The Best States To Move To and States People Are Leaving
In this blog, we will cover and discuss the best states to move to and states people are leaving. The coronavirus outbreak in February 2020 has changed the way we live forever. The whole country shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak or so-called pandemic. A lot of fear-mongering was going on by most state governors.
The coronavirus fear has created new challenges for some and opportunities for other Americans. We will cover and discuss how the coronavirus outbreak has changed the way we live and work. More and more companies are going virtual if they can and changing to a remote workforce. A remote workforce is also creating opportunities for workers to move anywhere they like out of state and find affordable housing.
How Coronavirus Outbreak Has Changed The Way Americans Work
The coronavirus outbreak not only shut down the whole country for an extended period of time, but it also changed the way we work. Many workers went virtual and minimizing reporting to work and becoming remote workers seems to be the way of life in America. The coronavirus outbreak of 2022 has changed the workplace.
What Is The Future of Remote Work Post COVID-19 ERA
Remote workers were told them working remotely would be temporary. However, most employers like the fact remote workers are more productive saves the company the expensive brick-and-mortar expense and saves commuting time for everyone in an organization, the remote worker concept not only remains but has been growing exponentially post-COVID-19. In the following paragraphs, we will cover the best states to move to for remote workers and those who live in states they have been priced out of the housing market.
COVID-19 Outbreak Turns Many Companies Go Remote Workers
A large number of small and medium-sized companies changed their business model to remote workers. By going remote, a company saved tens of thousands of dollars in eliminating or downsizing its brick-and-mortar operations. Rent and office expenses are one of the largest expenses for any size business.
Remote Work Is Here To Stay
By going virtual, companies benefited not just from cutting their brick-and-mortar expenses but also from employees becoming much more productive. Going remote workers created opportunities for workers. Now, employees did not have to live nearby their brick and mortgage locations.
Remote Work Is a Permanent Fixture
Martin Blank, the director of business development for veterans at Preferred Mortgage Rates, Inc. has been doing research with his team at PMR and affiliate companies, and found the following:
Employees no longer needed to drive and be stuck in rush hour traffic for over an hour each way to work.
How COVID-19 Has Changed The Workplace
It is not just the commute time workers were eliminated, but also the skyrocketing cost of fuel and the wear and tear on their vehicles that were a bonus and unexpected benefit. The biggest opportunity out of this whole coronavirus fear-mongering national scare was the fact that workers can now purchase a home anywhere in the nation with no restrictions as to where the nearest brick-and-mortar location was. Technology came to the rescue with the COVID-19 outbreak in February 2020. There were thousands of hard-working Americans in many high-cost counties in California and other states priced out of the housing market due to high home prices.
Can Remote Workers Buy a House In Another State and Get a Mortgage?
Many Americans in California making well over six figures annually were priced out of the housing market for life. They could never afford a home in their area with their high salary. An average 2,000-square-foot home in Los Angeles has a medium price of $795,000. Now, remote workers have an opportunity to buy a house in a state with affordable housing and get a mortgage. The American dream of homeownership has been revived by many folks who gave up on ever owning a home.
There is no way in the world someone making $120,000 per year can afford a $795,000 home. This is when tens of thousands of homeowners in California and other high-taxed states had a massive exodus to lower-taxed states with low costs of living and affordable housing.
Employer Distance Requirements Versus Remote Workers
Never in American history have so many Americans taken the challenge of moving long distances because of better opportunities, not just low taxes and low cost of living, but mainly due to affordable housing.
People in California who completely gave up ever being a homeowner were not thinking twice to move to other low-taxed states with affordable housing such as Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, Utah, Missouri, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia, North Carolina, and a slew of other states where you get more of your money. America going remote employment opportunity now had every state in the nation compete with each other to keep its taxpayers from fleeing.
The Best States To Move To
Many people are not thinking twice about leaving their state for a better opportunity for themselves and their families. Many Americans in high-taxed states and high-taxed cities are leaving and headed to the best states to move to. The list is unanimous on the reasons why Americans in high-tax areas are fleeing in the tens of thousands. Housing prices have skyrocketed in the past few years. In the past two years, home prices surged 45%. Inflation is like an out-of-control freight train with no signs of slowing.
What If You Are Priced Out of Buying a Home?
Housing prices are becoming unattainable. Mortgage rates went from a historic low of 2.25% just over a year ago to over 7.25% today for prime borrowers. With housing prices skyrocketing, so are rents. A $1,500 apartment in a median-priced county one year ago is not renting for $2,300.
While home prices with surging with no sign of correction and mortgage rates are at a 20-year high with inflation out of control, the wages of an American worker still remain the same. We all know everything costs less in one state versus another. There are over a dozen states with no state income taxes.
The Best States To Move To With Low Cost of Living
You can get so much more bang for the buck in one state versus another. For example, a homebuyer of a two-bedroom, one-bath, on one-quarter of an acre $800,000 1,500 square foot home in Los Angeles County can purchase a similar home in Georgia for $160,000.
The best states to move to in the nation are states with low cost of living, strong job markets, affordable housing, great school system, low crime rate, low property taxes, few regulations, and growth-friendly. State governors are now competing for taxpayers and new businesses relocating to their home state.
States People Are Leaving
There are over a dozen states that are seeing a massive out-migration of taxpayers. It is not just taxpayers who are fleeing to the low cost of living and low-taxed states, but businesses of all sizes. Mom-and-pop shops to corporate giants are fleeing states like New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and a handful of other states due to mismanagement from politicians, high taxes, high out-of-control home prices, and dozens of other issues. Over 20% of our borrowers at Non-QM Mortgage Brokers are clients who are fleeing one state and moving to another state with a low cost of living and affordable housing.
High-Taxed Cities Losing Residents Fleeing To Low Cost of Living Areas
The Chicago Mayor To Raise Property Taxes to cover a $700 million budget shortfall. The U.S. economy has been booming prior to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the city of Chicago under the watch of Mayor Lori Lightfoot was barely scraping by. The city has been broke prior to the pandemic when other cities like Indiana are thriving and raking in billions in revenue.
Chicago is the highest-taxed major U.S. city. With consistent rising taxes, the city still cannot seem to get its finances together. The pension debt is mounting with no signs of relief. No matter how much you raise and/or create new taxes, there is no way the pension system can be fixed. With billions of dollars in debt, the pension debt keeps on increasing. The city needs pension reform. The current pension system is being run like a Ponzi Scheme. In order for pension reform, the governor needs to take action and make changes to the state constitution. Unfortunately, Governor J.B. Pritzker adamantly does not want pension reform.
Both the state of Illinois and Chicago do have higher tax rates and cost of living than other cities and states. Home prices are above the national average. The state of Illinois has the second-highest property tax rate in the country. The city of Chicago has the highest property tax rate in the nation compared to any major U.S. city. High property taxes devalue home prices.
Chicago had a financial crisis prior to the pandemic. However, Mayor Lightfoot and Governor JB Pritzker are saying the city and the state were fine prior to the pandemic and are seeking a federal bailout due to the coronavirus pandemic. Lightfoot, with the help of Pritzker, has been lobbying Washington for federal funding to fix the budget and the broken pension system. However, the answer is a flat big NO.
Chicago Mayor To Raise Property Taxes: Aldermen Criticize Mayor
Chicago has been under the control of Democrats for many decades. The city has always had an issue with financial irresponsibility and a habit of budget shortfalls. However, the city has never been under such a deep and severe financial crisis as it is now under the leadership of Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Even Democrat Aldermen are turning against Lightfoot. 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez, a frequent critic of Mayor Lightfoot, said the following:
Lori Lightfoot did not waste any time as soon as she took office last year in blaming former Mayor Rahm Emanuel for leaving her with an $838 million budget deficit. Lightfoot did not waste any time in hiking fees and taxes. Lightfoot immediately hikes fees on Lyft and Uber rides in downtown Chicago. The Mayor also more than doubled taxes on food and drinks in Chicago restaurants and bars.
Tens of thousands of businesses are fleeing Chicago to nearby suburbs. Many homeowners, especially elderly homeowners on a fixed income, can no longer afford the high property taxes in Chicago and are forced to leave. The exodus of individual taxpayers and businesses is compounding Chicago’s financial crisis. It is time for management change to salvage the city. The city needs competent politicians to fix Chicago’s major financial crisis.
