<p>tsdad, the Inner Banks of NC are the inland coastal counties (east of I-95) that are divided from the Outer Banks by the Sounds…the Albemarle,Currituck,Pamlico,Croatan,Bogue,etc.<br>
The rivers of the Inner Banks feed the sounds. Most of the counties are fairly rural with lots of small towns and lots of water nearby. Our retirement house is built on one of those rivers. We’re not too far from this town. [Washington</a> North Carolina | Inner Banks NC | Washington NC Hotels | Visit North Carolina | Washington NC Vacations](<a href=“http://www.visitwashingtonnc.com%5DWashington”>http://www.visitwashingtonnc.com)</p>
<p>This is a good thread, but you guys are making me SOOOOO jealous! We are still paying off our OWN school loans, and although our EFC says we can full pay two kids in private colleges, we cannot even DREAM of retirement at the level of expense “to which we have become accustomed”. </p>
<p>We are not in a 'big" home, although bigger than the one I grew up in, and figured we just couldn’t retire in California. 3 BR, 2.5 baths went from 900k to 375k over the last few years. VERY grateful we didn’t guy higher than what it’s worht now. </p>
<p>I’ve lived in NYC, DC, LA and now N.cal. and I absolutely need diversity, but I really don’t want to join the rest of my “kin” in the south/Florida.</p>
<p>Now I read here about some doing it in San Diego.</p>
<p>PS Charlotte NC, and SC sound intriguing. </p>
<p>Sigh…</p>
<p>
There are a fair number of them in the county due to a fair number of retirees here but there are a couple that pop out because they’re right on the coast - </p>
<ul>
<li>The one in Mission Bay ‘showmom’ mentioned.</li>
<li>One in Carlsbad (suburb along the coast north of San Diego city). You can find it on Google maps if you search for - ‘lankai dr, carlsbad, ca’ - hit the satellite view and zoom in. I think these are hard to get to and I don’t know why there are mobile homes in such a primo spot but they, like the ones in Mission Bay, have been there a long time.</li>
<li>One in Leucadia (suburb between SD and Carlsbad) a block from the beach - near 891 North Vulcan Avenue, Encinitas, Ca.</li>
</ul>
<p>Again, the above aren’t the typical ones and may be hard to get into and more expensive than one would expect for a mobile home.</p>
<p>More plentiful are condos all over the place and various price ranges (but the closer to the beach the more they cost).</p>
<p>My dream is to retire to Virginia or Maryland and take the Metro in to DC every day. I want to be one of the little old ladies I always see in museums. I figure it would take me at least five years to feel as if I wasn’t missing something by not going to the National Gallery of Art, the Portrait Gallery, the Natural History Museum, etc., every day. </p>
<p>My three kids live in Virginia at the moment, and if even one of them stays, that would be a nice plus. Problems: it’s expensive to live there, and dh hates driving in the area, as do I. I’ve gone so far as to look for senior apartment complexes near the farthest-out Metro stations, but I know dh will never agree on what I think is an affordable housing budget.</p>
<p>Alternative: I would love to live in Charlottesville, which is a bit more affordable and such a wonderful small city. We’re visiting it in October. Dh has never been but I’m going to try hard to make him fall in love with it.</p>
<p>Lake Norman does look fun. I’ve seen some houses on the Lake that look interesting on realtor.com. We will definitely check that one out.</p>
<p>I have friends with second homes in Hilton Head, and that too sounds like we need to check it out.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap,
Do not be jelous, we are paying Medical School. But we are doing it with joy and pride praying that our jobs are still there tomorrow.</p>
<p>Packmom:</p>
<p>Thanks. I should have known that.</p>
<p>I have spent a lot of time in Charlottesville and like it, but I think Nashville is a lot better. Charlottesville has some real traffic issues, believe it or not. Both have excellent major universities and medical centers. Nashville has professional sports and a better music scene.</p>
<p>^^^ I’ve heard that house prices have spiked a bit in C-ville with a lot of DC ex-pats settleing there, and aren’t that much lower than the DC area. How are housing prices in Nashville?</p>
<p>SC looks interesting but the political climate and diversity according to some liberal Dem friends in Charleston leaves much to be desired. I guess that whole Pedro, I-95, South of the Border thing is too real…</p>
<p>Florida doesn’t have a personal income tax, but Florida has plenty of other taxes and fees to make up for it!</p>
<p>A friend of mine recently left the DC suburbs and bought a beautiful home surrounded by mountains in Linden,VA. The pictures she sends are gorgeous and it’s less than an hour from DC.</p>
<p>We had actually looked at 2 homes in an area we wanted to move to that’s right next door to the town where we currrently live. I told H “next time it rains, let’s drive by those houses.” </p>
<p>So after Irene hit, we drove over there – the first house had a hose out the front door that was expelling water at a very fast rate (meaning the basement must have flooded); the second house was on a street that was cordoned off. I thought “gee – I don’t remember that lake being there.” The street was completely submerged. Other houses had 3 feet of water in their yards. You’d need a kayak to go pick up the paper.</p>
<p>It was an eye opener, for sure.</p>
<p>^^ That was pretty smart of you to check out those houses during a less than ideal time. </p>
<p>I think it’s the same with considering retirement in some parts of the country - they can seem pretty nice on a weekend (less traffic), or while school’s out (few people at the colleges in the area), or in winter, or in summer - i.e. the times many of us visit those places while on vacation. Living in some of these places full time won’t be the same experience as the brief visit.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have to agree that property taxes are high, but sales tax rates are pretty much in line with other states and Florida did away with the intangibles tax some years ago. What other taxes and fees am I forgetting?</p>
<p>^ Florida’s state budget for this year is about $70 billion for Florida’s 18 million+ residents which works out to almost $4000/yr. for every man, woman, and child in Florida. Somebody has to pay this. The state of Florida has plenty of taxes and fees other than individual state income tax to help pay the $70 billion. Florida municipalities, school districts, and other misc. taxing bodies tax in addition to state taxes levied too. Some folks pay more taxes than others, but everyone gets tagged for some taxes one way or another.</p>
<p><a href=“http://edr.state.fl.us/content/revenues/reports/tax-handbook/taxhandbook2011.pdf[/url]”>http://edr.state.fl.us/content/revenues/reports/tax-handbook/taxhandbook2011.pdf</a></p>
<p>Housing in Nashville is reasonable and property taxes are so low that 5 years ago when we moved to TN we thought it was a mistake! And that was coming from Dallas, which isn’t terrible. Sales tax is high.</p>
<p>Are property taxes less than $9000 a year? And are there property taxes on your cars? (asking about FL and TN).</p>
<p>MOWC: when we were doing the relo, and the realtor was telling us what the taxes were, I was really confused? Questions I asked: how do they fund the schools? Wait, that includes the school tax? But I thought the schools were good? Is it in a flood plain?</p>
<p>Thumper: Our property taxes are less than $2000/year for a 4BR, 2 1/2 bath home in a nice subdivision with community pool and in an excellent school district. My SIL outside of Princeton, NJ has essentially the same exact house (she has a basement & we have a bonus room) and her taxes are $12,000/year. When you buy a car, there is sales tax, but yearly registration runs around $50/car.</p>
<p>Sales tax is about 10% and is collected on everything including clothing, which I wasn’t used to. Oh and no state income tax either. this is all for TN.</p>
<p>Our house sounds very similar to RobD’s (except we don’t have the pool or public sewer/water), and our taxes are $5,800/year. Sales tax is only 5%, though. Top state income tax bracket is around 8%.</p>
<p>For those of you who mentioned Chapel Hill…are there communities within walkin distance of the major parts of town or is it a “car necessary” area?</p>
<p>have spent some time in Raleigh but mostly driving, not really exploring…</p>
<p>want a walkable, small city community…</p>