Retirement.

[Gary Bode]

I have four years to retirement and am looking to move to Florida (east coast), North Carolina or South Carolina. Does anyone have suggestions of where to start looking for houses? I want the no income tax benefit of Florida but will go as far north as N.C. No more winter for me, thank you.

I want to be somewhere with a sailing community. Somewhere near a marina/beach. I want to be near resturaunts, bars, and nightlife. Somewhere near state parks or other outdoor activities is a must also.

I heard Melbourne, FL is nice. But any suggestion would help.

Thank y'all!

[denverd0n]

Awfully vague question, so I'm not sure where to start.


Do you know about zillow.com? You can get a good general idea of what is available in the real estate market for pretty much anywhere in the country (though, don't make the mistake of thinking their "zestimate" is always accurate).


Other than that, there are quite literally hundreds of places around Florida that would fit your description, making it kind of hard to know where to start.



Good luck.

[skipmac]

A lot depends on your budget. If you have plenty of money then south Florida or maybe the northern Keys is good. More or less the farther north you go the cheaper it gets.

Otherwise most any coastal community in FL will have what you're looking for.

[hpeer]

What you don’t state is what kind of sailing you want to do.

If you want to stay inland the NC sounds are great, you will want a relatively shoal draft boat.

If you are more interested in short trips to the Bahamas then Florida.

Personally I would look towards the Norfolk area. A little far North but you could stage the boat on NC sounds or Chesapeake or easily move between.

The other question is how sure of you about how you want to live your retirement? It might bring surprises.

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by Gary Bode

I want to be somewhere with a sailing community. Somewhere near a marina/beach. I want to be near resturaunts, bars, and nightlife. Somewhere near state parks or other outdoor activities is a must also.

Miami area fits these requirements. In particular, Key Biscayne, Miami Beach, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Pinecrest, and Palmetto Bay communities. Outdoor activities in Florida are limited, however, and boating is heavily biased towards powerboats.

[Captain Graham]

We are in the same boat.

We have been looking in the NC area.
Our families are in the NY City area and NC is a long drive but due able.
We are looking at New Bern NC.
It is on a wide river that opens up into the Pamlioc Sound.
All protected waters and you can always go out into the Atlantic if you want.
Nice small airport with flights to Atlanta and Charlotte.
If you need more flight options you can drive 2 hours to Wilmington.
For us Wilmington has direct flights to NYC.

If New Bern is too small you can look at the Wilmington area.

[BBill]

I'm on the river 15 miles from Melbourne and been in this area since the early 1960s. The anti boat mentality from non boaters moving here from other states is alive and getting worse every yr. Million dollar power boats are replacing sailboats and finding a slip is getting more difficult with yrs long waiting lists. Marinas are still closing and being converted to condos. Old and not so nice 1200 sq ft canal front homes built in the 60s start in the $500k range. Nice modern water fronts start around double that. You are trading cold winters for hot weather hurricanes. Insurance companies are getting picky covering old properties (I own 2 houses and one 8 unit commercial property to benchmark from). People moving here are bringing their discontent from other states with them and it's growing. There's also a huge turnover of people moving here a yr or two and moving back to where they came from because it isn't the paradise they thought it was. If I was younger I'd move somewhere else but Florida is turning into the same rat race eveyone is moving here to escape.

[gonesail]

where are you now? did you need ocean access? central Florida is an absolute oven in the summer. lots of biting bugs in coastal Georgia. SC and GA have huge tides and inshore currents. NC can have plenty of cold weather and get more than their share of hurricane winds. Have you considered the west coast of FL? pick your poison

[flee27]

My wife and I are also contemplating this same question. Our though process so far is;

Florida gulf coast-nice sailing but a long way to sail before you start sailing somewhere farther. Lots of places to sail to in the gulf area for local sailing and protected waters Nice water. Definitely hot in the summer. No seasons.

Florida east coast. Great starting point for lots of longer destination sailing and Bahamas. Same weather pluses and minuses as the gulf side. Not much local destination sailing and no protected waters to sail in.

North Carolina-Seasons which means a little more winter than I would love but still not too bad. And seasons are nice change of pace. Great local destination sailing and close to the Chesapeake Bay. Water is not so pretty and colder. Protected water in the sounds.

Looking online at houses I also like the feel of the houses in NC a lot better than Florida. It appears that in Florida to live on/close to the water and not in a condo you have to spend well north of 500k. I am not sure if I am ready for condo living. I still like to have a little space around me and a place for tools and stuff appeals to me.

Who knows where we will end up. Currently we will most likely rent a place and live for 6 months to a year and then do the same in the other place before we commit and purchase a home. Hard to really know without actually spending some time.

I will be interested to read everyone's commits/thoughts

Foster

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by BBill

I'm on the river 15 miles from Melbourne and been in this area since the early 1960s. The anti boat mentality from non boaters moving here from other states is alive and getting worse every yr. Million dollar power boats are replacing sailboats and finding a slip is getting more difficult with yrs long waiting lists. Marinas are still closing and being converted to condos. Old and not so nice 1200 sq ft canal front homes built in the 60s start in the $500k range. Nice modern water fronts start around double that. You are trading cold winters for hot weather hurricanes. Insurance companies are getting picky covering old properties (I own 2 houses and one 8 unit commercial property to benchmark from). People moving here are bringing their discontent from other states with them and it's growing. There's also a huge turnover of people moving here a yr or two and moving back to where they came from because it isn't the paradise they thought it was. If I was younger I'd move somewhere else but Florida is turning into the same rat race eveyone is moving here to escape.

I lived in Melbourne for 2 years back in the 70s when I was going to college. (FIT)

I LOVED Melbourne and the surrounding areas and always thought I would return some day. However, I am shocked, truly shocked at the changes. I don't have to tell you of course. To me it's beyond sad to see what's happened to Melbourne and many parts of Florida....no way I could go back now.

[Hardhead]

If you already have a livable boat - I'd consider taking a leisurely cruise from NC south - and scoping out the situation from that vantage point. Much easier to get a feel for the places, the boating community - and if you had bikes, easy to get around locally & get a feel from land. Good luck-