Hey Kat, I'm with you here.
My house sold in two days and I have no where chosen to go yet. And I haven't started packing yet, let alone figure out what furniture to keep or what to give away. My house closes on the 21st of this month.
But I'm not going back east!
Good luck!
Yeah, if I don't start making something happen by the end of this coming week, I will go into panic mode.
Is that a selling point?Depending on where you live in the state, NJ property taxes can be just slightly more expensive than Texas. The power grid is much better and much better snow/ice removal on the roads and if you don’t live near the shore, there’s not much flooding compared to Texas.
Delaware property taxes are 1/2 of NJ on average. I worked in Delaware for years - there are many nice places to live. I’m not a fan of Wilmington - it’s a big city.
Texas has had high property taxes forever. People miss that, wowed by no state income tax.A couple of articles I’ve read say people are moving from NJ to Texas to save lots on property tax. The reality is Texas has been jacking up its property taxes for years - it’s no longer a good deal IMHO. On the other hand, NJ has passed big tax deductions for middle income retirees. There are additional deductions for veterans.
Sounds like you'll be starting the journey in 1-2 months, the long days of summer. Humidity in Delaware is milder than in the swamps of Jersey. The bay and ocean weather moderate things a bit. In Philly we called the weather "muggy."We are currently now scheduled to close on our house in less than 3 weeks. We have so much to do that we can't possibly visit Delaware before we leavel. So we have decided on the following process. We will drive (with our 2 cats) to Delaware after closing on the house. I have researched and located several potential corporate short term apartment rentals. They are very expensive, but are furnished with everything you need (including kitchen stuff and linens) and typically can be done for only 3 months. However, because we are not familiar with the specific areas I don't want to sign a lease without actually seeing where they are located (and ideally seeing the an apartment in the building).
So we tentatively plan to check into an extended stay hotel while we check out the short term apartments. When we do, we will hopefully sign a lease for 2 to 3 months (with options to extend). This might take 3 days or a week or so. Once we move in, we will focus on just learning the areas and seeing how we feel about it. If we like everything then a month or so after getting there we will start looking for a house to buy. All of that is subject to some change. That is, if we loved it and found the ideal house at week 3 then it might be a little earlier. If we needed more info then it might be a little earlier.
If we end up hating the area (which I doubt will happen) then we will probably look at some of the nearby states that are not tax unfriendly.
One item I forgot to mention is that some retirees move to Southern Delaware, as it is less populated, and that is where specific retirement communities sprouted in the 90's. When we've looked at those type of communities, we always found a problem of one type or another.. For us, we have our dream location, and don't want to give up the wooded yard, closeness to Philly, and so on.
I once had a friend who moved to the Milford area. He had a home built, not too expansive, and it had access to water, which was his thing. He loved to go out in his small craft at the crack of dawn.
It adds another hour of distance, though. It could be a real bother to get to medical care in the Wilmington area.
Well, that probably leaves out New Jersey and Maryland.[emoji23]
I expect you’ll like Delaware.
Hey Kat, I'm with you here.
My house sold in two days and I have no where chosen to go yet. And I haven't started packing yet, let alone figure out what furniture to keep or what to give away. My house closes on the 21st of this month.
Depending on where you live in the state, NJ property taxes can be just slightly more expensive than Texas. The power grid is much better and much better snow/ice removal on the roads and if you don’t live near the shore, there’s not much flooding compared to Texas.
A couple of articles I’ve read say people are moving from NJ to Texas to save lots on property tax. The reality is Texas has been jacking up its property taxes for years - it’s no longer a good deal IMHO.
Sounds like you'll be starting the journey in 1-2 months, the long days of summer. Humidity in Delaware is milder than in the swamps of Jersey. The bay and ocean weather moderate things a bit. In Philly we called the weather "muggy."
...
Delaware is definitely considered a tax haven by some. You'll just have to run some estimates of each prospect you find there and see how it all feels.
Every state is tax-unfriendly in some way, I feel....
Some people really love Pennsy, including the city and suburbs. NJ, MD and DE -- it's all good, in my opinion. Many parks and trails, historic sights, and 4 seasons. Within 100 mile radius you'll never run out of attractions.
A number of our friends, mainly from the DC area, have moved to Southern Delaware, and three that I know of have had issues with access to medical care there. One had to go to Pennsylvania for a hip replacement, and two more have been returning to their former homes near DC and Philadelphia to see specialists.
To my knowledge, the Wilmington area would not have similar issues, and that it is just an issue with growth around Rehoboth Beach.
New Castle County seems a nice place - I worked there for years. Philadelphia is just a short drive away if need a specialist. There are quite a few in NJ also. Tax free shopping at Christiana Mall. Only real negative is US95 North can get really backed-up with traffic on Friday afternoon, as a lot of Washington DC folks head to the Jersey shore for the weekend.
Congratulations on making your move decision! I recall at one time you were considering Nevada. I’ve always thought that Nevada was one of if not the most tax-friendly state. Did you decide against Nevada for tax or other reasons?
We closed on the sale of our house and arrived in Delaware today along with our 2 cats. The plan is to do a short term rental while checking out the area. Real estate agents here have told me there is low inventory and it is very competitive so I should expect to take 3 to 6 months to successfully buy a house.
I have much more to say about the sale of our house and how we got here, but am exhausted after the trip. More later.
See post 1 in this thread. To briefly recap, I found out that I have coronary artery disease including 4 blockages that are not bad enough for stents. This made me think more about health and really research emergency health care in Nevada (as my big risk now is that I have a heart attack or other adverse event). I knew before that Las Vegas had a shortage of doctors but I was prepared to travel elsewhere for specialist care.
But now I realize I needed to plan for emergency care. And Las Vegas does not have great hospitals or great emergency care. Even more critically if I needed something beyond garden variety heart attack care, Las Vegas can't just send you to a better hospital 50 miles away. The better hospitals are 300 miles away which is not close enough in an emergency. So we reluctantly decided to look elsewhere.
We closed on the sale of our house and arrived in Delaware today along with our 2 cats. The plan is to do a short term rental while checking out the area. Real estate agents here have told me there is low inventory and it is very competitive so I should expect to take 3 to 6 months to successfully buy a house.
I have much more to say about the sale of our house and how we got here, but am exhausted after the trip. More later.
See post 1 in this thread. To briefly recap, I found out that I have coronary artery disease including 4 blockages that are not bad enough for stents. This made me think more about health and really research emergency health care in Nevada (as my big risk now is that I have a heart attack or other adverse event). I knew before that Las Vegas had a shortage of doctors but I was prepared to travel elsewhere for specialist care.
But now I realize I needed to plan for emergency care. And Las Vegas does not have great hospitals or great emergency care. Even more critically if I needed something beyond garden variety heart attack care, Las Vegas can't just send you to a better hospital 50 miles away. The better hospitals are 300 miles away which is not close enough in an emergency. So we reluctantly decided to look elsewhere.
We closed on the sale of our house and arrived in Delaware today along with our 2 cats. The plan is to do a short term rental while checking out the area. Real estate agents here have told me there is low inventory and it is very competitive so I should expect to take 3 to 6 months to successfully buy a house.
I have much more to say about the sale of our house and how we got here, but am exhausted after the trip. More later.
See post 1 in this thread. To briefly recap, I found out that I have coronary artery disease including 4 blockages that are not bad enough for stents. This made me think more about health and really research emergency health care in Nevada (as my big risk now is that I have a heart attack or other adverse event). I knew before that Las Vegas had a shortage of doctors but I was prepared to travel elsewhere for specialist care.
But now I realize I needed to plan for emergency care. And Las Vegas does not have great hospitals or great emergency care. Even more critically if I needed something beyond garden variety heart attack care, Las Vegas can't just send you to a better hospital 50 miles away. The better hospitals are 300 miles away which is not close enough in an emergency. So we reluctantly decided to look elsewhere.
I guess too late now but everything I read about Delaware says the health care there is not good.
Also- My brother-in-law who lives in Wilmington went all the way to Sloan Kettering in NY for his cancer treatment and surgery.
I am surprised that you believe that there are no good heart and emergency hospitals and doctors in Las Vegas. Based on census, there are 2.29 million people living in Las Vegas Metropolitan area as of 2021. My husband has an excellent cardiac specialist and both of us have many excellent specialists. I had an emergency (trauma) a year ago and had the best experience. Ambulance took me to the hospital on a stretcher and I got both a head and neck and a full body CT Scan right away. Results were available in 15 minutes. I had severe liver laceration, 5 broken ribs and other injuries. I had the best care in their intensive care ward.
I did a quick search on heart failure hospitals in LV, here are the results and they look very impressive. https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/las-vegas-nv/heart-failure
Katzmeow,
My brother went to Lankenau Hospital for a quadruple by-pass a few months ago. They did three, and he is doing well. I went to visit him, and the heart pavilion is very large and modern. https://www.mainlinehealth.org/specialties/lhi
The drive to locations in the Philadelphia area are probably 1 hour. But you'll find the care you need in the Wilmington area for sure.
I guess too late now but everything I read about Delaware says the health care there is not good.
Also- My brother-in-law who lives in Wilmington went all the way to Sloan Kettering in NY for his cancer treatment and surgery.
I asked my friend who lives in Bear, DE, where he would go for surgery.I don't have heart failure. I have no doubt individual specialists are fine. My risk is of a sudden heart attack. Las Vegas is not stellar for that. Every hospital in Las Vegas does not do well on Medicare rankings. I am sure that for trauma care (accidents) Las Vegas is fine. But I am concerned about heart attack care particularly care that simply can not be provided in Las Vegas. They do not have the ability to do all advanced imaging and other procedures (this can be seen on the heart attack ranking and cardiology rankings). My main concern is what if I need care beyond the ordinary that Las Vegas simply can't provide? When I was in Texas I could be airlifted 25 miles to one of the best hospitals in the country. In Delaware if Christiana Care can't handle it (it ranks for higher for heart attacks than hospitals in Las Vegas), then I can be airlifted to Philadelphia. If I really really needed something very unique I could be sent by helicopter to Johns Hopkins. I have options. In Las Vegas the options are in LA and Phoenix about 300 miles away. I don't feel comfortable with that.
I plan to live within 30 minutes of Christiana Care which is between Newark and Wilmington. It is very highly regarded for heart attack care. If they couldn't handle something they could get me to Philadelphia if needed. I feel comfortable with that.
I believe for cancer care only going to a few places in the country. When I lived in Texa when I had to have a biopsy (non-cancerous as it turned out) I went to MD Anderson. If I had cancer here I would almost certainly go to Sloan Kettering. This is not a knock on Delaware but I think there are only a very few places in the US I would want to go for cancer care.
Actually the Christiana Care hospital is very good from all the research I have done. And of course, Philadelphia is not far away. The problems with healthcare in Delaware I think are mostly twofold. For people in the lower two counties (Kent and Sussex) there are not a lot of doctors and limited care. I would never live there. In northern Delaware (where I plan to live) I understand there are good doctors but lots of people so it can be hard to get that first appointment. And lots of people go to Maryland or Pennsylvania for certain doctors. That is fine. As I sit here in Newark I think I am less than 4 miles from the border with Maryland so going to a doctor there would be fine, for example.
I don't have heart failure. I have no doubt individual specialists are fine. My risk is of a sudden heart attack. Las Vegas is not stellar for that. Every hospital in Las Vegas does not do well on Medicare rankings. I am sure that for trauma care (accidents) Las Vegas is fine. But I am concerned about heart attack care particularly care that simply can not be provided in Las Vegas. They do not have the ability to do all advanced imaging and other procedures (this can be seen on the heart attack ranking and cardiology rankings). My main concern is what if I need care beyond the ordinary that Las Vegas simply can't provide? When I was in Texas I could be airlifted 25 miles to one of the best hospitals in the country. In Delaware if Christiana Care can't handle it (it ranks for higher for heart attacks than hospitals in Las Vegas), then I can be airlifted to Philadelphia. If I really really needed something very unique I could be sent by helicopter to Johns Hopkins. I have options. In Las Vegas the options are in LA and Phoenix about 300 miles away. I don't feel comfortable with that.