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No beachfront. As someone that lives near the east coast, I've seen enough storm damage to never want to live on the oceanfront.
No mobile homes. Definitely more risky in storms.
No rental. The upkeep/maintenance is a major PITA.
If there was a nice 55 and over in an area you like, go for it. Otherwise, keep your money, take vacations, look around and when you are actually ready then you can make a move.
I would research affordable beach towns in the United States.
Find somewhere I'm comfortable with at that price point.
The real question is - Where exactly are you looking to relocate to?
Good example of an oxymoron.
OP you've created a number of threads asking strangers where you should live, whether you should rent, whether you should buy, whether you should keep the depreciating asset you have or get what you can for it, should you pay this, should you pay that, on and on. Meanwhile, the world keeps turning and the target keeps moving so there's never an answer. Maybe what you want isn't an actual answer, just the interaction or to feed off the drama you create. You argue every point and proceed to shoot down pretty much everything anyone suggests. The threads drag on for pages and pages until people get tired of being dismissed, stop contributing, and the thread peters out. You never seem any better off and start up another. The pattern continues. You have objections to everything. Everything seems to be a priority which makes satisfying you impossible.
You want some sort of guarantee and/or perfection that probably won't be realized. Crowd based decision making doesn't seem to work for you. Frankly, I doubt the value of asking the same or slightly rephrased questions all over again. There is such a thing as analysis paralysis. Endless data gathering just enables procrastination. IMHO that's where you are. More input isn't necessarily better, it's just more. You'll just end up even more stuck. In the end, the only person who must weigh the range of options (all of which will have their up and down sides), curb that cynicism or whatever it is enough to bite the bullet, and finally loosen those tightly knotted purse strings is you.
Stop asking others how to spend your money. Ask yourself and really listen to the answer. Look, I truly hope you find some future your risk averse self will tolerate. I just don't think you're going to find it here.
Last edited by Parnassia; 11-14-2023 at 01:20 PM..
Assuming I was spending that money, I'd opt for a hurricane resistant concrete SCIP domicile, in or around Tybee Island, GA... a short distance from Savannah, GA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tybee_Island,_Georgia
As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 3,114.
I'd saunter over to the CRAB SHACK and set a spell, while dining on glorious seafood.
The tables have a hole in the middle, where you shove your shells and other bits into a trash can. Clever.
Never a mobile home, that is a depreciating asset fraught with potential problems.
You should visit all potential areas you think you may want to move to.
Personally, I would never buy on the beach, especially if you plan on not paying homeowner's insurance.
You can rent it out, but I would think you and vacationers would want to be there during the warmer months and not in the cooler, so not sure how that would work.
I think trying to split between two homes would just result in the worst of both situations. I would sell your current home.
But don't move until you visit. Research all places that are within your price range, than visit those.
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OP you've created a number of threads asking strangers where you should live, whether you should rent, whether you should buy, whether you should keep the depreciating asset you have or get what you can for it, should you pay this, should you pay that, on and on. Meanwhile, the world keeps turning and the target keeps moving so there's never an answer. Maybe what you want isn't an actual answer, just interaction. You argue every point and proceed to shoot down pretty much everything anyone suggests. The threads drag on for pages and pages until people get tired of being dismissed, stop contributing, and the thread peters out. You never seem any better off and start up another. The pattern continues. You have objections to everything. Everything seems to be a priority which makes satisfying you impossible.
You want some sort of guarantee and/or perfection that probably won't be realized. Crowd based decision making doesn't seem to work for you. Frankly, I doubt the value of asking the same or slightly rephrased questions all over again. There is such a thing as analysis paralysis. Endless data gathering just enables procrastination. IMHO that's where you are. More input isn't necessarily better, it's just more. You'll just end up even more stuck. In the end, the only person who must weigh the range of options (all of which will have their up and down sides), curb that cynicism or whatever it is enough to bite the bullet, and finally loosen those tightly knotted purse strings is you.
Stop asking others how to spend your money. Ask yourself and really listen to the answer. Look, I truly hope you find some future your risk averse self will tolerate. I just don't think you're going to find it here.
(1) I'll never use a reverse mortgage. I feel they should only be used as a last resort.
(2) I'll never own property in hurricane country. Having my home destroyed when I'm so old I can barely manage a daily routine is something I never want to face.
(3) I would only do a long-distance rental if I had someone trustworthy I could count on to monitor it while I'm away. That could be a friend or family member, or someone who's paid to check the property on an agreed upon schedule.
(4) I prefer to own vs. rent.
Since I don't know your specific "here" and "there" locations I can only make guesses. Reading between the lines a bit and using the criteria I mentioned here, I'll eliminate options A-D. Option E would be my choice, although I could be tempted into doing one "round the world" cruise before settling down. I've never cruised before, but such a journey would take us to lots of places we'd never otherwise visit. I've no idea about the cost, though.
I'll stress one of the points again. Unless you're set with way more money than you'll ever need, don't buy a home in a place where there's a significant chance to have it destroyed by Mother Nature. I know some people who are going through this right now. Some could not afford to rebuild in place even though they had insurance. And even for the ones staying, their surroundings are nothing at all like they were before the disaster.
Rent your place at the beach, 6-months, 12-months, whatever. Hotels are expensive, so again that solution applies only if you have lots of money lying around.
Large over 55 community is a yes. I say large on the assumption the larger the community the more activities and service's that are available.
By the ocean has a good possibility of huricane damage and very high insurance costs. Be sure you consider these.
I would pass on the mobile homes on the coast due to hurricanes.
I would look inland and drive to the beach when I wanted to go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChessieMom
No beachfront. As someone that lives near the east coast, I've seen enough storm damage to never want to live on the oceanfront.
No mobile homes. Definitely more risky in storms.
No rental. The upkeep/maintenance is a major PITA.
If there was a nice 55 and over in an area you like, go for it. Otherwise, keep your money, take vacations, look around and when you are actually ready then you can make a move.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hikernut
I can only speak for myself...
[b](1) I'll never use a reverse mortgage. I feel they should only be used as a last resort.
(2) I'll never own property in hurricane country. Having my home destroyed when I'm so old I can barely manage a daily routine is something I never want to face.
(3) I would only do a long-distance rental if I had someone trustworthy I could count on to monitor it while I'm away.
(4) I prefer to own vs. rent.
Since I don't know your specific "here" and "there" locations I can only make guesses. Reading between the lines a bit and using the criteria I mentioned here, I'll eliminate options A-D. Option E would be my choice, although I could be tempted into doing one "round the world" cruise before settling down. I've never cruised before, but such a journey would take us to lots of places we'd never otherwise visit. I've no idea about the cost, though.
I'll stress one of the points again. Unless you're set with way more money than you'll ever need, don't buy a home in a place where there's a significant chance to have it destroyed by Mother Nature. I know some people who are going through this right now. Some could not afford to rebuild in place even though they had insurance. And even for the ones staying, their surroundings are nothing at all like they were before the disaster.
Rent your place at the beach, 6-months, 12-months, whatever. Hotels are expensive, so again that solution applies only if you have lots of money lying around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere
I'm a retiree looking to eventually relocate to the coast and have, let's say, $600k that I'd be comfortable spending toward that (keeping enough in reserve), paying cash. I eventually want to live nearer the ocean full-time, but I still have people/hobbies in my present location I'm not entirely ready to give up yet. Would you:
A) Put it all into a nice beach property (SFH or condo) I could rent out when not there myself? If the income were sufficient, I could even sell my home here and just rent in my current location instead. Once the new property was my primary/sole address, I'd get a reverse mortgage for extra income, having no heir to leave my assets to.
B) Put just a fraction into a not-so-nice property (mobile home) simply to have a place to stay versus hotels when visiting? Depending on insurance rates in that location, I would self-insure it (no mortgage) if the cost of it were prohibitive.
C) Keep that money in savings/investments earning at least 5% interest and just take a lot of vacations until ready to relocate full-time? However, hotel costs/rent add up, and I'd have nothing to show for it afterwards.
D) Buy into a 55+ community since I'm basically alone in the world and would/need like that "support system" as I age, possibly can't drive, am less active, etc.? I believe that would preclude the possibility of renting it out, however, and maybe also the reverse mortgage (not sure), and I'd be mandated to insure it through the HOA, however expensive hurricane and flood may be.
E) Buy a nicer home HERE (my current is kind of a throw-away) and rent that out while snow-birding there using the rental income to pay for those extended annual vacations?
F) Forget homeownership altogether and live full-time on a cruise ship (just kidding, but not really)?
Have fun spending my money! What would YOU do?
I agree with the bolded statements above.
I would stay where you have people.
I would do option E and I would get something nicer where I currently live; however, I would not rent out my home (ever). I would rent at the beach (or another possibility is share or rent a room) - I would allocate a certain sum of money to spend at nice hotels at the beach or some other form of rental. I would also consider just doing day trips to the ocean.
With that current house I would hire a realtor to tell me how I could extract the most money out of it (would it sell for more as a vacant lot or what amount of fixing up would net me the most) and I would take care of that too.
When you say $600k I would imagine that might put you into higher property taxes; I'm not sure if you could get something nicer for $450k and use the residual to make sure you can still afford it.
Where I am prices are starting to slip and so in a few months there might be a lot of options (who knows). You are sitting in the cash bird seat (so, that's a nice view and I don't blame you for wanting to take your time with this and make a good decision).
C) Keep that money in savings/investments earning at least 5% interest and just take a lot of vacations until ready to relocate full-time? However, hotel costs/rent add up, and I'd have nothing to show for it afterwards.
This is what we decided to do. When I crunched some numbers regarding a property to rent out far away from where I live that I couldn't do the property management myself on, it just didn't seem to make economic sense. Maybe there might be some crazy long timer appreciation, but the carrying costs were ridiculous when you add in paying for a property manager.
I'd also stay away from depreciating assets - mobile homes.
I'd also look at insurance rates before getting anything on the ocean. Insurance rates more than anything else may get people to stop moving to the coasts and mountains (flooding, hurricanes, wildfires).
If I had $600k to spend, I would move to The Villages in Florida, and spend $350-450k on a house and enjoy the amenities of the area. If you are concerned about your healthcare, then you would need to take that into consideration too.
G) Fix up my current house, but that really doesn't appeal to me.
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