Thinking of where to live for retirement (sales, real estate)

[Honeybee]

We have been thinking of retiring early and want to know some nice places to retire out of Ca. where it is more affordable we were thinking of going to OR. or ID. or Tulsa OK. we have been to these places and liked them and found Tulsa property to be very affordable . But we love moutains and fresh water .AK. is pretty to and so is MO. Can anyone here give me any info. Thanks so much Honeybee~~~~~~~~~

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by Honeybee

We have been thinking of retiring early and want to know some nice places to retire out of Ca. where it is more affordable we were thinking of going to OR. or ID. or Tulsa OK. we have been to these places and liked them and found Tulsa property to be very affordable . But we love moutains and fresh water .AK. is pretty to and so is MO. Can anyone here give me any info. Thanks so much Honeybee~~~~~~~~~

I myself am very partial to Missouri and I'm a native Californian who moved here after careful study for two years by way of five years in Las Vegas. I'm not retired, but I did take a year and a half off here after buying my home with the profit I made from my house sale in Las Vegas. Real estate here is incredibly inexpensive as are property taxes and people are very, very friendly and welcoming. I paid cash. I chose the Springfield, Missouri area (miserable tonight, but usually very nice). A lot of retirees are going to Mountain Home, Arkansas as well, which is right under the south-central Missouri border in northern Arkansas and you might want to read up on that area too.

[FRANC BUSCH]

Consider Port Angeles, WA. It's on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Olympic National Park is the "backyard" and there's no state income tax!

[izzy]

I started a similar thread. And got a lot of feedback. Check it out. I think I called it "What states are CA residents moving to?" It is a recent post. First couple of pages.

Izzy

[greatbasinguide]

You may prefer Port Townsend to Port Angeles, worth a look.

[citydatauser]

if you like mountains you might like port angeles. the olympic national park is pretty much port angeles' back yard. just a 17 mile drive from sea level and you are 5,000 ft up on hurricane ridge. there are miles and miles of trails up there. also, 17 miles west of port angeles is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful lakes in washington, lake crescent.

[ExNYC]

I heard that Sequiim gets less rain than Port Angeles. Is that so?

[citydatauser]

Originally Posted by ExNYC

I heard that Sequiim gets less rain than Port Angeles. Is that so?

yes...about 5-10"/yr less

sequim gets avg. 16"/yr, and port angeles gets avg. 23"/yr

[Cattknap]

We have been planning our retirement for quite a few years (we are retiring next year) and have traveled quite a bit and done a lot of research on different areas. There are plenty of beautiful places to live in the U.S. but one consideration we have decided is very important is to really look at the availability of services, hospitals, doctors, airports, etc. What is the general education of the people that live there? What about the crime rate - some of those smaller towns have higher crime than you think.

Are there hidden costs you don't consider such as taxes (rural areas often tend to have higher taxes because there is little if any industry), heating and cooling costs can be huge, medical can be expensive (lack of HMO avaiability in some areas), etc.

Another thing: We are used to living in a very clean, nice area - zoning does not allow people to to park their boats or cars on the lawn (in our town you can't do overnight work on your car in your driveway), you can't have garage sales without a permit and you can only have a few a year, the streets are swept every week, the city streets are landscaped, we have large city-provided trash bins, no double wides with laundry flapping in the breeze....but this is not true of many parts of the U.S. - especially rural areas....in many areas you might live in a country club estate type sub-division but have a junk car lot right next to your entrance that you have to see every day......would this bother you?

You can find stats on some of the things I've mentioned. If you have advanced college degrees and the majority of people where you are living didn't graduate high school, you are not going to have a lot in common with those people. We have found that little things like dry cleaning, manicures and gardeners can be incredibly expensive in other states.

We have had friends that retired from California to more rural areas and end up moving back to California.........sometimes the change can be, well, too much change when you are used to a lifestyle where everything you need is at your fingertips and customs and friendships are familiar and comfortable.

I'm not trying to discourage you from retiring out of California - we are doing the same thing....I'm just suggesting some things to think about that maybe you haven't considered. Being on vacation and seeing lovely little towns and areas is completely different than having to actually live there.

[brian_2]

Good post Cattknap. Sounds like you two require a neighborhood with a well-written, and enforced HOA policy at the very least.

Funny thing, in outlying areas people go out of their way to avoid HOA's, or any kind of compliance. The money is only part of it. Many people just don't like to be told what to do, and homes with a plethora of vehicles and other junk around the property is the rule rather than the exception, this is especially true across the border in the State of Arizona.

The option of legal recourse is an important option indeed.