Place to retire

[2rocky]

Thanks for all of the replies... we are planning on moving next spring so hopefully we will find something before then.

If not I guess building is a possibility unless they are booked out for a year or two.

So now what are your thoughts? Do you have time this summer to road trip around the NW and check out communities? I'm really curious how your thought process is on this since a number of us will have similar aspirations in the next 10 years.

 

[C17loadclear]

2rocky,

Here is what we did and plan to do.

Around 10 years ago we decided that we wanted to get back out west when we retired. This started a savings account just for the move and partial house down payment. We plan to sell our house here and hopefully we have a small house payment.

The next thing we did was use city-data.com to research. The main thing was getting away from the looong...and I do mean long southern summers. city-data was a huge help and basically narrowed down our search area.

We made a trip to the colville area and burned the roads up looking at the surrounding area. We then made another trip out to the Sandpoint area and once again burned the road up.

After 5 days, we decided that the priest river area is where we wanted to settle. The problem is finding a house that meets our wish list. Now I will say we are still being pretty picky about the properties we see.

We just recently expanded our search area to include priest lake and Clark fork to hopefully open up some possibilities.

If we don’t find anything by next March, we will expand farther into Montana ( we looked at the Libby area).

One of the main reasons I posted is this forum is there is a wealth of knowledge here and I wanted to see what everyone thought.

Hope this helps you guys that are looking at moving.

 

[JEL]

Yup, we are about the same age I think, I'm really glad we bit the bullet and built our place in 2012. It was terrifying to spend 250k building a house with a kid on the way and a new job, but it worked out. I can't imagine being in that same boat now.
Houses have more than doubled in our area since the early 2000s. My folks moved here from eastern montana in 2002 and bought a house for 110,000, which I thought was insane coming from rural eastern montana. I would have done unspeakable things to buy a house for that price when we built.

We did the same as your folks. Moved he in 2001 and thought the prices were insane then. Bit the bullet and bought and upgraded about 3 years ago. Did well $$ wise and feel like our current house is worth way 20% more now than when we bought. I can't imagine though how this affects the younger generation. How the heck are the locals going to afford even a starter home?

 

[MTLabrador]

For folks who are looking at sunny south central Wyoming, remember that it’s not quite the same in winter as it is in the summer. This is a 6 foot fence in my back yard.

 

[C17loadclear]

Is that from the wind because I heard a nasty rumor that it’s windy in Wyoming...

 

[tzone]

Here in WY we have a real estate friend (ok she found our house for us!), she is SLAMMED with people wanting to move to the area, belief is COVID city folks saw the light and want to go rural.

Right up until mid-January.

 

[ccc23454]

If you like to wear skinny jeans only drink craft beer and wear flat brim hats: Bozo Montana is for you, if you were related to your wife before you got married Idaho is the place for you... lmao

 

[MTLabrador]

Is that from the wind because I heard a nasty rumor that it’s windy in Wyoming...

You would be correct...

 

[tzone]

If you like to wear skinny jeans only drink craft beer and wear flat brim hats: Bozo Montana is for you, if you were related to your wife before you got married Idaho is the place for you... lmao

LMAO

 

[C17loadclear]

I do look like her brother...does that count?...

 

[AlaskaHunter]

I retired last year and we decided to retire in interior Alaska (surprise!).
At 62 I hope to be able to continue be physically active for 10-15 years (wood cutting, cross-country skiing, backpacking,fishing, hunting, etc.)
We live out in the country, but 15 miles from Fairbanks which has most of the standard "box stores".

We have no state income tax, no sales tax,free hunting/fishing tags and licenses, an oil dividend so some savings and income there.
Property taxes have a $150,000 exemption at age 65.

The wind is rare where we live so winters are fairly comfortable most of the time.
We get 12 inches of precip per year with warm summers and cold winters.
My wife grew up in North Dakota and much prefers no-wind winters, plus the bonus of northern lights.
Plus it would be hard to move away from all our friendships we have developed over the past 28 years.

We really like where we live and have great neighbors and a friendly rural neighborhood.

It is also nice to have a major airport 15 miles away for travel out of state.

 

[diamond hitch]

I lived for 10years on the wash. side of Priest River. There is a rain/snow belt that extends into Montana (Libby, Noxon,etc) not so cold but better have snow removal in the budget.

If it's popular - you don't want to be there. 60-80 miles away is fine. A hours drive from a city is normal in the intermountain west. At least 2 hrs from Bozeman.

 

[MT_Chad]

We did the same as your folks. Moved he in 2001 and thought the prices were insane then. Bit the bullet and bought and upgraded about 3 years ago. Did well $$ wise and feel like our current house is worth way 20% more now than when we bought. I can't imagine though how this affects the younger generation. How the heck are the locals going to afford even a starter home?

There is no possible way to get into a starter home right now I dont think. I'm an engineer and my wife is a physical terrorist, so we both have reasonably well paying jobs and there is no way I would be willing to be a first time buyer in this market. I know some are trying though and i hope only part of my prediction comes true. My prediction is a flooded market in three years with bank foreclosures and all the out of staters that bought sight unseen trying to leave.

 

[SaskHunter]

Don't even look at retiring in Canada, our geese are mean.

 

[shb]

Your money goes a lot farther in south America.

 

[Dave N]

I've heard Belize is nice.

 

[Clam]

There is no possible way to get into a starter home right now I dont think. I'm an engineer and my wife is a physical terrorist, so we both have reasonably well paying jobs and there is no way I would be willing to be a first time buyer in this market. I know some are trying though and i hope only part of my prediction comes true. My prediction is a flooded market in three years with bank foreclosures and all the out of staters that bought sight unseen trying to leave.

I’m thinking potential problems ahead as well, bubbles burst, markets eventually reverse-usually. I‘ve seen people take terrible financial beatings after buying into bubbles- simply no buyers anywhere near the price they paid for the property.

 

[Aussie_hunter_JD]

Move to New Zealand! most of the country is public land, free hunting, game everywhere, great people, warm summers and cold winters.

I'd love to do it myself.

 

[Clam]

Move to New Zealand! most of the country is public land, free hunting, game everywhere, great people, warm summers and cold winters.

I'd love to do it myself.

Exactly! At the current prices people are paying for homes in Montana, there are many, many, very comfortable and suitable alternatives available.

 

[Jim/Wa]

I retired last year and we decided to retire in interior Alaska (surprise!).
At 62 I hope to be able to continue be physically active for 10-15 years (wood cutting, cross-country skiing, backpacking,fishing, hunting, etc.)
We live out in the country, but 15 miles from Fairbanks which has most of the standard "box stores".

We have no state income tax, no sales tax,free hunting/fishing tags and licenses, an oil dividend so some savings and income there.
Property taxes have a $150,000 exemption at age 65.

The wind is rare where we live so winters are fairly comfortable most of the time.
We get 12 inches of precip per year with warm summers and cold winters.
My wife grew up in North Dakota and much prefers no-wind winters, plus the bonus of northern lights.
Plus it would be hard to move away from all our friendships we have developed over the past 28 years.

We really like where we live and have great neighbors and a friendly rural neighborhood.

It is also nice to have a major airport 15 miles away for travel out of state.

Just curious why you chose interior AK that far north vs south of the Alaska range (Willow/Talkeetna/the Kenai)? I'm a couple years behind you but ultimately plan to do the same thing in 2-3 years.