Buy or Rent

I certainly wouldn't buy until after you've stayed in several different places. I've seen way to many people go buy something after they retire because they either thought it was a good buy or a good place to live before they've really done some looking around.

My old boss grew up in South Carolina and had a lot of fond memories of the place. Had been back about twice in 25 years. After retirement, they packed up and moved back. He got down there, found some land, bought it, interviewed builders, found some house plans and started a house.

About half way through the house being built, at which time he'd been back in SC for almost a year, he decided he couldn't stand SC at all. He put the unfinished house up for sale and left. Took a huge financial hit.

Slow down, go rent for a while and preferably, live in a couple of different places before buying.

Bill

Agree - don't buy anything until you have bounced around for a couple of years trying different places. Do 2-week stints the first year, then if you find an area you like, do monthly, then pick one for a 3 month stay. THEN you can think about finding your 'permanent' spot. Took us 8 yrs to decide on a particular one in Arizona. 3 yrs just to figure out which area we liked, then a few more visiting/staying in different parks to see what we liked.

Barb

Greg C. wrote:
Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

We did the "snowbird" thing.....for about 2 years before we sold off the north property and just stayed here. Except a little angst over selling the family farm, we've had not a minutes regret.

South Florida, particularly near the coast was not desirable for us for many reasons: Too many people, higher cost of living and more prone to bad weather.

Inland north of Orlando, however, is a different matter. We ended up in Ocala. Since then I have decided that I like Deland too. The Villages isn't too bad but again, too tightly packed and too much traffic.

Good luck. Rent for a year or so and find a place you like.

Good advice to be sure. I'me sure that you probably have to make a reservation a good bit in advance if you plan on renting.

Greg C. wrote:
Good advice to be sure. I'me sure that you probably have to make a reservation a good bit in advance if you plan on renting.

You're right I've found the really nice places have people returning and they get first dibs.

rent. try a new place each month or every year for a bit.

I'm in the group recommending rent, wait and see first. I'm very much nomadic at heart, moved often throughout my life to include almost a dozen years overseas. My wife however gets homesick after a few weeks on the road. We're retiring in a few more months and intend to keep the house at least for awhile, and will wait and see how the wife feels about it once we spend more time on the road. So far, the more we travel the more she seems to like it.

As for people I know, my old boss retired a little less than 2 years ago. They had a RV spot up near Jackson Hole, and a house in northern Utah. Their plan was to sell both pieces of property, and live out of their fifth wheel, north in the summer south in the winter sort of thing. After 18 months they decided they didn't like that after all, sold the fifth wheel, put a park model on their RV lot and moved back into their house.

On the other hand, a couple I worked with in the military retired from the Air Force, planned to live a year in their motorhome, then settle back in to a home. 6 Years later while hiking a trail in Arches National Park I ran into them on a trail only to learn they were the camp hosts. Seems they loved the full time lifestyle so much they decided not to settle into a single area, even seasonally.

Safest bet is try then buy if and when you're sure.

I doubt that we will ever sell our place here in Indiana. Thanks for all the great advice.

We rented first, then bought when we found what we liked but definitely rent first.

Greg; We were in a similar position several years ago and debated buying a place in the warm south. Then a friend told me to rent instead (I use VBRO); We tried it out and love it.
Advantages:
1 - different place every year - different view every year.
2 - when the lease is up you hand back the keys and leave
3 - no maintenance/up-keep when you are not there
4 - no worries when you're not there
etc etc.

we will be "touring" the south next year by renting a different house/condo
each week - again VBRO makes this really easy.

We're still fairly young (60) - and somehow I'm not sure we will ever buy a place in the south but it is a great place to visit during the North-East winters.