I live in Wisconsin but in 25 years want retire to the South.

Small Slick · January 08, 2015, 11:44:20 PM

I am hoping to someday spend winters in the South. Or at least a warmish area. I think buying now and renting the property pretty much year round until my wife and I retire. I have some thoughts on what I think I need but am certainly open to your thoughts. I have spent very little time down there so I am not limiting myself to any particular State. If you had your choice, what would you choose? John

curdog · January 08, 2015, 11:59:38 PM

I'm fond of the mountains. Western nc is home, but eastern Tennessee or southwest Virginia are nice areas as well. Tennessee and Virginia seemed to have cheaper land. You would still have milder summers and fairly mild winters depending on elevation of the property. Also do you like Grits? :D

ScottAR · January 09, 2015, 12:23:53 AM

I'm guessing your talking about the property as being raw land. Not quite the same as housing or commerical property. AR has pretty landlord friendly laws. Check out the other states laws on the books before jumping into anything.

Southside · January 09, 2015, 12:24:44 AM

What are you looking for? Farmland, wooded land, lake front?

whiskers · January 09, 2015, 10:47:13 AM

absentee property owners have been known to make small fortunes around these parts. problem is they began with large fortunes..........

StimW · January 09, 2015, 08:03:30 PM

There are signs around down here-
We don't care how you did it up north! If it was so great why did you leave?
My best advice about Florida, East Coast tends to be from the Northeast. West coast tends to be from the Midwest.
And if you don't know the difference visit both and you will see.

Scruboak · January 09, 2015, 08:16:34 PM

I live in and really love WI and flying airplanes for a living has taken me to every state in the US and every Province in Canada. I have been to the carribean and central and South America and probably some other places i have forgotten about over the last couple decades!!

Anyways. The one place i tell my wife i think i could live at in the south would be Savanah Georgia. I was impressed wiyh the area and is one of the few places i feel somewhat at home

drobertson · January 09, 2015, 08:22:31 PM

I've been all over the south, grew up in SC, visited all the south eastern states, the mountains are nice, the coast as well, I say if you like it in Savannah then its' over, not a bad word about that place at all! Good eats and good folks and the coast to boot! Happy for you! as the saying goes, " that's good fried chicken Y'all"

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 09, 2015, 08:27:17 PM

How many you bringing with you? ;D

scgargoyle · January 10, 2015, 06:10:44 AM

We moved to upstate SC after having lived in CT and FL. We're close to the mountains, but only 15 miles from Greenville SC, a nice medium city with a lot of nice features. Land is relatively cheap, although the further out of town you go, the cheaper it is. The climate seems about right for us- 4 distinct seasons, but not excessively cold. Once in a while you get a couple inches of snow, and the whole place grinds to a halt, but it's usually gone by noon.

25 years is a long time, and all kinds of things can change, both with the area you choose, and with your own life. We bought our property here 8 years ago, and things have changed a lot (mostly for the better) in that time. The good news is that your investment will likely increase in value a lot. The bad news is that your bucolic acreage 'way out in the country' might be in the middle of sprawling suburbs by then.

Be advised that anything near the coast will likely have high homeowner's insurance rates due to hurricanes. Our insurance went up 400% in FL, one of many reasons we left.

Small Slick · January 10, 2015, 07:59:20 AM

I would love to have a cozy cabin tucked into the woods as a winter retreat. That is what I am building in wisconsin right now.

However as I age and am absent for long periods of time I will need a place with less upkeep and rentable. So there has been some discussion of a condo or similar.

25 years is a long time so who knows what will/would happen but it will give my renters time to pay it off for me!

John

Mooseherder · January 10, 2015, 09:00:00 AM

The problem with condos is the association may not let you rent your unit out.
It's embedded in the rules along with other stuff that controls everything happening outside of the units door. There has been many stories of condo commandos making life miserable for some residents. You can invest your down payment into another investment vehicle that'll grow the same as real estate and be more liquid at your retirement. You can buy whatever you want with it at that time. We have rented cabins in Tennessee that seemed like a great investment. A realty company handles all the details of renting, cleaning and upkeep for their cut. I'm sure a lot of the other States around do the same thing. That way, you could use it for vacations every year. The other consideration is the unit has to be in an area that draws interest, attractions and tourists for the unit to be rented. I wouldn't want to retire in a tourist area as of now but that could all change 25 years from now. ;)

WV Sawmiller · January 10, 2015, 05:26:17 PM

SS,

I grew up in N. Fla with grandparents we visited often in central FL. Went to school in Ala, lived in VA, SC, NC, GA and Japan while in USMC. Have traveled and vacationed all over the world (5 continents) with my work. We settled in WV 24 years ago and I like it here but I can highly recommend central and south Georgia (Such as Albany GA) over many of the places I lived and worked. Winters are not too extreme. It does get warm in the summers but I've experienced worse. Hunting and fishing is good there. Not too far, a few hours drive, to the mountains or the beaches. Cost of living was good. If you like SEC football you are within a range of 7-8 teams there you can make on a long day or overnight to go to the games. They grow real good apples up in N. Ga. good peaches in south Ga. Pecans and peanuts plentiful. Great watermelons from Cordele area. Good roads and access. People were friendly. Lots of history variety from coast to mountains to Okeefenokee swamp. Atlanta in center of state is not too far away and you can reach any city or country in the world in short order from there. I'd give them due consideration in my planning.

Buckshot00 · January 10, 2015, 09:03:35 PM

Be glad to have you here in eastern NC.

Small Slick · January 10, 2015, 09:07:49 PM

Quote from: Buckshot00 on January 10, 2015, 09:03:35 PM
Be glad to have you here in eastern NC.

I realize its in South Carolina but myrtle beach has been talked about.

What area of North Carolina should I be considering? John.

Glenn1 · January 10, 2015, 09:55:16 PM

I spent 35 years all over Florida and I am very happy with my move to North Carolina. I live near Winston Salem which is a wonderful area to live. We have exceptional ACC basketball as well as being 2 hours to the mountains and 5 hours to the Outer Banks. I don't want to discourage you about Florida but consider 100 degree days with 100 percent humidity. Then add in a boat load of tourists and you may want to consider, GA, SC, or NC.

Glenn

Warped · January 11, 2015, 02:27:30 AM

My buddy had a condo on Okaloosa Is. in Ft. Walton/Destin I stayed at a few times. Very nice, he rented it out through a realty company on site. He called the land line one time and a girl answered. Her man worked at Egglin A.F.B.? they were living there and he was never notified. I won't put the company out there, unless someone wants it (PM). If you look at something like this check it out on Tripadvisor. Many comments said these people were nasty in the office, but I had no problems with them but they sure weren't overly friendly like you expect.

Buckshot00 · January 11, 2015, 11:18:47 AM

Quote from: Small Slick on January 10, 2015, 09:07:49 PM
Quote from: Buckshot00 on January 10, 2015, 09:03:35 PM
Be glad to have you here in eastern NC.

I realize its in South Carolina but myrtle beach has been talked about.

What area of North Carolina should I be considering? John.

Depends on whether you would rather have the mountains or the coast.

Gadrock · January 11, 2015, 11:44:40 AM

Have heard of someone who retired and moved North. I do not remember when I heard it but he was moving up ther for 3 months of the year. Perhaps you can figure the answer.
This week we experienced an unusual situation with 11 degree F one day and several days at 26ish temps. Mississippi is fantastic for me. Good for us there are always some disruptive writers that are putting down our state. Easy to write about our location since we have such a colorful history. No pun intended.

David g

carry on

Dave Shepard · January 11, 2015, 12:12:44 PM

I'd like to visit the south someday, but I can't take the heat. I'm pretty happy standing in my warm shop looking out at the ~~snowbanks~~ WDH's glaciers. :D

Sixacresand · January 11, 2015, 08:30:45 PM

I expect in 25 years my place will be available. You might even get a 26 year old WM with it. :D

Small Slick · January 11, 2015, 11:49:27 PM

A little follow up. I'm looking at flying to Wilmington NC late February for a week. We would be staying in myrtle beach SC for that time. Probably spend some time with a realtor and just driving around checking things out.

What we are really looking for is a place to go from Christmas to mid April. A place with low maintenance and security when we aren't around. So at this point we are planning to see the coast of SC. Several more trips are likely to see the interior and Georgia. Also Texas and Arizona are options as well.

Who knows maybe I could buy something from a FF member. I think my current place would be great for a sawer it has a heated work shop a pole shed and a wood drying shed as well! Just needs a kiln.

John.

kensfarm · January 12, 2015, 02:24:04 PM

Maybe a nice mobile home would be best at first.. lower cost.. security.. you can go different places.. not warm enought.. just drive further south. You could tow your sawmil.. or one of those run-around cars. Could be fun until you find the right spot.

curdog · January 12, 2015, 03:08:56 PM

I'm not much of a beach person, but I really don't like myrtle Beach. There are so many beautiful, less crowded beaches from nc to Florida, that myrtle Beach would be one of my last choices. The outer banks, savannah, I'm sure there are more that many folks like. But if spring break, biker weeks and huge crowds are your thing, myrtle might be what you're looking for. The only time I've been to a beach lately was for a fire dispatch to the outer banks and it wasn't so bad. Less crowded and the area has better fishing than many of the beaches further south.

4x4American · January 12, 2015, 05:38:25 PM

Quote from: Scruboak on January 09, 2015, 08:16:34 PM
I live in and really love WI and flying airplanes for a living has taken me to every state in the US and every Province in Canada. I have been to the carribean and central and South America and probably some other places i have forgotten about over the last couple decades!!

Anyways. The one place i tell my wife i think i could live at in the south would be Savanah Georgia. I was impressed wiyh the area and is one of the few places i feel somewhat at home

My grandma, we call her Lallah, grew up in Savannah. She was borned there in 1920. After the war she moved up here with my gramps because their families had some sort of feud and wouldn't agree to their marriage. Anyways, I've been there to Savannah many times with her. It's a nice place for sure, the only city that didn't get trashed in the 50 mile wide, 50 mile long scorced earth march. Old money...anyways, if I were to move down south it'd be somewhere in the mountains proberly in TN. GA is nice, but too dang hot for me. Remember, being from WI, the south is going to be alot warmer. Even just moving a bit south would make a big difference, like Indiana, or Kentucky for you. I would want to be somewhere that's not too far of a drive away either, because in the 25 years up to your retirement, you might want to make a drive down there a couple few three five or ten times. BTW, get used to the word Yankee....that's all what my cousins from Ga call us. Don't bother me one bit, sometimes I poke fun back and tell them they're just being sore losers! :D (no offense to any rebels on here)