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When my wife retires next year we are going to sell our over priced house in Northern VA and move to a place where we can rent or buy a home for a very low price. But we don't want to move into a ghetto with all kinds of crime and run down neighborhoods.
Has anyone moved from an expensive area, found a retirement town with very inexpensive homes but great quality of life too? Where?
When my wife retires next year we are going to sell our over priced house in Northern VA and move to a place where we can rent or buy a home for a very low price. But we don't want to move into a ghetto with all kinds of crime and run down neighborhoods.
Has anyone moved from an expensive area, found a retirement town with very inexpensive homes but great quality of life too? Where?
Look outside the Pittsburgh PA area...Pittsburgh is a vibrant city and some communities just outside of it (and some neighborhoods inside) offer a great quality of life for peanuts for housing. You might want to escape to a warmer weather area during winter, though.
More then likely it will be states with low income levels, low taxes, few social services, low amount spent on education (social services and education cost money), little public transportation, etc. If also looking for good weather (mild winters) then basically you will need to look below the Mason-Dixon line.
AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN. The border states like AR, KY, TN can have less then mild winters so they might be questionable for those wanting mild winters.
As an example, where I live. I am listing the web site for comparison. I have no financial involvement in the development other then I live here:
We're at least a few years from retiring, but the two of us have discussed some ideas. Austin (TX) keeps coming up as a possibility. Both myself and my wife have lived there in the past, so we have some knowledge of the area. You can get a smallish retirement house in a nice suburban neighborhood for $250K, maybe a bit less. The downtown area is more expensive, though.
I grew up in "the sticks" in the Midwest. There are tons of small towns all over the Midwest, and I'm sure in other parts of the U.S., that are clean, safe, and really cheap. The people are friendly too. It's not for everyone. I don't know if I'd like it now as I've lived in or near big cities for all of my adult life. A compromise might be to find such a smallish town that's close to a bigger city, but a bit too far for commuting (so the cost of housing is less).
Columbia, SC- nice city- great zoo, lots of things to do, growing economy,
Hotter than Hades at least five months of the year. Probably one of the hottest places in SC in summer. Here's a graph. Add to the heat East Coast humidity
Not for me. Horrible layouts! Long skinny houses meant to fit onto the skinny lots they've mapped out - too close to the neighbors, and I don't like the way nearly every house orients the main entrance to come in past the kitchen on one side and a bedroom on the other. I want my main entry to come into my living room.
To each his own - but you can get better houses with nicer yards almost anywhere in many medium size towns for around the same amount of money. WITHOUT a HOA.
My bother in law lives in a senior trailer park in Santa Ana California. Its about 30 mikes south of LA in Orange county. I always used to think that trailer parks are where a lot of trouble makers live that can't afford better housing. That's not the case in this trailer park. His trailer is at least a double. Its actually pretty big inside. He paid about $17K for it and put in another few thousand to renovate it. There are nicer modular homes in the same park for about $25K to $30K. The main cost is the park rental fee for the land, which is about $800 a month, which includes water, sewer, and garbage. Since the property is so inexpensive, there's nothing or next to nothing in property taxes. That area is very quite during the day and night. The area seems to be safe at night. He has about a dozen fruit trees and garden areas.
The climate is pretty decent all year round. You could probably get by with little or no heat. I think that AC is needed about 14 days a year. The income taxes are less than Minnesota. But Minnesota is considered to be a pretty high tax state for retired people. Living in Santa Ana would be pretty cheap. I could have probably retired ten years ago if I lived there.
Singe family homes in Orange county are much more expensive, maybe $400K to $1M or more. The property taxes are probably around $12K to $20K.
So, its possible to retire and live very inexpensively in an area that has decent weather all year round.
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