What to Consider Before Moving to a Small Town | United Country Real Estate
Moving to a Small Town? Here’s What to Consider
As you may already know, small-town living has many benefits. Housing is affordable; there’s more land for farming, gardening, homesteading, and outdoor recreation, and there’s less air, noise, and light pollution. Residents of rural towns also enjoy more privacy and a chance to purchase exclusive lifestyle properties such as horse ranches, farms, lake or mountain homes, cabins, and vineyards.
But despite these benefits of rural living, there are many factors to consider when moving to any new town. United Country Real Estate shares a few of these considerations below, helping you to choose the best small town for your new home, ranch, farm, historic property, or beach house.
Cost of Living
In most cases, the cost of living in a small town is much more affordable than residing in a major city. And while this lower cost of living may mean fewer city amenities; longer commutes; and fewer options for schools, colleges, and daycare centers, buying a home in a rural town is much more affordable — and you can usually get more bang for your buck.
To discover the cost of living in a new town, use an online Cost of Living Calculator to compare a town’s housing costs and other living expenses with your current city of residence. These calculators take into account expenses such as utilities, housing, food, healthcare, taxes, and childcare.
Career Prospects
Unless you’re planning on commuting to work, working from home, or you’re retired, you’ll also want to consider your career prospects when choosing a small town to call home. Some of the most common small-town jobs include registered nurses, accountants, agricultural workers, teachers, construction managers, and petroleum engineers. In the event you’re planning to work from home. However, you’ll also want to ensure you’ll have access to a reliable internet connection.
Of course, where you live isn’t the only factor when landing a job. You also need a stellar resume and cover letter highlighting your career skills and background, and a resume creator is a useful tool that makes it easy to design a professional-looking resume in minutes. Simply choose your template, colors, and images and add your own text and photos, so your personality shines through. You can then use your newly designed resume to apply for jobs online.
Town Amenities
If you’re moving from one rural area to another, you’re no stranger to commuting to a larger city for work, food, and entertainment. You already know smaller towns have fewer grocery stores, restaurants, banks, hospitals, and schools — but that rural living also means more land for parks and trails, farming, hiking, and leading an active lifestyle.
Some rural homes and lifestyle properties even come with their own amenities such as lake, river, or beachfront access; farmland; and opportunities for investing in a vineyard, motel, ski resort, or bed and breakfast.
Additional Considerations for Current or Aspiring Business Owners
Whether you’re relocating an existing business; planning on starting a business after moving to a new town; or you’re buying a rural-area investment property such as a vineyard, ski lodge, motel, or bar; there are some other things you’ll want to consider when choosing the right small town to move to.
For instance, there may be less competition and fewer business expenses in smaller towns — but you’ll also have fewer customers and limited suppliers. Moving your business online, however, could enable you to reach more customers, clients, and vendors from all over the world.
You’ll also want to consider your legal structure and how this may impact your new or existing business. Limited liability companies (LLCs) are safe choices for many big and small businesses, as this type of legal entity protects your personal assets from liability, provides pass-through taxation, and makes it easy to register your business using an online formation service — saving you money on attorney’s fees. Just remember to change your limited liability company’s address if you’re moving to a different city or state or wait to form a new LLC until after you’ve moved.
Small-Town Living is the Way to Go
If you enjoy having land, don’t mind a longer commute, and wish to purchase a property such as a farm, ranch, vineyard, or waterfront home, small-town living could be right for you. Landing a job in a rural area can be more challenging for some professions, but creating a stellar resume, launching your own business, or taking your job search online can all help you to achieve the best of both worlds: enjoying a great career and a beautiful rural home.
Looking to buy, sell, or invest in country homes, ranches, or recreational properties in rural areas? Connect with the team at United Country Real Estate or visit unitedcountry.com to learn more. 800-999-1020
