Gotta retire somewhere

[Goin camping]

But where? Mrs. Goincampin wants to buy land now for retirement later and any suggestions would be appreciated.

Criteria:

1, No snow!!!!!!! An occasional dusting is O.K.
2, We like the Southwest desert. Az, Nev, N.Mex.
3, Prefer acreage as opposed to a lot.
4, Near a town with shopping and medical care.
5, Price. We ain't rich.

Any and all suggestions welcomed.

[Airstream25]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

But where? Mrs. Goincampin wants to buy land now for retirement later and any suggestions would be appreciated.

Criteria:

1, No snow!!!!!!! An occasional dusting is O.K.
2, We like the Southwest desert. Az, Nev, N.Mex.
3, Prefer acreage as opposed to a lot.
4, Near a town with shopping and medical care.
5, Price. We ain't rich.

Any and all suggestions welcomed.

Lots of 30 acre parcels available in central New Mexico for about a thousand an acre.

http://www.unitedcountry.com/ucforms...4937&curpage=5

[Goin camping]

Have you ever been in that area? if so does Magdelana have food stores and medical etc? I like the land and the price.

[nymphfishin]

You might also try;

Realtor.com
by state, then city, other options include homes or just land.

A great book on retirement places is:
"Retirement Places Rated", by MacMillan Travel
It includes 150-180 places in the US, topics include, Housing, Health Care, Crime, Money matters, Climate, Working, Leisure living, etc.
Good hunting,
Don

[Goin camping]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

But where? Mrs. Goincampin wants to buy land now for retirement later and any suggestions would be appreciated.

Criteria:

1, No snow!!!!!!! An occasional dusting is O.K.
2, We like the Southwest desert. Az, Nev, N.Mex.
3, Prefer acreage as opposed to a lot.
4, Near a town with shopping and medical care.
5, Price. We ain't rich.

Any and all suggestions welcomed.

and minimal firearms laws/restrictions

[Davydd]

My dream of retirement was sitting in the desert under the awning of an Airstream trailer in an old fashion aluminum tube and webbed lawn chair, in my bathrobe, unshaven, a beer at my side, and plinking beer cans and any little critters running by with my pellet gun. The Mrs. for some reason does not share that dream.

Of the states you mentioned in the southwest I think I would opt for New Mexico. Las Cruces would be a good place to start.

[Goin camping]

Originally Posted by Davydd

My dream of retirement was sitting in the desert under the awning of an Airstream trailer in an old fashion aluminum tube and webbed lawn chair, in my bathrobe, unshaven, a beer at my side, and plinking beer cans and any little critters running by with my pellet gun. The Mrs. for some reason does not share that dream.

Of the states you mentioned in the southwest I think I would opt for New Mexico. Las Cruces would be a good place to start.

Odd thats mine too. Only in my case the Mrs. shares the dream.

[Airstream25]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Of the states you mentioned in the southwest I think I would opt for New Mexico. Las Cruces would be a good place to start.

Las Cruces is a city of about 70,000. It has very mild winters and a lot of retirees. Summers make you want to hitch up the Airstream and head for Colorado.
http://www.lascruces.org/customDev/relocationInfo.asp

[CanoeStream]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

Criteria:
1, No snow!!!!!!! An occasional dusting is O.K.
2, We like the Southwest desert. Az, Nev, N.Mex.
3, Prefer acreage as opposed to a lot.
4, Near a town with shopping and medical care.
5, Price. We ain't rich.

Bear with me here. I believe Davydd might confirm for me. We haven't had decent snow in a decade. Below zero conditions have been uncommon in that same decade. Desert? North of here it hasn't rained in a month of sundays. Acreage abounds. Medical care? Sure! Price is stable only as long as the price of heating stays in check.

Really? Never mind...

[Davydd]

Bob, So true. Minnesotans are starting to think Global Warming could be a good thing.

My brother moved to Las Cruces and I started investigating weather and nature hazards. What I did was compare heating degree days with cooling degree days, high and low temperatures, and the overall impact of nature occurances such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, etc. Southern New Mexico graded on top. For heating and cooling degree days Las Cruces is at the top as is the Willamette Valley of Oregon and Asheville, NC. New Mexico has few nature hazards.

Given that, we will probably stay in Minnesota. We kind of like the overall quality of life here and actually look forward to snow. It is not Christmas without snow in my book.

[ZoominC6]

There's an old quote that comes to mind when I think of buying land for the distant future. "You can buy more land in five minutes than you can sell in five years". Point is, be very certain before you purchase. There's so much to be certain about that I'm uncertain anyone is an expert at being certain. Buy it when you need it and chances are you'll be much happier in the long run. In the meanwhile, have fun exploring for a likely locale. Just my $0.02 worth. Happy Trails.

[S C Streamer]

Originally Posted by ZoominC6

Buy it when you need it and chances are you'll be much happier in the long run.

But if you buy a good deal today, it will always be a good deal.

I want to retire in the Sierra Nevada in 8 years, while looking for property, prices were quickly out pacing my budget. I found a property that I could afford and bought it. Although I won't be building for another 2 maybe 3 years,it's mine. The real good news is the lot I paid $47,500.00 for is now worth $135,000.00 in just 2 years time.

But all of this happened in California, the " Land of the Lunatic Real Estate Market "

[herrgirdner]

I suggest you hook up your Airstream, head out and look over the potential retirement sites, before you invest.
If you like the desert, then Las Cruces might be OK. I lived there for 3 1/2 years and grew to love it, but it was a tough love. When the wind blows, it carries some very abrasive sand with it, and if you are driving into it, bye bye windshield. And, in the spring, it does blow.
good luck

[Goin camping]

The search begins. After some computer searching etc. We are going the weekend after next to look at some lots near Kingman Az. Any sites or attractions to see? Campgrounds?

[myoung]

I've found the Retirement Living Information Center web site very, very helpful for researching retirement options. The tax summaries by state are comprehensive. Depending upon your circumstances, sources of income, and spending patterns, some states may be more economically attractive than others. Some may surprise you as they did me. For example, the state income tax exemption for retirement income in South Carolina ($30,000 for joint filing) looks very attractive. Not surprisingly, many states look economically attractive relative to California.

The site address is http://www.retirementliving.com/index.html.

We feel fortunate to live in California where we will someday monetize the value in our home for a home somewhere else at probably half the price with at least the same amenities, while pocketing the difference in untaxable disposable income. Such a deal!! We retirees are often cash poor but housing rich. Sure housing is "consumed" but under some circumstances it can be a useful investment.

[Goin camping]

Originally Posted by myoung

I've found the Retirement Living Information Center web site very, very helpful for researching retirement options. The tax summaries by state are comprehensive. Depending upon your circumstances, sources of income, and spending patterns, some states may be more economically attractive than others. Some may surprise you as they did me. For example, the state income tax exemption for retirement income in South Carolina ($30,000 for joint filing) looks very attractive. Not surprisingly, many states look economically attractive relative to California.

The site address is http://www.retirementliving.com/index.html.

We feel fortunate to live in California where we will someday monetize the value in our home for a home somewhere else at probably half the price with at least the same amenities, while pocketing the difference in untaxable disposable income. Such a deal!! We retirees are often cash poor but housing rich. Sure housing is "consumed" but under some circumstances it can be a useful investment.

I call it the California condition. You live in a house you can no longer afford to buy because the values seem to go up by the minute. Even in a Real estate "Rebalancing" the prices only go up slower. Of course its a great thing if you already have the house but a bit rough if you are trying to buy.

As residents in a suburb of Los Angeles we are looking for a polar opposite to where we are now. Retirement communities don't appeal to us. We like the climate and lack of flying/biting bugs and space of the desert areas. The trick is to find such a place with amenities like shopping, dining, medical care and favorable tax rates. Not to near or too far. The real upside to this is all the time we'll get to spend A/Sing while we look. The downside is that the prices of such areas are climbing at a pretty good rate too.

[myoung]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

The downside is that the prices of such areas are climbing at a pretty good rate too.

Nonetheless, the basic math tends to favor those who already own in high-home-value locations like California. For example, if prices in some other nice place are half what they are in California (a very real possibility), then the annual growth in prices in that other place would have to be more than double the annual growth rate in California for the California owner to be disadvantaged in absolute dollar terms, ceteris paribus.

$1,000,000 x 5%/year = $50,000 (California)
$500,000 x 10%/year = $50,000 (some other reasonably nice place)

In fact, in compound terms, the 5%/annum rate on the higher starting amount would put you ahead of the 10%/annum rate on the half-priced home.

[Tarheel]

I would have to go for the rolling hills of Virginia or North Carolina. I chose NC because I don't pay taxes on my federal retirement a 5 1/2 % boost for me as I used to live in Virginia. There is pleanty of still reasonable land / acreage for sale at a reasonable price and if you are off the coast both the price of land and the threat of storm damage goes down. I live on the coast and have had storm damage once in 40 years of my adult life here. We don't have the high winds and hail storms associated with mid United States and very little snow. God loved this part of the country so much he chose Carolina blue for the color of the sky.