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My tastes have changed over the years. We had a beach condo when the kids were young and enjoyed that for about 10 years.
We sold when the kids just got too busy with activities and jobs. I somewhat regret that but, even then, we could see erosion of the beach with storms. Those were not even to hurricane level.
Now I am leery of going in the ocean with currents and creatures. Walking along the beach and wading is nice but I would prefer lakeside living. The same high costs have hit many lake areas and friends have sold when property taxes went through the roof, particularly in the Northeast.
Makes me a little sad for the days when my friends had simple camps on lakes, ski boats (not fancy), and could just enjoy the outdoors. Everything nowadays has to be supersized and overblown, it seems.
Costa Rica is on my radar, at least for part-time. Most stable country in Central America, low crime. No desire to surf, though.
Can't imagine living in Asia. I'm just too tall lol. My daughter lived in China and SHE had a hard time finding shoes, and she's only 5'8" and a size 9 shoe. The sinks and countertops here in the USA are already uncomfortably too short. Years of constantly having to stoop are taking their toll on my back. Asians in general are shorter, and I would guess their world is even less made for people like me than it is here.
I'm a 6'5" man and had the opportunity on a business trip to Malaysia to have a weekend off to explore the countryside. In the capital - KL - all was normal, its cosmopolitan with lots of Europeans and Aussies. In the villages, however, I was a superstar! Gawked at everywhere with people asking me if I was a visiting NBA star. This was in 88 so people asked if I was Larry Bird. :-)
My tastes have changed over the years. We had a beach condo when the kids were young and enjoyed that for about 10 years.
We sold when the kids just got too busy with activities and jobs. I somewhat regret that but, even then, we could see erosion of the beach with storms. Those were not even to hurricane level.
Now I am leery of going in the ocean with currents and creatures. Walking along the beach and wading is nice but I would prefer lakeside living. The same high costs have hit many lake areas and friends have sold when property taxes went through the roof, particularly in the Northeast.
Makes me a little sad for the days when my friends had simple camps on lakes, ski boats (not fancy), and could just enjoy the outdoors. Everything nowadays has to be supersized and overblown, it seems.
It's like beach "cottages" turning into "McCottages" of 7000 sq ft, multiple independent living levels and 6 car garages.
I'm watching that happen here. Small older 3/2 homes with spacious landscaping bought and razed to the ground in favor of right up to the lot line monstrosities that are investments for wealthy vacation rentals.
TMS, I have fond memories of the Grand Strand back in the 60s. Cute little towns from Myrtle southward, staying in little cottages built on stilts. Murrels Inlet, Cherry Grove, good times at Pawleys Island.
In most of the coastal areas I see nowadays, the only little cottages I see are are inland in the poorer areas.
A couple of years ago I took a tour of homes at the Delaware shore and could not believe the size of those houses. The tour guide would frequently indicate the rooms where the grandchildren of the owners slept and all I could picture was Grandma and Grandpa struggling up multiple steps to the first level, followed by 2 more flights to the third level.
We settled into coastal Georgia 14 years ago. Today, we couldn’t afford to buy a house here. We had thought of moving even further south, but we would be trading down, for more money.
We settled into coastal Georgia 14 years ago. Today, we couldn’t afford to buy a house here. We had thought of moving even further south, but we would be trading down, for more money.
I guess it's a matter of perspective. We live in the same general area as you do and we couldn't believe how cheap the real estate was when we moved from Miami to the Savannah area two years ago. And it is still comparatively inexpensive. It is not hard to find condos for between $100k-$200k and single-family houses for between $200k-$300k. As an example, here's a cute little 3/2 SFH that is listed for only $245k and recently went contingent.
I guess it's a matter of perspective. We live in the same general area as you do and we couldn't believe how cheap the real estate was when we moved from Miami to the Savannah area two years ago. And it is still comparatively inexpensive. It is not hard to find condos for between $100k-$200k and single-family houses for between $200k-$300k. As an example, here's a cute little 3/2 SFH that is listed for only $245k and recently went contingent.
We picked up a handcrank sewing machine last week that I saw in a FB Marketplace ad. Beside the machine, the seller’s house was a delight. It was built in 1925, old in FL, and had beautiful wide plank wood floors and was on a large river. What a beautiful setting! Quite different from the cookie cutter HOA homes that abound here.
The house is what some would call a scraper though: an older, smaller house that likely will be razed to build a much bigger one in place of it. The house next door was the perfect example of it, a huge monstrosity at least to me. It was easy to see where all the others in the neighborhood will go that way some day.
We occasionally take a drive on a nearby key with a canopy road. All the homes on the Gulf side are multi million dollar homes with an occasional “normal” sized home sprinkled among them. I’m sure the pressure and money offered to sell those older homes is high and hard to resist.
Domestically? Yes. Abroad? No. There will always be a cheap place to retire somewhere.
That was true, but, in the past few years, cost of living the dying usd flood of expats not so cheap in many other countries as compared to prior years. Take Mexico for example. not so long ago, $1 was worth 20 peso it the dollar now is worth about $.65 to 20 pesos. And housing cost in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and many other locations folks were retiring to. Yes those places are still often have a general lower cost of living, but, for sure not for those who used to flee to those areas who lived mostly on SS income, that ride for such retired heading there now are in for sticker shock. Even in many places in Asia, the cost for housing has doubled and then some.
I have frequently travelled to several Latin American countries, where I could easily afford a really nice place to stay, now I pay well over what I was able to a couple of years ago. Whatever the odds, I love coastal living and at my age if it is time to go, I am fine with whatever fate meets me there. Having said that about Meeting my fate in a coastal area, my odds aren't that great due to cost causing me to live more inland as well as having fallen in love with a particular desert neighborhood that I hope to visit again in the near future.
Now would I even if I could afford it buy property in many of the coastal areas, no, I'm not that kind of glutton for financial doom. I love living near bodies of water, but, I could be happy living most anywhere except where daytime temps often drop below 50 during the year.
It's like beach "cottages" turning into "McCottages" of 7000 sq ft, multiple independent living levels and 6 car garages.
I'm watching that happen here. Small older 3/2 homes with spacious landscaping bought and razed to the ground in favor of right up to the lot line monstrosities that are investments for wealthy vacation rentals.
Sounds good to me. Maybe I should look at adding more real estate to my portfolio.
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