Retirement Housing

dmclone

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2006
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Just got back from Palm Springs, CA and it got me thinking about retirement housing. Everyone’s idea of perfect is so different but I wonder what options people are considering. Do you just buy one place in a warm climate and if so where? Do you keep a small place in the Midwest and then “winter” some place warm?
 
I’m a long ways from retiring in any way shape or form but I want to keep my house in Iowa and just rent down south in the winter. Maybe find a place I can rent for the majority of winter like 4-8 weeks every winter as my main place to stay and jump around the rest of the winter to see different things.

I don’t want to mess with any ownership headaches and don’t want to be locked in to going to the same place all the time “because I own it.”
 
Retire/claim residency in a tax-friendly state. Really love Tennesse with the mountains, lakes, and Nashville.
FYI, Nashville has really changed in the last ten years. There are huge numbers of people moving in every month. Housing has increased dramatically in price. It seems the roads are crowded more than ever. I know more than one family that is considering moving out.
 
My parents bought their retirement home last year. My dad spent a few years mapping this out and narrowed it down to 4 states: AZ, FL, TX, and... I’m drawing a blank (might have been Tennessee?) but it was in a distant 4th. His biggest factors were tax laws, as he wanted to make sure he got to draw the most from his various investments.

They purchased a home in AZ and he and my mom are super-pumped. They have family that live in the same development, and a good number of people on their street are from the Midwest as well (their neighbors are from Nebraska and Minnesota). They are keeping their home in Iowa so they can visit the grandkids and stay connected to their friends from the neighborhood. Allegiant Airlines has cheap airfare with a Mon-Fri direct flight from Des Moines to Mesa and both airports are less than an hour drive to their respective houses.
 
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Just got back from Palm Springs, CA and it got me thinking about retirement housing. Everyone’s idea of perfect is so different but I wonder what options people are considering. Do you just buy one place in a warm climate and if so where? Do you keep a small place in the Midwest and then “winter” some place warm?

Retiring next year and wife and I just bought a "paired patio" in Colorado Springs in the foothills. Maintenance free... It will be our only home. When we first got married the thought was 2-3 condos in various areas but its expensive to keep and maintain that many homes.
 
Will have something at the Ozarks on the water. Not sure if it will be a house or condo. Will depend on how many millions I have in the bank when I retire.
 
FYI, Nashville has really changed in the last ten years. There are huge numbers of people moving in every month. Housing has increased dramatically in price. It seems the roads are crowded more than ever. I know more than one family that is considering moving out.
Nashville has boomed and there is a reason why (great city). There are a lot of nice towns around Nashville that are very affordable, but outside of Knoxville might be my choice.
 
So back to the original topic...
We have explored the Palm Springs area as well. Lots of weird land things going on there. Certain areas have homes on leased land and you don’t pay property taxes, the land owner does. You pay the landowner rent for the land your house sits on.

Aside from the land weirdness, PS seems like a nice place to land but the thought of living in CaliTAXnia is mind blowing. Their taxes are incredibly high. PS, like much of the Southwest, is really, really, really hot. And did I mention it’s hot?

We have also looked in AZ, FL, TX. All of which have more favorable lifestyles than CA. We would likely not try and manage two homes. Closed up, unlived in houses get to smelling, ewwww.

That is all
 

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