Where to live after ER Why?

[Out of Steam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu As to the heat... June through August ... hot.... BUT... At our age, not too many 100 mile bike rides, or hiking. So... everything else is air conditioned.... Car, house, clubhouse, stores, restaurants etc. The longest "hot" time is from the house to the car. One gets used to it... 'specially as we grow older.

One of the issues of aging is not being uncomfortable in temperature and humidity that are, in fact, unsafely hot. When my mother was elderly, Meals on Wheels was very concerned that the people they visited had and used air conditioning on very hot days.

[1-31-18]

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Originally Posted by imoldernu A quick thought about Florida being hot. We still have a mfg. home in FL, about 13 miles from The Villages. While we were snowbirds, we debated long and hard about living in central FL. Deciding factor wasn't the heat, but the overworked medical/health care, and being too far away from family. As to the heat... June through August ... hot.... BUT... At our age, not too many 100 mile bike rides, or hiking. So... everything else is air conditioned.... Car, house, clubhouse, stores, restaurants etc. The longest "hot" time is from the house to the car. One gets used to it... 'specially as we grow older. All of the tennis, shuffleboard, pickleball, and bocce, happen in the morning when it's still cool.

This sounds attractive to me. I checked out The Villages, twice, and decided that city life was more pleasing to me. Also, my lady has a health issue that makes Florida heat and humidity problematic for her. She would go to TV with me if I wanted that strongly, but I don't want to put her through it and I prefer city amenities in the end. Yes, this includes the 22 miles of bike path out my front door; but TV has that, too.

The folks who live in TV tend to enjoy the reality that it's almost always all about folks their age. Disney for retired people. Full-time fun. Believe me, I get it, and I wouldn't knock anyone for choosing it.

[explanade]

Why is housing in Boulder so expensive?

Median income is $58-59k but the median home is $584k?

But Seattle has a higher median income, $80k while median home is $530k?

[Smileonherface]

So I am not even certain I am on the appropriate thread but just need a sounding board today. We relocated to Ca from Pa a year ago after ER. Purchased a small farm with the intent of multigen lifestyle with adult children who live here. Organic farm in the works. Husband loves the isolation of farmlife. Children are very happy they do not have to travel to Pa for visits lol. I have joined a bookclub and met some nice women to lunch with periodically. I also enjoy quiet time and sewing so that is great. I find myself wondering if I made a mistake buying into my family's dream. I thought an adventure would be a good idea but not so sure now. Plenty of culture nearby, can afford the lifestyle, but to be honest, careless drivers on tough highway and abundance of homelessness wherever you go is something I am not used to. Anyhow...I find myself cruising online for condos back home in Pa and wanted to see if anyonw out there has moved away and then back. You can always go home again...or can you? Btw my aging mom and siblings still live in Pa. Appreciate hearing any of your experiences with this.

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Why is housing in Boulder so expensive? Median income is $58-59k but the median home is $584k? But Seattle has a higher median income, $80k while median home is $530k?

Building restrictions. Areas just outside Boulder are more reasonable.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Why is housing in Boulder so expensive? Median income is $58-59k but the median home is $584k? But Seattle has a higher median income, $80k while median home is $530k?

Maybe Boulder has more single family and Seattle more condos (which I believe are less expensive and would bring the median home value down)?

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smileonherface So I am not even certain I am on the appropriate thread but just need a sounding board today. We relocated to Ca from Pa a year ago after ER. Purchased a small farm with the intent of multigen lifestyle with adult children who live here. Organic farm in the works. Husband loves the isolation of farmlife. Children are very happy they do not have to travel to Pa for visits lol. I have joined a bookclub and met some nice women to lunch with periodically. I also enjoy quiet time and sewing so that is great. I find myself wondering if I made a mistake buying into my family's dream. I thought an adventure would be a good idea but not so sure now. Plenty of culture nearby, can afford the lifestyle, but to be honest, careless drivers on tough highway and abundance of homelessness wherever you go is something I am not used to. Anyhow...I find myself cruising online for condos back home in Pa and wanted to see if anyonw out there has moved away and then back. You can always go home again...or can you? Btw my aging mom and siblings still live in Pa. Appreciate hearing any of your experiences with this.

Welcome to the forum. You might want to start a new thread and an introduction. A separate thread will get you much better answers.

[Scuba]

If weather and nature and diversity are priorities for you, So CA is hard to beat. The problems of traffic and crowds largely disappear in retirement as one doesn't have to go out during peak times.

[aknowhow78]

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Originally Posted by USGrant1962 OK, I'll play. I added where I live to your list, but I used the county since it is the suburbs and the numbers for the little town I live in are probably not statistically significant. We want to eventually move somewhere cheaper, more for taxes than real estate reasons. City Median age - State Median age- HH Med income - Med house value Peru,Il.................... 45...38....47K....128K Boulder Co............. 29...36....5kK....584K San Francisco CA.....38...36....92K....941K Austin TX.................32...34...56K....235K Tampa FL.................35....42...44K...190K Seattle WA..............36....38...80K...530K Raleigh NC...............33...38....57K...227K Chicago IL...............34...37...51K....239K Nashville TN............34...38...51K....185K Las Cruces NM.........33...37...41k....154K Boise ID..................35...37...55K.....209K Des Moines IA..........35...38...49K....119K Carson City, NV.........43...38...42K...237K New Orleans, LA.......36...36...39K...316K Frederick Co., MD.....38....38...84K...312K

We also live in Frederick MD and taxes here is outrageous. We too have plans to move upon retirement in 4 years.

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Originally Posted by 97guns I have a built home in northern Thailand that I can go to live when I'm ready bu to for now I'll be taking a couple months at a time, considering buying a place in Vegas because I love to gamble

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Originally Posted by jjquantz Median income could be a predictor for certain kinds of amenities, I'm thinking restaurants, off hand.

[Winemaker]

Here in Grapetown; 36......40......36.2k.....103.7

We paid no state or local taxes on 401k, and pension income. Property taxes <$4500.

Let's go Pens!

[davismills]

Warner Robins, GA 31 ... 36 ... 45K ... 115K Property tax 3100.

[Nightcap]

After considering everywhere from Maui to Maine to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, we retired in Brewster, in the crook of the elbow of the Strong Right Arm of Massachusetts. One of the major considerations was community. Retiring often means losing most of your social circle, and we wanted to be around People Like Us.

City Median age - State Median age- HH Med income - Med house value
59 - 39 - $57,174 - $406,300

(NB: the median home price is higher than the median household income can support because we have many expensive second homes. The plus side is that these fine people pay a disproportionate amount of taxes for the services they receive, and they're only here during the summer months.)

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu What's important to you? Make your list... Culture? Family? City? Country? Cost of living? Shopping/Restaurants/Entertainment? Distance from....? Healthcare/Retirement facilities? Neighbors -young, old, wealthy, average...? and how you'll fit in when you're 10 or 20 years older? Big house, small house, condo, country, in town, closed community? Social life?

I chose to remain in the same city that I've lived in my entire life because most of my family and friends are here. The city is large enough to have everything that I need, but not so big that it takes 2 hours to go anywhere. The only downside is the winters but technology and winter trips somewhere warm make it a lot more bearable.

[FI_RElater]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABQ2015 City Median age - State Median age- HH Med income - Med house value Peru,Il.................... 45...38....47K....128K Boulder Co............. 29...36....5kK....584K San Francisco CA.....38...36....92K....941K Austin TX.................32...34...56K....235K Tampa FL.................35....42...44K...190K Seattle WA..............36....38...80K...530K Raleigh NC...............33...38....57K...227K Chicago IL...............34...37...51K....239K Nashville TN............34...38...51K....185K Las Cruces NM.........33...37...41k....154K Boise ID..................35...37...55K.....209K Des Moines IA..........35...38...49K....119K Carson City, NV.........43...38...42K...237K New Orleans, LA.......36...36...39K...316K Albuquerque, NM....36...37...48K...183K Bend, OR...............37...39...53K...331K Redmond, OR.........35...39...45K...198K I added my current city, the city where I want to retire, and the nearby less expensive city where I might actually retire. I agree that having a younger population is not always an advantage - I suspect it leads to higher taxes for schools and other institutions and possibly more crime unless a major college town. For consistency I used the CD data but median home prices in Bend and Redmond are now closer to $376K an $260K respectively. But I have family in that area and have wanted to retire there for more than 20 years. I'm always skeptical of CD home prices and sometimes the data is several years old and home prices can increase fast in a hot market.

ABQ

Yes, indeed, home prices have gone up considerably in the last few years-- probably up to 40% for the better stick built DFH with any view in both the Bend and Redmond areas-- if you can even find one that you might want. We're not in the city but rather have a stick built SFH with acreage-- with an unobstructed panoramic view of the Cascades from Bachelor to past Mt Jefferson. Can't really find too many like ours, and those with smaller acreage and worse views are going (sales prices) for about $400 k in Redmond to who knows how much in Bend; homes in Bend are on postage stamp sized lots, while those in Redmond can be 1/2 acre at best.
(One can expect with the upcoming crowds coming for the eclipse, that the realtors are going to make a push for some to come to the area further driving up demand and prices. Since you've been here, you know what the views can be; but I can easily see others drawn to the area, but only for retirement as the few jobs available don't pay that well, especially if you still need to pay for housing)

[Teacher Terry]

I moved to Northern NV for a job 20 years ago and love it here. The weather is awesome, etc. However, it is the most expensive place I have ever lived.

[FI_RElater]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry I moved to Northern NV for a job 20 years ago and love it here. The weather is awesome, etc. However, it is the most expensive place I have ever lived.

Carson City, Reno? Or Gardiner/ Minden? Or are you around Tahoe at say Incline Village?

We'd looked at the area but didn't like the more desert like feel in the lower area nor the probable difficulties in the winter around Lake Tahoe. I saw the Tahoe area being expensive but not so much the other areas.

[rodi]

Here's my info for San Diego

CA state median age: 36.2
San Diego median age: 34.5
SD Median household income: $67,871
Median value of owner occupied home unit: $526,900

source: https://censusreporter.org/profiles/...-san-diego-ca/

edited to add: I put where I live - because I have no plans to change cities. My house is paid for and my prop taxes are kept low by prop13. I live in paradise (to me) and see no reason to move.

[ShokWaveRider]

Rodi: We used to live in CA when home prices were sensible. Our RE Taxes were acceptable in the mid 80's. Now we could not afford to buy our own home back. NOT the home price itself, but the $13k in property taxes. I am so surprised this does not impair home prices. Unless I misunderstand prop 13.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever Maybe Boulder has more single family and Seattle more condos (which I believe are less expensive and would bring the median home value down)?

Seattle home values have gone up 12.2% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 5.1% within the next year. The median list price per square foot in Seattle is $447, which is higher than the Seattle Metro average of $220. The median price of homes currently listed in Seattle is $619,950.
Seattle WA Home Prices & Home Values | Zillow.

Seattle is moderately expensive for it's employment and amenities. If I were early thirties again I would not leave SoCal Beach and come here. It worked out fine for me, but continental America's only year round good weather is Southern California beach.

Ha

[2soon2tell]

My zip code in Texas. 42.1 34.4 111 288