Ideas on where to move after ER

[brokrken]

OK, I need the collective brains and experience of the group to help me and DW figure out where to move after ER. We aren't planning on ER for another 7-8 years, but if we found a place now, it would be nice to go ahead and buy, start to travel there and get to know the people and the area. We are currently in a fairly high COL area, especially housing and taxes. Once DD graduates HS, we have made the decision that we are leaving the city and downsizing. I've always loved the mountains, hiking and the outdoors. My wife enjoys the lake for swimming and I for fishing, so a mountain lake somewhere could work. However, neither of us want to be in the middle of nowhere away from civilization. And, we don't have to be on a lake, we are not big into watersports and the like. So, really a nice decent sized town/city that is near the mountains/lake might be ideal. Our initial thought has been North Carolina, although we haven't zeroed in a city. We are open to other places, although, East/Southeast is preferable considering our family ties there.

I know that was quite a rambling post, but any help with some ideas is appreciated.

 

[Big_Hitter]

hot/humid or cool/dry?

 

[brokrken]

I guess it depends. I would be flexible on climate if the location was right. However, living in the Midwest at the moment, I wouldn't mind getting out of the Arctic blast each winter

 

[braumeister]

If you search for threads here with the word "where" in the title, you'll find many, many ideas and most of those threads are fairly long.

Best if you narrow your areas down first.

 

[MRG]

It took us ten years of looking. We didn't find the right place until we gave up. Good luck.

 

[RunningBum]

Mountain lakes can be pretty cold for swimming. Smith Mountain Lake in VA is near the mountains, but low enough elevation to be warm. Some places on the west branch are not far from Roanoke. There look to be similar settings between Knoxville and Kingsport, TN, near Greenville SC, and around Morganton, NC, but I don't know much about them. Greenville is supposed to be a great mountain town. There are also lakes around Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte, but you're away from the mountains then. I'm sure there are plenty of smaller lakes that would probably work, since it sounds like a big lake isn't a requirement. Maye look around Asheville or Boone? How big of a city do you want to be in or near?

 

[bloom2708]

Without more information: Anthem, Arizona

 

[CoolChange]

Take a look at some small towns in Tennessee and the surrounding areas. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has many lakes and open areas that are beautiful in my opinion; this tends to be a relatively low cost of living area as long as you avoid Nashville and the like.

Personally, I am looking for eternal summer and salt water at this point in my life.

 

[brokrken]

RunningBum, Thanks for the ideas. Some of those places I hadn't thought about. As far as the size of the city, it doesn't have to be big, Asheville would be OK, it just needs to have things to do like restaurants/bars, maybe a minor league baseball team, maybe some golf, etc. I just don't want to be a 45 minute drive to the closest grocery store, if you get what I mean.


bloom2708, what other info would you like to know?


MRG, unfortunately I only have 8 years, not 10, so I hope I have a bit better luck than you.

 

[nash031]

An aside, I wouldn't lock myself into the idea of buying now. For one thing, markets across the country are generally elevated. Given your time frame, if you've got cash on hand you might do well to sit for a few years and see what happens, then strike when the market is right. Rather than paying down the mortgage, save the money in a preservation/inflation-protection type vehicle, and make a larger down payment or pay cash on a better value property in a few years. Just a thought.

 

[RE2Boys]

Huntsville, Alabama

Close to lakes courtesy of TVA, some mountains/hiking to the east or north. Lived there for 22 years.

 

[CaliKid]

Without more information: Anthem, Arizona

Looks good. Does one end up shopping (and fine dining) in Scottsdale? Looks like a nice spot.

 

[45th Birthday]

My first thought when I read OP's post was Asheville.

 

[brokrken]

Nash031, that's good advice. It'd have to be the perfect place/price for me to pull the trigger now on buying. If I can pick a place though, we can at least start to visit.


RE2Boys, I grew up in Alabama, although down on the Gulf Coast. I never thought about Huntsville as an option. Now I will. thanks for getting me thinking.

 

[RunningBum]

Asheville is funny. I was just there last month. I-26 traffic was terrible, though maybe there was a construction project that may alleviate it. Very vibrant downtown, but crowded for a town of that size. Had a couple freaky encounters, like some guy who twice came blasting by us with his horn blowing, gesturing at us. I wasn't our driver but I didn't see ours do anything wrong. Anyway, it seemed a little too funky and trendy for me, but surrounding areas might be fine. And others might get a different vibe than I did, which is why I mentioned it.

 

[euro]

I think you are on the right track with North Carolina. Raleigh/Durham or Charlotte are near lakes and <2h away from beach and mountains. COL is reasonable.
That said, for me, Seattle still ( and probably always will) takes the cake

 

[RunningBum]

I think you are on the right track with North Carolina. Raleigh/Durham or Charlotte are near lakes and <2h away from beach and mountains. COL is reasonable.
That said, for me, Seattle still ( and probably always will) takes the cake

Unless you're counting the Uwharries, which aren't much, Raleigh is over 3 hours away from mountains.

 

[Red Badger]

The Lake Norman area (20 minutes north of Charlotte) is about 90 minutes to the Blue Ridge mountains (there's smaller ones closer in) and 3.5 hours to SC beaches (NC ones - a little further). We moved to the Lake Norman area a dozen years ago and love the area and all that it offers.

Hendersonville (and similar towns) near Asheville are just as grand, but without the "funkyness." Eastern TN, just as good and might bless you with lower taxes.

 

[euro]

Unless you're counting the Uwharries, which aren't much, Raleigh is over 3 hours away from mountains.

I don;t mean to be argumentative, but I have a cabin right off the BlueRidge Parkway and it takes me 2:15 to get there from Raleigh

 

[nash031]

Nash031, that's good advice. It'd have to be the perfect place/price for me to pull the trigger now on buying. If I can pick a place though, we can at least start to visit.

Definitely pick a place if you can, then you can watch the RE market over the course of the coming years and make a good value move.

 

[brokrken]

Lots of good ideas guys, thanks. I think we'll start to explore that Eastern TN/Western NC area a little more on some coming weekends to see if we can find a town big enough to provide some activity, but close enough to the mountains/a lake that we can hike/get on the lake as often as we'd like. I don't really like the idea of being 2-3 hours away.

 

[Bamaman]

When living in the Capitol of the South (Atlanta), I traveled to virtually every community south of Washington, DC. Virtually every large city in the South, but Memphis, has a really nice lake within commuting distance. Take a pick.

If you're looking for a combination of lakes and a high quality society mixed in with culture and decent medical care, they're out there. But some cities come with a relatively high price.

My favorite lakes are on the Tennessee River--650 miles of navigable water and the best crusing lakes in the U.S. I especially like TVA lakes because there's no 100 yard easement around the lake like Army Corp of Engineer lakes. Another issue with the mountain lakes is they go up and down dramatically in the winter--10, 20 100 feet variation in some places.

Our house has a 6 mile open water view to the sunset. A double boathouse is 27 steps from our front door, and the average homes in our neighborhood is about 5500 square feet. Our water only varies 3 feet per year, and all docks are fixed (non floating.) 2 eighteen hole Robert Trent Jones golf courses are on our street. We're in a community of 140,000 residents and restaurants and malls are about 10 miles away. With 14,000 college students, culture abounds and we have a great theatre scene. We're 2 hours from 3 cities of a million people--just far enough away.

The whole length of the Tennessee River from Paducah to Paris, TN to Pickwick to Decatur to Huntsville to Guntersville to Chattanooga to Loudon to Knoxville are great places to live on the water.,

I also like the Arkansas mountain lakes like Greers Ferry (Heber Springs), Norfolk (Mountain Home) and Bull Shoals lakes. Northwest South Carolina has a couple of huge lakes around Clemson, SC--and a great society too. Northeast Georgia has Lake Lanier on the edge of Atlanta, Chatuge Lake (Hiawassee). Lake Burton is the playground of the rich with the biggest homes I've ever seen.

You've just got to get out there and see what's available.

 

[RunningBum]

I don;t mean to be argumentative, but I have a cabin right off the BlueRidge Parkway and it takes me 2:15 to get there from Raleigh

OK, I'll yield to current local knowledge over how it was when I was there. I think 421 was a 2 lane road back then.

 

[Cap_Scarlet]

OK, I need the collective brains and experience of the group to help me and DW figure out where to move after ER. We aren't planning on ER for another 7-8 years, but if we found a place now, it would be nice to go ahead and buy, start to travel there and get to know the people and the area. We are currently in a fairly high COL area, especially housing and taxes. Once DD graduates HS, we have made the decision that we are leaving the city and downsizing. I've always loved the mountains, hiking and the outdoors. My wife enjoys the lake for swimming and I for fishing, so a mountain lake somewhere could work. However, neither of us want to be in the middle of nowhere away from civilization. And, we don't have to be on a lake, we are not big into watersports and the like. So, really a nice decent sized town/city that is near the mountains/lake might be ideal. Our initial thought has been North Carolina, although we haven't zeroed in a city. We are open to other places, although, East/Southeast is preferable considering our family ties there.

I know that was quite a rambling post, but any help with some ideas is appreciated.

I think Austria has everything you need ;-)

Mountains, lakes and the best skiing in the world. What's not to like?

 

[kimcdougc]

I think you are on the right track with North Carolina. Raleigh/Durham or Charlotte are near lakes and <2h away from beach and mountains. COL is reasonable.
That said, for me, Seattle still ( and probably always will) takes the cake

+1