Been looking for a house for when I move my family back home from Korea, I really don't want to get into a super expensive house with the world the way it is. I want to live in a red state, with very few people and I love the mountains... the job market doesn't really matter to me as I own an online business and work from home, I do need decent internet.
I never thought about WV as a place to move to, but looking at some of the houses there seems to be some very decent houses for really cheap, I'm guessing the job market there sucks... but a few of these houses I could buy outright with what would be a down payment anywhere else.
Most of my family is in Charlotte, NC so it's not too too far, just curious about what it is like there.
West Virginia is pretty much the physical embodiment of EVERY southern stereotype, which is odd when you consider it's the only southern state that literally broke off to join the north in the civil war.
But I digress, massive religious Church going population, southern hospitality, generally friendly people who just wanna be left alone to live their lives, etc. etc. That being said, there's also a moderately large population of meth addicts/cookers throughout the state, but that's an unfortunate fact of anywhere in the U.S. with extreme poverty. In other words, it's because of the Job Market. The job market is kind of crap in West Virginia outside of the northern part of the state like Morgantown or the North Eastern part of the state near the Maryland and Virginia border.
The only reason Morgantown is doing so well compared to the rest of the state is because it's within driving distance to Pittsburgh so you can live in WV, and work in the second largest city in PA. Thus, opening up a much larger job market. The same concept applies to the far eastern part of the state near Maryland and Virginia. People who loathe the blue state politics of Maryland and Virginia (up until this point anyway) can live in West Virginia and work government jobs in Maryland and Virginia.
Outside of those two areas the entire rest of the state is dependent on one of two things. Coal mines in the south, central, and western part of the state. Which have been devastated by the last several decades of liberal trash energy policies. And Chemical plants placed throughout the state by fortune 500 companies headquartered in Ohio and Germany. Little bit of a random fact, West Virginia is the Chemical Capital of the world since it produces more advanced chemicals (chemicals that are made from base chemicals produced in petrochemical refineries) than anywhere else in the world per capita.
Anyway, so that's why the housing market is so affordable. The entire state is depressed except for a few select areas. You either have to work for the Feds in Maryland and Virginia and live in the North Eastern part of the state, work in Pittsburgh and live in the Morgantown area of North Central West Virginia, or be lucky enough to get hired at one of the Chemical plants or few remaining operational coal mines in the rest of the state.
So those are the facts you need to be aware of. As for internet, it can be dodgy at times, but that's true of mountainous regions in general. You'd get the same thing in the Appalachian region of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. It's just WORSE in West Virginia since the entire state is in the mountains, hence it being the Mountain State.
So that might be a bit of problem for you, but I'm sure a little bit of in depth research could help you decide on that problem. Push come to shove, look into areas near Morgantown or the North East so you have access to PA internet providers or direct fiber optic networks out of DC/Maryland/NoVA. (Best internet connection in the world FYI. Hence the absurd number of Data Centers built in the area).
Ya know, I've noticed that too. Like, even before the plandemic and real estate craze, South Carolina had absurd housing costs. I've always chalked it up to pretty much EVERY freaking house that isn't a mobile home being some "historic" house. So they can jack up prices on everything based on some arbitrary factor like that.
Really and truly, if you're gonna move THAT south and stay on the east coast, you might as well just go for broke and head to Florida so as to not pay income Taxes. If you stay out of the cities and SoFlo in general, Florida is actually rather cheap to live in. Northern Florida in particular is about like living in Rural Georgia or Alabama. Both culture wise, and as far as cost of living goes.
If you just want mountain views, Go for North East Alabama. Dirt cheap land, Foothills of the Appalachian mountains, generally friendly people, etc. etc. Plus if you look around and plan things right, you can get a pretty good deal on a decent house relatively close to a population center for convenience.
Alternatively you could just say screw it, and go for the Arkansas part of the Ozarks or one of the smaller mountain ranges in Oklahoma. Yeah, beleive it or not Oklahoma isn't entirely flat. I believe it has 3 mountain ranges. One in the North East, one in the South East, and one in the South West that extends into the Texas Panhandle if I remember correctly.
Speaking of which, Texas is another good choice. If you want mountains, there's mountains in West Texas, where land and housing is still dirt cheap. If you wanna try and look around, Texas Hill Country is still an option. The Real Estate Market is cooling off and leveling out as of late, so the prices are starting to fall and level off in Texas, Florida, etc. That being said, you couldn't pay me enough to live in a place like Dallas, Austin, Houston, etc. Too many freaking people and traffic is a living hell.
Regardless, there's lots of good options here, it's just a matter of doing a bit of personal research and weighing pros and cons. What're you willing to give up, and what do you HAVE to have.