Retirement Locales

[OCMD]

I'm sick and tired of the tax happy People's Republic of Maryland in which I live. Next up for consideration? A vehicle mileage tax - yep - tax per vehicle per mile driven. Our governor (who by the way is going to run for President....what a joke) has had 40 new taxes signed into law since he took office in 2007. The most oppressive of those taxes is the one being levied on rain. Yep, Md has a rain tax. Coupled with being over run by illegals excuse me I mean "undocumented residents" and terrible gun control laws, this place has become quite the hell hole for people who work for a living. I'm out of here as soon as my youngest graduates high school in two years.

Where to go? I know there are many tax friendly states with much lower cost of living than the Republic.

Lake Marion, SC is looking real nice. You can pick up a gorgeous brick home on the monster lake with a boathouse and dock, for 3-400K. Considering I will unload my two overpriced Republic homes for about 750K, this is cheap, as far as I am concerned. Anyone have any experience with Lake Marion?

How about other locales? I need a place for my boat, and deep water. Can't have a lake that goes into drought mode.

Heck, why not start the thread on retirement places right here? Thanks, folks!

 

[Magic]

Rocky Point Mexico.....

 

[Boat Crazy]

I will be following this thread. I too want to retire down south and am very much considering South Carolina, but has to be on a lake. I have done some research and ruled out Lake Marion, although I hear Santee is a nice small town. I am now considering Lake Hamilton, Lake Keowee, lake Hartwell, and Lake Murray area.

 

[Lextacy03]

I am also unhappy with Maryland. I am glad I don't live in a county that has to pay the rain tax but we do have a $ 100.00 added into our water bill for the Bay fund.

I was I could take my business and just move.

 

[JC6275]

We just left Marco island Fla. Spent a week there, if we can afford it when we can finally retire, I think we will be heading there. My wife and I both love it there.

 

[Bilmon]

I'm retired now but I'm stuck here in the frozen and/or flooded north for the foreseeable future. Wife is 11+ yrs younger and has to work a few more years too support me plus handle her dads affairs otherwise I think it would be Arizona for me Have a son in S.C.,too humid and buggy. Some family in Florida,same thing plus alligators,pythons and hurricanes I think I can handle rattlesnakes,scorpions,and the heat[after all its a dry heat,at least thats what my daughter keeps telling me]

 

[Bilmon]

Arizona has so many different climates depending upon where you are at in the State, most people think it's a desert with cactus, coyotes, snakes and tumbleweeds - it has so many beautiful places and yes we have very low humidity.

I get out to Az and the Southwest quite a lot, pic in my avatar was taken in Utah and I've been all over Az. Most fantastic sunsets I've ever seen were in the Sonoran. Amazes me to go from the pine forests up by Payson to the cactus filled desert in such a few miles.

 

[OCMD]

I will be following this thread. I too want to retire down south and am very much considering South Carolina, but has to be on a lake. I have done some research and ruled out Lake Marion, although I hear Santee is a nice small town. I am now considering Lake Hamilton, Lake Keowee, lake Hartwell, and Lake Murray area.

Curious as to no to Marion. I know nothing abut the place but did like the cheap lake front homes. I need a lake that will not lose its depth if it doesnt rain. What about the others you mention? Hartwell looks nice but looked shallow. I donot want to be one of those folks who buys lake front and there is no depth all of a sudden. Thanks for the info!

 

[Boat Crazy]

@OCMD, It has been several years since we ruled this one out. I believe our research led us to many shallow depths and alligators. We were very interested, especially being fairly close to the ocean and Charleston. .... Lake Murray was our next choice and have not ruled it out, however doing a google earth search it appears to be low on lake condo's. When we retire, we want minimal house and lawn maintenance. The town of Seneca S.C. was recently rated in the top ten places to retire and is centrally located to 3 different lakes, Hartwell, Keowee and Jacasee. We have planned several vacations to some of these areas however, they never seem to come to realization due to other scheduling problems. Hopefully this may give you some insight for researching and look forward to what you come up with. There are many places I would love to retire at, however, I am limiting myself to a 1 day drive from eastern PA where my daughters and grand children live and longer summers than I have now.

 

[bigwoo]

I've not been lake Marion but it's not too deep. Lake Hartwell can be over 100 feet deep and is in SC and Georgia. Lake jocasse is slightly north and runs up to 330' although a much smaller lake. It is owned by duke energy and doesn't get as low as a army corps lake as hartwell does.

 

[Andy S]

I'm sick and tired of the tax happy People's Republic of Maryland in which I live. Next up for consideration? A vehicle mileage tax - yep - tax per vehicle per mile driven. Our governor (who by the way is going to run for President....what a joke) has had 40 new taxes signed into law since he took office in 2007. The most oppressive of those taxes is the one being levied on rain. Yep, Md has a rain tax. Coupled with being over run by illegals excuse me I mean "undocumented residents" and terrible gun control laws, this place has become quite the hell hole for people who work for a living. I'm out of here as soon as my youngest graduates high school in two years.

Where to go? I know there are many tax friendly states with much lower cost of living than the Republic.

Lake Marion, SC is looking real nice. You can pick up a gorgeous brick home on the monster lake with a boathouse and dock, for 3-400K. Considering I will unload my two overpriced Republic homes for about 750K, this is cheap, as far as I am concerned. Anyone have any experience with Lake Marion?

How about other locales? I need a place for my boat, and deep water. Can't have a lake that goes into drought mode.

Heck, why not start the thread on retirement places right here? Thanks, folks!

Like others have said, Lake Marion is very shallow. Unless all you like to do is fish, stay away from Lake Marion. The only thing I like about Lake Marion is for a starting point on a trip down to Charleston which is something being talked about here, https://jetboaters.net/threads/columbia-to-charleston-sc.1286/#post-36454.

Lake Murray is a nice big lake but you are correct there are limited condos. In the next year or two there is talk that some waterfront condo's will be built at Timberlake, http://www.timberlakemarina.com/ and http://www.timberlakecountryclub.com/. There is also plenty of homes on Lake Murray with miminal yards. The farther you get away from Columbia, the damn end of the lake, the home price drop.

The upstate of South Carolina around Lake Hartwell, Lake Keowee, and Lake Jocasee is very nice and convenient to traveling north or south on I-85.

I personally like the Lake Murray area due to its convenience to both the coast and upstate, each about 2 hours away. Plus, it is also convenient for travel north or south via I-77 or I-95.

If you have any questions about the Lake Murray area don't hesitate to contact me, I will be more than happy to get you any info.