Don’t get us wrong, Maine will ALWAYS be our home, but we want to spend our golden years somewhere a little warmer. While we’re definitely NOT ready to retire yet, identifying your spot sooner than later can be incredibly helpful. Here are the factors that went into our decision, and why we’re buying this property now.
Lifestyle & Amenities
One thing about choosing your retirement location: focus on the lifestyle you want, not just the real estate.
We knew we wanted to be somewhere warm, and needed activities that both of us were interested in (golf for Michael, something not golf related for Fletcher, and somewhere coastal so we can get some boating in).
Location
We both really like Georgia, so we decided to start there. Keeping our interests in mind, we settled on Savannah. Like they say, “When ya know, ya know,” and when we visited Skidaway Island, we knew.
The Landings on Skidaway Island in Savannah had everything we were looking for in a retirement community. In addition to the warm weather, the club component made it the perfect place for us: six golf courses (two of which were designed by Arnold Palmer, 10 restaurants, and two marinas, all accessible by golf cart.
The Landings is also only 20 minutes from downtown, allowing Fletcher to explore museums and all the historic charm the city has to offer.
Timing & Finances
We had determined we wanted to retire down South and saw the price of homes increasing. Concerned we wouldn’t be able to afford it later, we decided to purchase our dream retirement home now and rent it out until we are ready.
As we mentioned previously, we were able to get a Short Term Rental (STR) mortgage, allowing us to rent the property with the monthly payments covering the mortgage until we’re ready to move in. We’ll be discussing this more later in our series, so make sure you follow along!
Looking to retire on the coast of Maine? Tell us about your dream retirement home, and we can make it a reality!