OMG where do you live? $12,000!? WOW
Midwest, baby, midwest. You won;t be living in a large town, you won;t be in a McMansion, but you'll live well in the farm lands.
I laugh when people whine and piss about houses in America. You can live in the best areas for schools at the cheapest prices possible.... you just have to be brave enough to move there and leave behind the indolent and annoying luxuries of the city.
My whole cost to live yearly (food, tax, car insurance, gas, utilities, etc) is about $6500. Imagine that. And that gets a lot of everything, too. Property tax is only $250/year.