Has anyone Retired to the Seacoast & regretted it??? (Portsmouth: real estate, house)

[TootsieWootsie]

Has anyone on this board retired to the Seacoast area of NH and regretted it? This is an area I am seriously considering moving to, and wanted to get the opinions of others as to how they felt about the move.
The real estate is supposed to bottom out in this area around the 2nd quarter of 2008, but if I miss that..I miss it. Won't be my first or last miss, I suppose.
But the area looks so great for a single, retired woman with the great cultural opportunities nearby in Boston and other cities, I am thinking this place looks just ideal. Not to mention that the ratio of single, retired men is better than average here compared to other cities I have looked at.
So, has anyone actually retired to Portsmouth or other Seacoast cities and then regretted it?
What are the negatives of living there?

[wealthtrader]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

Has anyone on this board retired to the Seacoast area of NH and regretted it? This is an area I am seriously considering moving to, and wanted to get the opinions of others as to how they felt about the move.
The real estate is supposed to bottom out in this area around the 2nd quarter of 2008, but if I miss that..I miss it. Won't be my first or last miss, I suppose.
But the area looks so great for a single, retired woman with the great cultural opportunities nearby in Boston and other cities, I am thinking this place looks just ideal. Not to mention that the ratio of single, retired men is better than average here compared to other cities I have looked at.
So, has anyone actually retired to Portsmouth or other Seacoast cities and then regretted it?
What are the negatives of living there?

Well, I am clueless how anyone could regret retiring here. Five minutes to the beach, an hour to the mountains, an hour to Boston, an hour to Portland. Safe, clean, good schools, no traffic, and no illegal immigrants.


Negatives? hmm... maybe the winter (for some people), maybe the cost(for some people),... I know it's wierd but I honestly can't think of any.

[TootsieWootsie]

What cost is negative, wealthtrader? You mean the high cost of housing there?
The difference in many States where the housing cost is higher vs. States where the housing cost is lower is that the higher States escalate in value quicker, I am finding.
My gosh! I had a house in one of the best areas of Houston for 22 years, and it went up so slooooooowwwwwlllly in value (and then didn't go quite to 3X what I paid for it); whereas, the same house in Chicago went up I don't know how many times (12 maybe or more) in the same amount of time. I'm not sure how sold I am on the cheap housing thing right now because of that.
Your FOOD is higher in cost there I found. That's like Nevada has. Now that is something most people don't even consider.
And your UTILITIES are outrageously high.
Of course, if my quality of life goes up dramatically (since Houston was the pits, I feel you have little competition), then it is worth it. Happier person should translate into a longer life span...I hope.
NH does sound great to me, tho, so far. I love outdoor activities, antiques and friendly people! Seems NH has them all!