Renting is our plan for the next couple of years to test areas. We just need to figure out which areas best fit on paper to put them at the top of our “test these” list.
Phoenix has no appeal to us whatsoever - nor does CA, TX or many other popular places. We’ve traveled to 49 of the 50 states and lived in 5 of them - all but two are states we considered and chose (VA, FL, and PA). The only place that appeals to us in the states other than PA (where we live now) is HI. FL comes close (and is one of the 5 we’ve lived in), but nowhere else appealed in our travels. We love visiting some of them, but not the thought of living there. Any island we buy on will have to also win us over enough to purchase a place.
@mom60 Thanks - that was very helpful regarding visits, etc.
@ECmotherx2 Thanks - that was very helpful and likely vaulted Grenada to the lead as it does sound perfect! They also have a relatively easy “buy in” for citizenship if I recall correctly (and we decided we wanted it down the road).
@thumper1 We’re the on site landlords for the places we own now (near us), but for vacation rentals, folks we’ve talked with have all said it’s worth it to find a good manager even though that takes a bit of the profit. I suspect we’d go with that. Part of the allure will be trading a place or two that we own (and manage) for one we don’t have to manage but still build equity from. The whole key to us (me - I do the budget) will be seeing how the numbers work out as an investment.
There are many condos available in HI, depending on what island you are interested in. Be very careful about association dues, as they have a way of rising and also special assessments.
My preference is just to rent where we would like to visit instead of having a vacation rental home. I have a friend who has two vacation rentals—beachfront condos. So far, she makes enough to help her pay the mortgages on the properties. She hires a person on site who cleans between rentals.
Watch out for non-resident taxes in HI. If you plan to rent your condo out, in addition to taxes watch out for HOAs not allowing short term rentals. Some places are very strict about that.
I was going to suggest the Gold or South Coast in Australia until you said that Hawaii was your extreme… Australia fulfills all your requirements. Plus several of your preference. And real estate prices are finally cooling down a bit in Australia. But I do admit that getting there is a really, really long trip.
D1 reports you can surf, sail and snorkle year round off the NSW/Queensland coast. Plus the Blue Mountains are just a hour or hour& half drive from eastern Sydney.
Another idea–South Padre Island–Port Isabel, TX? But the area is flat, flat, flat and long way from the mountains. When I was there last fall, I saw some very nice, new upscale single family homes going up on both sides of the bridge. Most had waterfront/ private dock access to the bay/ocean. (Put hubby’s sailboat in your garage when you’re not there? Though there are plenty of private marinas where he could tie up if it’s bigger boat.) Friends have had condo there for 20+ years now. Very friendly community.
Have you looked at Central America? We have friends-of-friends with a condo in a golf/beach community in Costa Rica that stays rented when they are not using it, and I have read multiple articles the last few years about the rising ex-pat community in Panama and other Central American countries. Most of them are just quick flights from the U.S. I don’t know about now, but Costa Rica, at least, used to have an easy buy-in for citizenship.
@WayOutWestMom Australia sounds terrific and for sailing purposes, H loves New Zealand (of course), but both are too far away from family and incredibly off for time zones and H’s job/work. The logistics are pretty impossible if we were to go farther than the 5/6 hour difference of HI.
TX we’ve investigated and don’t really feel the fit. It’s also too cold in the winter months for our preference and essentially no snorkeling (not the kind we really enjoy anyway), etc. FL beats TX easily for us - and even then - only southern FL vs the panhandle as we’re not panhandle fans compared to St Pete and south.
@planit Central America has hit our radar, but due to the “really prefer English” component, Belize tops that list. The con is having heard/read that Belize is becoming less friendly. If we decide I can learn Spanish enough, then Costa Rica is promising. Everyone we know who’s gone to CR has loved it, so perhaps we should visit instead of just looking at the pros/cons list. I know we’d enjoy a visit (can’t think of anywhere we’ve traveled that we haven’t liked at least for the travel experience except Las Vegas).
@Creekland, I visited CR decades ago and had no problems with not speaking Spanish, even then. There is quite an ex-pat community as well. I would consider retiring there if I didn’t want to go in the other direction, i.e., somewhere colder than the American South.
We have been to Costa Rica three times in the last five years. No problem not speaking Spanish. I have two friends who have retired there, language not a barrier. It’s beautiful, time zone friendly and ecologically aware. But we all love the West Coast , so cant speak to the snorkeling aspect.
I’d seriously look into rising crime, especially in more touristy areas if considering Central America. Even places that have long been deemed safer, especially Costa Rica, have seen a measurable uptick in crimes against tourists and expats, in touristy areas. Not only robberies and break ins but assaults and worse. The CR government is blaming it on organized crime. We had planned to visit a surf community with many expats and decided to plan a trip elsewhere after doing research. Chances are we’d be perfectly safe but having to be on one’s guard so much and having rental homes armed like fortresses was a huge turnoff. In fact, it was the listings touting what I thought of as excessive security as some kind of plus that lead me to research the issue.
Ditto Belize. A retired couple in my extended family was physically attacked in their resort unit, beaten until they were unconscious and robbed.
Sure, tons of people visit these places without incident but such issues are real and increasing and with so many places to visit in the world, I’m not rushing to go there now and I am a fairly experienced adventurous traveler. I’ll wait until the law enforcement gets their act together and deals with it instead of trying to downplay it.
A place that we loved, and that meets most of your criteria except the English one, is Guadeloupe. It is volcanic, with a very diverse landscape and at least some significant local agriculture. Its infrastructure is (or at least was, and I think will be again) superior to that of most of its neighbors, thanks to its status as a French departement d’outre-mer (i.e., it’s not a colony, it’s a state). There’s a really lovely mix of cultures, including a sizable South Asian population.
@doschicos Those are similar things to what we’ve heard and like you, they make us wary. We like to go somewhere and fit in, not be walled off. We want an accepting diverse community rather than an “us vs them” or organized crime or similar. No place will tick all our boxes (I suspect), but this is a super important one to us.
My parents spent time in a resort in Belize and although they thought it was a beautiful country they said the poverty was terrible. When they woke up early and took a walk around the property at the end of their trip they saw the security guys putting away their guns after the night. My parents said they would never go back to Belize.
Definitely rent for a few months in a row before deciding to buy. All sorts of things that are fine for a few weeks are not so for months at a time. Think about single story floor plans and what if elevators go out in a storm for a high rise.
Consider the costs of living. Car, gas, food. Consider activities- spending time on the beach sounds great but could get boring. Plus consider hurricanes and insurance costs. Being absent can raise rates. Maintenance issues when not there as well. Find out condo fees.
Libraries, activity centers, churches if you go…
Health care is huge- Medicare will not cover you out of country unless you pay for supplemental insurance. Plus- think about specialist care availability as you age.
Closeness to family and friends- would they be able to afford to visit you (cost and time to get there)?
No place is ideal. We chose Tampa because of the big city amenities and the area/state is very senior citizen friendly with services and activities. Excellent county library system (Hillsborough, not Pasco) and classes for seniors (Ollie). We are away from the water and its weather problems- hurricanes are only going to worsen. We can get to a beach if we want to- but plenty of water near us to view. We opted for a house- no stairs. Lawn care et al done by others. I would be bored at so many great to vacation in places. We travel to cooler climes in summer. Or watch the daily clouds, rain and sun. Better stuck indoors here than winters up north…
Also, please remember that insurance rates are different if the owner is present vs leaving the place vacant. Sometimes squatters and homeless will take up residence if they detect a place is unoccupied. This has happened in neighborhoods that are 7 figures and places that are much more modest. I’d definitely go for prolonged, many month visits before deciding whether and where to buy. I’d also carefully investigate healthcare – as we age, it looms larger than ever. You may wish to also check out various senior living options–the range of services and prices varies very widely.
@wis75 Interesting that you chose Tampa. Our most common place to spend winters so far has been southern St Pete very near where my youngest lad went to college. The major problem for us with that location is lack of decent snorkeling and diving. The Caribbean offers so much more for that and is less crowded (again, our preference). Snorkeling/diving is one of our super prime entertainment options when we’re in a terrific location.
We don’t get bored with as much as others do. We never just sit on beaches, but we’ll walk them, snorkel/dive, and generally absolutely love nature. We’re hikers. Cities tend to bore us otherwise as do pools. National, State, and County parks are our favorite destinations along with Heritage Sites. St Pete has nature. Since we don’t plan to live in the new location year round, it will take us a while to get tired of it. Not wanting it to sit empty is one reason we want it to double as a rental - that and helping to pay for it.
Fortunately our health share covers us world wide and offers Medicare supplements to cover what that doesn’t once we reach that age (still over a decade away at the moment, so who knows what policy will be then).