Aussie thinking about buying real estate in USA

[George Jets]

Spent a month of time in the town of Port Charlotte FL on the Gulf Coast midstate Florida one Winter. Liked that a lot over there for a Winter Retreat.

160 miles of canals thoughout that town. So if you like boating not to hard to get a place you can access the ocean from.

Sad to say that the traffic and overpopulation on the Gulf Coast is a huge drawback to try and enjoy things when you are out and about, getting worse every year.

 

[nm9stheham]

I currently live in Australia but my wife and I have always tossed the idea around of buying a modest property in the USA. I am sick of the Aussie harsh humid summers and it plays havoc with my health. It would in the winter monhtsbe nice to escape to your winter for 3 months of the year.

OP , what exactly did you like about Paspo Robles as a town and area? Do you want to be near the ocean?

And, what are you looking for in our winter weather? Are you wanting cool and dry and sunny? Or do you want cold and snow? How cold do you want it to be?

If I have my facts right, February is the peak of the rainy season in most of the California coastal areas. And the northern portions of the west coast will tend to be wet and cloudy in winter. So be aware of that.

The southeastern USA has been mentioned and the winter season is mild and the high summer humidity is mostly not present in the winter months But it will rain from time to time.

There are more interior regions that will be better for cool, dry, and sunny in winter if that is what you want. But the west coast will be closest for your flights back and forth.... that is a long way to go, and to add another 7 hours to fly from our west coast to the east coast is not to be ignored.

So some more info on what you like and want would be very helpful.

 

[moparspares]

I have traveled a lot of the USA and have been to California, Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming, Sth Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklohoma. On my last trip I drove from Dallas Tx up to the Mopar Nationals in Colombus OH and then across to Detroit for the Woodward Dream cruise. On that trip we drove Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee. When in California we drove highway 1 and there was some beautiful beach side towns the majority of the days though were overcast and misty. When we left the coast to head west to Paso Robles the cloudy misty weather lifted and we found it beuatuful and warm but not hot and humid. The town had a nice relaxed feel and we mentioned at the time it would be a nice place to live. It is a wine region as well so was a plus for my wife and we found a really nice brewery to have lunch. We also traveled of the coast a couple of days later to drive into Solvang and we found the weather the same on the coast cloudy and misty but a few miles west the weather lifted and was beautiful warm and sunny.

I am never going to relocate to the USA full time but it would be nice to just escape our horrible summers here in Queensland. Living near the water I suppose is not a must but I am so used to it as live north of Brisbane in a beach side suburb so it it would be nice to have the same. Our original thought was to buy a property and rent it out but enough land to build a separate granny flat that we could leave empty that we could use when we wanted to escape.

I have been looking at the real estate in Paso Robles and the existing housing is so damn expensive however I found blocks of land at very reasonable prices so am guessing the costs of building to be quite expensive. Now is probably not the time to buy as the AUD to USD is terrible but it is something that I am not dismissing in the future. Maybe I need to come in summer and spend a reasonable amount of time in the places I am interested in.

 

[Unconventional]

We also traveled of the coast a couple of days later to drive into Solvang and we found the weather the same on the coast cloudy and misty but a few miles west the weather lifted and was beautiful warm and sunny.

Not quite as hot as Paso Robles at the height of summer, but close. I've never really examined the real estate prices in Santa Ynez Valley/Solvang, but since it's only 30 minutes from Santa Barbara the prices are probably substantially higher than the Paso Robles area. Santa Ynez Valley is a bedroom community for Santa Barbara. Lots of commuters go over the pass everyday to Santa Barbara. And, to drive the prices even higher, it is a favored area for show biz people from LA.