“I imagine I’ll buy a house at some point, but I’d want to make sure I’ve found the perfect spot before I tie myself to it.”
You will be looking till the day you die. Nothing is perfect.
-In a solid conservative state that isn't likely to go dem any time in the foreseeable future (Montana, for example, is a place that I can see going solid democrat some time soon, so is off my list). Beyond that, in a region of a conservative state with seasons (if I landed in Arizona, for example, I'd want to be in the mountains) that also isn't a lefty enclave within an otherwise conservative state. I also don't want to be on or close to BLM/EPA/NFS controlled land.
-Rural enough that I could shoot and otherwise recreate on my own property without being afraid of being bothered by neighbors who close enough to be annoyed by my activities. Also rural enough that when I sit outside in the evening, I DO NOT hear cars wooshing down the road at some point in the distance, or any other noise except birds. For all that, I don't want to be impossibly far (beyond 200 or so miles?) from a city with hospitals and other potentially necessary amenities.
-A church of my persuasion with a sizeable enough congregation that is growing/producing families with children, so that it isn't likely to die out.
-Sizeable population of Swedish bikini models.