Best Retirement Areas With Quality GCA

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Retire to beautiful Charleston.  The Ocean Course, Briar's Creek, Yeamans Hall, Cassique, The River Course, Wild Dunes.  And then, just two hours down the road, Harbour Town and Long Cove.  The weather is great with year-round golf and Charleston is one of America's great cities with wonderful culture, nightlife and restaurants.  Plus, the College of Charleston has the prettiest co-eds in the south!  I love it here!

And, while Kiawah is $$$, the Charleston area has some reasonably priced homes.

[PjW]

Dan, I agree with you on Bend Oregon.  Nice and dry, within driving distance to the west side of the mountains.

 

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Georgia and the Carolinas are just too damn cold in the winter.

Try Stuart/Hobe Sound/Jupiter FL or Ocala FL.

I lived in North Palm Beach for a couple of years.  In the summer time, it's like taking deep breaths of oatmeal...  Give me the Carolinas anytime!

[Bill_McBride]

Lou, I have joined Columbia-Edgewater CC as a non-res member.  They brag on the drainage there and say that CECC is the driest course in the area.  I was blown away by the movement in the fairways on this relatively flat piece of land which does have significant rolls.  Take a look at the club's website (www.cecc.com) and you will see an aerial of each hole that shows the humps, bumps and rolls in the fairways.  This must all take the water away pretty quickly to drain well.

Haven't played there on a rainy day yet so no first hand knowledge.

[Mike_Golden]

I agree about the Panhandle - not enough good golf and too hot and sticky in the summer.  You guys stay away, okay?  Golden snuck in but that's it.

You would never guess that McBride is on the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce, would you  

Of course, I made the mistake of showing my fiancee Long Island on our trip a few weeks ago and she's now intent on a house in Hewlett Harbor  

House probably $1.5M, annual taxes probably $35,000, membership at Seawane $25,000 a year...a pound of cookies at Walls Bakery, priceless (well, $15 is nothing compared to the rest of it )

[Nathan Cashwell]

Without a doubt Charleston, SC.  Great weather, great golf, wonderful history, relatively inexpensive (especially if you live on some of the surrounding islands), golf in the morning and fishing in the afternoon.  Savannah is just over an hour away, so is Columbia.  True Blue and Caledonia are just to the North.  And C of C co-eds are gorgeous, although I think the Lady Tar Heels and Lady Bull Dogs may have them edged out just slightly.  But one can't complain about Chuck Town.

[jg7236]

You are indeed right Bob.  I used to work for a landscape architecture firm in Palm Desert and a lot of our clients lived in these communities.  It is indeed very pricey, but if one has the money, it is the place to live.  I used to sit in as a consultant of my firm for the Tradition's HOA Architectural and Design Review Board.  The HOA at Tradition and the rest of the clubs is top notch.  I don't know if I have every came upon a more strict HOA in the US.  Some of these places charge from $500-800 a month in HOA fees.  Lots go from $500k-1.2 million, golf memberships from $100k-$300k, homes from $1.5-$20 million.  Damn I need to win the lottery!

In regards to affordable updscale golf communities I would suggest the Charlotte, NC area.

[cary lichtenstein]

Lou:

Jupiter and/or Palm Beach Gardens has it all. Housing anywhere from $250,000 and up. Lots of golf.

Give me a call at 561-379-2020 and lay out exactly what you want to spend for housing and golf and I can give you real good direction.

Is this for yoursself or someone else?

Cary

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Louo, all is true about Pensacola but you will never and I mean never get the lovely Mrs McBride to see you way on politics. You would love it there for life is good on the beach. Mike chose an inland location which is much more affordable than the coastal properties.

[Chris Munoz]

How about St. James Plantation in Southport NC. Great golf courses there and lovely houses and great beaches.  

Muni

[Andy Doyle]

If the summer weather in the deep South is a bit too extreme for you, you might take a look at the Knoxville area.  East Tennessee is beautiful - mountains, rolling farm land, numerous lakes (can you say Tennesse Valley Authority?).

My in-laws retired from Ohio and bought a place in a large development southwest of Knoxville called Tellico Village.  There are a number of these communities around - not retirement communities, although many of the residents are retired.  There's some pretty good golf around Knoxville - Holston Hills, River Islands, etc.  Tellico has 3 courses that can be played very inexpensively for residents.

The Smokey Mountains are close by, and there is a huge amount of water available for water sports, fishing, etc.  It's the home of the University of Tennessee - nice for the culture and intellectual pursuits, but you have to put up with an inordinate amount of "Big Orange" crap.

Tellico Village
http://www.tellicovillageland.com/
(don't be put off by the fact that the web site has Erik Estrada endorsing the place!)

Rarity Bay
http://www.raritybay.com/

These two will give you a sense of what the area is like.

Andy

[Cliff Hamm]

Any opinions on Dataw Island, SC or the Landings in Georgia?  Anything that meets the criteria in the North Carolina mtns/Asheville area?

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Lou

One additional factor to consider is the state income taxability of pension payments. For example, a new resident of Arizona would be subject to taxation on pension income regardless of where the pension fund was created. States with no income taxation- Florida, Texas & Nevada come to mind- or states that do not tax pension income such as Pennsylvania. This is just another factor to consider.

You mention GCA. Is this to choose a private golf course community or an area with decent public golf?

Steve

[mike_beene]

Not joking,try Waco.100,000 buys a lot of house.Ridgewood CC is walked by half the members and is very underrated,You can join for approx 7500 ,Baylor is there,you can play golf with the President,hour and half from DFW,which is important because with money you save you rent house in Scotland for August(heat problem solved)You could also go see the protests and counter protests.

[Mike Erdmann]

Lou, I have joined Columbia-Edgewater CC as a non-res member.  They brag on the drainage there and say that CECC is the driest course in the area.  I was blown away by the movement in the fairways on this relatively flat piece of land which does have significant rolls.  Take a look at the club's website (www.cecc.com) and you will see an aerial of each hole that shows the humps, bumps and rolls in the fairways.  This must all take the water away pretty quickly to drain well.

Haven't played there on a rainy day yet so no first hand knowledge.

I'll vouch for CECC during the winter months.  Extraordinarily dry, so much so that if you do take a cart they request that you keep it in the fairway.  Oregon may not have the best weather in the country, but it's awefully darn underrated.  80-90 all summer with no humidity to speak of and no rain.  Sure, it drizzles a bit   between November and April, but our season is year round.

[Jason McNamara]

Lou, as you and I have talked about this, I continue to believe that the ideal golf-retirement would be two modest abodes in different parts of the country.  

Melbourne* & ABQ.  (October might be a bit dodgy.)

Jason

* No, not Florida.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Quote from FBD

SAINT

and

ANDREWS


Martin can you confirm something I've wondered about.  If I bought a flat there and during the winter rented it out to students and then took up my residence there for the summer I would get full access to the old course (and the others) for £150pa?  (For those that don't know Scottish universities have but two terms so mid May to Mid September no students)

It's not going to happen anytime soon but it's a really nice thought..........

And for anyone in Europe thinking the same question as Lou, Biarritz should be high on your list.

[Mike_Young]

Scott,
We do have a project in Madison Georgia which is a small town near Lake Oconee that was voted by one of the national mags last year as #1 small town.  It is an antebellum town that was not burned by Sherman and the houses have been well taken care .  It is 25 minutes to Athens and 20 minutes to the lake and the courses there and one hour to Atlanta airport and 1 hour to Augusta.  Our course has a gated "over 50" area in the $220,000 range.  The owner has been taking his time and the course will open next spring.
Lou and Bill Mc,
Costa Rica is good.  Retire on $20,000 year very easily.  Nicaragua is also coming on strong and fast. In Costa Rica, Home on the golf course with ocean view is probably $350,000 to $500,000 and you can go up from there.  Otherwise good home $125,000.  Golf about $2000 per year no initiation. BUT the best thing is ....gardener,cook, housekeeper is about $750 per month. fulltime...medical care is state if you own property and file for residency. BUT private health plans(including air ambulance) bought in Europe, say Denmark, are very reasonable and allow for major medical in the US.  The private hospital is CIMA group which is a Baylor Health deal etc.
 39 flights a week to major cities from Liberia (LIR)airport which is 3 hrs to Houston on Continental and 3hr, 40 minutes to Atlanta.  I could go on.
My son is now there fulltime.
Mike

[Mike_Golden]

Louo, all is true about Pensacola but you will never and I mean never get the lovely Mrs McBride to see you way on politics. You would love it there for life is good on the beach. Mike chose an inland location which is much more affordable than the coastal properties.

Tiger,

Actually, Kathleen and I agree on almost all things political but that still leaves less than 5 Democrats in all of Pensacola

[scott_wood]

Mike, we recently had a thread going re "snakes".....

what is the snake situation in Costa Rica?

[David_Madison]

Lou,

The Chapel Hill, NC area has it all, including a 12-month golf season, as great a university town as one could ever want, reasonably priced real estate, a variety of very good golf courses where walking is the norm, a good airport 30-minutes away, a city 35 minutes away with all the cultural stuff you'd ever want, a ton of fine and affordable restaurants all over the place, the Pinehurst area an hour south, the entire NC/SC coast and all of that fine golf an easy drive for long weekends away, and mountains  and plenty of that type of golf a couple of hours west of us. Sure we can get summer heat spells or days during the winter when it's real cold, but I've also played plenty of golf here in December, January, and February wearing shorts. So that settles it.

[Marty Bonnar]

Quote from FBD

SAINT

and

ANDREWS


Martin can you confirm something I've wondered about.  If I bought a flat there and during the winter rented it out to students and then took up my residence there for the summer I would get full access to the old course (and the others) for £150pa?  (For those that don't know Scottish universities have but two terms so mid May to Mid September no students)

Tony,
re St A.

We actually have three 'Terms' in the academic year. Usually late Sep/October to December, January to March and April to June with Easter, Xmas and Summer holidays in between.

You could indeed - if you were the registered householder - avail yourself of the local residents green fees (currently £113!!!)

Check:

http://www.standrews.org.uk/golf/faq/index.html

for details, and Fife Solicitors Property Centre for Prices!!:

http://www.f-kspc.co.uk/

Cheers,
FBD.

[Dan_Callahan]

I think some of you have a far greater tolerance for heat than I do. I like the two home approach. I would look at Portland, Maine, for the summers. Afforable cost of living, warm days and cool nights, Portland Sea Dogs have a great stadium, and join Portland CC, one of the least talked about strong Ross courses in New England. Short drive to Bowdoin, two hours from Boston.

For the winters, I'm not sure, but Charleston sounds good. Are there any good courses around Savannah, where it is likely to be warm a majority of the time?

[Jim Nugent]

You could indeed - if you were the registered householder - avail yourself of the local residents green fees (currently £113!!!)

Does that mean you only pay 113 pounds, for unlimited golf all year?  No more greens fees?  

[Cliff Hamm]

Dan...The Landings is on Skidaway Island right off of Savannah.   There are 6 golf courses designed by Palmer, Fazio, Hills and Willard Byrd.  Not exactly C&C  or Doak but not bad.  Housing covers a wide range.  I have never been there, however, just a place of possible interest.  I do question if it is warm enough though to play in the dead of winter.  Posted with a question about the Landings and Dataw Island in SC before but haven't gotten a response.