Do you own a retirement/second home?

[rapmarks]

Here in NY our taxes are $825 PER MONTH! NO trash pick up or ANY kind of pick up.

It all depends on what you find acceptable. We own two modest homes. Some people would only consider living in an expensive home. I have visited friends in Florida and Arizona who owned condos for under fifty thousand dollars. I know people with a park model north and south, some places have amenities and others are in nice areas but have no amenities. We didn’t want to spend winters upnorth anymore, but we also wanted to have amenities, so we pay for them. Someone spoke against HOA
restrictions, but those restrictions protect your home values and perhaps safety. One thing I have noticed, a $35000 condo in a senior community is going to have a more stable community than in a non restricted neighborhood.
We were renting in Arizona to be near my mother in law. We found a nice new condo in a 55 over development. Controlling step brother said I can get you a better deal. Took us to old apartment complex, old furnishings and appliances, all service men and their young families, toys everywhere, same price, different neighbors.

 

[Arb]

We have no complaints for what we pay in HOA. We have no pool and gym as I have stated above. But the incredible beauty that we are surrounded with and that moment hits us each time we drive into the resort community, we say to overselves that every dime of the HOA that we pay is worth it. Our condo building is also incredibly well maintained. If you are in the area, I would love to show you around and maybe you will also fall in love with this area like many of us.

I've been reading this thread with great interest! We have considered moving to the Sarasota area for the winter and the mountains of North Carolina for the summers. Where in Florida is your condo? Perhaps we should consider other Florida areas. We seem to be stuck in indecision. We are both retired from work and can move where we like....

 

[rapmarks]

I've been reading this thread with great interest! We have considered moving to the Sarasota area for the winter and the mountains of North Carolina for the summers. Where in Florida is your condo? Perhaps we should consider other Florida areas. We seem to be stuck in indecision. We are both retired from work and can move where we like....

I think she is in Arizona or the Southwest

 

[WinniWoman]

It all depends on what you find acceptable. We own two modest homes. Some people would only consider living in an expensive home. I have visited friends in Florida and Arizona who owned condos for under fifty thousand dollars. I know people with a park model north and south, some places have amenities and others are in nice areas but have no amenities. We didn’t want to spend winters upnorth anymore, but we also wanted to have amenities, so we pay for them. Someone spoke against HOA
restrictions, but those restrictions protect your home values and perhaps safety. One thing I have noticed, a $35000 condo in a senior community is going to have a more stable community than in a non restricted neighborhood.
We were renting in Arizona to be near my mother in law. We found a nice new condo in a 55 over development. Controlling step brother said I can get you a better deal. Took us to old apartment complex, old furnishings and appliances, all service men and their young families, toys everywhere, same price, different neighbors.

Well, considering where we live we do not have any amenities. Our road is a disaster. All broken up. Never had painted lines on it. They occasionally patch it. They just dig trenches along the side for drainage. Ok- yeah -they plow it at least. We have no fire hydrants or street lights. We have a plain vanilla, vinyl sided salt box home built in 1987 worth maybe $275,000 if we are lucky (though it should be worth more). Half of our land is considered forestland and not sub dividable and tiny road frontage. We have to pay for garbage pick up and if you have larger items to junk you have to get them to the county (not town) dump, which is 45 minutes away, one day per year. If you don't own a truck- tough luck.

We have our own well and a septic- so no sewers or water provided either.

We are not getting our money's worth. That said-it could be worse- as from what we see all over the country on line in the real estate listings- there are a lot of other places where people are not getting their's as well.

 

[WinniWoman]

I've been reading this thread with great interest! We have considered moving to the Sarasota area for the winter and the mountains of North Carolina for the summers. Where in Florida is your condo? Perhaps we should consider other Florida areas. We seem to be stuck in indecision. We are both retired from work and can move where we like....

She is in Nevada.

 

[WinniWoman]

I think she is in Arizona or the Southwest

Nevada.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We are in Calif. and will end up somewhere in the west. We are considering Nevada for residency tax advantages for 6 months and 1 day, and then owning a smaller second home in Calif for the rest of the year.

Will never move into a senior community or a large HOA. I saw with relatives'experiences how there are too many busy-body people with too much time on their hands who get upset about minutiae and complain about everything, and spend their time telling others how to maintain their home and live their life. But that's just me.

 

[VacationForever]

I've been reading this thread with great interest! We have considered moving to the Sarasota area for the winter and the mountains of North Carolina for the summers. Where in Florida is your condo? Perhaps we should consider other Florida areas. We seem to be stuck in indecision. We are both retired from work and can move where we like....

We are West Coasters so no Florida for us.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

IMHO Florida is too humid for me.

 

[VacationForever]

We are in Calif. and will end up somewhere in the west. We are considering Nevada for residency tax advantages for 6 months and 1 day, and then owning a smaller second home in Calif for the rest of the year.

Will never move into a senior community or a large HOA. I saw with relatives'experiences how there are too many busy-body people with too much time on their hands who get upset about minutiae and complain about everything, and spend their time telling others how to maintain their home and live their life. But that's just me.

On the contrary from our single current experience. We only have 26 units in a closely knitted community. 5 on the HOA board and we all work closely together to make it a wonderful experience for all. We have a potluck every month, get together to go out for dinner for the holidays, and we get invited to some big deal birthdays... 80th etc.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@VacationForever You must be in a unicorn community. Most HOAs have fights over those who want improvements and those who will let the place decline just to avoid increasing maint fees. Some people get on the boards just so they can feel powerful and nit pick their neighbors yards etc.

With that said, we have a small HOA in our single family home community, for the most part it is decent, but one of our neighbors started telling me how upset she was about where a neighbor was parking their car on the street (not visible by her home).

I told her "I didn't care because it wasn't in front of my home and the neighbor who's house it is front of gave them permission so it was none of my business." She filed a complaint to the HOA.

Ironically she has had a trailer on her driveway which is technically a violation. It is people in glass houses who throw the most stones.

This is this **it that makes me hate HOAs and busy-bodies.

 

[VacationForever]

@VacationForever You must be in a unicorn community. Most HOAs have fights over those who want improvements and those who will let the place decline just to avoid increasing maint fees. Some peopleget on the boards just so they can feel powerful and nit pick their neighbors yards etc.

I hear you. But not here. We have several sub-committees for improving security and beautification etc etc. We live in a very high end condo so HOA costs is the least of the issues. My unit was sold in 2008 for $1.8m to give you an idea of the quality of the units and building.

 

[TravelTime]

Wow what state atr you in? That covers my winter taxes only.

Ha ha, his annual tax bill covers about 1/2 of one month for us.

 

[TravelTime]

Well, considering where we live we do not have any amenities. Our road is a disaster. All broken up. Never had painted lines on it. They occasionally patch it. They just dig trenches along the side for drainage. Ok- yeah -they plow it at least. We have no fire hydrants or street lights. We have a plain vanilla, vinyl sided salt box home built in 1987 worth maybe $275,000 if we are lucky (though it should be worth more). Half of our land is considered forestland and not sub dividable and tiny road frontage. We have to pay for garbage pick up and if you have larger items to junk you have to get them to the county (not town) dump, which is 45 minutes away, one day per year. If you don't own a truck- tough luck.

We have our own well and a septic- so no sewers or water provided either.

We are not getting our money's worth. That said-it could be worse- as from what we see all over the country on line in the real estate listings- there are a lot of other places where people are not getting their's as well.

The percentage you are paying in property taxes is 3.6% on the value of your house. That seems awfully high, esp since NY also has some of the highest state taxes in the country. We are in California and we pay a fortune in property taxes esp since we have multiple properties. But the percentage is about 1.2% or so based on assessed value at the time of purchase plus some minimal annual adjustments relative to the real increase in value.

 

[TravelTime]

I agree HOAs are a pain in the axx normally. We are in 4 HOAs now. That will go down to 3 after the sale of one property. The other property we are selling does not have a HOA. While I hate HOAs, I also love that they do great maintenance and offer extra amenities. So that is why our recent purchases have all been part of HOAs.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Alligators frighten me. I heard about that lady that died walking her dog on a trail by a lake in Hilton Head. That scratched Hilton Head off my bucket list. Florida and anyplace that can have gators is off the list.

 

[WinniWoman]

The percentage you are paying in property taxes is 3.6% on the value of your house. That seems awfully high, esp since NY also has some of the highest state taxes in the country. We are in California and we pay a fortune in property taxes esp since we have multiple properties. But the percentage is about 1.2% or so based on assessed value at the time of purchase plus some minimal annual adjustments relative to the real increase in value.

Actually our house is assessed at $266,000 on the tax records. So it is even worse than what I stated.

We purchased it for $208,000 31 years ago. The property taxes- and the school taxes especially -just keep going up and up with no end in sight.

 

[WinniWoman]

Alligators frighten me. I heard about that lady that died walking her dog on a trail by a lake in Hilton Head. That scratched Hilton Head off my bucket list. Florida and anyplace that can have gators is off the list.

Same here. I keep looking at places in Florida and other southern states and then have to remind myself how I hate reptiles, humidity, hurricanes and tornadoes.

 

[OldGuy]

Wow what state atr you in? That covers my winter taxes only.

Florida . . . homesteaded.

 

[rapmarks]

The percentage you are paying in property taxes is 3.6% on the value of your house. That seems awfully high, esp since NY also has some of the highest state taxes in the country. We are in California and we pay a fortune in property taxes esp since we have multiple properties. But the percentage is about 1.2% or so based on assessed value at the time of purchase plus some minimal annual adjustments relative to the real increase in value.

My sister lives in a 46 year old condo and pays over four thousand, she would be lucky to sell the condo for $28000. That is not missing a zero and that is Illinois

 

[easyrider]

We bought a vacation home on the American River near Mt Rainier. It is a three bed with loft. Nice enough place. No phone service. I can use a cell phone booster if I want phone and internet. I really thought this would be a good idea. What I have decided is that I do not like it as much as my time shares. Our family uses the place quite a bit. It is only a 60 minute drive from home. So it is convenient. It also requires work. Even though there are family members that help out I still end up working on it, which I thought would be kind of fun in retirement. Its not as fun as I imagined.

When I work on my time share I am only using the phone. When I work on my vacation home it usually requires a trip into town and a few hours. That equals most of the day.

Bill

 

[am1]

Same here. I keep looking at places in Florida and other southern states and then have to remind myself how I hate reptiles, humidity, hurricanes and tornadoes.

But taxes, heating and overall lower cost of living.

 

[elaine]

reptiles, humidity, hurricanes and tornadoes

we bought a pre-retirement fixer home 6 hours from DC in coastal NC in a golf community. We were slightly south of hurricane Florence last year, but thankfully had no major damage. Last fall, DH almost put his hand on a copperhead while clearing the flower bed. Constant work and maintenance. DH will be retiring and 1/2 time there in Sept. He loves it! A club membership came with the house with a $3K transfer fee (vs. $20K for new builds). We pay about $150/month for use of club facilities, 4 pools, tennis courts, etc. DH pays OOP for golf as it's most cost effective while very part-time.
fyi-some studies show that if you plan to have adult kids/families visit more than 1X/year to be within an 8 hour drive. We took this in mind when choosing our location. We have 4 kids in DC area, 3 still in college. We are maintaining 2 homes until kids are out of college. Definitely a budget buster, but I feel it's important for them to have their roots while in college.

 

[WinniWoman]

But taxes, heating and overall lower cost of living.

Yes. Of course- for sure.

Heating is a wash due to AC I would think though.

 

[WinniWoman]

we bought a pre-retirement fixer home 6 hours from DC in coastal NC in a golf community. We were slightly south of hurricane Florence last year, but thankfully had no major damage. Last fall, DH almost put his hand on a copperhead while clearing the flower bed. Constant work and maintenance. DH will be retiring and 1/2 time there in Sept. He loves it! A club membership came with the house with a $3K transfer fee (vs. $20K for new builds). We pay about $150/month for use of club facilities, 4 pools, tennis courts, etc. DH pays OOP for golf as it's most cost effective while very part-time.
fyi-some studies show that if you plan to have adult kids/families visit more than 1X/year to be within an 8 hour drive. We took this in mind when choosing our location. We have 4 kids in DC area, 3 still in college. We are maintaining 2 homes until kids are out of college. Definitely a budget buster, but I feel it's important for them to have their roots while in college.

Sounds good, Elaine! You have a great plan!

We have never been to NC.

For us- we have been fixing up and working on homes since we were 21 years old and don't want that anymore. We live in the woods and have a lot of land. Been there/done that. It's beautiful- don't get me wrong. But too lonely to age here and also not safe as the house is secluded.

We also do not play golf or tennis. Hubby likes target practice and hunting and TV and computer and some music and puttering and I like swimming and reading and music and wine and socializing and sometimes theater and movies. We are home bodies, actually, but like to get out and about also.

We both like mountains and wildlife and scenery and I love mountain lakes and the ocean. We hate traffic and crowds. I think that about covers it for us. LOL!

Right you are about choosing a location where you can drive to see your kids or they can drive to see you. I feel that way as well. We see Alex maybe 3x per year. Summers when we are at our timeshares, Thanksgiving and XMAS. This year we will also see him next week for dinner as we are going up to NH a couple of days. (why I don't know- we were supposed to be looking at CCRC's until our FA put a damper on that. I am still not totally convinced he is 100% right)