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Old 09-07-2009, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Montgomery County, PA
5 posts, read 21,905 times
Reputation: 16

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I'm going to retire in a few months and am considering a move to DE. I'll be 62 but can't afford the assn. fees of 55+ communities. I'm a fairly youthful 62 and enjoy interacting with younger and older people alike. I'm looking for small town/main street atmosphere. I've read that unincorporated towns/cities don't have local taxes. I plan to buy a house outright but still need to keep expenses low. I want to enjoy living and explore the state. Staying in PA will not allow me to do that. Where's the best locality for my situation? I'm thinking central DE, Kent County may be good. I think southern DE would be too hot & humid in the summer months. Also, I need to consider heating and cooling costs.
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Old 09-07-2009, 08:10 AM
 
Location: Greenville, Delaware
4,726 posts, read 11,977,716 times
Reputation: 2650
I don't really think the temperature differences between the three counties are great enough to really matter. Sometimes it's actually cooler in Sussex than in New Castle County. Others may disagree, but I wouldn't let this be a determining factor. As to humidity, the whole state is quite humid throughout the summer.
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Old 09-07-2009, 08:42 AM
 
Location: Kirkwood, DE and beautiful SXM!
12,054 posts, read 23,344,730 times
Reputation: 31918
When my BIL and SIL first retired, they moved from Rhode Island to Hartly, DE, which is just a few miles from Dover. They bought 6 acres and built a home. They stayed for 5 years before moving to Myrtle Beach. Hartly is country living and they really liked living there. It is close to shopping but very quiet. I don't think there would be enough of interest for most people and if I was retiring to DE, I would move closer to the beach. You might want to look at the M towns going toward the beach. Many types of people move in that direction and you would probably meet many interesting people. There is land for sale if you don't want to pay an HOA.
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Old 09-07-2009, 09:31 AM
 
Location: Kent County, DE
699 posts, read 2,895,069 times
Reputation: 454
Quote:
Originally Posted by LJ from PA View Post
I'm going to retire in a few months and am considering a move to DE. I'll be 62 but can't afford the assn. fees of 55+ communities. I'm a fairly youthful 62 and enjoy interacting with younger and older people alike. I'm looking for small town/main street atmosphere. I've read that unincorporated towns/cities don't have local taxes. I plan to buy a house outright but still need to keep expenses low. I want to enjoy living and explore the state. Staying in PA will not allow me to do that. Where's the best locality for my situation? I'm thinking central DE, Kent County may be good. I think southern DE would be too hot & humid in the summer months. Also, I need to consider heating and cooling costs.
Good move!!! We moved from PA 3 years ago and have no regrets. We received a letter from the county stating our taxes might go up with an apology and an explanation. They did go up. $5. per year!!!

In PA we lived in a nice townhome in Montgomery County. We had a nice pool, clubhouse, tennis courts and our fees per month were only $145.
Our taxes on the other hand went up considerably every year we lived there. We are so spoiled here in DE that it would be very tough to return to PA now. Our utilities and insurance costs are also more reasonable here.

We are in a family community of single homes and are enjoying the freedom of not being tied into an HOA. We are self employed and can live anywhere. We visit with family and friends frequently in PA and travel quite a bit but just love coming home to DE.
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Old 09-07-2009, 11:40 AM
 
Location: Dover area
84 posts, read 333,758 times
Reputation: 78
For a small town/main street area Camden/Wyoming is a very cute town. It is centrally located in Delaware and very close to shopping. It is about 45 minutes to the beach and 50 minutes to Wilmington. Also, further south is Harrington, which is also a nice town. I am originally from MD and moved to a small town here in DE. All of our neighbors are retired so we have built in security! We live on a main street in town and love the atmosphere. When we first moved here we swore we were in Mayberry. Our neighbors brought us fresh baked cookies on our first day here!!
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Old 09-07-2009, 11:45 AM
 
604 posts, read 2,011,004 times
Reputation: 206
Depending on your interests other than the beach New Castle Co. offers quite a few engaging opportunities to keep one's mind alive and active. ... quite a few people who are retired attend life long learning school at the Univ. of Delaware. Here is link, Academy of Lifelong Learning | Professional and Continuing Studies | University of Delaware , if interested.
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Old 09-07-2009, 12:28 PM
 
445 posts, read 1,435,900 times
Reputation: 349
We had many of your same goals and decided to locate near Odessa, DE, south of the canal but still in New Castle county. County taxes only and kids in the neighborhood were also our goals. For us however, we found we didn't go to the beach from the 4th of July to Labor Day anyway, so we wanted to be closer to Newark and all of the offerings at UD.

We are 30 mins to the UD campus, 60 minutes to Lewes and love it. 3 miles to Wal-mart, Lowes, etc, only 20 minutes to Dover Mall or Christiana Mall. Good luck in your search.
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Old 09-08-2009, 05:01 PM
 
Location: Montgomery County, PA
5 posts, read 21,905 times
Reputation: 16
Thank you all so much for your info. Its been very helpful. I have a friend whose parents have a place near Georgetown. They usually go there only in the summer but she and I plan to use it as home base for a weekend next month while she shows me some of the localities I may be interested in.
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Old 09-09-2009, 03:33 PM
 
Location: North Carolina
903 posts, read 3,505,461 times
Reputation: 362
Hi LJ from PA, I see someone else chimed in about Camden/Wyoming; Magnolia is charming as well. Be sure to let us know what you think when you return from your visit; there are several small towns and quite a bit of unincorporated areas in Kent and Sussex County. FYI - Georgetown is the county seat for Sussex County, but enough inland you can get a bit away from the heavy beach traffic in season.

Glad to know you are visiting with someone familiar with the little nooks and crannies in DE... there are quite a few that are just off the beaten path(s) aka Route 13 and/or Route 1. Also, welcome to the DE forum!

Mary
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