Planning my last 20 years, finding a place.

[d2reid]

I think it was the TV show Star Trek that did me in. They are on a 5 year mission to explore, I love that concept. So I hit a wobbly FIRE at age 55, sold the house, bought an RV and started traveling. That was 11 years ago. We were on a 5 year mission to find the perfect place to live. Ok, the reviews were good so extended it another five years. Still no perfect place to live.

Covid has changed the RV traveling concept quite a bit. I now compete with more boomers, tele-commuters, and weekend warriors for a place to park my RV. There is a new term in the RV world called "Planning Anxiety". To get a nice Fri/Sat night campground you have to plan 4-6 months in advance. Then if you break down you have to do it all over again.

So at 67 my wife and I considering changing the way we live. For the first time ever we are spending 6 months at a 55+ RV Village near Orlando. It's got some nice stuff, woodworking, yoga, bingo, golf, pickleball. We participate in all of that, we also have Covid for the first time, wonder why...

Back before I retired I talked with a number of retirement/financial people. They kept asking me what my life expectancy was. I found a life expectancy evaluation form in my wifes Cosmo magazine and filled it out. Apparently I will die when I am 86.

Hopefully I have been telling an amusing story, so when you actually get to my question you will have an understanding of why I am asking this question.

Can anyone give me advice on a method to find a more permanent landing zone? Web searches, realtors, friends, neighbors, strangers, ,the really weird guy at the coffee counter...

And if you think my story was humorous you will love my criteria:
Deeded Lot
55+
Has elderly activites for my wife
Has woods and nature for me
Has a 20+ mile long bicycle trail
Has some kayaking nearby
Can't be too cold, can't get too hot.
Has good health infrastructure, but not too crowded.
Has major airport within an hour so we can fly to go visit the kids.
It can be a house, an RV park, a mobile home community (I think the new term is modular home or premanufactured home). I have never needed a castle, our home is just somplace to store our stuff untill we take our next trip.
And I will need a garage/shed/barn/extra bedroom to store my tools. I love my tools.

I know what I am looking for is probably impossible, after all I have been searching for over 10 years. So have fun with this.

 

[REWahoo]

I think what you are looking for exists only in your dreams. Maybe in your next life?

 

[aja8888]

Why not add low taxes, no state income tax, and non-existent crime rates to your list to make it perfect!

 

[folivier]

We've been on a similar track. Retired at 55, spent a year getting the large house ready to sell and motorhome ready to travel. Spent the first 2 years full-time in the motorhome. Then bought a house in a 55+ community near Baton Rouge, LA to be near family. MIL passed during covid so other than a few other relatives and other family, our 2 sons and our grandkids we need to have a place here to spend the winters with them. In 2020 we faced the same issues with Rv'ing and bought an RV lot in the CO mountains where we had been renting a place almost every year. Kept coming back and with covid issues we finally bought. Enjoyed the place and community so much we bought a cabin the next year. Now we spend from late May to early Nov. at the cabin then come home for the holidays and family time. We're leaving in a couple weeks to spend a month playing in the snow then back home again. Hope to have at least 5 years of good enough health to enjoy the mountains. Then when we can't take the altitude (9400') we'll sell the cabin and live out what's rest of our time at our house in Louisiana near family.
Oh and when we bought the cabin we sold the motorhome and bought a Roadtrek 210P van to make traveling back and forth easier.
I know it didn't answer your question of where to buy but that's what we did. IOW we bought a place to be near our kids and grandkids.

I have a good friend who bought a nice house in Inverness, FL for most of the reasons you listed. He still has his motorhome and they travel all summer also.

 

[Car-Guy]

Covid has changed the RV traveling concept quite a bit. I now compete with more boomers, tele-commuters, and weekend warriors for a place to park my RV. There is a new term in the RV world called "Planning Anxiety". To get a nice Fri/Sat night campground you have to plan 4-6 months in advance. Then if you break down you have to do it all over again.


And I will need a garage/shed/barn/extra bedroom to store my tools. I love my tools.

I don't own an RV or a boat, but everyone I know that does have one (or both) always seems to be fixing them.... I guess that's a hobby too. Now I know why you love your tools.

 

[OldShooter]

Why not add low taxes, no state income tax, and non-existent crime rates to your list to make it perfect!

Maybe not yet perfect? The one thing I always think is missing from these criteria lists is avoiding risk from natural disasters. Earthquake, flood, hurricane, wildland fire, etc. To me, recovering from a totally destroyed life is not an attractive retirement prospect.

It is a mystery to me, for example, why people who have seen what Ian and Michael did are still interested in moving to coastal Florida.

 

[aja8888]

Maybe not yet perfect? The one thing I always think is missing from these criteria lists is avoiding risk from natural disasters. Earthquake, flood, hurricane, wildland fire, etc. To me, recovering from a totally destroyed life is not an attractive retirement prospect.

It is a mystery to me, for example, why people who have seen what Ian and Michael did are still interested in moving to coastal Florida.

Exactly, I grew up in Connecticut and it seems that most of my friends and classmates all relocated to Florida when they retired. It was the thing to do back then, I guess. They traded the four seasons for two with lots of bugs in one.

 

[Markola]

OP, I think you’ve won the game by having a spouse who sounds mostly on board with the lifestyle concept you prefer, even if you haven’t nailed down the exact place. I would experiment with RVs or boat life but my DW would never be interested, plus we have young cats. At least we’re getting used to snow birding, which she is seeing the advantages of for our third year.

 

[braumeister]

This is my ideal way to choose, but it's far from easy.

1. Separate your list into needs and wants.
2. Do some serious thinking and prioritize your wants.
3. Then look at places that meet all your needs.
4. Pick the one that also meets the highest number of wants.

 

[FiveDriver]

Congrats d2reid, you've made it to a good phase in life.

I will preface my response with the disclaimer that the RV Life has no appeal to my DW and me. Her brother owns a small one, and it is a big pain to keep in good running order. To be comfy, they need to be big. And if they are big.....they are too costly and too unwieldy to drive anywhere. With that said....

And if you think my story was humorous you will love my criteria:
Deeded Lot
55+
Has elderly activites for my wife
Has woods and nature for me
Has a 20+ mile long bicycle trail
Has some kayaking nearby.

Can't be too cold, can't get too hot.
Has good health infrastructure, but not too crowded.
Has major airport within an hour so we can fly to go visit the kids.
Given your requirements for moderate temperatures -- I would venture to say you're looking at somewhere north of Florida and south of Pennsylvania. Perhaps a college town in upstate Virginia or North Carolina would meet all you needs for Outdoor Activities, Medical Infrastructure and airport nearby

It can be a house, an RV park, a mobile home community (I think the new term is modular home or premanufactured home). I have never needed a castle, our home is just somplace to store our stuff untill we take our next trip.
And I will need a garage/shed/barn/extra bedroom to store my tools. I love my tools.
Many of the newer 55+ communities have all the activities you seek, either in the clubhouse or around the grounds. For example, Del Webb just finished a site here in Nexton that has all of that and more. Their Model Homes feature single story, 3 and 4 bedroom layouts and some even have an extra bay in the garage to set up a workshop.

Good Luck with your 5 Year Mission d2. You have some choices to make here.
I wish you all success.

 

[2HOTinPHX]

Sounds like you have had a great time traveling. I would like to hear more about your RV adventures. Interesting to know Covid affected your ability to find spots.... would have never thought about that becoming an issue.
That's a big list to try and find all in one place. Have you considered becoming a snow birder and having two locations. One near family and the other in a place like Phoenix to enjoy decent winter weather while most everyone is dealing with freezing temps and snow.
Our dear neighbor who unfortunately passed away a little over a year ago was living a great snow birder's life. He had his main home in Ohio with a hugh separate 6 car garage to support his lifetime car hobby. It was near his son's house so he got to see his son's family a lot. Family was pretty important to him. He loved being around them.
He bought a small home here in Phoenix close to his daughter and her family. He was lucky to make friends with some car guys here and one of them had a shop they would get together and work on their cars at.
He was living the life never having to see the really cold Ohio winters and then leaving us here in Phoenix to melt whenever it got too hot.
He was able to buy his house across the street from us when the housing market crashed for about 75k less than we paid for the same model we have. We bought ours right before the crash. Maybe there will be buying opportunities in 2023?
He was an accountant by trade and continued to work part time for a few years. His biggest regret was not retiring earlier. His car hobby was his life and he got to pursue it year round by having two places and avoiding inclement weather.

Perhaps you could have two low maintenance places in 55 plus communities with activities you enjoy and at least one of the near family?

Good luck with your search. I think we all dream of the perfect ONE place. Seems like Hawaii and or California (Bay Area is where we came from) would work for most if not for the high cost of living and rare events like hurricanes in Hawaii and earthquakes in California.

 

[pacergal]

So in your 10 years of RV travel, what areas of the US did you like the most?
Start your list there.
Or why not stay at the place you are at if you like it?

Our retirement choice was simple, luckily. Both of our kids remained in the area we are at, along with all of our immediate, extended family on both sides. It is seems unusual to have all siblings, nieces/nephews, kids and grandkids within 50 mile radius, but its nice.

 

[2HOTinPHX]

I also recommend YouTube videos for places you might be interested in checking out. Lots of people like to post videos of the area they live in. Just beware of a lot of the negative comments in the comment section. You get the feeling most places don't like strangers coming in and driving up their real estate prices and clogging up their roads.
Realtors like to post videos and you might find one that stands out to contact to get more info from on a particular area.

Have you considered tiny homes? It would be close to RV living. We watch those shows on tiny homes and Iove them. But wifey and I would each need our own...LOL.

 

[d2reid]

I think what you are looking for exists only in your dreams. Maybe in your next life?

Probably. Is it bad to have dreams?

 

[d2reid]

Why not add low taxes, no state income tax, and non-existent crime rates to your list to make it perfect!

My father had a saying, "he's too busy bending over to pick up pennies to make a dollar." So while it makes good fiscal sense reduce your tax burden whenever possible, it's the only other thing that life will guarantee.

IMHO crime rate is directly proportiant to population density. Can't prove, it just an opinion.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

San Diego

 

[d2reid]

We've been on a similar track.

That's pretty much where we are at. Then the kids moved. Will they move again? Probably, they inherited my itchy feet. When I do buy I need to find something that will retain appeal during a recession. Just in case.

 

[REWahoo]

Probably. Is it bad to have dreams?

No, of course not. However, it can be frustrating to spend your days seeking something that you can never find. My motto: don't let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of good enough.

 

[d2reid]

I don't own an RV or a boat, but everyone I know that does have one (or both) always seems to be fixing them.... I guess that's a hobby too. Now I know why you love your tools.

Yup, back in our boating days every weekend was a boating weekend. Half the weekends I used the boat and the other half I fixed the boat. RV's aren't much different. And they are put together poorly. So there is a running list of repairs needed, some minor, some expensive.

 

[d2reid]

Maybe not yet perfect? The one thing I always think is missing from these criteria lists is avoiding risk from natural disasters. Earthquake, flood, hurricane, wildland fire, etc. To me, recovering from a totally destroyed life is not an attractive retirement prospect.

Before retirement we lived in Florida, I went through 5 hurricanes. I am not risk adverse.

 

[2HOTinPHX]

San Diego

Did you mean $$$an Diego?

It would be just about the ideal ONE place if one can afford it. That's where I would target. I often check the area on Redfin and if you are Ok with a small place it may be a good place.

Just remember property taxes are forever. We have a nephew who just bought a small home in the Bay Area and his property taxes will be almost as much as our house payment including our property taxes. But of course being in Tech in the Bay Area And his wife being a nurse I think they make way more than we ever did.

 

[d2reid]

OP, I think you’ve won the game by having a spouse who sounds mostly on board with the lifestyle concept you prefer, ... plus we have young cats.

On the road for 11 years volunteering as campground hosts, I really understand that this lifestyle is not for everyone. In fact, most folks would not be happy with it.


At least we have a really cool cat that likes to go hiking....

 

[d2reid]

This is my ideal way to choose, but it's far from easy.

1. Separate your list into needs and wants.
2. Do some serious thinking and prioritize your wants.
3. Then look at places that meet all your needs.
4. Pick the one that also meets the highest number of wants.

Aha, at last a method. You know we chat a lot about what we want, but we have never sat down together and put them on paper, this is an excellent suggestion.

 

[d2reid]

Congrats d2reid, you've made it to a good phase in life.

I will preface my response with the disclaimer that the RV Life has no appeal to my DW and me. ... Perhaps a college town in upstate Virginia or North Carolina would meet all you needs for Outdoor Activities, Medical Infrastructure and airport nearby...

Del Webb just finished a site here in Nexton that has all of that and more. .

We are planning our summer travels through the Carolinas, Virginia, to NH and Vermont. We have been through that part of the country a couple of times, but were more focused on adventure than living space.

I am googling Del Webb....

 

[FiveDriver]

We are planning our summer travels through the Carolinas, Virginia, to NH and Vermont. We have been through that part of the country a couple of times, but were more focused on adventure than living space.

I am googling Del Webb....

Del Webb has 55+ communities all over America. This is the one near us in the Charleston area. We've been to their Clubhouse for events, and it is very well appointed.

https://www.delwebb.com/homes/south...merville/del-webb-charleston-at-nexton-209701

Be advised that Charleston South Carolina has 4 seasons -- Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer and Christmas.
But if you currently live in FLA, this might not be a problem.