Californians will criticize their own state for an hour, but heaven help the outsider who joins in. Gas prices, rent, the 405: The complaint license belongs to locals, and it doesn’t transfer. But underneath all that griping sits a long, satisfied list few people say out loud. These are the things Californians are secretly proud…
Ask a Texan about Texas, and you’ll get a speech. Bigger, better, friendlier, freer. But catch that same Texan in August, sweating through a shirt in a parking lot, and a few honest thoughts start slipping out. These are the things they’d rather you didn’t repeat. 1. Property Tax Bite “No state income tax” is…
Mountains on one end, ocean on the other, barbecue in between. For a lot of North Carolinians, that sentence is the whole argument. But the Tar Heel State has more reasons than that to keep its residents from ever wanting out. 1. Mountains and Beaches in One State Few states let you start the day…
Tell someone you’re from Virginia, and there’s a fair chance the next thing out of their mouth involves coal mines or John Denver. That’s West Virginia. Different state. These are the things Virginians are tired of explaining to out-of-staters. 1. No, It’s Not West Virginia Virginia and West Virginia parted ways during the Civil War,…
A moving truck idles in a Fairfax cul-de-sac while sad neighbors wave from their driveways. Scenes like that played out tens of thousands of times across Northern Virginia last year. No doubt, Virginia has its perks. But these are the downsides that are causing many Virginians to move out of state. Note: This is general…
Florida’s average home insurance bill now runs higher than any state in the country. For a lot of Florida households, that one line item can break the whole budget. So they do the math, point their moving truck north, and trade hurricane premiums for something they can afford. These are the top states they choose….
Dumpster diving isn’t just for people who are hungry. The act of scrounging through garbage cans has exploded into a full-blown hobby due to viral videos of folks pulling brand-new merchandise from commercial bins behind stores. But there’s a catch that’s not always in the headlines. Even though the Supreme Court gave the green light…
Most Virginia homeowners assume that if someone breaks into an empty house, you call the police and they haul the person out. Sometimes it’s not that simple. Once a stranger claims they live there, the situation can flip from a crime to a civil case overnight, and the burden lands on the homeowner. These are…
You’d think owning a home in California means it’s yours to control. Then somebody moves into your vacant rental in Sacramento or your empty inherited house out in the Valley, and you find out how little leverage you have. California has some of the toughest squatter rules in the country for owners, and they catch…
You’d think owning property in Texas means you call the shots on who’s living in it. Then a stranger moves into your vacant rental, won’t leave, and you find out it’s not that simple. Texas squatter law has some twists that catch even folks who’ve owned property here for decades. The rules also changed in…
