Choosing new warm, lower cost-of-living, place to move

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by Big_Hitter I can't imagine anything warmer than central Texas in the summer.

Try Riyadh.

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by Nemo2 Try Riyadh.

I've never been to Riyadh!! I'll bet you are right.

But Central Texas is too hot for me. I actually like the weather here in New Orleans, but when I lived in College Station the heat really got to me. It lasted forever, and the vegetation turned brown. At least here we have high humidity and rains to keep the vegetation green and break the heat now and then.

[Big_Hitter]

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Originally Posted by Nemo2 Try Riyadh.

well here in the states....I just think it's funny that someone thinks central texas is "cold" in the winter

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by Big_Hitter well here in the states....I just think it's funny that someone thinks central texas is "cold" in the winter

It is!! At least for me, it was. It SNOWED about 6" or something in College Station, the first week I was there back in 1984.


The weather here is not as hot and not as cold, but we get a huge amount of rainfall, hurricanes, and so on.

[Big_Hitter]

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Originally Posted by W2R It is!! At least for me, it was. It SNOWED about 6" or something in College Station, the first week I was there back in 1984. The weather here is not as hot and not as cold, but we get a huge amount of rainfall, hurricanes, and so on.

Lived in Houston for 40 years....I can't recall ever being "cold"

unbearably hot, yes; cold, no.

[Big_Hitter]

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Originally Posted by meleana You can't have everything perfect. No such thing.

San Diego...but then you have to live there

We get a ton of people moving here from SD...then they freeze in the winter

[Big_Hitter]

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Originally Posted by iac1003 My friend moved here to the Austin area from NYC not knowing anyone but me. She moved to a suburb 45 minutes away and was not well-suited to it. Her house is now up for sale.

Cedar Park, Round Rock, Georgetown really isn't Austin

I have a friend who is a realtor in ATX and there is a huge housing bubble there right now. If I were looking into retiring to Texas, I'd look at San Antonio or the surrounding area - San Mucus, Wimberley, NB, Boerne, etc.

[NW-Bound]

I heard from my best friend recently. I was shocked when he told me that he had bought another home in SoCal, about 15 miles south of Newport Beach, in a coastal location on Insterstate 5 running down to San Diego.

I was surprised because I would never expect him to move from the DC area, where he lived nearly his entire adult life and still has family there. He said they were escaping the cold. The price he paid for the small 1,000-sq.ft. place is close to 1/2-M, not a lot less than his very nice and much larger home in MD.

I will pay him a visit in a few months. I would never thought of living in coastal CA, the prime reason being the horrible traffic. Where his new home is, I guess the local traffic may not be bad, but to go anywhere would take you to the crowded freeway, and it would drive me nuts. But I guess my friend is used to traffic around the Beltway. It is all about what you are accustomed to.

[OrcasIslandBound]

It's been driving me crazy nuts for 20+ years. Stayed in SoCal because of the job, but looking forward to being on orcas island starting in September.

By the way, in 2014 I bought a 4500 lb SUV just because it was 4500 lbs and has about 9 different airbags. Now I feel much better driving on the roads here in San Diego. Now I simply ignore the tailgaters

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[AllDone]

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Originally Posted by NW-Bound I heard from my best friend recently. I was shocked when he told me that he had bought another home in SoCal, about 15 miles south of Newport Beach, in a coastal location on Insterstate 5 running down to San Diego. I was surprised because I would never expect him to move from the DC area, where he lived nearly his entire adult life and still has family there. He said they were escaping the cold. The price he paid for the small 1,000-sq.ft. place is close to 1/2-M, not a lot less than his very nice and much larger home in MD. I will pay him a visit in a few months. I would never thought of living in coastal CA, the prime reason being the horrible traffic. Where his new home is, I guess the local traffic may not be bad, but to go anywhere would take you to the crowded freeway, and it would drive me nuts. But I guess my friend is used to traffic around the Beltway. It is all about what you are accustomed to.

As Yogi Berra said, "Nobody goes there any more. It's too crowded."

[friar1610]

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Originally Posted by Corporateburnout We live in MA also and DW doesn't like the snow and the cold weather. We discussed relocating to a warmer area in retirement but we love the area, the amenities and the close proximity to Boston, Providence and Cape Cod then we decided to sell our house and purchased a new townhome where they plow the snow and even shovel our deck and front steps. The nice things about being retired is that we don't have to leave the house if it's too cold and snowy outside....

As another MA resident in a similar situation, I tend to agree. Plus, with no State income tax on SS or military pension, the "Taxachusetts" effect is somewhat moderated.


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[Sunset]

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Originally Posted by meleana Yes, we do know that, but better than New York from what we have seen so far.

Here is a consideration.
The cost is low and it seemed pretty nice. One of the fellas on this forum has had a place there for approx 15 yrs.

We took a tour of it while we were in FL.
You can buy a park model home, and we toured a few and they are much better than what I recall as a trailer home. The cost varies but we looked at a few for 15K-20K, then you would have to pay the monthly fee ~ $600 and your own utilities.

55+ Community Leesburg FL | Retirement Homes

[friar1610]

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Originally Posted by meleana But steadily as we kept going back to our timeshare in Vermont, I fell in love with the state and I would love to move there- I really think my place is by the lake- but learned of the taxes on Social Security income. What a downer! My heart is there, but my head says it would be crazy. Even my home state of NY doesn't tax SS benefits. So- thinking of New Hampshire where we vacation frequently as well and where our only child lives... .

We lived in VT in retirement for 8 years and then decided to relocate to MA. VT, like anywhere, has its advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes I miss it (like when I'm caught in Boston-area rush hour traffic) but mostly I'm glad we made the move. I understand (but have no first-hand experience with) property taxes in NH are very high. They were not low in VT (unless your income is below a certain level) and they certainly aren't in MA.


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[meleana]

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Originally Posted by Sunset Here is a consideration. The cost is low and it seemed pretty nice. One of the fellas on this forum has had a place there for approx 15 yrs. We took a tour of it while we were in FL. You can buy a park model home, and we toured a few and they are much better than what I recall as a trailer home. The cost varies but we looked at a few for 15K-20K, then you would have to pay the monthly fee ~ $600 and your own utilities. 55+ Community Leesburg FL | Retirement Homes

Not sure what you are referring to.

[meleana]

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Originally Posted by friar1610 We lived in VT in retirement for 8 years and then decided to relocate to MA. VT, like anywhere, has its advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes I miss it (like when I'm caught in Boston-area rush hour traffic) but mostly I'm glad we made the move. I understand (but have no first-hand experience with) property taxes in NH are very high. They were not low in VT (unless your income is below a certain level) and they certainly aren't in MA. Sent from my iPod touch using Early Retirement Forum

What do you like about MA compared with VT?

Property taxes in NH are high- but not any higher than here in NY.
In NH, at least there is no income tax or sales tax. And- they only tax interest and dividends over $5000. Overall- better than NY and VT- especially adding in the political atmosphere where we feel we fit more. (we have joined the FREE State Project).

Again, I can't deal with the fact that VT taxes SS.
I love Vermont, but just like most Vermonters that are leaving in droves, I don't think it makes financial sense to live there. Plus, the politics in the state does not align with ours- except for maybe the northern areas.

[RockyMtn]

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Originally Posted by photoguy Sales Tax is high in CA (8-10%) but lots of other states have rates that are close. I paid ~7% in Iowa, 8-9% in Colorado, 8% in santa fe. It came as a total shock to me, but I actually had to pay sales tax on groceries in Colorado.

The State of Colorado does not have sales tax on groceries. Some cities do, but the major cities of Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Colorado Springs do not.

[neihn]

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Originally Posted by AllDone If it were up to me, I'd go to Portland, but the spouse says "no". You can always rent for a year or two (or more!) and see how you do.

Too many people moved to Portland recently. The roads are very crowded, the Portland councils refuse to extend the urban boundary, housing skyrockets last couple years.

Portland is a very nice town with very nice people. Still, I am not so sure why people choose to move to Portland, perhaps, because we have more dispensaries than Starbucks.

[photoguy]

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Originally Posted by RockyMtn The State of Colorado does not have sales tax on groceries. Some cities do, but the major cities of Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Colorado Springs do not.

Yeah I was in Boulder and I think the rate was around ~3%. Came as a complete surprise to me as I haven't had to pay tax on groceries anywhere else in US/Canada. I think I also had to pay in some of the surrounding cities and Fort Collins too.

[Big_Hitter]

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Originally Posted by neihn Portland is a very nice town with very nice people. Still, I am not so sure why people choose to move to Portland, perhaps, because we have more dispensaries than Starbucks.

it's one of the only places you can retire in your 20s


plus it has some of the best golf on the planet even though it rains all the time

[photoguy]

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Originally Posted by Big_Hitter it's one of the only places you can retire in your 20s

Why does Portland have this reputation? and is it a real effect, a euphemism for unemployment, or just a meme from the show?

It doesn't seem like a particularly inexpensive place to live (Zillow says median home value is $340k). Asking because Portland is one of the places on our list to check out (I've visited briefly but no extended stays).