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Hello everyone, I am retired and my husband is semi-retired. He is involved in a small business in the area, commuting every couple of months. Thinking of relocating but not sure if it would be for us. We live in Virginia and like it for the most part but don't really have any ties to the area, so looking for a change of venue. I'm curious what other retirees perspective may be. Husband plays golf, I like gardening and do some painting and somewhat into birdwatching. We aren't beach people per say, but we both grew up in south Florida. Being near the coast is alluring, but probably wouldn't go to the beach that often. I see a lot of homes for sale and wonder if its from retirees with buyers remorse. So I'm curious what you may enlighten me on. Thanks!
I can’t speak to retiring in Myrtle Beach specifically but we retired to the Upstate and absolutely adore it here. I wouldn’t go back for anything.
We relocated and eventually retired to the Grand Strand area about 20 years ago. I had visited/vacationed in this area for about 40 years prior to that, so the area did not hold a lot of surprises. The exceptions were how quickly it transitioned from an almost exclusively tourist area to a major retirement hub, and how rapidly this moderately populated area became severely overbuilt.
Would I do it again? Yeah, but with the caveat of having firm plans to leave within 10 years. Try to imagine living inside DisneyWorld. At first, everything was super cool, with lots of entertainment, attractions, dining options, etc. After awhile, standing in lines to enjoy all the neat stuff just got old. The Grand Strand is no longer busy 3 months/year, then a quiet little town for the remainder of the time. It is busy year-round, without the roads and infrastructure in place to support it. I have aged, and I am ready for a quiet life in a little backwater podunk town. The part I would miss most is the environmental beauty of the area - the rivers, the wildlife, etc - but it is disheartening to stand by and watch how fast those treasures are disappearing to unbridled development. My wife, on the other hand, swears she will never leave, primarily in love with the warm winters, even though we are both from upstate SC, which already had reasonably brief winters.
Should that help y'all to decide what to do? Hail, no. I suspect a survey of non-native residents would lean heavily toward never leaving, particularly since a significant majority relocated from places with bad winters and high taxes. If you think it might be right for you, rent for a year or so. If you never try it, good chance you'll regret what might have been. Good luck, whatever you decide.
We've been here about 11 years and for a couple of reasons we recently have had occasion to contemplate moving from the house that we originally built. We discussed the option of moving to another city and/or state since we have no family ties to this area, but in reviewing our options, we found that all the reasons we had for moving here a decade ago (vs somewhere else) are still valid. We love the weather, mild winters, moderate taxes, variety of activities and being close to the beach. So, we decided that this is where we want to stay and are looking for a house or to build in a 5 mile radius of where we are now (we really like our central location). We have looked further in the Murrells Inlet area south of where we are now but decided it was just too far away from the things we like to do.
I agree with PawleysDude's recommendation to rent for a year or so. I always tell anyone I know who's contemplating moving here to do the same. Even though we made several trips here to explore the area as a potential place to live, we rented when we first moved here which was absolutely the right thing to do. Had we bought where we originally thought we wanted to be, it would have been a terrible mistake because of traffic and congestion which you just don't know about if you don't live here. Where we ended up renting ended up being the perfect area for us and we eventually built in the same area.
If/when you decide to buy, pay very close attention to what surrounds the development in which you purchase. If you see lots of trees and forest surrounding you, it will likely disappear as development continues (unless the trees sit in a wetland or nature preserve). Find out if the land around you can be developed and if it can, imagine houses everywhere that you see trees.
And, by the way, what you perceive as lots of houses for sale actually the lowest inventory of homes that the Grand Strand has had for many years. Many of the houses you see are new builds that the builders place in the listings to get people into their developments. But, once you get there, they tell you that they can't even start a house for 6 months or more because they are so backed up. And if you look carefully, you'll see many of the homes sell within a week of hitting the market (in certain price ranges). So, I don't think (for the most part) what you're seeing is buyer's remorse. With 25 families moving to MB every day, quite the opposite is true...too many people chasing too few homes and prices have skyrocketed (at least for now).
We retired and moved here almost 6 years ago from the northeast after having our home built in 2014. We have no family ties but we already knew over 35 people who we had worked or been associated with while active up north.
The weather and the friends (my 2 roommates from seminary and their wives that were my wife’s best friends) drew us here. Our three sons live in Cincinnati & near Milwaukee), my sister and many nieces and nephews live near Cincy, so while it’s a hike but going north is always fun and we typically do so in the summer or fall...sometimes Christmas.
I don’t think we would move back north for any reason except if our sons really needed us regularly.
For the past couple of months I’ve actually been traveling to Virginia every other week helping out my former company...and each time I’m reminded why I love this area.
Hello everyone, I am retired and my husband is semi-retired. He is involved in a small business in the area, commuting every couple of months.. We live in Virginia and like it for the most part but don't really have any ties to the area, so looking for a change of venue. I'm curious what other retirees perspective may be. Husband plays golf, I like gardening and do some painting and somewhat into birdwatching. We aren't beach people per say, but we both grew up in south Florida. Being near the coast is alluring, but probably wouldn't go to the beach that often. I see a lot of homes for sale and wonder if its from retirees with buyers remorse. So I'm curious what you may enlighten me on. Thanks!
80% of retirees never move away from the home they had while working. I would link to that data, but it is on another thread I posted to here. If I find it, I will post the link.
Since only 20% of retirees move away from the home they had while working, I really doubt most homes for sale today are "retiree post-move remorse".
I don't know why you are thinking of moving if you are happy where you are, when you say "Thinking of relocating but not sure if it would be for us", but then you say "looking for a change of venue".
If you are just bored, moving alone won't fix that. Why would you want to move? What is your motivation?
I am retired and compelled to move. I have a carrot and a stick.
I have always wanted to live on the east coast, after living in California for 60+ years. That is the "carrot". I hate Califoria laws, regulations, costs, taxes, and politics, so that is the "stick". So I am compelled to move. I am looking for a new adventure living back east where I will be much closer to be able to travel widely in the east at much lower cost than basing that travel out of California. I love the history back east. I even want to be "THE" timezone. There is a lot of things I perceive as better on the east coast and I want to test those waters. If I end up not liking it, at least I followed my dream.
Meanwhile, I get to flee the things I hate about California.
If you are compelled to leave Virginia, then it is for you. If you are not compelled to leave, if you are not seeking some fulfillment or reward that some other state draws you to for a hopeful improvment to your quality of living, then moving is probably "not for you. If you are just bored, try finding more fun and adventure in Virginia, before you move and find you are still bored, along with possibly more problems than you had in virginia. If you are just the adventurous type, then maybe a change of homes to a fun, new place is what you need.
Good luck. It is never an easy decision if it isn't clear and compelling. I am lucky. I HAVE to leave California, and I am ANXIOUS to live east of the Mississippi, hopefully near the coast. I want retirement to be an adventure, not just sitting in a recliner and watching TV.
Last edited by Igor Blevin; 02-27-2021 at 07:37 PM..
Absolutely love living here for the past 4 wonderful years. I believe a lot of homes are for sale because they are building new ones non stop for the past several years. Right now homes are selling for over ask because I am hearing there's not enough inventory. hard to believe with all the building. We have more friends here than we did up north. Can't beat the weather.
We moved here from NE last August to new home, newly retired with no family ties here but we had a time share in Hilton Head and liked SC so when the Mrs. talked about it I said sure why not? It was a 600 mile move, we sold house in 2 months and moved into a new development that is being built. I would say there is a lot of construction going on not only here (between Conway and North Myrtle Beach), there are NO stores within 10 miles unless you count Dollar Generals or gas station stores so you will need to drive everywhere to get anything. We are in a development of a few hundred homes in the middle of nowhere, with hundreds more in the process of going up-the noise daily, congestion from construction vehicles, dirt and dust, ignorant workers who think we like their brand of music...it gets old fast. We arrived in August and it was brutally hot, up here you also get used to the roads that can become compromised by monsoon season. The state bird is the mosquito, and if it is a hot, humid night you will hear the sounds of deepest, darkest Africa SO LOUD you think it's impossible that little lime green frogs could make such a racket.
So, yes, it is an adventure. and depending on where you move, you make compromises. No matter what, the mild winters (which you do still somewhat have in VA) are a real treat after 65+ years of snow, ice, road salt, taxes, bad roads, and a population that is merely hanging on day to day. It's different, it has had it's moments,we are 9 months removed from the trauma of moving everything we didn't sell and setting up a new home in this weird pandemic environment. I hate the noise of compressors, nail guns, banging hammers night and day, but have to say it is still better than living outside of a large metropolitan area like any city in the Northeast, where virtually every day is miserable. Good luck with whatever you decide.
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