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For all my fellow Northerners who retired to MB how did you make the move? Sold your northern home first, then moved down and did a short-term rental while you looked for your new house? I’m talking to those of you who bought an existing home in MB, not have a home built for you. Or did you find and buy a home on a “scouting” visit then deal with putting your northern home on the market afterwards? This seems like a big gamble to us but we’re getting disappointed when we see a home we love online only to see it sell within a couple of weeks, if that, on the market. Wondering how best to go about it.
I sold my home. Got rid of most of my furniture and got a POD which went to SC and then into storage until I found my place.
Came to NMB and rented for 3 months while looking for a place to buy.
I ran into the same problem you did with looking online while I lived in Texas only to see what I liked get snapped up and sold.
Yes it was a big gamble. I told myself I'd do a short term rental while looking but if I didn't find anything to buy within 4 months that I would just look for an annual rental and keep looking. As it was I lucked out and found my place.
I've owned 2 homes at the same time before and would never do it again. I bought a new home and then sold my old home back in Texas.
It always seems that problems occur in the home that you are NOT in. It was a huge headache. And both were in Texas about 2 hours apart. I couldn't imagine having to worry about 2 homes in different states.
So I sold my Texas home and became "homeless" . Yeah there was a bit of anxiety about it but I looked at it as my next great adventure.
We scouted the area for a couple of years while we were still working, didn’t pick anything till we actually retired & I sold my house. We missed out on quite a few homes, but ended up with exactly what we wanted. The couple who bought my house bought most of the furniture & I donated everything else. Stayed at bf’s house after selling mine. BF sold his house & only brought kitchen set & one bedroom set & rented a truck to bring his stuff down. We went to a local furniture store & ordered all new furniture while waiting for house here to be built, so we moved in & had everything delivered as we moved in.
We moved to Spartanburg, not MB. But, yes, we cleaned out our house, lots of things went to charities, yard sales etc. Sold the house, put the remaining furniture in storage except minimal (bedroom, sofa, tv) and did a short-term apartment rental. Which was really a smart decision.
Houses are selling fast here so we had a pre-approved mortgage, cash and no contingencies ready to scoop up the right house once we found it.
Worked quite well. I don’t know how you house shop (existing homes) from afar. We knew the area fairly well and thought we were going to buy in Greenville but quickly discovered Spartanburg was a better fit for us.
We moved to Spartanburg, not MB. But, yes, we cleaned out our house, lots of things went to charities, yard sales etc. Sold the house, put the remaining furniture in storage except minimal (bedroom, sofa, tv) and did a short-term apartment rental. Which was really a smart decision.
Houses are selling fast here so we had a pre-approved mortgage, cash and no contingencies ready to scoop up the right house once we found it.
Worked quite well. I don’t know how you house shop (existing homes) from afar. We knew the area fairly well and thought we were going to buy in Greenville but quickly discovered Spartanburg was a better fit for us.
Best of luck to all seeking new locations.
May I ask, what made you choose to not move to Greenville?
May I ask, what made you choose to not move to Greenville?
Greenville is wonderful and we love to visit, especially for shopping. We can be there in 35-40 minutes.
But when considering the price of housing, taxes etc, Spartanburg was a better option. Greenville is growing so fast, road and housing construction were everywhere. It reminded us too much of the over-crowded Northern Virginia area (outside DC) that we were trying to escape. We didn’t want to deal with traffic daily.
We also found the small city atmosphere was more to our liking. We found an older, established neighborhood with beautiful trees and easy convenience to downtown activities — restaurants, library, Chapman Center etc. It has a neighborhood association with things like an Annual Oyster Roast and a church we liked right down the street.
It has all the everyday shopping etc we needed — doctors, hospitals, a beautiful YMCA, Publix, Fresh Market, Lowes, an Ace Hardware, dry cleaning, several small gift shops, a great coffee shop (Spill the Beans), a nice wine store (Carriage House) and a growing variety of restaurants.
Our son is in Greer and, most likely, our daughter will be moving to Charlotte within a few years. By being right off Route 29, we could get to Greer easily and, if daughter does move to Charlotte, we would have quicker access by being on the east side of Spartanburg.
Lastly, while Greenville has a beautiful downtown, parking and traffic is a hassle. Downtown Spartanburg is much smaller, very quaint, with easy parking. We have quickly learned our favorite merchant’s names etc. it just felt a sense of community.
They’re both wonderful communities but Spartanburg just “felt right” for us.
Last edited by LynchburgLover; 01-14-2020 at 07:45 PM..
I moved to Murrells Inlet,bought house 2 years before moving there till wife retired went there several times first.
Hired u-pack they were the most reasonable and I have no complaints.Got rid of big pieces of furniture.
I went to many different states before buying here and I'm glad I did,I really like it here.
We were fortunate in that we live in a company provided home before retirement. We began looking about five years out and decided to wait. Two years out we decided to go with new construction and closed 1 year befor our actual retirement.
So we travelled down about every 6-8 weeks with our minivan loaded with stuff we didn’t want to trust to the movers. (Because it was a company home we had no furniture to speak of but 45 years and three adult sons with of stuff.)
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. Yeah there was a bit of anxiety about it but I looked at it as my next great adventure.
