Laguna Woods (Leisure World) Anyone?

[longranger]

My house is in escrow. Being as I live very close to laguna woods I looked at a few rentals with a realtor. Prices are a little lower than in the surrounding communities. Very nice community but not for me and DW for at least another decade.

Point of clarification on property taxes for property owners in laguna woods. Everyone pays property tax. In the co-ops this is added to your monthly HOA in equal monthly installments automatically fooling some into thinking they are not paying proper tax. Knew their had to be a catch.LOL

 

[daylatedollarshort]

My house is in escrow. Being as I live very close to laguna woods I looked at a few rentals with a realtor. Prices are a little lower than in the surrounding communities. Very nice community but not for me and DW for at least another decade.

Point of clarification on property taxes for property owners in laguna woods. Everyone pays property tax. In the co-ops this is added to your monthly HOA in equal monthly installments automatically fooling some into thinking they are not paying proper tax. Knew their had to be a catch.LOL

Congrats on the house being in escrow.

I guess what confused me was the HOA fees seemed to be around ~$600 a month for both co-ops and condos, with some of the realtor sites saying the property taxes were included in $600 for the co-ops.

Thanks for the update. We plan to rent in that area, too, and then will look around at Laguna Woods and surrounding areas before we buy. It took us forever to even decide on whether or not to move and if we moved even what county to live in. I am sure finding the right house will take just as long if not longer. Maybe by the time we decide we will fit right in age wise at Laguna Woods.

 

[WannabeRetired]

So, where are you buying then, longranger? Did I miss that info in the thread somewhere?

 

[longranger]

We will rent locally for at least the next year for several reasons. Mainly we are not sure what we want next?? condo, small single story detached etc.. COL is high in Cali in general so we are not ruling out moving to a lower cost area when I pull the fire trigger. IMHO prices in many of the most desirable areas of Cali are in a low interest induced bubble. Would hate to buy before that bubble pops. Should have some of this sorted out after a year of renting. Oh one final thing, renting will force us to get rid of most of our meaningless junk as a step forward to a worry free retirement.

 

[WannabeRetired]

That sounds like a good plan to rent, clear out junk and also see how the housing market goes. I agree that cheap interest rates might have started another bubble in California real estate.

Do you think you'll choose a cheaper area of California or are you looking at moving out of state completely?

We really envy S. California weather, but we've decided it's best for us to visit many times per year rather than make a permanent move there.

 

[longranger]

Until I FIRE or know exactly what we want renting sounds most appealing. I love California. Will consider other locations in California, it's neighbor states and possibly a property in central America. Ideally in the long term would like to have 2 properties, both small, one in southern California and one That will probably change as we do more research. As I said last post we really are not sure what we want. We love California but are open to many options.

 

[WannabeRetired]

Central America sounds interesting. It would definitely be appealing to able to live at or near the beach with really warm weather year around all at a reasonable cost. Personally, I'd miss being around family and would probably worry a bit about health care in case something popped up. I'm often too paranoid though.

 

[longranger]

Healthcare is pretty good and affordable in most areas of Costa Rica and Panama. If you live more than an hour or two from a major medical center in the US you are just as vulnerable to an acute health problem as in a small village in a third world country. Agree about the problem with separation from family and friends. Hence the need for a home near loved ones. If I got a central American property it would need to be managed and rentable when not in use by us or our family.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Until I FIRE or know exactly what we want renting sounds most appealing. I love California. Will consider other locations in California, it's neighbor states and possibly a property in central America. Ideally in the long term would like to have 2 properties, both small, one in southern California and one That will probably change as we do more research. As I said last post we really are not sure what we want. We love California but are open to many options.

We love California, too. We are using the pleasant weather chart as a part of our criteria -

kelly norton: The Pleasant Places to Live

We move at a glacial pace but are getting bids on fixing up the house to sell and getting rid of junk.

 

[WannabeRetired]

Healthcare is pretty good and affordable in most areas of Costa Rica and Panama. If you live more than an hour or two from a major medical center in the US you are just as vulnerable to an acute health problem as in a small village in a third world country. Agree about the problem with separation from family and friends. Hence the need for a home near loved ones. If I got a central American property it would need to be managed and rentable when not in use by us or our family.

Although not needed right now, we're currently 30-minutes from major hospitals and university research hospitals. I'd also be a little worried about the language barrier we'd have in Central America. I can understand a little Spanish, but definitely can't speak it too well.

Maybe in early retirement, assuming good health, it would be doable for us. The weather, beach and ocean are such a huge draw. A nice place in Manhattan Beach on the strand would be preferable, but that would never be remotely affordable for us.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Central America sounds interesting. It would definitely be appealing to able to live at or near the beach with really warm weather year around all at a reasonable cost. Personally, I'd miss being around family and would probably worry a bit about health care in case something popped up. I'm often too paranoid though.

We are thinking about checking out EU countries in the Caribbean with maybe eventual citizenship for me. I am the only one in the family not a dual citizen currently. I think even our dog can get an EU pet passport.

I'd like to at least be on par with the dog in terms of future residency options.

 

[longranger]

Most people learn spanish pretty quickly, at least enough to get by with people who speak no english. Online courses or classes to learn basics get you started. The more you interact with locals in Spanish or whatever new language the faster you learn. Expats who move to gated communities with mostly english speaking residents have the hardest time learning the new language. We see that here in the US too where entire neighborhoods have elders that never have learned english.

 

[kcowan]

Spanish should not be a problem but weather would be in the summer in Panama. Too hot. Need a cooler place up north. Maybe Colorado?