Want to retire to Virginia

[grimmie]

Hi, I'm 56 and my better half is 61. Recently laid off for 4 months but start a job in a few days. Being laid off got us to thinking about getting ready to retire to someplace right outside of Shenandoah State Park in Virginia. Would love to pack up and go but my mother sort of relies on us since I appear to be the more responsible sibling. Mother very independent for being 78 but can see her slowing down.

We are prepping by looking at property in Virginia and considering buying a Park model home on that property. Now is not the time to be selling our townhouse so we will be spending vacations checking out what we need to do.

Looking forward to reading up on what everyone else is doing.

Thanks.

 

[Moemg]

Welcome !

 

[bssc]

Shenandoah is a great park. I thought about retiring there but looks like we will be headed to Colorado.

 

[davemartin88]

Welcome, I'm new to the forum myself. We live in northern Virginia where the cost of living is high and the traffic can be crazy- the portion of Virginia you're talking about is beautiful, good luck on the search. I'm not familiar with Grayslake, is that in Illinois? We lived outside Chicago for a while in the early 80's when I worked downtown.

 

[grimmie]

Welcome, I'm new to the forum myself. We live in northern Virginia where the cost of living is high and the traffic can be crazy- the portion of Virginia you're talking about is beautiful, good luck on the search. I'm not familiar with Grayslake, is that in Illinois? We lived outside Chicago for a while in the early 80's when I worked downtown.

Grayslake is North of Chicago. About 15 minutes from the Wisconsin state line. I don't think the cost of living could be as high as here. Our property taxes are ridiculous. Almost $5,000 for the townhouse we own. Plus having some of the highest gas prices in the nation.

 

[harley]

Welcome grimmie. I'm a lifelong VA resident myself, until I moved to the MD Eastern Shore about 6 months ago. However, I'm buying a townhouse in Leesburg at the end of Sept. so we (DW + 4 dogs) have a place to stay when we're in the area. My daughter and granddaughter live in Leesburg, so we'll be there a fair amount. Mostly in the off-season when the Northeast winds are howling in at the beach. And Davemartin88 isn't exaggerating, Northern VA is very expensive. Out near the Shenandah is much more reasonable.

My recently widowed mother lives in Bentonville, right on the south fork of the Shenandoah. Having the place in Northern VA will allow me to be only 1 1/2 hours away, so I can go help her out on occasion. I'm the only kid, so I don't even get to claim to be the resposible one.

I think it's a beautiful place to live. You didn't give details about which city/town you will be near. If it's Front Royal, you may want to visit a while first. The place has outgrown it's infrastructure. Busy, slow moving, and nowhere near as friendly as it used to be. But the Skyline Drive is great, and there are plenty of beautiful places all along the park. Good luck, and welcome to VA. Maybe I'll see you at the Walmart.

 

[grimmie]

Thanks for the info on Front Royal. My husband has been coming to Shenandoah for over 50 years and together we have visited there since 1986.

We are looking into the valley between the Park and Massanutten mountains. Luray may be a starting point since we want to stay near the northern half.

This is actually about 5 years down the road but we really want to be ready and not have any surprises.