Looking into living is Southern Illinois. I would really like your perspective.

Hello there, and thanks for setting up this forum.

I'm Barbara, and I'm looking for places where I can retire comfortably.  I thought of Southern Illinois because I am at least familiar with the Carbondale area.  I went to school there '69 ~'73. Since that long-ago time, I've spent a fair amount of time in Tokyo, Japan -- altogether, about 25 years. I returned to Japan after a 10-year absence in 2016.  By that time I was already semi-retired. I bought an older home and moved to Nikko about 2 years ago and now, I'm wondering if it was the right move.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy living in the mountains and near Nikko City, but I think the house and property are too big for me to care for alone. the house is 7 rooms plus the bathroom and the footprint takes up about half the property. I speak beginner Japanese so my interaction with my neighbors is minimal. I don't mind being alone and can certainly find things to do, but I worry about living alone without much support. I'm thinking that, at 74 and in relatively good health, it may be time to return to the US, where I have a bit of family, although they'd all still be a couple of hundred miles away.

I think SIU's influence in the area would make it a great place to live culturally and educationally, but I'm not sure about the health and medical facilities. I can scope out the cost of living and available properties for rent or for sale, but it's you folks who live there that can give me a "hands-on" perspective of what it's like to live in communities like Carbondale or Marion. I'm sure there are other communities that are just as nice, but these are the two I know from my college years.

Thanks for taking the time and for any advice or comments you can contribute.

Hi Barbara

I spent quite a bit of time from 2019 - 2021 looking for land in southern Illinois.  There was an asset sale within the family farm business, and I was looking to reinvest that back into agriculture land.  Basically a small farm and hunting property to retire to one day.

Apparently so did a lot of people from Louisville and St Louis.  I watched land prices in southern Illinois absolutely soar.  On Zillow it the land was sold within the past (18?) months they show the price at that time of sale.  I saw properties being relisted at triple the price or more in some cases.

I ended up buying land in Ontario instead.

My suggestion would be to monitor land prices (use Zillow, but don’t just use Zillow) on a regular basis to get a good feel for what is happening in the market, and do a lot of driving around on weekends to look for sale by owners.

You’re competing with people who have more money than knowledge (or sense) that can buy property online like it’s a pair of socks on Amazon.

I am not in any way an expert, so take my predictions are my humble opinions at best.  

In the short term I think that real estate, and a few other things in our economy have ballooned to a bubble bursting point.  That is affecting housing prices right now more than agricultural land prices, but I think the chance of getting better deal on the kind of land you are looking will be better in 2023 than it was in 2022.  

In the long term (imho) I think climate change with droughts and floods will make land east of the Mississippi be more attractive than land west of the Mississippi.  I’m leaving “long term” as vague because, as I said, I am not an expert, but I do read the news.

I hope this helps a little, and my ears are wide open if someone has a different view than mine.

Barbara,

I can’t believe I didn’t see this thread earlier, but I will give you my 2 cents now.

Truthfully, I haven’t checked real estate prices in almost 20 years—that was when we bought our land in the Carbondale area.

As you know, the region is a truly special place, full of potential for someone with an interest in the outdoors.  For my part, I would try to be as geographically flexible as possible.  Is proximity to Carbondale a requirement?  As you probably already know, there are several geographical barriers in place that restrict access but add to the charm.  If you are willing to travel a little bit further away from Route 13, the prices generally get better (but again, I have not actually kept up on prices as I have no plans on moving).

SI can be a great place to live, but looking for that perfect spot is tricky.

Eric

In my part of S Il, about 50 miles from C’dale, the land prices are really funky.   For example, I looked at a house that was horribly over priced at Maybe $90,000.   I passed on it.  Later I learned it had sold for $29,000.   The logic? Well you never know. Maybe someone would have paid $90…….

Hi Barbara!
Great to hear from another potential woman/neighbor. I moved just two miles south of Carbondale in 2020 from New Mexico. I miss the mountains and family there but not 300 days of unrelenting sunshine with 8 inches of rain. I wanted some acreage and an easy house to care for which we landed after just a few months searching online. We were able to hook up with a real estate agent which was so helpful. My 9 acres was purchased about 40 years ago, passed through a couple of owners and this house was completely renovated from a modular home.
As Eric mentioned there are small housing clusters scattered around further from C’dale that will probably be more affordable and with more land than closer in. It’s truly a lovely place to be.
As for medical services it feels like between SIU and Shawnee Health Services I’ve found what I need but I have no major health needs. If you come here to check it out get in touch so we can connect. Maybe we can convene a Southern Illinois group meeting for you!! Keep us posted👍

Thanks, everyone.  I'm glad to hear the area has garnered the world attention, but I fear that as a consequence, property there is out of my price range. Sigh. But, thanks again for your help.