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Where should I retire with my Benny?

kaydano

kaydano

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If you haven't been to zillow.com, check it out. Next to this forum, it is the most amazing website on the internet, and super user-friendly. It's fun to zoom in on lakes, and see what houses cost. Satellite views show the property layout (just like Google maps does) and you can zoom in and see the backyard docks, etc. Plus it gives prices and photos of many houses in the area (a lot of them even have indoor photos).

Retirement for me is a long way off (I keep buying lottery tickets though) but it doesn't hurt to start looking now for a lake to retire on. To me, Zillow is an "infinite" resource though. There are so many lakes in the US, there's no way I could look at them all! So, thought I'd tap the knowledge of the members here. Where should I retire???

I'd be looking for a freshwater lake, warm climate much of the year (but doesn't have to be year round), able to dock the Bennie in my backyard, fairly clear lake water, lake big enough to explore with nice coves to anchor in, and a few restaurants accessible by boat. No hurricane zones. Sorry Derrick, but no Canada either. I would say anywhere in the southern half of the US would work. Home price range... Let's say $300-400k (today's dollars). I don't want to spend ALL the kids inheritance! Hahaha.

Any suggestions of where I should look???
 
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So basically I am looking for the same place, same time frame, same price.....so PLEASE let me know once you find the spot!!!
 
Only problem with Zillow, is I've seen market prices as much as 50% off ..... 6 months ago, they had mine noted at $125K value and it appraised at $178 ????

Another house nearby was 1.5 mil and went for low $900's ....... I still use it as a "finder" tool though......

I want to retire (before 60) anywhere south of Myrtle Beach, on the ICW so we can cruise north or south as far as we want .........

Lake Norman N.C. or Lake Marion, Lake Moultrie S.C. (which I believe can access the ICW) .......
 
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I'm not even 30 yet but my wife is on me hard to move to Florida. She is tired of the cold winters. I'm sitting here thinking, we could already be enjoying our new boat if we were down there right now...I.m not big on the aligators, snakes, sink holes
 
No problem kaydano, I didn't think you were tough enough for Canada! :p :lol: who am I kidding, I wish I could live in the climate controlled bubble you describe! That's one huge thing that our lake is lacking in, size and little nooks and crannies to be able to anchor out of wind and what not. That was one up side to living up north in Thompson, we had Paint Lake which met up with lots of little waterways that you could travel around a lot, plus the fishing was great in that nice cold northern water! Okay I'm in, let's get a group deal going on some property, all us members could chip in, buy a whole bunch of lake front property, make it a gated community and call it Bennyville, or Bennington Way, Bennington Cove whichever. We could have a homeowners association and the stipulation would be "must own a Bennington (or a cool boat with Bennington furniture for a certain Wooden Pontoon) . Who's in? I can have shirts made and in the mail promptly!

Derrick
 
Kaydano, Look at lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR. Lots of upper-end houses on lake and hundreds of Bennys. Lake Ouachita, also in Hot Springs, is more secluded with no houses allowed on lake.Ouachita has several hundred miles of shore line and many coves and islands. Hot Springs is a big retirement town.We live 45 minutes from Hamilton but have a condo on the water. Steve
 
I would suggest Table Rock Lake. It is about 40,000 acres and is southern Missouri and Arkansas. Really nice lake with very affordable property. The north end of the lake is in Branson. Im not a big country music fan but it is like the new Nashville. Take a look
 
derrick we are with you so order some shirts soon. two more months before we are in the water
 
Kaydano..............

I retired back in April 2012 after 28 yrs with the Transit Police in DC.........My wife and I have been looking at Lake Norman/Mooresville NC for about 4 or 5 yrs. now. We pretty much know where we want to live/build a house down there but it's a matter of WHEN we are going to do it...........My house in Virginia will be paid off this year so we have a bunch of equity. The plan is to sell here and buy a house cash in Lake Norman. It's a beautiful area with EVERYTHING you would want pretty close to you and it's about 20 minutes north of Charlotte.......We have been down to visit CWAG911 and he has taken us out on his Benny and have shown us around. They're are several counties/communities that surround the lake...........You would just have to go down there and EXPERIENCE it to know what I'm talking about..................I'm sure the people on this forum that live at Lake Norman will chime in...............

Good luck in your search...............
 
Norris Lake in Tenn. Has lots of what you are looking for and has 4 seasons and no alligators.
 
Plus 1 for Table Rock Lake! I will retire in about a year and already have my house at Table Rock. The boating season is not as long as the southern lakes but it is beautiful with some pretty good bass fishing and shopping, entertainment, and restuarants nearby.

Jack
 
Virtually every large city in the southeast, except Memphis, has a big lake in their backdoor. This includes Nashville (2 lakes), Knoxville (2-3 lakes), Chattanooga (2 lakes), Charlotte (2 lakes), Huntsville (2 lakes), Greenville (2-3 lakes), Columbia, SC (3 lakes), Montgomery (2 lakes), Birmingham (3 lakes), and it goes on and on and on. Arkansas has 3 nice lakes southwest, and Greers Ferry northeast. And Table Rock, Bull Shoals and Norfolk are along the Missouri/Arkanss border--nice, nice lakes. And I'm not even getting into Texas, Lousiana or Florida.

And every lake is absolutely fantastic fishing.

But my favorite lakes are on the Tennessee River--650 miles of navigable string of lakes from Paducah, KY to Knoxville, TN. They allow seawalls and fixed piers/boathouses on most of the lakes. You're "on golden pond" but you have the benefits of medium and large cities along the river--culture, shoppng, etc. The cruisers taking the Great Loop (of America) claim the Tennessee River is the premier river for long distance cruising in the U.S.

Guntersville gave up 2 twelve pound largemouth last weekend in fishing tournaments. Chickamauga also gave up a 12 pound largemouth.

Tennessee has no state income taxes. Alabama has the lowest property taxes imaginable and very little state income taxes on retirees. And every city on the Tennessee River is a great place to live.
 
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Thanks for all the insights everyone posted. Hadn't thought about property and income taxes, but that would be a factor as well, so THANK YOU!
 
For retirement, the most important things to me are initial cost of real estate, amount of property taxes, amount of state income taxes and general high quality of life. Oh, yea! Don't let me forgot--high quality healthcare/hospitals close by.

After visiting many, many lakes throughout the region, I just like the lakes with seawalls and boat docks/boathouses. I don't want a 300' buffer zone around the lake like the Corp of Engineer lakes. I want to walk out my front door straight onto my boathouse. I don't want the expense of leaving my boat in a marina. And I don't want to live on a lake that goes up and down 20'-30', like some of the mountain lakes.

That's why the Mid South is so attractive. And there are many lakes that fit my needs.
 
Bamaman, that's the most experience and thought converted into four sentences of advice that I've ever read. I don't print many posts, but I printed that one and will keep it for future use. Thanks!
 
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Kaydano, if you ever get down this way I would be glad to show you around. Our realtor was the first person to show us Lake Norman when we were looking at lake homes. She sold her toon since she wasn't using it and when she has clients who want to see homes from the lake I get a call, and a free lunch. We love it here and bought the house before we moved here in 2006. Out the door, down the dock and we're ready to go. The water does fluctuate but only a couple of feet.
 
Thanks for the offer Cwag! I have quite a few years to go before retirement, but as we take future vacations, I may have an opportunity to plan some side trips to see a lake or two that happen to be along our vacation routes. For example, we just drove from Iowa to Florida last week for spring break, and had I had more time to plan things, we might have been able to drive by at least one of the lakes you guys have mentioned. There will be other opportunities to do that in the future though.

Not exactly sure why we came back. 5 degrees here tonight. It was 70 in Florida last week. Henderson State park in Destin FL was my personal highlight of the trip. We mostly hung out at various beaches in the Destin and Pensacola areas all week. Again, not exactly sure why I came back home...
 
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Kaydano...............

Went to a wedding in Destin a couple years ago and it was just gorgeous! We stayed in Fort Walton beach but drove over to Destin every day and explored. Beautiful area.................
 
A couple of years ago went down with friends and stayed in Florida in August, so hot we quit playing golf at 10am. Not sure if I want that any more than the cold of NY in the winter. Think the way to do it is as a snowbird. NY in summer and FL in winter
 
I just wish we would have had the same winter as last year! On Tuesday we were -25 C, the year before, same day +21!!!! Yesterday, -37 C with the windchill. Ridiculous. Heck of a first day of Spring!!!
 
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