Poll:Relocate after ER?

[foxfirev5]

We're staying in southern Michigan. After a series of moves 30 plus years ago we're set where we are. Family is scattered about so we are close to centrally located. Any place we want go is either a do able drive or easy flight out of DTW.

[43210]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollystomper I do not believe in making multiple major changes at the same time (blame my IT background). After I retire we will stay put to see how this new phase of life works out for us. That willl determine whether or not we choose to relocate.

For me, quitting job and leaving town would definitely happen close together, by design.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 43210 The place we are living is horrible in almost every way, and the only reason to be here is for a job. As soon as I am (financially) able to leave this job, we are leaving this place.

Getting out of town is Priority #1.
Not needing to work is Priority #2.

I look forward to no longer needing to work, but it makes no sense to quit the job (and income) until the move is ready to happen.

[6miths]

We'll relocate to downsize mainly. House and lot are both too large. Kids will impact how far we go though it will take a few years before they decide where they want/need to be. In the meantime, travel.

[Crewer]

I voted stay put. We downsized about 6 years ago farther out of the city but still walking distance to grocery stores etc. DH can't take heat and so far the gym is a good enough refuge from the snow and ice that I still like winters here. I'm very socially invested and we travel extensively - alot of it visiting family all over the country. Our area has a bad reputation but I like it alot.

When our kids get settled (if they ever do) we'd consider moving to be closer to them especially if there are grandkids (none now and none in foreseeable future).

43210 - is that your zipcode??

[43210]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crewer 43210 - is that your zipcode??

Countdown to no more work.

[Palmtree]

We lived and worked in a major metro area but built a smallish weekend lake house in a neighboring state. When we FIRED, we sold the house in the metro burbs and moved to the LCOL area lake house. Never looked back and no regrets.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scrapr This was the hardest thing for Mrs Scrapr. She is a very social person.We had our 2nd home for 12 or more years and thought that we were OK on that front. But moving in we realized everybody was at work and involved in their own activities. She is creating her network again. But it is much harder than we imagined

Yes it's hard for me to imagine replacing friends who've been in our lives 20-30 years with new friends. There's something to be said for long-term friendships. We're open to new friends and occasionally make some on vacation or doing a new activity, but those long-term relationships are the most important to us.

[NW-Reader]

We are completely paralyzed by the relocation (in)decision. We bought our potential retirement condo in 2011. It's in a small town about 1.5 hours from our in-city Seattle home. We used it for a getaway for a couple of years, then when we were completely FIRED at the end of 2013 we turned it into a long-term rental to help with cash-flow. Our son was still in high school anyway, so we couldn't move. Son graduated and off to college in 2015, but we still haven't been able to make the move.

I go over the pros and cons list almost daily. A huge one is the crazy run-up in RE prices here. As a LBYM'er, I would never have imagined myself living in a house that's worth this much (through no fault of our own). Condo is much more suitable for aging-in-place, and easier for us to lock and leave to travel, while health still allows.

But we love our current house, and neighborhood. Friends and local haunts are here. The pharmacy where they know our names. Doctors of 20+ years. My husband says, only half-joking, that we can move when his doc retires.

This is truly a first-world problem, I know, and I try to stay in the moment and just enjoy where I am now. But it's so interesting to hear what others have done and how it worked out.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Reader Condo is much more suitable for aging-in-place, and easier for us to lock and leave to travel, while health still allows. But we love our current house, and neighborhood. Friends and local haunts are here.

If it's that close, I might consider living in both places for a while, alternating weeks. That would probably make the choice a lot easier.

[brucethebroker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I'd much rather be in a a warmer climate like one of the Carolinas but DW would be most unhappy moving that far from her family. And really, the winter here is usually only real nasty about two, maybe three months of the year so we'll probably be here until we move to a CCRC.

Yes, only 3 months.
For many years, we felt the same way, but finally decided 25% of our future time on earth was too much to spend in cold weather. We bought an affordable place in warm weather down south to snowbird those 3 miserable months. Our year now has only 3 seasons: spring, summer, spring (with a touch of fall).

[45th Birthday]

We ended up relocating, but not because of any grand plan. It kind of just happened. For years, we had a summer place in addition to our primary home.

When I FIREd, we had kids at home, so we stayed put while they finished middle and high school. When they were in college, we bought a place in Florida to escape the winter and taxes.

Then we grew tired of rotating between three places during the year, and the kids didn't much care about coming back to the original primary home. So, we sold that and also sold our original summer place and bought a bigger summer place. Now we just live there and in Florida.

We miss our original primary home community, but had always been part-time residents and more so in later years, so it was a transition. We now have more time for travel. As the kids start their careers, they have less time to travel to us, so we will spend more time traveling to see them and also take other trips.

[gerntz]

Weather isn't terribly important other than very cold for long periods. High of 40 in Jan is fine for outdoor activities/exercise. Besides, winter travel is an option. Near family & friends. No need to downsize because we purposely never upsized. Taxes not bad. Why move?

[kcowan]

Inertia is what keeps people in place, especially in the upper half of the states and Canada. It kept us in Vancouver for 5 years until MIL passed on.

Now I have friends in Mexico from San Francisco and Dana Point and I ask: Why do you come for 4 months and they say because the weather is better and they love the people. But when I probe deeper, they have always reached a point of inflection where the ties that bind had dissipated. Plus they had already established ties in Mexico.

[Red Badger]

We enjoy our modest abode just north of Charlotte. Mild winters will keep us here.
Proximity to the ocean, mountains, and a major airport are additional anchors. Congestion is increasing, but we just try to avoid being out during peak periods.

When home maintenance becomes too big of a hassle, we'll look at a condo or maybe straight to a CCRC.

[Cat-tirement]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Interesting. Roughly 2/3 relocate or want to. More than I expected. And those that relocated - relocated to downsize, move to LCOL and to less density. What I expected. Thanks for the info. I don’t know how it will help in my quest to relocate or downsize, but it’s good to know.

We downsized when we relocated, but that wasn't the primary reason. We also moved to higher cost of living (for lifestyle) and slightly higher density (to make it easier to walk/bike to places, particularly as we age). So I guess we're in the minority.

[FI_RElater]

Because we had a corporate relocation to an area without prior attachment, and many of those that we did know had either been relocated again or left after their retirement, we had no strong interest in remaining there. Add then a definite problem with the city ( let’s just say it made international news) , along with the lack of the views we wanted to have, and the choice was easy.

We moved over a couple of thousand miles to a beautiful area, great unobstructed views of mountains (almost 160 degrees), close to rivers, lakes, and with a single level house (smaller than what we had) and its been good. Even taxes are lower, despite the higher individual tax rate, due to lower property tax and no sales tax.

We had visited all fifty states over the years and had visited many locations to determine whether any fit our desire/lifestyle— then focused on the one that we liked most. Took a few years to find our house but everyone that has visited has enjoyed the views and area as much as we are ( including the tourists)....

[ncbill]

This thread would be more interesting if posters would update their profile with at least a general location...

[2017ish]

Voted "stay put," as we have no immediate plans to move; but likely will move 20 miles or so at some undetermined point.

Longer answer: have decent big home in middle of 25 beautiful acres 20 miles from heart of Nashville. We love it, but it requires work and it is platted for subdivision development by the City. At some point, we'll get an offer that we can't refuse and, if in the next decade, will move to a smaller (but likely as expensive) place in the middle of downtown. No personal ties keeping us here, as both family and friends are scattered all over the country--but we enjoy Nashville.

In the meantime, we expect to be traveling for at least 6 months of the year. (Will eventually do a trip report, but Sept/October kicking around Peru confirmed that we won't be getting homesick.)

[Breedlove]

We bought land in Grimes county Texas years ago and built a small steel Barn home . We currently live in a suburb of Houston and the traffic and hustle will eat your lunch .
Grimes County has some of the cheapest real estate taxes in the state . Our real estate taxes are 950.00 yearly ( with ag exemption ) We are 20 minutes from a Walmart , Kroger, Gym . It is in a rural area but a nice rural area . When you retire comfortable cheap living is what we wanted.