Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm a single woman from NJ looking to retire in NC to escape winter and high taxes. As an artist I know about being a little different and I'm used to the consequences. I enjoy people though, and I don't want to move down south to NC leave the relationships I've built up north only to find that I'm going to have a more-than-difficult time replacing them in a coupled-up retirement community. Anyone have any experiences as a single person living in this situation?
PS...RE saving money: Will the lower taxes be replaced by high insurance fees (flood?) in a coastal area (I do NOT want to be right on a beach) or some kind of "buy in" for the amenities in most places? Thanks so much for any info you might care to share.
PS...RE saving money: Will the lower taxes be replaced by high insurance fees (flood?) in a coastal area (I do NOT want to be right on a beach) or some kind of "buy in" for the amenities in most places? Thanks so much for any info you might care to share.
I will limit my comments mostly to the money aspects. You will undoubtedly save money on property taxes coming from New Jersey. However some of that saving will be offset higher homeowners insurance which include the expensive wind and hail coverage.
As an example, we paid about $4800 in property taxes in Maryland and 800 in homeowners. In Onslow County, we pay $2200 in property taxes and $2400 in homeowners insurance. Thus the bills are similar, but we have a larger house on a larger lot, and the purchase price was a much less.
You can limit your risk if you live far enough away from the beach so that you do not have to buy flood insurance. There is much uncertainly about future raises in flood insurance rates.
Most of the plantation communities do not require "buy-ins" for amenities. The few I know of are equity ownership in golf clubs, such as St. James. The amenity fees are not bad in places like Brunswick Forest. There is a website which tries to track all the amenity fees in Brunswick county. I think you can Google "Carolina Plantations" to find it.
I think Brunswick Forest might be a good place to check for other singles, as there are some smaller duplexes. St James also has a very social meeting place called Tommy Thompson's and I believe they have singles nights.
I recently posted something similar and did not get much response. I have visited several communities, St. James, Brunswick Forest and Compass Pointe. I will be going back to Compass Pointe in August for one of their events. I liked everything about Compass Pointe better than the others. It's smaller but the atmosphere there seems to be more fun. It's close to Wilmington and the beaches, one hour away from Myrtle Beach. They are still working on the ameneties but the pool and Lanai are beautiful. I have been told there is a singles group there. I am used to being around mostly married couples so this wouldn't be a problem but it would be nice to have some single friends to do stuff with. Maybe we need to infiltrate Compass Pointe?
That sounds like the best idea! Talk it up with your friends and encourage them to move to Compass Pointe.
The OP and Yogacalm day and others seeking a mature singles social life have a difficult search in Brunswick County. People don't respond because it is difficult to give accurate data. Unless you happen to live in a community and happen to know many singles, you can't say. The last census from 2010 does not break down developments. It uses census tracts, and it won't be accurate for 2014 anyway.
I can compare my experience to living in the Washington DC suburbs. There were far more single women with professional careers in DC than I have met in North Carolina. The 50-something women in NC have mostly been traditional wives and mothers, and only a few have careers.
My suggestions include: - looking to Wilmington or Myrtle Beach to live -being involved in things like historic societies, philanthropic groups, lineage societies like DAR, quilting guilds, etc. These are fields that attract women and you can find friends regardless of martial status.
Thank you both! I appreciate the comments. My post got several views but you are the only replies so far. I hope I hear from more singles - it would be encouraging.:-) I will be coming down in a few weeks and will definitely check out Compass Pointe. Thanks!
Glad to hear there are other single people out there looking to retire in the coastal NC area. I was beginning to wonder~~~~ I have a feeling there are many more, we just have to find them.
There were several ladies from IL staying at my hotel that were thinking of moving to the area when they retire.
I drove there (stayed at Ocean Isle Beach) the end of March and looked around at many different areas: Brunswick Forest, Wilmington (various spots), Ocean Ridge (I really liked this), Porters Neck, Sunset Ridge, Southport (so cute), Calabash (great seafood), Shallot (cute town).
I missed Compass Point - I will have to check this out at my next visit.
I was thinking I would look more into Wilmington because I'm single and I feel the social aspects would be better. There are many meet up groups there - good way to start meeting people. I felt there would be more to do for a single person in Wilmington.
My realtor seemed to be pushing Brunswick Forest but I was there 2 days and it seemed like a ghost town - there are no people out and about. There were a few in the exercise rooms but none just out.
I plan to move this summer and will most likely rent until I'm sure where I want to end up.
I live in wilmington and know many single women who have retired here. The wilmington newcomers club is a good way to meet people. I know a couple of single women who live at compass pointe, and who like it, but they do a lot of driving to wilmington (every day!) there are a lot of artists here in wilmington, also. Personally I would not prefer a retirement community, prefer living in Wilmington among a mix of people. It is easy to make friends here.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
