Retiring On A Beach Front (vacations, alcohol, husband, restaurant)
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I'm going to buy "waterfront" in Maine. It's a rocky coast, but it's water and very affordable. Working on it right now.
I'm in NJ and grew up spending every Summer at a beach house. Cannot afford anything even near the shore nowadays. I'm retired and cant even afford the NJ taxes period.
I MUST live near the water, and i'm making a bit of a compromise. I love cold weather and i love Maine, so it's actually no problem for me. I've not read all the other replies yet, but you can buy a single-family home owning waterfront for $90 - $179K easily, and some taxes are UNDER $1,000/year. (this is on the Northern Coast - Down East)
I want to own part of the waterfront because we want to have kayaks; and to fish, clam, lobster, etc. and be able to go into the water directly from our property if at all possible.
My mom had a house in Tenants Harbor, Maine with the waves breaking against the rocks below and the boat on a mooring in the harbor a mile away. After a half-dozen years spending 6+ months per year there, it was just too remote. If you needed a specialist for medical care, Portland was almost 2 hours away and that's not exactly world class. A mediocre grocery store was 20 minutes away in Rockland.
$100K waterfront means you're seriously Down East well beyond Mount Desert. That's fine for a summer home but I can't imagine being that remote for the winter 6 months.
If your frame of reference is New Jersey, I don't think you fully understand Maine and cold weather.
Having lived most of my life either on the ocean, ocean view, or walking distance, this is my take.
I'm soooo jealous ... all I lived around was trees, trees and more trees. People love it here, they say it's beautiful. I call it hell on earth especially in the winter. I won't even get into why I can't get out. I suffer from SAD. We almost got out, just as we were looking at houses my mother had a stroke. That put the stop to that and I'm still stuck here among the trees. I must have done something pretty bad in my last lifetime to be stuck here among the trees
Sorry I didn't mean to be a doomer on this thread. Good luck OP.
I grew up an hour's drive from the Jersey Shore beaches (favored LBI and then Seaside Hts) and I also lived in Maine, an hour north of Portland (Gorgeous rocky beach with waves crashing outside of Bath). There really is no comparison. Maine is so not-developed, no hotels, etc, but the water is COLD and you often don't have surf. The beaches (except south of Portland) are small and usually no surf.
I prefer the warmer, longer (developed) beaches of south Jersey, with surf all up and down. If I wanted to live by a beach, though, I'd accept the Maine coast. It is gorgeous but not really that much swimmable.
And then -- to further confuse matters -- there are the great lakes which, to my surprise, seem to have beach, sand, and surf just like the ocean? And no sharks, jellyfish, or riptides! But I'll bet there's a subtle difference in the feel of things...
And then -- to further confuse matters -- there are the great lakes which, to my surprise, seem to have beach, sand, and surf just like the ocean? And no sharks, jellyfish, or riptides! But I'll bet there's a subtle difference in the feel of things...
For us there is nothing like the expanse of ocean waves rolling in. Truth be told the magic of waves on bikinis is an added benefit
My mom had a house in Tenants Harbor, Maine with the waves breaking against the rocks below and the boat on a mooring in the harbor a mile away. After a half-dozen years spending 6+ months per year there, it was just too remote. If you needed a specialist for medical care, Portland was almost 2 hours away and that's not exactly world class. A mediocre grocery store was 20 minutes away in Rockland.
$100K waterfront means you're seriously Down East well beyond Mount Desert. That's fine for a summer home but I can't imagine being that remote for the winter 6 months.
If your frame of reference is New Jersey, I don't think you fully understand Maine and cold weather.
We're making sure about the medical care and doctors/hospital. That is a concern.
We live in very rural South Jersey, but are able to get to exceptional doctors/specialists within an hour. A hospital is about 10-15 mins. away.
I've also looked into the climate quite a bit, and i do see that along the coast is not quite as bad as inland. Also have friends originally from PA that now live in Eastport, and i correspond with them all the time. They love it there - all year. I'm sure i'll never really know what Winter is like in Maine until i live there. I hate Summer the worst - and this one is Jersey has me sick and depressed. I am much happier when i'm cold and can put warm clothes on.
Last edited by Jellybean50; 08-15-2016 at 06:18 PM..
The issues I have with houses are if they're on flat lands, there is no view; if they are on hills, they are no fun for retirees due to ascent/descent on staircases.
So still, condos work the best for me. A 1-bedroom will do fine. I would drive up and down to where the condos are (if they are set on top of cliffs) and use elevators to get to my unit. From my unit, I will have fantastic vista of the beach (as TubogP said, bikinis are added benefits ) and the ocean waves.
I am looking for something similar to this (example video from Phlippines) anywhere in this world... a community that has lots of amenities/ recreations, an opportunity to mingle with various people/visitors to the community when I feel like it and a banging ocean surrounded by natural greeneries.
@2:42 is where you will see a glimpse of the condo buildings.
"I hate Summer the worst - and this one is Jersey has me sick and depressed."
I, too, have "reverse SAD" (am depressed all summer) due to the nearly intolerable heat and humidity where I live. I'm an active person, and it's actually dangerous to exert yourself outdoors six months out of the year -- or at least very unpleasant. Nothing more depressing than being trapped in the dark indoors with the a/c running half the year! Which is why I think I'd be okay with a southeastern beach property rented out during peak season (summer) and occupied by me in the off season (winter), which means either traveling or having another home in the north. But I guess it would have to be farther north than Jersey?
FYI: We lived on the coast of Maine (South Portland/Cape Elizabeth) briefly when I was a child; my mother recollected that the snow melted as soon as it fell due to the salt in the air. But cold and damp!
Last edited by otterhere; 08-16-2016 at 07:43 AM..
"I hate Summer the worst - and this one is Jersey has me sick and depressed."
I, too, have "reverse SAD" (am depressed all summer) due to the nearly intolerable heat and humidity where I live. I'm an active person, and it's actually dangerous to exert yourself outdoors six months out of the year -- or at least very unpleasant. Nothing more depressing than being trapped in the dark indoors with the a/c running half the year! Which is why I think I'd be okay with a southeastern beach property rented out during peak season (summer) and occupied by me in the off season (winter), which means either traveling or having another home in the north. But I guess it would have to be farther north than Jersey?
FYI: We lived on the coast of Maine (South Portland/Cape Elizabeth) briefly when I was a child; my mother recollected that the snow melted as soon as it fell due to the salt in the air. But cold and damp!
Even Canada has a lot of heat in the summer. You want altitude more than latitude if you are going to escape it. Latitude will work but you have to pretty far north.
"I hate Summer the worst - and this one is Jersey has me sick and depressed."
I, too, have "reverse SAD" (am depressed all summer) due to the nearly intolerable heat and humidity where I live. I'm an active person, and it's actually dangerous to exert yourself outdoors six months out of the year -- or at least very unpleasant. Nothing more depressing than being trapped in the dark indoors with the a/c running half the year! Which is why I think I'd be okay with a southeastern beach property rented out during peak season (summer) and occupied by me in the off season (winter), which means either traveling or having another home in the north. But I guess it would have to be farther north than Jersey?
FYI: We lived on the coast of Maine (South Portland/Cape Elizabeth) briefly when I was a child; my mother recollected that the snow melted as soon as it fell due to the salt in the air. But cold and damp!
YES - reverse "SAD" is what it is!
I have been in Maine during Summers, and i'm OK if it's in the 80s because it has not been as terrible humid as South Jersey. The humidity here is disgusting.
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) and the ocean waves. 
