<p>Friends and I looked at the Santa Barbara real estate listings over coffee and marveled at how little you get here for a few million.</p>
<p>Started us thinking, if you had $2 million to spend on a house and could move anywhere in the US, where would you buy? Are there still places you could buy a nice oceanfront home for that?</p>
<p>Yes, in some parts of Florida, for sure. </p>
<p>If I had $2 million, and also could get the land I wanted, I would have something custom built, something very unique without regard to resale potential. I was in the grocery store just now and saw a magazine with some of the most incredible custom-built homes that were very, very different and incredibly interesting - (a few of them were “over the top” and a little scary) - problem is they all seem to be in places like Wyoming, Montana, etc. Beautiful areas and stunning scenery but I like large, busy, congested cities with endless things to do…of course, it’s probably very problematic to find prime land, and then get the permits etc. to build in such places, plus it probably isn’t realistic to do it all for $2 million…</p>
<p>LTS: They have to build them in places without powerful homeowners’ associations! In towns near me, you can’t even paint your house a pastel pink.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I totally forgot about the HOAs, you’re right…</p>
<p>you don’t even have to be on the beach in order to not get a lot for 2 mil. there are plenty of communities in new york, new jersey, connecticutt, illinois, etc. where 2 mil only buys you an “average” house in the community.</p>
<p>Suburbs of Portland, ME. The charm of New England - think New Canaan - with lower real estate costs, smaller communities and great education systems.</p>
<p>^^^ You can get pretty special oceanfront on the Maine coast for $2m. Not the very very best properties, but pretty special.</p>
<p>What’s real estate like in the US anyway? Looking around the outer steppes of Amsterdam in some pretty crummy neighbourhoods, and I’ve seen three-bedroom crappy-looking places with no yard or anything on a loud, non central street go for well over a million dollars.</p>
<p>The Netherlands just seems like a horrible place to buy.</p>
<p>Is the US cheaper? (outside NY and LA) Where in the US could you get a 2 million dollar place that actually looks and feels like it’s worth 2 million dollars?</p>
<p>Texas, that’s where! You can get a house on the coast, or a mansion in a great neighborhood full of them. Or you could build on one of our many rivers. Cheap labor means lower housing costs.</p>
<p>Guam…</p>
<p>That much would buy a lot of house on the coast anywhere on the west coast north of Bodega Bay (except Puget Sound). Even then, there are some spots around the Sound where you could get a nice place on the water for less than $2 million, it just won’t be in the San Juans or in King County.</p>
<p>there are plenty of places in the US where 2 mil can buy you an incredible mansion. basically any place that isn’t on the coast/near a city is going to be cheap.</p>
<p>There are parts of the midwest and the plains states where you can buy a mansion for this amount of money, or actually less.</p>
<p>Can I assume the Texas coast would have fairly warm year round weather?</p>
<p>Portland ME beautiful but too cold!</p>
<p>Let’s eliminate cold places as many of us may not be able to handle it during retirement. </p>
<p>Where in Fla can you still get oceanfront for this price late?</p>
<p>Aren’t you already in California, kirmum? 
California > Florida as a great place to live, imho. But maybe you are trying to get a place with “real” prices? Have you considered Baja Norte, Mexico? That’s where we bought a second/retirement home. Or Baja Sur, probably pricier but also more uniformly upscale.</p>
<p>San Diego or Malibu.</p>
<p>Malibu for $2M, is there a guest shack for sale?</p>
<p>jmmon, Hubby and I own in Cabo, he bought years ago before prices got out of whack. You can buy an ocean view (not front) condo there for $2M now. I like it, but wouldn’t want to live there year round. It get’s very hot. We Californians are spoiled by that 80 degree year round temp.</p>
<p>The whole conversation started when we realized our kids will need help buying houses if they stay in CA. Oldest is just graduaating from college and needs a down payment. 7 more coming down the pike! We’d love to settle somewhere beautiful but not uber expensive, sell our current real estate in ultra high priced towns and have some funds to help the kids.</p>
<p>I prefer the mountains. Beaches are for teenagers. And hurricanes.</p>
<p>If you want a beautiful beach house for a bargain (compared to the rest of the country), youy need to look in the southeast (NC,SC,GA)</p>
<p>I would be afraid to buy most oceanfront property these days. Isn’t sea level going to rise 20 ft in the next few years and submerge the coastline?</p>