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Old 03-19-2021, 06:42 PM   #61
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Hurricanes can hit anywhere in FLA, but as one example there has not been a direct hit to Tampa of a Category 1 hurricane since the 1920's.
I suppose you mean "Category 1 or higher"?
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Old 03-19-2021, 08:10 PM   #62
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We’ve owned a condo right on the beach at Kure Beach right beside Fort Fisher since 1998. Retired at 50, 10+ years ago. We also have access to a family home on Beech mountain and we live in Chapel Hill.
So we have the best of all worlds in NC.
We use our beach place about 10 days a month from September to May and rent it out to rednecks over the summer. Works great for us.
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Old 03-20-2021, 12:28 AM   #63
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It is a serious question with serious consequences. We (third and current wife) bought a house on Hilton Head Island and kept it as a rental with the ultimate plan to retire there. Then Katrina happened and shortly thereafter the economic downturn of 2007-08. Because of Katrina our hurricane insurance went to ~$7000 a year and our property tax also went up to ~$8000 a year. Add in the Homeowners association dues of ~$6000 a year (it was on a golf course but doesn't include golf fees) and it was getting extremely expensive for a house that rented for $1400 a month. We were in essence paying people to live in our house. We sold and moved to Europe in 2009 where it is a lot less expensive and here in Hungary, our property (3 acres with a pool) insurance is roughly $200 a year and zero property tax. Our climate is excellent and we live in a destination resort and only 5 hours drive from Venice or Munich and 2 hours to Budapest or Vienna. I lost badly on that property as we had purchased it for $680k and sold for ~$240k and happy to have gotten that much.

I also had 75 acres up near Boone North Carolina but it was a 45-minute drive to anything so not practical. On the other hand, it rose in value 500% (it had virgin trees). It was sold by my second wife who forged my signature just prior to our divorce. I used my half to buy the house in Hilton Head free and clear. She was stupid as I had the trees appraised and they were worth $7 million but she sold for $750k. She, being a junkyard dog lawyer, who also became lesbian (the reason for divorce) and had access to a hoard of lesbian sister lawyers in DC who would work for free, made that it a tough divorce and not worth getting wrapped up in legal prosecutions etc. My lawyer estimated fighting them would cost a minimum of $500k (required deposit of that amount before he would take the case) and even then poor probability of success. I was happy to get out of there intact. I really loved the Boone place and had plans to build a large dome home up there. It had unbelievable views and a small 5-acre lake. She sold it out of spite.
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Old 03-20-2021, 03:54 AM   #64
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I suppose you mean "Category 1 or higher"?
Yes.
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Old 03-20-2021, 04:19 AM   #65
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We’ve owned a condo right on the beach at Kure Beach right beside Fort Fisher since 1998. Retired at 50, 10+ years ago. We also have access to a family home on Beech mountain and we live in Chapel Hill.
So we have the best of all worlds in NC.
We use our beach place about 10 days a month from September to May and rent it out to rednecks over the summer. Works great for us.
Hello fellow Chapel Hill resident. I don't have a beach place but have a place at Sugar Mountain! I love the mountains in the hot weather and CH the rest of the time. I also retired at 50--19 years ago, I am now 69! I hear what you say about rednecks, plenty of those in NC but CH is an oasis. I hated the Tar Heel loss last night.
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Old 03-20-2021, 04:23 AM   #66
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I have been giving serious thought to the coastal areas of the southeast because they offer two things that are very important to me: beaches and lots of tennis options. But I keep going back to hurricanes, terrible storms, and flooding. I am petrified of lightning, but I could install a lightning protection system for peace of mind. I can’t control hurricanes. And so much of the land in these areas is prone to flooding.

How worried are you about hurricanes where you live? Are hurricanes and/or flooding something you took into consideration before moving there? I’m trying to convince myself that hurricane risk isn’t all that bad but the articles I have read indicate otherwise.

We've just spent Jan. 1 until now along the gulf and Atlantic coasts. Just a few days in LA and AL, 4-6 weeks in Florida, a few weeks in GA and now SC. High humidity has been the major negative for me so far, having grown up in a relatively humid part of Texas (D/FW - 60-70% avg). But it took me all of one day to start hating the coast from northern Florida and points north up to here (SC, just north of Savannah, GA). The no-see-ums or whatever it is are like the chiggers of my childhood but different. Chiggers produce larger spots of irritation and itch like fire, but are almost always limited to the lower leg. No-see-ums also attack the arms, but are not quite as itchy. But they itch for days! To make matters worse, in a sense, not one of them has bitten my wife.


So going into this leg of our RV journey, we already knew we weren't 'beach people' but just in case we thought we might change our minds, this part of the country has taken care of that. NOT beach people!


Any way, if you *are* into beaches, keep the biting midges in mind.
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Old 03-20-2021, 06:19 AM   #67
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Hurricanes can hit anywhere in FLA, but as one example there has not been a direct hit to Tampa of a Category 1 hurricane since the 1920's.

Sequence of returns risk as related to meteorology! True our expected rate of return is less than New Orleans, but the average is still above 0%! We got lucky with Charley and Irma... if she tracked just a little west and stayed centered just offshore to maintain her strength Tampa Bay would have really taken a serious blow. As it was, as a weakening TS, Irma caused many to be without power for a long time (I never lost power but I was surrounded by darkness while my neighbor across the street was out for 2.5 weeks!) and there was widespread, but non-catastrophic, damage.



I agree that our odds of being hit by a powerful storm are a bit lower than other cities but our number will come up one day. The actuaries know it and our insurance rates (and dearth of companies that want the exposure) show it! A strong storm offshore or making landfall just north of us (I think Tarpon Springs is about the target to maximize flooding) will push a lot of water into Tampa Bay and a lot of people that think they are "far from water" will realize just how close they are. At 70', my home will blow apart before I flood at least.


I don't worry about storms but every year is a roll of the dice and I respect their power. While I absolutely do not want to get hit; I still have a weird sort of excitement and almost feel let down when the miss me.... I'm sure there is a German word for that emotion!


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Old 03-20-2021, 06:26 AM   #68
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We couldn’t stand it, and moved inland.
What area did you move to?
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Old 03-20-2021, 08:35 AM   #69
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to the folks who live in hungary. how did you find out about or make you decide to go there?
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Old 03-20-2021, 08:52 AM   #70
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I have lived on the east coast of Florida for 24 years full time and have been through all of the hurricanes. The odds of a hurricane causing severe damage that can not be remedied or is physically hurtful to you is low - yes, it happens, but I'm talking of the odds. My personal experiences to damage have been trees falling down, roads blocked afterwards and the biggest problems that I have experienced result from no electricity afterwards which means no air conditioning, which isn't just uncomfortable, but with added water can result in damaging mold, and once the pumping stations were inoperable which caused toilet backup. Once. And then the city added generators so that shouldn't happen again.
The anxiety of an impending hurricane is real, so we protect our home best we can with hurricane impact windows and our residence being up tp hurricane code and take our chances.
No regrets.

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Old 03-20-2021, 10:10 AM   #71
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GA is great!

My wife and I are 'beach' people as well and were looking to move about a year and 1/2 ago. We were planning on FL but someone mentioned a lake in GA and we thought we'd check it out. Flew out and bought a house!

But not at the beach - on a lake! Not the same as the ocean but pretty awesome - something to consider - learning to drive a boat! We're in north east GA, on lake Lanier - about an hour from the Atlanta airport. A 2000 sqft house on 1/2 acre on the lake with a dock and such is ~400K. Not even 1/2 of what I paid in San Diego or Denver (which we're glad we escaped from!).

The people here are nicer than anywhere I've ever lived! I've learned GA is not a redneck haven as most people from the 'cities' believe. My entire life (I'm 59), I've lived in Denver and San Diego - always in the downtown or beach areas - so it was definitely a change.

I will tell you though (sad that this is even relevant) but it is very conservative here if that bothers you...
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Old 03-20-2021, 10:25 AM   #72
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I also had 75 acres up near Boone North Carolina but it was a 45-minute drive to anything so not practical. On the other hand, it rose in value 500% (it had virgin trees). It was sold by my second wife who forged my signature just prior to our divorce. I used my half to buy the house in Hilton Head free and clear. She was stupid as I had the trees appraised and they were worth $7 million but she sold for $750k. She, being a junkyard dog lawyer, who also became lesbian (the reason for divorce) and had access to a hoard of lesbian sister lawyers in DC who would work for free, made that it a tough divorce and not worth getting wrapped up in legal prosecutions etc. My lawyer estimated fighting them would cost a minimum of $500k (required deposit of that amount before he would take the case) and even then poor probability of success. I was happy to get out of there intact. I really loved the Boone place and had plans to build a large dome home up there. It had unbelievable views and a small 5-acre lake. She sold it out of spite.
This has to be one fascinating story.
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Old 03-20-2021, 10:38 AM   #73
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Hurricanes can hit anywhere in FLA, but as one example there has not been a direct hit to Tampa of a Category 1 hurricane since the 1920's.

Right. And the stretch north of Tampa (for maybe 70-90 miles or so) has had fewer hurricanes historically than many other parts Florida, also. That's not to say it won't happen, but the risk seems to be a little lower. We live in that area, in a stilt house, during the winter months. In the summer months (much of the hurricane season) we are back up north. I do worry about hurricanes, and I watch the weather reports closely from up north. And I have someone lined up to help protect our house if a storm is headed our way. I think we would be okay in most flooding events, since our house is up high on stilts, but the wind damage from a direct hurricane hit would of course do a lot of damage. I do love living here during the winter, and we love owning a house, so we accept the risk. I have no desire to spend the winters in the snow and ice anymore........been there, done that for most of my life.
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Old 03-20-2021, 11:31 AM   #74
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I lived on the water outside Wrightsville Beach for 20 years. Just moved to Myrtle Beach last June.

As long as you are not in a flood plain, hurricanes aren't that bad. Just need a generator and hurricane shutters.

Myrtle Beach had a hurricane 2 weeks after we moved here. No damage except new trees in new house were knocked over. Just had to stand them back up.

I am also looking to buy a house near Boone or Banner Elk to get out of the summer heat.

Good luck!
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Old 03-21-2021, 07:22 PM   #75
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Let's bring some life back into this thread - who says lightning or hurricanes are the greatest danger in Florida?
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Old 03-21-2021, 07:29 PM   #76
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And in case you think this is rare or fake, this is what I saw just last week when sitting in my patio office:
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Old 03-22-2021, 01:37 AM   #77
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Hurricanes can hit anywhere in FLA, but as one example there has not been a direct hit to Tampa of a Category 1 hurricane since the 1920's.
In 2004 a Cat 3 was predicted to hit Tampa. Many drove to Orlando to escape and every hotel room was sold out in Orlando. The Cat 3 went up I-4 and hit parts of Kissimmee and Orlando instead.
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Question for the FL, GA and Carolina coast retirees
Old 03-22-2021, 03:40 AM   #78
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Question for the FL, GA and Carolina coast retirees

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Let's bring some life back into this thread - who says lightning or hurricanes are the greatest danger in Florida?

Photoshop is great, maybe they should have found a different image of an alligator to paste in, one without it’s mouth taped shut.
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Old 03-22-2021, 04:38 AM   #79
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In 2004 a Cat 3 was predicted to hit Tampa. Many drove to Orlando to escape and every hotel room was sold out in Orlando. The Cat 3 went up I-4 and hit parts of Kissimmee and Orlando instead.
I think you are speaking of Hurricane Charley, although there were 4 large hurricanes to hit FLA that year, so could have been another one.
Charley was supposed to hit Tampa, but hit Punta Gorda fairly hard.
Irma was possibly going to hit Tampa at one point, but didn't.

Of course it could happen again, but the setting of Tampa against the typical flow of hurricanes once they are in the gulf is not ideal for a direct hit.
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Old 03-22-2021, 04:39 AM   #80
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And in case you think this is rare or fake, this is what I saw just last week when sitting in my patio office:
Been in FLA for 3.5 years and have seen 5 alligators so far in the man made lakes in the complex.
One should assume every lake/large pond has one.
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