Thinking About Where I Want To Live Or Take Hometime.

I finally narrowed down my choices. After being all around this country i am still a southwesterner at heart. I am looking at Albuquerque, Phoenix, and now even Lubbock. Not much help haha, but good luck with your search.

Thanks everyone for the awesome replies here. My search for the right home can now begin. With it just being me living in it I can get something small enough for me which will cut down on the costs. Steve, no worries about the lone wolf thing. There was no way you could have known that. Any friends I have, I have on here. That's pretty much it. I dont have anybody I am willing to live with and plus I intend to stay single the rest of my life, so marriage or starting a family of my own isn't a concern at all. Don't get me wrong I still love helping people however after what I have been through especially within the last 3 years I just don't trust anyone enough to have a deep personal relationship with anyone, whether it's friends or a romantic relationship with a nice lady. I am glad to help but I just don't want anyone to delve beyond being just an acquaintance of mine. That way I am not too attached to anyone for friendship or romance. Life may seem sadder for me because of that however I will be just fine. I will feel just fine. Hopefully that makes it easier to understand. 😁

Just an FYI about Kentucky.. automobile insurance in Kentucky is sky high, but the area does have a lower cost of living. I live just south of Louisville by Fort Knox. You might want to check with your insurance to see what it would run in the Louisville area. Mine is more than 5 times higher than it is in Tennessee.. and that's with a perfect driving record, no tickets or accidents.

Susan, how's the insurance in the Lexington or Bowling Green area?

MillionMiler24, I don't presume to know how you should conduct your affairs, but I do urge you to seriously consider Brett's comments (copy below), as I wholeheartedly agree with his thoughts.

The investment advisor Ken Fisher (one of America's wealthiest individuals) recently penned a WSJ article that explains why, these days, home ownership is more expensive than renting. Add in our situation as OTR drivers, and we would really be spending a lot on something we don't use much. A mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, maintenance, security, auto insurance and maintenance, etc. - no thank you! I take my time off - about a week every two or three months - in various locations. I either stay with a friend/relative or get a hotel. I use cabs, or if I really need a car, I rent one. I can go anywhere and do anything I want, renting whatever I need, and spend far less than I would on a house or any sort of fixed base. I have small storage spaces in two locations and keep my non-work clothing with DUFL - they'll deliver it wherever/whenever needed, plus take care of the cleaning and repair afterwards. I can invest all the $ I save and in ten years have far more than I'd likely have if I had a house and car. I'm on track to save/invest at least $50,000 this year, and I don't have to spend all/any of my free time doing housework.

I've owned several houses over my life...each was a time and money pit.

Of course, there are some intangible benefits of homeownership that a price really can't be attached to. When you own, you can do whatever you want to your place, etc. Also, though I don't understand this, I realize that many people enjoy housework/yard work, etc. If this is you, more power to you. Just don't think you'll have more wealth in 5, 10, 20 years by buying houses and cars than you would have if you just rented what you needed and invested the rest, because it just isn't so. Not anymore...

I’m also questioning the need for home ownership while driving OTR due to the continual expenses of home ownership.

I wholeheartedly agree. I drove for 15 years and for the overwhelming majority of those years I didn't have a residence at all. I used a Florida address for the lack of state income tax. I saved up a lot of money over the years.

Home ownership is cheaper in the long run because after payments are done, you OWN the house

First of all, think about that. It takes 30 years to pay off a house. Use a mortgage calculator and look at home much interest you'll throw in the garbage over the course of a 30 year fixed loan. It's astronomical. By the time you pay off the home your property and school taxes will have risen to the point that they'll be equal to what your mortgage was. Then add up all of the maintenance costs

I've been a homeowner for 12 years now and I'm in the process of buying a new one as we speak. I can assure you that buying a home while you're OTR is a complete waste of money. Owning a home costs more than you expect and maintaining it when you're not around is a nightmare. You're going to get home, stay in it a few days, and when you leave you're going to curse yourself for spending all of your hard earned money on something so expensive and time consuming just to sleep in it a few days a month.

Save your money! It's one of the toughest and most important things you can do for yourself. Once you buy a home that chance is pretty much shot.

Besides, you don't know where you want to live at this point. Keep travelling, keep learning all you can about the different cultures, landscapes, and opportunities in different parts of the country, and save up your money. Someday you'll probably decide to move on from trucking, not necessarily because you're tired of trucking, but because you'd like to do all the things you can't do as an OTR driver. At that point you'll have a much better idea about where you'd like to live to pursue those interests.

In the meantime, bask in the glory of being single, living lightly, having no responsibilities other than your job, and having so much freedom without anything tying you down. You're in a dream position. Consider everything, but don't make any moves unless you're 100% certain you can't live without it.

Just an FYI about Kentucky.. automobile insurance in Kentucky is sky high, but the area does have a lower cost of living. I live just south of Louisville by Fort Knox. You might want to check with your insurance to see what it would run in the Louisville area. Mine is more than 5 times higher than it is in Tennessee.. and that's with a perfect driving record, no tickets or accidents.

Susan, how's the insurance in the Lexington or Bowling Green area?

I can answer that one. It is just as horrible EVERYWHERE in Kentucky. Kentucky has no fault insurance. It costs an Arm and a Leg. One of the many reasons I chose to live on the Tennessee side of the state line.

Utilities were cheaper, Car insurance and registration are cheaper, and no state income tax.

Housing was slightly more expensive, but with cheaper utilities it was overall cheaper. Sales tax is higher in TN, but since I can nearly throw stones at the state line, isn't really an issue.

Property tax is a bit higher in TN than KY.

Millionmiler I can relate to your circumstance to a degree. I was single for a long time but most before trucking. I own a few properties and spend a lot of time and money on them. My family gets to enjoy them while I pay for them. I just recently bought another in fact, 12.5 acres in the woods. But I’m home mostly 3-4 days a week. I am an anomaly in this line of work. I do enjoy it this way, that said if I wasn’t home so much I would not have bought it. It was a desire not a need in my life.

Brett’s advice is very sound and wise. Save up your money and when your ready to settle down in one place you will have a better time idea where you want to be, and more importantly you can pay cash for it. Tons of plus’s to that.

I wish you the best