Would you relocate for financial reasons?

So many people retire to Florida and I can tell you one thing for sure - were I rich, one of my three homes would not be in FL. I only visited once in my life and the heat and humidity of that one day was enough to make me never want to return.

I know for NYers, Florida is like the all the Burroughs moved south, but for the rest of the nation, I do wonder why so many older folks moved there with all its storms and hurricanes. It used to be very cheap, that was one reason, but it’s not cheap anymore.
 
Happy to say I don't need to move for financial reasons. DH & I plan to stay here for the foreseeable future. Like @Nathan, if I were widowed that would almost certainly prompt me to move, but it would undoubtedly be within 10 miles of my current home.
seadoug said:
I've been researching properties. However, we just today discussed the reality of moving (packing, driving two cars with two cats, overnighting along the way) and honestly we don't think we could go through it again at this stage in life.
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The packing and driving cars/cats would be the least of it for me. Starting over in my 70s with new neighbors, friends, area lifestyle, dentists, doctors, shopping, etc.? What a daunting adjustment!
 
Health may cause a move to be closer to DH’s sons and that’s in a very expensive city. If something happened to my husband, I’d move as soon as possible. Probably closer to my DDs, which is in another province.
 
seadoug said:
I hear you. Hubby's family is in Northern and South Florida. They are our only real family so he wants to be close. We actually looked at properties in Mexico and flights are over 7 hours from almost anywhere. We can be there in a little over 2 hours from Dallas. I've got 8 years on him, so he will probably outlive me. His logistical priorities outweigh mine at this point.
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After attending my son's destination wedding in Zihuatanejo I was fantasizing about settling there. Not practical though...<sigh>
 
Nathan said:
After attending my son's destination wedding in Zihuatanejo I was fantasizing about settling there. Not practical though...<sigh>
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There is a something I call the vacation bias. Cities you are visiting for vacation tend to look more appealing. Part of it is because you are mostly doing fun stuff while you are there.

A few things to keep in mind:

Can you speak the local language? My husband loved our trip to Peurto Rico and wanted to move there. But neither of us speaks Spanish, so I don't think moving would be a good idea.

What is the weather like year round? Winter in Arizona might be nice, but what about summer? New England might be nice in the summer, but would you be okay with New England winter?

You probably would not be living in the tourist areas. What is the city like in areas you might live in?
 
Not financial, but the heat!

I am living in my perfect spot October through April. I can even tolerate May and September because the early mornings are cooler and that’s when I am outside biking or hiking. June-Aug I need to figure a more permanent way to be elsewhere. It’s been ad-hoc for years. Air BNB/Vrbo’s on the coast in CA & OR and even long stays in a hotel a couple times. I don’t want to buy since I would have to rent it out the other months. I have owned rentals before and disliked it - too many headaches! Renters always complaining.

I needed to stay this summer after blowing my budget on a new HVAC, major plumbing redo, and purchasing a car for my daughter (I know, I am a weak marshmallow for my kids). But not staying here again, it’s bloody awful!
 
KathyB1968 said:
There is a something I call the vacation bias. Cities you are visiting for vacation tend to look more appealing. Part of it is because you are mostly doing fun stuff while you are there.

A few things to keep in mind:

Can you speak the local language? My husband loved our trip to Peurto Rico and wanted to move there. But neither of us speaks Spanish, so I don't think moving would be a good idea.

What is the weather like year round? Winter in Arizona might be nice, but what about summer? New England might be nice in the summer, but would you be okay with New England winter?

You probably would not be living in the tourist areas. What is the city like in areas you might live in?
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I was visiting relatives in NC and was thinking that being single at the time I might consider relocating there, but the old saying popped into my mind: "don't fall in love with your vacation location".
 
carouselsilver said:
I hear you! We are faced with a move soon and we also have two very nervous cats. The vet gave us some sedatives once, so that may be the way to go. We only have one car, and plan to pay packers and movers this time, instead of doing it all ourselves.
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Best of blessings with your move Carouselsilver. And yes, do keep us posted when possible. I hope the move won't be too disconcerting for your fur babies. I have a hyper alert (nervous) cat too. Have you found a place or at least the area you'd like to move to yet?'' My quirky hobby is looking through apartment and house listings usually on the east coast. Rents and homes are much cheaper in the southern states and one gets more for the money.

@Muskrat I'd be hard pressed to find a place cheaper than where I am now. I live in a 2 bedroom co-op apartment with patio. Our mortgage is paid and our HOA's are $644 a month including heat, hot water as well as building and grounds maintenance. I've lived here for 53 years. It would take an extreme or catastrophic event for us to move from here. I asked my son to move back in after my DIL died and left him with several debts. The arrangement is financially beneficial for both of us now and definitely will be for him when he's ready to retire, even if I've "kicked it" by then, since he inherits the apartment.
 
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OneEyedDiva said:
Best of blessings with your move Carouselsilver. And yes, do keep us posted when possible. I hope the move won't be too disconcerting for your fur babies. I have a hyper alert (nervous) cat too. Have you found a place or at least the area you'd like to move to yet?'' My quirky hobby is looking through apartment and house listings usually on the east coast. Rents and homes are much cheaper in the southern states and one gets more for the money.
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Thanks! It sounds like you have a great living situation, too!

Since we will both be retired, cost is going to be an issue. But I could never live in the South again; I just couldn't take the heat and humidity.

We love Maine, so that is what we are exploring now. Btw, I would welcome input from anyone who lives there at present. We will be selling our home here, and have opted to work with the same realtor who handled the sale, since he is familiar with the property.
My two fur babies are sisters and were semi feral rescues, so they are the stereotypical 'scaredy cats.' :)
 
againstthegrain said:
Well it wasn't exactly starting over for us as I had lived Idaho and in the SV area for many years, but US$ 36k/yr in property taxes w/out drawing 2 substantial incomes in the household made it very easy to leave the NYC metro area. Although I've been thoroughly disgusted w the extremists in the state legislature we're getting along just fine after 5 years. We have old friends, and many old friends in the surrounding states, new friends, new hobbies, lead an active outdoor lifestyle, it's a fairly robust cultural center(for Idaho), and we can do w/out fine dining and museums. Our daughter has moved west to a nearby city so we're all good.
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$36k/yr in property taxes? Yikes!!!
 
carouselsilver said:
Thanks! It sounds like you have a great living situation, too!

Since we will both be retired, cost is going to be an issue. But I could never live in the South again; I just couldn't take the heat and humidity.

We love Maine, so that is what we are exploring now. Btw, I would welcome input from anyone who lives there at present. We will be selling our home here, and have opted to work with the same realtor who handled the sale, since he is familiar with the property.
My two fur babies are sisters and were semi feral rescues, so they are the stereotypical 'scaredy cats.' :)
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You're welcome. Maine seems like a beautiful place from what I've seen in pictures and videos. Heat and humidity gets to be too much. 😓 Our Deja chose us on Labor day weekend in 2022. She showed up one night on our patio (one of 23 in the complex). The vet and I figured she was probably about 5 weeks old at the time. There's no telling what she experienced out there (mother was nowhere in sight) but I feel she faced a few traumas which cause her to be the way she is. I definitely sensed she had been traumatized.

It's good that you have a realtor you are familiar with and who's familiar with your property. That must remove at least some of the stress of making such a move.
 
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We did relocate primarily for financial reasons from New Jersey to South Carolina. The company I was working for
in NJ was bought out, so I needed to find another job at the age of 61. We were paying about $15,000 in property taxes and had a mortgage.
I was able to get a job in SC with the Department of Energy. We bought a home without needing a mortgage and property taxes
are only $1,300 per year. I retired after 8 years and we plan to remain here. Still miss NJ (born and raised) but the move has been good for us. Our family is spread over Georgia, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.
 
Rich29 said:
We did relocate primarily for financial reasons from New Jersey to South Carolina. The company I was working for
in NJ was bought out, so I needed to find another job at the age of 61. We were paying about $15,000 in property taxes and had a mortgage.
I was able to get a job in SC with the Department of Energy. We bought a home without needing a mortgage and property taxes
are only $1,300 per year. I retired after 8 years and we plan to remain here. Still miss NJ (born and raised) but the move has been good for us. Our family is spread over Georgia, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.
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I grew up in NJ and I think it would be too expensive to live there, now. Currently in PA.
 
The greater Houston area has been inundated with "immigrants" over the last 10 or so years. It's horrible, what with all the cheap housing, strip centers, and loss of green space. Not funny, but I think some of them got a taste of the real world with Hurricane Beryl's impact, and maybe some will go back to where they came from.

Ok, in all fairness I have to confess...... I immigrated to Dallas (from Illinois) in 1977 (thank you Mobil Oil). I was a supervisor, and not too long after I was here one of the older women in my group came up to me and said - seriously - "you know, I was in my late 20's before I knew damn Yankee was two words"
 
Its funny, because sometimes when folks from the east coast come to visit they say that its so beautiful here, looks like Connecticut ...we live not far from Washington County - birthplace of the Republic of Texas and the base of the Texas hill country. Don't think I've ever been to Connecticut.

Having acreage its interesting to note the contrast between huge cities like Houston and Dallas. Hub built the large home we are in and if something happened to him I would not plan to stay in it - probably have to move to Ohio to be near Son and grand kids - detest the cold winters but they are all there, go figure. Like Will Rogers said "two kinds of people in the world, those that move and those that don't...lol. But, guess what - we even have a "Buc-ees" not far away...!!!
 
"Would you relocate for financial reasons?"

I did, and that's why I could retire. And the omens tells me and my wife that we made the right decision as we sold our home of 30+ years during the time prices were at an all time high. Meanwhile, the new buyers leveled our full brick house and built a huge monstrosity in its place. Our single story home only cost $500K to buy, but he is now trying to sell his 3 story building for $4.6 million. All I can do is shake my head.
 
I was seriously thinking of relocating when I fully retire but not being a driver, most other areas require a car just to do basic daily errands. I finally made peace to staying where I am. I know my neighborhood, it is extremely walkable, might be more expensive than I would prefer but the cost of moving out of state and starting over would just be too intimidating.
 

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