Bidding war on houses

[CS1983]

Im suprised that you guys are moving to places with Much larger populations and states that are less than half the size of Colorado.

We're looking at NE Oklahoma. Biggest reasons: Oklahoma is what Texas likes to claim to be (and once was a few decades ago until the bugs that are Austin and Houston infected the state), CHEAP land in comparison to here, job availability is good, cost of living is good, population is not looking at a huge boom, water is good (CO is screwed on this), politically very sane. A lot of other places have a few of these factors but not all.

CO has a better density rating than OK, but a lot of that open land is unreachable or so out in the boonies that one would either need to be independently wealthy or have a unique job position. And then one is still stuck with the political insanity coming out of Denver and Boulder. Did I mention the water issue?

[Martinjmpr]

We're looking at NE Oklahoma. Biggest reasons: Oklahoma is what Texas likes to claim to be (and once was a few decades ago until the bugs that are Austin and Houston infected the state), CHEAP land in comparison to here, job availability is good, cost of living is good, population is not looking at a huge boom, water is good (CO is screwed on this), politically very sane. A lot of other places have a few of these factors but not all.

CO has a better density rating than OK, but a lot of that open land is unreachable or so out in the boonies that one would either need to be independently wealthy or have a unique job position. And then one is still stuck with the political insanity coming out of Denver and Boulder. Did I mention the water issue?

Whereabouts in NE OK? My mother came from a small town in NE OK, called Barndsall in Osage County. Although I was born in Germany my earliest memories are of Barnsdall in the mid 1960's.

The Osage hills are gorgeous, but just know that it's hot, humid and buggy in the Summer (if you've ever experienced chiggers, you'll know what I mean.) On the plus side, good hunting and fishing, dirt cheap to live there.

Wife and I went back there in 2014. The area is pretty economically depressed, except for Bartlesville (HQ of Phillips Petroleum.) My sister was born in the county seat, Pawhuska, and when we went to Pawhuska it was like a ghost town - virtually all the downtown buildings were empty and some even had collapsed roofs.

For a retiree it's probably OK (which explains why the average age in Barnsdall seems to be well north of 50) but for anyone who has to earn a living it's tough going - most of them flee to the big cities once they finish high school

I think Tulsa is doing pretty well, being a big enough city to be self sustaining but a lot of the small towns seem to teeter on the brink of a boom-and-bust cycle.

[Great-Kazoo]

Whereabouts in NE OK? My mother came from a small town in NE OK, called Barndsall in Osage County. Although I was born in Germany my earliest memories are of Barnsdall in the mid 1960's.

The Osage hills are gorgeous, but just know that it's hot, humid and buggy in the Summer (if you've ever experienced chiggers, you'll know what I mean.) On the plus side, good hunting and fishing, dirt cheap to live there.

Wife and I went back there in 2014. The area is pretty economically depressed, except for Bartlesville (HQ of Phillips Petroleum.) My sister was born in the county seat, Pawhuska, and when we went to Pawhuska it was like a ghost town - virtually all the downtown buildings were empty and some even had collapsed roofs.

For a retiree it's probably OK (which explains why the average age in Barnsdall seems to be well north of 50) but for anyone who has to earn a living it's tough going - most of them flee to the big cities once they finish high school

I think Tulsa is doing pretty well, being a big enough city to be self sustaining but a lot of the small towns seem to teeter on the brink of a boom-and-bust cycle.

You forgot the fire ants, ticks and Tornadoes. Then there's the big as ping pong ball june bugs.

[CS1983]

Whereabouts in NE OK? My mother came from a small town in NE OK, called Barndsall in Osage County. Although I was born in Germany my earliest memories are of Barnsdall in the mid 1960's.

The Osage hills are gorgeous, but just know that it's hot, humid and buggy in the Summer (if you've ever experienced chiggers, you'll know what I mean.) On the plus side, good hunting and fishing, dirt cheap to live there.

Wife and I went back there in 2014. The area is pretty economically depressed, except for Bartlesville (HQ of Phillips Petroleum.) My sister was born in the county seat, Pawhuska, and when we went to Pawhuska it was like a ghost town - virtually all the downtown buildings were empty and some even had collapsed roofs.

For a retiree it's probably OK (which explains why the average age in Barnsdall seems to be well north of 50) but for anyone who has to earn a living it's tough going - most of them flee to the big cities once they finish high school

I think Tulsa is doing pretty well, being a big enough city to be self sustaining but a lot of the small towns seem to teeter on the brink of a boom-and-bust cycle.

Looking at the Bartlesville area, or perhaps south of Tulsa -- depends on where I get an offer and what's available. I'm in contact with some folks in the oil industry out there. One guy works for a company that does pipeline servicing and has never had a layoff. Said the IT market is great out there since the talent pool is so low. The companies to stay away from are the exploration ones, since they boom and bust, and their site servicers for the boom. He also said ohh... what was it, American Airlines? is known as a sweat shop for IT and to stay away if possible.

Since I'm perm-med retired I can still take a paycut and be that much more ahead of my peers each month.

Best situation would be if national level housing busted but Colorado held due to influx. We'd make out like bandits. Not that I *wish* for that, but I'd take advantage if possible.