 300K?

I just put in same search and anything under 300k was pretty rough, short of a possible deal or 2 in that radius. With that those lower priced places are going to come many times with tens of thousands in needed repairs and updates.

A 50mi radius is a huge radius esp for only 22 listings. 50m from would take you to the MN boarder, the edge of Ames, Clear Lake, Carrol, Spencer, etc.

With that in mind I find 1 acreage with an actual Humboldt address, with at least 2 acres. It is listed at $525K, actually its the only one in the entire Humboldt school district.

Watch out for the realtors that like to put acres instead of sq ft. I find a lot of acreages listed with something like 8,000 acres because the realtors put in the wrong info when it actually is 8000 sqft lot.
 
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WBCyclone

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The Casey's shoe totally fits. Pasquale's is solid, but it's that joint in town where the food is pretty average but the locals will fight you if you try to tell them it's anything less than life changing. In Fort Dodge it's Taco Tico. In Okoboji it's Taco House. Woody's Pizza in Estherville. Premier Pizza had that feel in Algona, but we found it on our own.
 

AuH2O

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Did you actually look at any of those for under 300K?

I just put in same search and anything under 300k was pretty rough, short of a possible deal or 2 in that radius. With that those lower priced places are going to come many times with tens of thousands in needed repairs and updates.

A 50mi radius is a huge radius esp for only 22 listings. 50m from would take you to the MN boarder, the edge of Ames, Clear Lake, Carrol, Spencer, etc.

With that in mind I find 1 acreage with an actual Humboldt address, with at least 2 acres. It is listed at $525K, actually its the only one in the entire Humboldt school district.

Watch out for the realtors that like to put acres instead of sq ft. I find a lot of acreages listed with something like 8,000 acres because the realtors put in the wrong info when it actually is 8000 sqft lot.
Yeah I didn’t look but assumed most of those needed some work. But when I was looking at houses in towns it seemed most of those were pretty hideous too.

And I can understand small town living appealing to people. The thing I don’t get is some of the towns where there are like no businesses or schools. It’s just a group of 400 people living in a neighborhood alongside maybe a Sparky’s and a public library.
 

2speedy1

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Yeah I didn’t look but assumed most of those needed some work. But when I was looking at houses in towns it seemed most of those were pretty hideous too.

And I can understand small town living appealing to people. The thing I don’t get is some of the towns where there are like no businesses or schools. It’s just a group of 400 people living in a neighborhood alongside maybe a Sparky’s and a public library.
To your first point, you are correct, it is true no matter city, small town or acreage, you get what you pay for, and if a deal looks too good to be true, there probably is a reason. So the cheaper houses regardless of where they are, usually have many reasons they are cheap.

As to your second, Some of that is for many various reasons, some possible examples:
  • It is all they have ever known
  • The cost of living is usually substantially cheaper, at least to a point, especially when many of these people have lived where they are for many years, so they are in a cheap or paid off house purchased at a much lower cost years ago.
  • Family and friends they live near, and dont want to move away.
  • Small town freedom, like lack of oversight by city governments and covenants.
  • Small towns have a lot less rules and laws and really less enforcers too.
  • smallest towns are usually actually cheaper than living in country on acreage, but also have some of the same freedoms as acreage, not to mention many times very large lots and less work/upkeep.
  • They really have no other place to go
  • They work at a local farm or ag operation.
  • They have a child or children in the school, and want or need to stay in that district.
  • They moved away, lived in a big city and didnt like it and moved back.
  • They moved away, lived in a big city, then after starting a family they wanted to raise their kids in a small town/school or where they grew up.
  • They lived in a large city or other areas and had lots of crime and poor schools and found Iowa and small town iowa much better.
  • they are older and retired, lived there or in that area all their life, or moved to a small town after retiring from an area farm etc.
  • Frankly a lot of people love small towns, and/or have absolutely no desire to move to anywhere else.
  • and many more.
I can probably name many people in each of the above categories, that i know personally, some in multiple categories. Honestly, I would bet many of the people that live in a small town have as many reasons they choose to or like to live in a small town as you do for living in a big city. It all comes down to personal choices and personal situations.

That being said I know many people that live in small towns (less than 1K population) that dont want to move, that commute more than an hour at times to places like Rochester MN, Mason City, Waterloo etc. They have no intention or desire to move. I was in a similar boat for a long time too. I commuted from a town of less than 1K, and also one less than 200 people for years, at minimum at least an hour 1 way, and sometimes over 2 hours 1 way. I had no intention on moving at that time, and didnt mind the commute really. It was just what I got used to. My rent was dirt cheap, I lived next to the bar(where I usually ate 2 meals a day), ---yes the town of less than 200 people had 2 bars, in the same block, that at the time were probably the most popular hang outs in a 30 mile radius. ---Then I bought a house cheap, then started a family and didnt want to move schools, then ended up in a shared custody situation that all but forced me to stay in the same school district.

But I also moved away from that location for many of the reasons you have said or probably have too, I wanted more opportunity for my family, wanted to be closer to things, wanted a stronger school system, and activities for my kids etc etc. (also throughout my life I had lived or been exposed to bigger towns and cities and wanted some of those amenities too)

Sometimes people just get stuck there, for a number of reasons and making a huge change/starting over somewhere new is difficult.
 
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Chitowncy

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I'm unique (just like everybody else). I have 4-5 acres right across the road from my place that is enrolled in the wildflower pollinator project. If I tried to replicate that on my acreage it would not only be redundant, but before long I would have the issue of cleaning up noxious weeds (ragweed, Canadian thistles, etc.) that I don't believe add any intrinsic beauty or value to my property besides all the volunteer trees that would inevitably take over with the amount of nut trees I have, let alone mulberries and such that the birds seem to bring me. I don't mind sharing my little corner of the world with the wildlife but don't feel responsible enough to them to create an environment for them that's better than what it is for me. Call me vain, but I would rather people drive by and think "Wow, that's a nice looking place" rather than saying "What a dump". People also confuse efforts to accommodate wildlife with providing a place to concentrate them for easier access by predictors.
Sure, to each their own and I respect and appreciate your perspective. I know a lot of people are like you. There are also people like me who see the acres and acres of lawns and think "what a waste" when driving by and would find it more beautiful to see it full of "wildness" even if there's a few weeds. Just so you know many of us wouldn't be seeing it as "a dump".

Regardless, sounds like a nice home and acreage you've got going! Enjoy!
 

BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
Yeah I didn’t look but assumed most of those needed some work. But when I was looking at houses in towns it seemed most of those were pretty hideous too.

And I can understand small town living appealing to people. The thing I don’t get is some of the towns where there are like no businesses or schools. It’s just a group of 400 people living in a neighborhood alongside maybe a Sparky’s and a public library.
You forgot the post office (although some of them are closing, a local town of 2000 lost their postmaster and the delivery folks have to drive to a neighboring town to pick up their mail deliveries) and the bar.
 

simply1

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I'm unique (just like everybody else). I have 4-5 acres right across the road from my place that is enrolled in the wildflower pollinator project. If I tried to replicate that on my acreage it would not only be redundant, but before long I would have the issue of cleaning up noxious weeds (ragweed, Canadian thistles, etc.) that I don't believe add any intrinsic beauty or value to my property besides all the volunteer trees that would inevitably take over with the amount of nut trees I have, let alone mulberries and such that the birds seem to bring me. I don't mind sharing my little corner of the world with the wildlife but don't feel responsible enough to them to create an environment for them that's better than what it is for me. Call me vain, but I would rather people drive by and think "Wow, that's a nice looking place" rather than saying "What a dump". People also confuse efforts to accommodate wildlife with providing a place to concentrate them for easier access by predictors.
Redundant extra wild space is certainly a weird phrase.
 
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1SEIACLONE

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You forgot the post office (although some of them are closing, a local town of 2000 lost their postmaster and the delivery folks have to drive to a neighboring town to pick up their mail deliveries) and the bar.
Most towns that have a couple thousand people still have their PO, but the smaller towns that surround the area have lost theirs or it now has limited hours. The cutoff for losing the PO is below a thousand for the town for the most part. Generally the mail service was transferred to the county seat in the 90s to early 00's.
 

cydnote

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Redundant extra wild space is certainly a weird phrase.
Agreed, I could have chosen to phrase that differently. My intent was to point out that I wouldn't have added anything in the area that wouldn't have already been available, regardless of the scope. But you already knew that.
 

CloneFanInKC

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Both of my parents are originally from Ida Grove. I was born in the Ida Grove hospital. I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents there. There are 4 things I remember about the town, from a child’s mind.

1. The yearly air show. It was absolutely amazing. I think it was stopped after a B52 crashed sometime in maybe the mid-90s.

2. The skating rink. Every damn Saturday we were there

3. The swans at the park next to the Pizza Hut. Someone else commented about this Pizza Hut.

4. For some reason, I remember a dang rocket slide and a park that we always visited. I’m pretty sure it was across the highway or near where the Pizza Hut was.

Anyway, other than my grandparents acreage outside of Ida Grove, these are my fond memories of that town. All are probably gone.
I loved that air show!
 

grig721

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I bought a home in Aspen 2 years ago and am now in the process of buying a second one. Aspen has a rich past as a mining town during the Colorado Silver Boom, and over time it has developed into one of the most sought-after real estate markets. Its natural beauty, excellent ski resorts, and vibrant culture make it a compelling place to invest.
 

Clonehomer

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I bought a home in Aspen 2 years ago and am now in the process of buying a second one. Aspen has a rich past as a mining town during the Colorado Silver Boom, and over time it has developed into one of the most sought-after real estate markets. Its natural beauty, excellent ski resorts, and vibrant culture make it a compelling place to invest.

Was the house cheap and high quality?
 

madguy30

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I bought a home in Aspen 2 years ago and am now in the process of buying a second one. Aspen has a rich past as a mining town during the Colorado Silver Boom, and over time it has developed into one of the most sought-after real estate markets. Its natural beauty, excellent ski resorts, and vibrant culture make it a compelling place to invest.

What does the beer flow like, and how do the women flock?
 

BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
I bought a home in Aspen 2 years ago and am now in the process of buying a second one. Aspen has a rich past as a mining town during the Colorado Silver Boom, and over time it has developed into one of the most sought-after real estate markets. Its natural beauty, excellent ski resorts, and vibrant culture make it a compelling place to invest.
The bots are up to 12 posts now? Man, they are becoming regulars.
 

CloneLawman

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Wherever I go, there I am.
I bought a home in Aspen 2 years ago and am now in the process of buying a second one. Aspen has a rich past as a mining town during the Colorado Silver Boom, and over time it has developed into one of the most sought-after real estate markets. Its natural beauty, excellent ski resorts, and vibrant culture make it a compelling place to invest.
Is the Aspen area at least 6'9"? How pointy are its elbows?
 

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