Did you relocate after FIRE?

[razztazz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by misty57 We bought our retirement dream home when DH was transferred by megacorp to what would be his last "assignment". Two years after he retired we decided to leave CA and relocate to NV. I can't believe how big a difference the move has made in our life - not just for the cost savings (our property taxes are MUCH lower and there is no state income tax), but also for the much improved quality of life.

Yes. I moved to a "right sized" metro with a lower cost of living

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by razztazz Yes. I moved to a "right sized" metro with a lower cost of loving

I'm a little out of touch with today's market. What does loving run you these days?

[razztazz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo I'm a little out of touch with today's market. What does loving run you these days?

Whatever the meat market will bear. I'll edit that

[harllee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brokrken Karen, my wife and I have the exact same idea. We are also in Chicago and plan to move to NC or TN when we retire, which we plan to do in 6 years. May I ask what part of NC you are in? We have been looking for a couple years and haven't found the perfect spot, which for us would be in a town with plenty of amenities, but very close, if not next to, drive to the mountains or lake.

I am not Karen but I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina a great college town in the middle of the state. Chapel Hill is a very pretty town, many things to do, great health care, home of the university of North Carolina. Many people retire here. It is more expensive than many places in NC but it is a bargain as compared to cities like Chicago. The people are nice and friendly (be prepared for the waitresses to call you "honey"). Population of Chapel Hill is about 60,000 and 30,000 of students. We are near Raleigh/Durham large cities with many things to do and a very nice airport.

Chapel Hill is about 3 hours from the beaches (I like the Wilmington area and the Outer Banks best on the coast) and 3 hours from the beautiful mountains. Jordan Lake is a large man made lake about 30 minutes away for fishing, boating and kayaking but there are no houses allowed on the Lake.

Weather in Chapel Hill--we have 4 definite seasons. Spring and Fall are wonderful. Winter gets a little chilly, you need to run your heat some and you need a light winter coat, today the high was around 50. It rarely gets below freezing and when it does it is only for a day or two. We usually get one snow fall a year and that completely shuts down the whole town because there are not many snow plows and no one knows how to drive in snow, it is fun for a day or 2 which is how long it usually takes all the snow to melt. Summers are fairly hot and humid and I spend my summers in the N.C. mountains where the summer weather is perfect.

If you are interested in the North Carolina mountains I suggest you look at the Asheville area (Asheville has been "discovered" and has gotten more expensive and somewhat trendy) or Boone. Boone is the home of Appalachian University and is higher altitude than Aseville so it is cooler in summer but colder in winter. Boone has not yet been discovered so less expensive and less "trendy".

Let me know your North Carolina questions I have lived here all my life.

[FreeBear]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry Free, get some Smoke from fires but not horrible. About 4 years ago we had lots of smoke for a month. There is a drought so you can only water 2 days/week. Many people xeriscape and we used high quality Astro-turf. Most still have grass. Close to Tahoe for summer and winter activities. I enjoy the mild 4 seasons. It’s sunny most of the time. You can be outside daily. People are friendly and the amount of things to do is incredible. The casino shows are good and lots of restaurants have great happy hour food and beverages.

Thanks Terry for some local knowledge! We love Tahoe and sunny weather, but don't want to go to the humid and hurricane prone south. Seriously thinking of visiting the Reno area; can't believe I've never been considering how close it is to Tahoe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by timo2 Reno is a nice place. I used to live in Fallon, NV and we would go up to Reno occasionally. I really liked northern Nevada, it is so different than Clark County. In the 1980's I lived near Battle Mountain (up to 3000 people now) and Elko (up to 18,000 people now) . In the 1980's I did know three different couples who had moved to either Battle Mountain or Elko because Reno was getting too big. Northern Nevada is quirky like that in a lot of ways.

Thanks Timo, after living in the heart of one of the larger US cities, I doubt Reno would be too big for us!

[Teacher Terry]

Free, if you decide to visit private message me and we would love to show you guys around or give you tips about the area.

[Dave in VA]

We bought a lake home in central VA several years before fire. At retirement we sold our town home in Alexandria, and were able to pay off both mortgages and move to the lake full time. Paradise, and a much lower cost of living!

[msanniee]

Moved from Bay Area. Sold my home at a huge profit and moved to South Carolina where property taxes are lower and cost of home was unheard of in California. Have a fenced in yard for my flower gardens and French Bulldogs. Do miss certain things about California, but have a good quality of life here.

[Kim451]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunny Kind of. My last assignment (Federal Officer) was to DC in 2014 after living in the Huntsville, AL for six years. We liked North Alabama and hate DC. So after 10 months in DC, I was offered early retirement, so moved back to Alabama. I've now been FIREd for a nearly 3.5 years. But I'm bored. We live in a small town and everyone our age (and older) still works. My social interaction has suffered and I'm an extrovert. So now we are looking at one last move to a 55+ community in Florida when our DS leaves for college in a couple of years. So... Anyone have recommendations for a 55+ community in Central Florida with access to fitness, pool, boating, fishing? We are thinking a manufactured home community to spend our Winters and RV travel in the summer.

Look around Port St Lucie - they're building a lot of new 55+ communities there and they're the lowest priced ones in the state. I just did a tour...

[RobLJ]

I should chime in with Terry and Misty & others on Reno.
We relocated here from Houston 3.5 years ago, although housing was more expensive than our Houston suburb, we pretty much paid for the Reno house by selling the Houston house and Colorado cabin. Reasons

1) 4 seasons (and snow melts pretty quickly here; we're up higher than most of Reno so get more)
2) Hiking (we both lead hikes for the Sierra club), fly fishing (the Truckee River is 1/8 mile from my house), skiing in the Tahoe Basin (Mt. Rose and Northstar are a 30 minute drive0.
3) new Grandbaby in Central Valley Cal (our oldest is a winemaker for Gallo), about 3-4 hour drive. We babysit once a month while the daughter in law substitute teaches.
4) youngest son is a 12 hour drive in Seattle. (Easy day's drive for me; long for most people.)

A couple times a year, I drive into Oakland to watch the Astros, but the minor league stadium here is a beauty and temps drop considerably after 6:00 pm.
Reno is a hiker's Paradise, with Tahoe/Sierras right here and Elko & Southern Oreg 4-5 hours away. Housing is getting expensive, though (our house is up about 45% in 3.5 years).


Stay away!

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KimL Look around Port St Lucie - they're building a lot of new 55+ communities there and they're the lowest priced ones in the state. I just did a tour...

The nuclear reactor is also near there offshore, but not sure that is a concern.

[RobLJ]

Boone is a great college town; I've been there several times for conferences at the University. If I were on the East Coast, I'd consider it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harllee If you are interested in the North Carolina mountains I suggest you look at the Asheville area (Asheville has been "discovered" and has gotten more expensive and somewhat trendy) or Boone. Boone is the home of Appalachian University and is higher altitude than Aseville so it is cooler in summer but colder in winter. Boone has not yet been discovered so less expensive and less "trendy". Let me know your North Carolina questions I have lived here all my life.

[grace_abounds]

I moved from the DC area to Michigan specifically to be with my 95 year old dad and help him. I loved NOVA and not so crazy about MI, other than summer, but NOVA is expensduve so unlikely id go back there unless i decided to work there again. It's very unlikely this will be my final destination, but the right thing for now. I'm interested in any other single FIREd people out the living in warmer climates sharing places you've landed in and loved. I'm looking for good climate, low taxes, social life opportunities for a single person/good community life, prefer to be close to areas with a lot going on in the cultural and performing arts. Remote not so much.

[Hermit]

I moved from Virginia to the Colorado mountains when I retired. I live next to a kid's camp I support and am involved with. I also have been building my retirement home here since I retired over 5 years ago.

[kimcdougc]

Sold our Seattle suburban house and renting for now in the metro area. Can't decide where we want to go when we grow up. One kid in the Seattle area and one in Spokane, WA area. Hard to make that decision...till then we will just rent and be happy right where we are.

[DeborahB]

I finally got moved from Kansas City Missouri back to Rhode Island, where I’m from. I left an ex behind. The cost-of-living is higher where I am now, and I bought a house so I have a mortgage again, but it’s worth it. I’m so happy here. There’s lots of ocean and a lot of beaches. Granted it’s a short summer, but it’s still lovely to be near the ocean. I don’t recommend it if you’re trying to conserve funds. Weve got obscene property and income tax. But there are wonderful restaurants, and a lot of great music at reasonable prices. $15-$20 for really good blues. I’m having a good time!

I moved about seven years after I retired. I always intended to move back here, and my ex knew it. Our relationship was breaking down. Being alone together that much didn’t help.

[meleana]

It's all great if you can afford to buy another home before you sell your current home. But in our situation we need to sell our home first and we have to move 6 hours out of state and not sure how the heck we will do it since we need the money from the sale of our house first. Not to mention the real estate market where we live is not great and our 2 bedroom saltbox home- built in 1987-- which is very nice and totally updated with lots of amenities-on 10.5 acres- has barely appreciated in the 31 years we have lived here.


Not to mention- in New Hampshire where we want to move the 55+ housing communities and other condos that are updated are expensive. But our only child lives in New Hampshire.



But we have to get out because we have high school and property taxes and no property frontage with a 700 foot driveway- secluded in a rural area in the woods. And no friends or family nearby.Not a good situation to age in.


Not sure what the hell we are going to do- especially since there is a chance the house won't sell.

[indiajust]

yes, twice now. I sold the house in NC and moved as trailing sig to vermont. 2 years and a relationship later, I'm in NH.


I like the snow and mountains, but if I had to commute I'm betting my opinion might change.


At 55 with 20+ moves in my past, not likely I'm dying here. Though deer and ice may dispute that.

[meleana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by indiajust yes, twice now. I sold the house in NC and moved as trailing sig to vermont. 2 years and a relationship later, I'm in NH. I like the snow and mountains, but if I had to commute I'm betting my opinion might change. At 55 with 20+ moves in my past, not likely I'm dying here. Though deer and ice may dispute that.

I love Vermont-vacation there every year- but financially makes more sense to move to NH- plus our son is there.


What do you mean by "moved as trailing sig to vermont"?



Where in New Hampshire do you live?

[indiajust]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meleana I love Vermont-vacation there every year- but financially makes more sense to move to NH- plus our son is there. What do you mean by "moved as trailing sig to vermont"? Where in New Hampshire do you live?

Significant Other, not sure if that has a well recognized abbreviation...


I had a choice between Franklin and Claremont. Chose claremont, they called first!