So I was born and raised in Colorado and I'm now in my 40's. Colorado is quickly turning into California and I can no longer live here with what is happening. I'm a HUGE gun guy and shoot all the time and instruct NRA classes. My wife is a surgical nurse at one of the best hospitals in the country(she has serious skills and is also a shooter). We want to down size and get a smaller house but add a shop building and 2 to 10 acres so we can shoot on our land and enjoy some out door projects. We would need to be near a surgical center or hospital so she could get a surgical nursing job. We will have about $50-75K for a down payment and dont want to spend more then $250,000 including our down payment to keep our mortgage as low as possible. With that budget, could we buy land outside of a town/city and build to our specs? We have not moved in many, many years and dont know where to start. I'm also under the impression that Kansas is solid red and no chance of the liberals gun grabbers taking over like they did in Colorado(shit is getting REALLY scary here). I hear the gun laws are really good for gun lovers in KS. Am I correct in thinking this? I see you now have a Democrat for Gov...what is going on with that? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!!!

I live in Marion which is about an hour north of Wichita.  There are plenty of "bed and breakfast" towns all around the Wichita/Newton area.  I personally know a lot of people who live in Marion (population 2000) and Hillsboro (population 2500) area that drive to Wichita and Newton to work.  Both cities have large hospitals so I am sure there are jobs available.  Marion and Hillsboro both have hospitals but are on the small side.  Plus side of living in the smaller towns is the housing is a lot cheaper and schools have smaller size classrooms.  The bad is the commute which for me is not a down side.  Here is an example of a house for sale around Marion.  1951 250th Marion county, 66861, 3.75 acres, 3bedroom 2 bath 5 out buildings $179,000.  I know what you mean about Colorado.  Most of my relatives live out there and they can't stand what is happening to the State also.  Don't worry too much about our "new" governor, I am hoping our Legislature will keep her in check.

Thanks! That is funny, I was looking at the house yesterday! So historically doesn't KS have republican Governors? I hope it is not starting to do what Colorado did 20 years ago and start pushing democrats to lead the way.....

I would look at the job market in various places first.  I would also consider looking at MO.  KS just flipped blue in this last election.  I don't know what will happen with gun laws, but I am not looking forward to the next couple years.  I live in Johnson county which is now full of millenials which are affecting elections.  It is one of, if not the most, wealthy counties in the state and it now regularly votes blue.  Here and Douglas county where KU is are both like that.  MO on the other hand is solid red.  For example, you would probably be able to find a decent job in the Springfield area, the home prices are more reasonable than some of the larger cities, there is a reasonable airport and plenty of shooting.  The downside, depending on your belief system, is that it is the bible belt.  Not as much as it used to be, but still the bible belt.

The reason that I mentioned looking at the job market is because if you can make 25% in one place vs another then you might be better off looking in that area even if the house would be a little more.

For reference, if you want to drive to CO from where I am (as far east as you can go on I70 in KS), it takes me 8 hours to get to Denver if I speed a little and only stop for gas

Too early to tell.  As I said in my other post, a lot of young voters in Johnson County.  When the housing shit happened they started putting in a lot of Apartment communities.  Since the schools were good, a lot of people would move into those apartments to get into the school system.  The blue vote has been getting stronger ever since.  Simultaneously, they started doing stupid shit with the school money.  So, some people in my area have moved across the state line to places like Lee's Summit where the schools are getting stronger.

I don't know if it will come back or not at this point.

Johnson county has ALWAYS been the liberal bane of Kansas. It's the rich uppity area of Kansas. It's been that way over 30 years.

Historically, Kansas has had both Republican and Democrats Governor, that has historically been controlled by a replublican legislation, and still is. Johnson county has historically been Democrat.

And let's not forget Douglas County, home to KU and Lawrence, which I like to refer to as the westernmost suburb of Moscow.

No offense............