Ditto the suggestion of Aiken SC - you would be within 3 hours of coast (including Charleston), mountains (Asheville), and Atlanta or Charlotte. Lots of variety... golf, horses, fishing/hunting within the area, large retired community.

OO, wish I had bought property there when it was still affordable.

Those $100,000 lots are now close to $1M if you can find one.

Beaufort has some affordable areas away from the historic district.

Besides the hot humid summers, another thing to consider about the south is that any coastal area is subject to hurricanes.

However, after one hits, you can find deals on real estate.

Sorry,there are no deals after hurricanes--the prices in Gulf Shores have skyrocketed after Ivan. there's no end in sight. Condo shares are now the popular thing--rich man's time share!

That's too funny - deals after a hurricane! I sold my completely gutted house after a hurricane for much more than it was appraised for before the storm. There are no deals when it comes to Florida anymore.

RBCal, hurricanes do much more damage inland than they do on the coast.

Sorry GoTravel but that is just insane. Yes, hurricanes can do a lot of damage inland but if you have a chance to see an area on the coast after a devastating hurricane like Ivan you would not say that. It's just incredible to see the damage that Hurricane Ivan did to the Gulf Breeze/Pensacola/Pensacola Beach area. And that doesn't even take into account Perdido and other areas near the Alabama border which were probably hit worse.

Amelia Island, Fla. I'll meet you there in a few years.

stjohnbound, I understand the damage hurricanes do on the coast (I live on the southern coast of South Carolina) but the inland areas aren't as prepared as we are for them. Does that make sense?

For example, one of the many hurricanes we had this past fall absolutely devastated the Shokoe Bottom in Richmond by flooding. When you think about hurricanes, you don't think about Richmond getting damaged and Virginia Beach remaining virtually untouched.

Building codes are much much stricter on the coast than for those inland. In places that got hit by hurricanes in Florida, there is a marked difference between the neighborhoods built post Andrew and Hugo and those built pre Andrew and Hugo. Strict building codes helped these newer homes weather the storm.

GoTravel...My CRS is over. That lot was on Callawassie (sp) 8 years ago. Please no...not a million now! (Lie to me please...tell me they have stayed the same--oh maybe just a wee bit of appreciatioo!!)

There was another too, a marshview townhouse lot in Windmill Harbor (HHI) also $100,000. I don't even want to know what that one would go for now!! At that point we didn't even have a sailboat. Now it'd be perfect! I don't dwell on things like this, needless to say, or I'd be on serious meds!! LOL

GoTravel, a year ago I would have agreed with everything you've said. All hurricanes are bad, some are worse and then there are those that are devastating. Ivan was truly devastating and has changed everything about the Pensacola area. I have been through many hurricanes and I know that inland areas have a real problem with flooding many days after the storm due to rising rivers, etc. But this time a wall of water over 15' high caused devastation on the coast like I've never seen. And yes, the homes built to code fared better but were definitely not untouched. Building codes are great but only if it's new construction or rebuilding. The Florida/Alabama border has been hit many times by hurricanes but never anything like this. Not one building along the coast was untouched. Ivan hasn't gotten the media attention that the other storms in Florida got but believe me, it's definitely the worst one of all four that hit last year. God help them if another one hits in the next few months since the area is covered with blue roofs and many, many people are living in trailers on their coastal properties. Rachelnaomi, sorry for hijacking your thread but at least you know that Florida is not really the best place to retire!

What about Mexico? Baja California? It's cheap, beautiful, and you only live once.
You can't base where you are going to live around potential natural disasters. Hurricanes have hit plenty of places besides Florida. I was hit by 3 hurricanes last year and my mom was hit with 4. It sucked, but we survived. Their are earthquakes on the west coast. Mudslides, tornadoes, flooding, blizzards, brush fires.. You never know, so be prepared. At least with hurricanes you have plenty of notice that it is headed your way. Buy a concrete block house and get rolling hurricane shutters and a generator.

Everything said about the recent hurricanes is pretty much on the mark, but I wouldn't say that's a reason to rule out FL (though there may be other reasons, like skyrocketing land prices).

Two years ago, most people would have said FL was fine for retirement, and then the state has a once-in-100-years experience, and all of a sudden it's a bad place.

Go look at the National Hurricane Centers map of where hurricanes have made landfall in the past 100 years and you'll see that FL isn't any worse than TX, LA, AL, SC, NC. Short-term weather occurences can cloud your judgement, especially if you've lived through one of those "occurences."

Do you think the people who experienced the tsunami are going back there anytime soon?

Rachel,
I, too, am looking for the same as you. I am especially looking for a town where the taxes are not as high as NJ property taxes. Have you heard of anything good? I mean the taxes in NJ eats a lot of a person's pension up!
Thanks,
Tonice

You can live like a king/queen in Costa Rica.