Men and Women retiring alone to a new city/state -- where will you go and why? (manufactured, students)
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The places I'm looking at right now are northern New Mexico, Ft. Collins, Missoula, and maybe drier areas of Oregon. Grand Junction and Montrose were briefly possibilities.
I'd really like to go to Santa Fe, but don't think I can afford to live there.
I always find this a difficult subject to address because everyone has a different definition of expensive but I find Santa Fe cheaper than Olympia, WA. The NW was expensive! Not sure about Oregon but I hear it is expensive too. We have cheaper taxes than PA or WA. I can find tons of free things to do that I enjoy. Saturday I volunteered at Santa Fe New Music and heard Phillip Bimstein lecture Phillip Bimstein: Biography about what inspired his music and then I heard his music and another composer who has won awards--David Lang. Listening to professional live music in an intimate setting (120 people) reminded me why I love Santa Fe.
Santa Fe has two good affordable housing programs. I bought a house through them in July and love it. Those programs didn't exist in the NW. I will need to get creative if I want to retire but I have 3 bedrooms and 2 baths so I could rent one or both out. I find many people who make living here work because it has what they want--they make compromises like living with someone else or in small spaces. I'd rather have to rent a room out than live somewhere where there is nothing I like to do.
Sunday I went with the Santa Fe Singles group on a private tour of Puye Cliffs. $15 for the tour and breakfast. It is a very active group and does all kinds of things and you can find others to share gas costs (70 people went.) Our tour guide was a 72 year old Santa Clara Pubelo Indian who was a real storyteller. Soon the RailRunner will be done and I'll be able to get to ABQ and do things there too!
When I first moved back I thought I did not want to live in Santa Fe again but now I'm glad I am here. It's the perfect size for me and has the diversity and cultural activities I love. I wouldn't rule out Santa Fe if that is where you want to be until you look closer--don't assume the stereotype is true. If you live in a rural area in northern New Mexico take into consideration gas costs to drive anywhere. I looked at houses in Las Vegas and they were just as much as my house in Santa Fe.
Good luck finding your spot! If you have any questions about Santa Fe, let me know and I'll try to answer them.
Good luck finding your spot! If you have any questions about Santa Fe, let me know and I'll try to answer
Are there any over 55 places there? What would be an average cost of a small home?
Thanks, dancingearth & welcome back to this forum.
When I went through the affordable program one of the projects was an over 55 development. I don't know where it's at now. Average cost and what you pay through the affordable program are two different things. I don't know what the average cost is but I know when I first started looking in January all I could find were condos for the same price I paid for my new 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in the affordable program. I've heard prices have come down some since then.
The city requires builders to build a percentage of affordable housing (I think 25%) when they build new homes. In order to make them more affordable they have programs with soft seconds. My soft second is $8,000 which means I don't make payments or pay interest on it but if I sell the home, I owe it to the city. Some of the programs require you to share equity with the city when you sell the home (not mine.) This came about because they got burnt by someone qualifying for a home that was worth a lot more than they paid and the new home owner turned around and sold it immediately (I think he got it for $100,000 and sold it for $200,000--300,000 more--it was near the plaza.) That's not the idea of the program. They want you to stay in the home and be part of the community. You have to qualify--a single person can earn up to $57,000 and I believe a couple up to $75,000. The homes range up to $200,000. Hope that helps.
I'm so grateful for finding a place where this discussion is going on. I live where the summers are unbearably hot and humid and would live to find a retirement place with cooler summers. Has anyone found a retirement community for younger, slightly more active people? I don't do the hiking, golfing, tennis-playing thing, but I'm not geriatric either. I love music, walking, conversation, and generally "hanging out" with congenial people. Like the earlier blogger, I worry about making new friends and "fitting in". You've made me look at Knoxville again. Please let me know if you've found a great place for happily ever aftering.
Good luck finding your spot! If you have any questions about Santa Fe, let me know and I'll try to answer them.
I will probably need to build a small house because I have to have a formaldehyde free home. I'm wondering how far out of town from Santa Fe I would have to go to find an affordable lot? Where should I look?
What is the water situation there? Are you facing water shortages like many places in the West?
I will probably need to build a small house because I have to have a formaldehyde free home. I'm wondering how far out of town from Santa Fe I would have to go to find an affordable lot? Where should I look?
What is the water situation there? Are you facing water shortages like many places in the West?
Thanks
Land is at a premium here because we are surrounded by reservations and National/State forests. There is only so much to build on close to Santa Fe. I never looked for land but water would definitely be an issue you would have to consider. I'm guessing you'd have to go hours from Santa Fe to get what I consider affordable land. When you get into buying land and building it quickly becomes expensive. We live in a desert so water is always an issue to be concerned about and if you choose to live rural it becomes more of an issue. I know people who lived off the grid and had to truck water because their wells ran dry. I live in the city so I use city water.
My house was built with the intent of keeping it as healthy as possible. No particle board, cement floors, and a clean air furnace. I didn't look into it closer for formaldehyde free but don't rule out that type of house being already here.
This weekend I'm going camping down in the southwest corner of the state with friends who are looking to buy land for hunting and camping on in Catron county but I wouldn't want to live there full-time--very remote and I doubt if there's much water. I'm sure it's affordable.
Land is at a premium here because we are surrounded by reservations and National/State forests. There is only so much to build on close to Santa Fe.
My house was built with the intent of keeping it as healthy as possible. No particle board, cement floors, and a clean air furnace. I didn't look into it closer for formaldehyde free but don't rule out that type of house being already here.
Thanks for clearing up what I couldn't figure out, about the land availability.
One reason I'm looking at Santa Fe is I think it might be easier to find healthier housing "off the shelf." I built one house to be non-toxic and it was quite a challenge.
I've finally gotten through all the prior messages in this thread, so I thought I would add a few things to my intro.
When I was younger I moved and traveled quite bit. Most of the time I went to a new place without knowing anyone and never thought twice about it. This included moves overseas to developing countries in Latin America and Africa. I guess I still kind of find the whole idea of going to a new place exciting rather than scary.
I first looked into moving overseas for retirement, but rather reluctantly decided to give up on that, at least for now. Available healthcare is an issue both overseas and in many areas of the US Mountain West where I've been looking. Europe is more expensive, and we Americans would probably be excluded from their healthcare systems because we don't have national health here. I've been told that Canada will no longer give visas to American retirees for that reason, but am not sure if this is true. I'm mostly into alternative healing myself, after breast cancer treatment 18 years ago and then another major illness, but I expect that as I age I may need more mainstream services. And I do want access to supplements, without the Codex restrictions they have in Europe.
I have three dogs, two of them Australian Shepherds. I learned how to herd sheep with one of them. I live in a very rural desert area in Arizona, in a house I had built to be non-toxic and passive solar, and enjoy all sorts of wildlife in my yard and sometimes inside my house (less enjoyable). I have gained a whole new level of respect for the early settlers here.
I read a lot, and do a kind of dance exercise I love as much as I love lap swimming, called Nia.
I was married in the 80's to a man from South Asia who I met in Africa. We didn't have any kids and divorced after nine years, though we are still in touch occaisonally via Email.
My goal, if the economy improves enough before I get too old, is to move to a cooler, more urban, place with closer neighbors.
Terry - sounds like you have had an interesting life! Even though this tread has been quiet for a while, peole still do pop in now and then. What areas are you interested in? Cooler - that's just about everywhere . Close health care is a concern of most of us - nobody's fooling themselves into thinking that they will never need it (). Along with the close health care is a strong support group. Just make sure you don't bring any of those outdoor critters with you wherever you end up. We've talked about meeting somewhere - a nice opportunity to share ideas. As you've read, each person has their own likes and dislikes and consequently will end up retiring in many different locations, we could set up yearly meet-ups in one of the cities.
I volunteered for a local animal shelter and one of the ladies raised Australian Shepherds - great dogs - so smart. I have a Wheaten Terrier and I adopted my first foster dog - a French Brittany/Wheaten/something else is in there mix. Many others have cats/dogs as well. So welcome to the group.
Oh - funny - I also was married for 9 years and still communicate with him via email. He moved back home (Cleveland OH) due to family health issues. It's nice that we never got into the "I hate you and you hate me...." stuff. It's nice to know he's stlll out there during these ugly times and that we still reach out to each other for comfort. La la la.
What areas are you interested in? Cooler - that's just about everywhere . .....
Oh - funny - I also was married for 9 years and still communicate with him via email. He moved back home (Cleveland OH) due to family health issues. It's nice that we never got into the "I hate you and you hate me...." stuff. It's nice to know he's stlll out there during these ugly times and that we still reach out to each other for comfort. La la la.
I'm looking at the Mountain West, Santa Fe, Ft. Collins, Missoula, maybe dry parts of Oregon, open to other suggestions
It is funny that we both were married for nine years. I find too that staying in at least occasional touch gives me a little cushion, if things got really bad he might help. I've been disabled for 15 years so life is always a bit precarious.
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Santa Fe land?
. Close health care is a concern of most of us - nobody's fooling themselves into thinking that they will never need it (
). Along with the close health care is a strong support group. Just make sure you don't bring any of those outdoor critters with you
wherever you end up. We've talked about meeting somewhere - a nice opportunity to share ideas. As you've read, each person has their own likes and dislikes and consequently will end up retiring in many different locations, we could set up yearly meet-ups in one of the cities.
