Location, Location, Location

Ask any realtor, and you’ll hear that location is the most important factor to consider in choosing a property to buy and make home. It’s the one thing you simply cannot change. No amount of renovation will relocate what you buy to a different locale. Once you’ve chosen your location, you’re committed. And if the location deteriorates once you’ve moved in, the only two options available are to wait it out until the tide turns or sell and move somewhere else.

What I hear from friends and colleagues who remain mired in locations throughout the US that are not getting better is that they are running out of patience and are considering packing up and leaving.

My impression is that they are simply weary of fighting. The high taxes, the crime, the underperforming schools, the traffic, the unavailability of public services, and, most importantly, the mental and emotional instability of the population surrounding them has ground them down. They’re tired. They feel dispossessed. They’ve been waiting since 2020 for things to get better, but they’re not.