Moving and retirement

[grumpy]

Wildcat,

We are VERY satisfied with our move. It was part of our plan to move and downsize after retirement. A few years prior to our retirement we started seriously looking at places we were considering. These included Las Vegas, Tuscon Arizona, Raleigh N.C. and communities in the D.C. area. We finally decided that we wanted to remain in the D.C. area near family and friends. We visited nearly every "55 or better" community in Maryland and Virginia. Most just didn't have the type of homes and/or the amenities we wanted in the price range we needed. Finally we found the community we are now living in. At the point that we were ready to sign a contract, they had no lots available. We wanted a lot backing to the woods. A few day later, due to a contract cancellation, we signed the contract. It took 10 months for the house to be completed. We moved in February so we've been here 10 months now and love it.

Grumpy

 

[haha]

It also means one of us sleeps downstairs with the dang dogs.

--Greg

At least your dog still sleeps with you. Mine prefers to sleep ouitside, even in the rain.

Ha

 

[greg]

It sounds like you have a real dog instead of the fake-o, barkie things we have.

--Greg

--

 

[Nords]

So are you moving when you retire?  Why or why not? 

This is the best house we've ever lived in, and our longest time at one address since we graduated from high school. Spouse has always had a hobby of looking at open houses and I guess I just didn't see where it would lead.

She found this place on Father's Day five years ago (that tells you how smart the RE agent was, to have their first open on that day). The house was actually on the market for its second attempt but it still looked like a chewed-up trash pit. We lowballed and removed lots of wallpaper & old paint, fixed up moldings, painted everything, you get the idea. Since then we've remodeled the kitchen, two bedrooms, & two bathrooms.

At the time we bought the house she was still on active duty but squabbling with her assignment officer, who wanted her to move to Norfolk or some other foreign country. We not only have a great house but we also have a great kid's neighborhood & great schools. So she decided to move herself to the Reserves, a career decision whose memory will always be intertwined with the experience of closing on this place & moving in. The house is big enough (2400 sq ft) to coexist with a teenager & her friends while still small enough to keep it clean. There's plenty of home improvement left to do and lots of closets to clean out. Working on it every day for an hour or two will probably wrap up those projects in the next five years.

OTOH the yardwork is a life sentence with no parole and we can see that the place will be emptier when the kid moves out. We've been planting low-maintenance groundcover and cutting the trees way back but these are not activities I want to be engaged in four decades from now. The extra space will make it easier to remodel the familyroom (probably by just demolishing it and redoing it the right way) but I don't want to tempt a boomerang kid with all these spare bedrooms. So I guess it's possible that we'll move again someday.

However I'd hate to change climates, surf spots, or our proximity to Home Depot. So maybe we'll just stay where we are and buy the neighbor's houses if they move. But if a Home Depot opens up on the North Shore...?

 

[renman]

DW & I love our house on a freshwater lake, 4 blocks from the Chesapeake Bay. But at 4BR, 3 BA, 3000 SF, and just us two; it's gonna be too big someday.

Flashback: In 2000, a scary little cottage two houses down the street showed up in the newspaper's foreclosure list. Kids would cross the street not to pass too close to this hovel. It was my 1st foreclosure auction and I was the last guy bidding at 70K. Took us almost a year, but we tricked it out real nicely and have had appreciative tenants ever since.

Back to the OP. DW calls it our retirement home, all 625 SF of it. It's got a great sunset view over the lake. She envisions us adding a garage and party room. We have an active social life in the neighborhood, family in town and wouldn't want to move out to the sticks. So for us at least, it seems like we've got that one ciphered out.

 

[lazyday]

Martha:

Did you tell everybody about diaper baby? Diaper baby moved into a rental about two blocks from us sometime this past summer. I think he's about 18 months old. He shakes his fist at cars when they go by, and fights with all the other older toddlers. About two weeks ago, his mother and father were outside having a dispute with the neighbors. Diaper baby was standing there watching in his diaper (about 40 degrees outside) and nothing else on. His fists were clenched, his lower lip was stuck out, all tensed up--just waiting for the pile on to happen. One little, tough fellow. We need to move before he gets much bigger. (BTW, I ran home to get the camera for an avatar picture, but missed out. I have never seen a meaner, tougher looking baby in my life.) His parents take him for walks in the evening too. He goes out ahead about twenty feet with a stick and bangs on trees and road signs as he walks, scaring people. I'm going to give him lots of chocolate when he's ready for trick or treating.

--Greg

I think I'm gonna have nightmares tonight.

Sounds like a great minor character for a dark comedy.

 

[riskadverse]

I did things kinda backwards - chose the place where I wanted to live (and retire) back in my 20's.  I toured the whole country and settled where I thought I'd be happiest.  Instead of downsizing in retirement, we lived so lbym over the working years, moving from an 1100 sq ft house to a 2800 sq ft house seemed like nirvana.  Luckly the timing of the large house purchase turned into a smart investment too, and could serve as our "ace in the hole" using a reverse mortage.  San Diego is not the sleepy little town I discovered in the 70's, but amazingly I still don't feel like I live in a big city.  Every once in a while I get caught in a traffic jam when my timing matches that of the commuter crowd, but it is the rare exception and makes me appreciate retirement all the more.  I've taken up walking for exercise and you wouldn't believe what is available within a 3 - 4  mile radius within a city. I'll save the rural life for vacations.          

 

[sgeeeee]

I pulled Dave's post from another thread, but I am wondering how often people do move when they retire and why they move.  We have a good situation right now in that we live in an apartment in a four unit buildling we own.  Keeps the living expenses down to have your home be a cash producing asset. 

But, if we both are retired the quarters are a little close for day in day out contact.  (Sorry sweetie, no reflection on you).  So we are starting to look at the possibility of selling the place while rental housing still goes for a pretty good price, and buying a home.  Where Dave's ideal is moving out into the country, my ideal is moving to the big city.  More of our friends are there and there are more things to do.  The downside is the cost and the worry that prices are currently inflated in Minneapolis/St. Paul.   Decisions, decisions. 

One option we have is to sell our rental property and rent a place in the cities, betting on prices of housing going down or stagnating.  It at least looks like the rental market is a buyer's market so maybe we could get a place even though we have two dogs and two birds. 

So are you moving when you retire?  Why or why not? 

DW and I really love the dessert Southwest. We both grew up in the mid-West, but lived and worked out here i Phoenix for 14 years. Then, just about the time we started thinking seriously about early retirement, we got obscene salary offers to come and work in Iowa. We did some calculations and decided that we could work 5 years in Iowa, save money like crazy, vest in the pension plan, and retire. We assumed we would move back to the Southwest when we were through.

So we got the chance to live for 5 years on wooded acreage just ouside of a town with a population of under 300. It was a great experience and I enjoyed it. But it became clear that we missed the activities we had been involved in prior to moving to Iowa. In a large city it is easy to find people and organizations that share just about any interest you may have. This just isn't true in a town of 300.

We moved back to Arizona once we retired.

 

[BUM]

This (moving) is becoming a bigger problem as we invent our ERselves. Having ERed in January, the new-found freedom is dizzying. We've organized our finances but  skimmed over the where-will-we-stay aspect. Our NC place is great but not in January. Our NY home is too big but a comfy place to be for Christmas and Thanksgiving. The kids live nearby.

In January we're outta here. Don't know where yet.

A friend recently attended a govt. sponsored retirement symposium. She was impressed by this trend... Many retirees sell out of the MidAtlantic states and move to Florida. They hate it and move halfway back. Its called "The J Effect". Their advice was rent don't buy until you know for sure.

Good advice.

 

 

[Nords]

Many retirees sell out of the MidAtlantic states and move to Florida. They hate it and move halfway back. Its called "The J Effect".

I've heard them called "halfbacks" too...

 

[HFWR]

Since I'm still several years from FIRE, if ever...

I don't have a good feel for whether I'll stay put, move, etc. Where's the rest of the family? Is my son married? Grandkids? How's the economy? Will I be married/cohabitated? I doubt I'll ever own two homes, so short stays and or renting for a change of scenery seem more practical.

Unless, of course, the economy, and my portfolio, do much better than I anticipate, in which case I'll adjust accordingly!! 8)

 

[renferme]

Moving away from Florida, to somewhere "halfway" could mean NC or SC.
The cost of living (Taxes) in NC and SC are much higher than FL, right ?
.
I really hate paying taxes to inefficient and crooked politicians - like the ones we have in Harrisburg PA.

 

[Targeting40]

Florida has no state income tax, however, depending on where you live (within Florida) and how much house you buy the property taxes can be high. Property tax rates are less than 1% in some counties and close to 3% in others. The average is 2%.

 

[Brat]

Husband and I made a list of the mistakes we thought our parents made when they retired, and what we wanted in a community when we retired. Then we waited until the right property came to our attention. Our only disappointment is that the kids aren't as close as we had hoped.

 

[TargaDave]

Current for us: 3800 sq ft (way too big) in college town suburb and 5 hours from the ocean

ER plan: 1800 sq ft with a dock on the intercoastal waterway (OBX area)

Housing cost and taxes mostly a swap. A passion for being on the water makes it an easy decision. Maybe Jan-Feb down in South Padre or Marathon after the younger one is gone.

[Booked some FF miles to MIA for a sneak-away sailing session in Key West this weekend. Not a single rental car to be found at MIA airport right now. South FL is one big continual mess right now]

 

[steinj]

No way will we own any housing in retirement - too much gypsy blood in our veins and the desire to be highly mobile and stuff-free. Hubby and I plan to rent a low maintenance apartment near wherever the kids are living and spend most of our time travelling and living part time in different places around the world.

Jo Jo

 

[Brat]

ER plan: 1800 sq ft with a dock on the intercoastal waterway (OBX area)

Now if the San Juans and Gulf Islands were your style ..

http://seattle.craigslist.org/boa/112061834.html

 

[Billy]

The Unknown Retiree said:

This (moving) is becoming a bigger problem as we invent our ERselves. Having ERed in January, the new-found freedom is dizzying. We've organized our finances but  skimmed over the where-will-we-stay aspect. Our NC place is great but not in January. Our NY home is too big but a comfy place to be for Christmas and Thanksgiving. The kids live nearby.
In January we're outta here. Don't know where yet.

How we have gone about trying to find a place to live is this: We decide what is important to us in a living location, and make a list. We put it in some type of order, or give it a "weight" number of importance.
Ours looks something like this:

Weather/climate (we like sunny, not too rainy, preferrably little to no snow, etc. - we can do outdoor activities much of the year...)

Access to good food choices/shopping choices in general

Cost of living (important day to day - no point in having choices if they cost an arm and a leg)

Near an international airport (for quick and easy getaways!)

Good library system (cheap entertainment and education)

Access to social activities

We like "smallish" towns, not cities with millions in population

Make up your list, and find out what is important to you. If it is snow skiing, then Miami would be out. If it is beach weather, then Alberta, Canada is out --you get the idea. Billy and I both love "easy" weather.

Then, you can go to the computer and check out the Chamber of Commerce sites and get tons of information. They advertise what is best about their town/city, give population figures, cost of living, real estate numbers, political insight, etc. From there you can see if it is a place you would like to visit or live.

There is even a website called "Sperling's Best Places"  http://www.bestplaces.net/  , which allows you to take a quiz, and answer certain questions to get your criteria, and then they do that city/town search for you! They list population, average home price, precipitation per year, and amounts of snow per year. You can virtually view homes that are for sale, find jobs, and know what kind of entertainment that is available.   8)

Worth checking out... Hope this helps!

Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement
www.RetireEarlyLifestyle.com

 

[Michael Moore]

http://www.city-data.com/

has lots of info on different areas, down to really small towns.

cheers,
Michael

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We are moving, but we cannot decide where at the moment. We sold up our over inflated price home in Southern California before we went sailing for a few years. Now we have returned and are currently renting in Florida for a mere pittence in comparison to SoCAL. Currently IMHO it is far more economical to rent than buy, at least here in NorthEast Florida, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Palm Coast or Daytona Beach. Time will tell if that will change. But it does give us the flexibility to move around. When my current lease deal expires I will attempt to lengthen it. If I cannot, I will then begin to worry about it.

SWR

 

[yelnad]

We're young (low-mid 30s) and moved into this house 2 years ago. We were looking to move, and knew that we couldn't afford our dream house yet. We're country kids, don't mind a commute, and don't want to be able to see our neighbors. We just wanted to move out of town and be somewhere where the dogs would have room to run and play and that would be safe to raise a family in the future. We were lucky that we practically tripped over what ended up being our dream house. It was about to fall into foreclosure. We offered the woman what she owed on it, which was $100,000 below her asking price. She took the offer and we moved in a month later.

1600sf with an additional 1600 sf finished basement. We can live all on one level, gorgeous kitchen, huge decks, surrounded by woods & a stream. 22 acres. Room for plenty of kids. We hope to never move from this place since we didn't think we would have such a place for many years anyway. Our commute (45 miles round trip for me and 130 for him, but only 3 days a week) is worth it.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Since semiretiring in 1993, I have moved my primary
residence 6 times (mostly due to divorce and remarriage).
Anyway, I would like to hold the option to move yet again
but doubt I could find what we have for the money. Also, I am
way too lazy to participate much in the "work" of moving.
I have brought it up with DW (trial balloon). She likes being on the water (me too) and seems quite reluctant to uproot.

JG

 

[kowski]

Retired in 2002. In 2004 we bought a house in the country on an acre and a half in Florida for a winter retreat. It is nice to never see snow except on TV. Don't know how the two house thing will play out but it's worth a try. :

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Retired in 2002.  In 2004 we bought a house in the country on an acre and a half in Florida for a winter retreat.  It is nice to never see snow except on TV.   Don't know how the two house thing will play out but it's worth a try.   :

That is exactly what I said to DW when I bought the Texas condo
(it's worth a try). She has never seen the place, but I assured her if she didn't like it, it was no problem for me. It's a good investment
bought right. Originally I did not think the 2 home arrangement was
doable. What makes it work for us is that the Texas place is easy
to rent out and management is nearby. Not what we planned,
but it has worked out fine so far.

JG

 

[RockMiner]

I always assumed we would end up with two (seasonal) residences. Now it looks like there won't be enough resources to swing both that and the desired ER lifestyle. We'll see... maybe our second residence will need to have wheels.