| Author | Message | ||
| David Evans (Dmd)
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Yall that are lucky enough to be traveling around, and folks living in nice places how about sharing these places. My wife Dori is searching for a place where we can move in the next 5-8 years, coach friendly, 5-10 acre farm/woodland setting, where she can have her own bus parked etc.Abalance nature and nice people. It would be nice to have a list of everyones favorite spots and she can do her Sunday morning searching. Thanks | ||
| David Hartley (Drdave)
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Long term planning is fine except that things change so fast in most places regarding a place to park an RV for a long term. Property values are going nuts and those 5/10 acre "Ideal" places are hard to find. It really depends upon what part the country that you want to be in and how close to a population center you want to be. I used to live in a place that for all intents was in the middle of nowhere but 8 miles out of town in another county. It was so quiet that only the bugs and crickets kept you awake at night. Then the area was "discovered", we had to start locking our doors in the daytime, locking away stuff that used to sit in the carport undisturbed for over 30 years. First the mobile home dwellers and then the millionaires entered the area. Now you cannot even park your car in your own driveway or it will be towed by your home owners assocation. Good Luck finding that "Perfect Place" it will be a challenge.. | ||
| FAST FRED Rating: N/A |
The problem is the seasons. While FL is great in winter about May you will need air cond and unless you like 95degF and 99% humidity its time to get out of the land of Bugs & Drugs. PEI or Nova Scotia up in Canada is great too , all summer , but Winter comes early. Best compromise on the east coast seems to be in the ridge of mountains that start in GA and run north. 3 or 4000 ft of elivation cools the summer down almost 10deg , and the winters are mild. The Ozarks in Ark are also fine , but considering their past politicans could be dangerous to liberty and wallet. Its hard to live large on the east coast , but a 10x10 "site" in San Diego where the weather is fine is a $1,000,000. Enjoy touring the blue or brown roads looking for your Paradise. FAST FRED | ||
| Pat Bartlett (Muddog16)
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David, I purchased a car on ebay and went to pick it up in western kentucky, northern tenn area, there were many ex military people living around the area, the person I bought from was ex military. They were both originally from the northeast. I asked them why they chose that area, they said it was simple, price, and location, you just couldn't beat it. they had just built a new home, and this really nice pond, the setting was perfect. When you live in the country you have to learn to plan. Its quiet, rural, and hard to beat! Someone on here made a comment about my home that they saw in a picture on my bus site, in california it would be a 600k home, but here in Mayberry I built it myself for a sixth of that price. There are thousands of Mayberrys all across this country, pick one that suits you, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, they all happen....just not 3 or 4 hurricanes in one year that sure kills the retirement income! Good hunting! Pat | ||
| JW Smythe (Jwsmythe)
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I was talking to some friends about this. I thought it would be nice to pick up some patches of land in rural areas, get power and water and sewer (or septic tank). My mom used to be in real estate. She said most areas have changed their zoning, so you can't just park your RV. If it's behind your house, it's not a big deal, but most areas don't want to find out that you just have a property to park your RV on. I was disappointed by this. I liked the idea of having places to go around the country, that were mine. I grew up in Florida, so I can recommend it. North Florida is better for bugs and heat than central or south Florida. The whole South East is beautiful, but it's really up to what kind of person you are, to what part of the country you'll be happiest. I'd say, wander around, and find what you really like. Pick a spot with friendly people, and a good environment, and stay there.  | ||
| David Hartley (Drdave)
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My wife and I always joked about getting in the bus and driving until it broke down. Stay a while in that area, fix the bus and go again. Of course that would mean travel on a lot of 2-lane roads and older highways off the interstate paths. My body is breaking down faster than the bus at this point and I don't know if we will ever get to go very far now. | ||
| Robert J. Wies (Ncbob)
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I feel compelled to add my .02 worth inasmuch as the topic is something I know well. I'm originally from MI and the wife from CT. We met, married in Fort Lauderdale and lived and worked there for 12 years until retirement approached. We moved to the Blue Ridge (Smoky) Mountains and have been here for 15 years (except for last year....we moved to central FL for a year to be nearer our girls). WRONG! We're back in the mountains again and with our MC5A on the way we'll have the best of the bunch. Like FF we'll winter in the south and southwest and spend the spring and early summer here in NC and probably July and August in ME. Then back to NC until fall. Providing my clutch leg holds out. Home base will be the mountains though. Clean air, no hassles, and GREAT people. Land is still relatively inexpensive but you have to get used to 'rural'. The 'Developers' and the big bucks are poised and ready to hit the more popular areas soon..many are here already..but anywhere from GA to the Shenandoah Valley is "God's Country". | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Mr. Evans - We lived in NY (LI), Ma, and now Florida. I retired in '95 while living in Ma. Florida's become much too expensive and populated. Lots that are described as "inaccessible", "underwater", or "submerged", are selling in the 50s. Homes that sold for under 60k four years ago are now bringing over 160k. Homes we turned down at 150-160k are well over 300k now. And of course, taxes have risen to NYC levels. In fact, with the N'Eastern politics following the crowd south, one local town's gubberment has decided to form a special committee to figure out how to spend all the extra tax money they're taking in due to the inflated housing prices..... Amazing, huh? So, from my experience of asking around, southern Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and TN are the states to look into. Mild climate, rural area, and low taxation. But in 5-8 years from now, everything will be different again. One decent hurricane of Cat 4 or better to the Brevard county area, and vacant land should be really cheap. | ||
| Jon W. Rating: N/A |
Stay away from TN. Go away. Don't come here. Go someplace else. It ain't no good here. You won't like it. (Former western NY resident that should have made the move decades ago.) | ||
| Geoff (Geoff)
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I recently moved to Prescott, Arizona. I'm up 5,000 feet so we have trees, lakes and cooler weather. I like it here! --Geoff '82 RTS AZ | ||
| David Evans (Dmd)
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Thanks everyone, I'm from west Tn and my wife upstate NY so rural aint a problem. We are leaning towards the VA TN NC KY intersection area so thanks for the posts. We hope to try the snow bird 3-4 month travel thing ourselves. I lived in Ncentral Florida for a while and love the winters It soes seem more and more govt to "take care of the people" is getting out of control. We are just holding our breath here on LI in NY as to parking our coach at our house. So far so good but just one new policy or crappy new neighbor away from disaster. Thanks again for all the posts. | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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Dmd, you said you was from God's country so you know how great it is here in NW TN & SW KY don't get no better! I've been all over this great nation and lived in KY,IN,FL,ND,MN,OK,AR,KY,TN there are many wonderful places but none I'd rather live in than right here in the HEART OF GOD'S COUNTRY! But hey as the main phrase say's do it yer way! | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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Hey Pat, Where here in GOD'S COUNTRY did ya buy that car? sounds like ya was right here by me! We got places at Gilbertsville, KY (on KY LAKE), and here in Union City, TN (hr away)! | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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Jon W. Now is that any way for a DA** YANKEE to act, after moving to GOD'S COUNTRY? LOL! Do ya know the differance between a Yankee an a DA** Yankee? A Yankee is one a them northerners that comes down here an visit's an a DA** Yankee is one that won't GO HOME! LOL! Just kidd'n & Welcome to GOD'S COUNTRY! | ||
| jlvickers Rating: N/A |
When we retired,we were living close to Houston,Texas. My wife and my self were both from Florida around the central Florida area. We decided to stay some where in East Texas after retirement. Florida is getting very costly and a lot like California with it's rules and regulations. We have now relocated to East Texas. We have found and bought a very nice home on 7+ acres and we have built a new pole barn to store my GMC Buffalo. Winters are not too cold and the summers are quite warm but that is why we have A/C & heat in the house. Texas has no state income tax and it's retirement friendly. jlv | ||
| Pat Bartlett (Muddog16)
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Bryce, that little burg was called White Plains just south of Madisonville. It was a 4 hour drive for me, I live east of Cincinnati about 100 miles on the Ohio River. Now the boss is from the south side of the river and so is all of her family. We have a mixed marriage, a Kentuckian and a Ohioian......the best of both worlds, Kentucky basketball and Ohio State Football! | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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Pat you were about 45 minutes from our Place at the lake and less than 2hrs from my shop! Beautiful country!!!! Yessireee GOD'S COUNTRY!!!! | ||
| Jon W. Rating: N/A |
Busted Knuckle, Still trying to get used to a place where the sun shines (NY average annual snow 240") and where you don't pay a tax every time you turn around. I'm learnin not to say "this is how we did it up north", but I don't have an orange "T" on the car door and I don't eat grits. Don't tell anybody else how great it is around here. Everybody will want to come. | ||
| morgan Clough (Mclough777)
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As a former Bostonian now living in TN, i do wear an orange T and say YALL quite abit. cause they hate yankees here in east tn. no one has told them the war was over and they lost. i love it here. except the slower pace lifestyle is hard to get use to. every one walks around sooooo sloooooow and they talk the same way slooow. unles u get into one of them hell fire and brimstone churchs. then they yell sceam and even the guy in the last pew gets covered in spit. lol morgan | ||
| Robert J. Wies (Ncbob)
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When Jeff Foxworthy gave us the definition of "redneck"....'a glorious absence of sophistication' he sure was talking about a bunch of us on this board! Redneck? I r 1! | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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It's home and I love it !!! And if too many DAMN YANKEES start showin' up I still got 3 shot guns, 30-30, SKS, .45, .44, 9mm and 2 357's a worthless Blk Lab, and mean a** girlfriend! But still proud of GOD'S COUNTRY and for those DAMN YANKEE's comin' down the best part of it is over yonder next to NC! LOL! | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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Oh yeah those are jest my guns, she has more than me! | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
What's the number one pickup line in Knoxville? Nice Tooth. | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
How do you know that the toothbrush was invented in Tennessee? Because if were invented anywhere else they would have called it the teethbrush. | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Tennessee is the only state where road salt is a seasoning. | ||
| motorcoach1 Rating: N/A |
Sound like I'm moving too LOL... well south Carolina is the place to be nice folks. if you like taxes we have them , personal property ,state tax and yes even on your income food tax, double gas tax anything you buy tax ,,remember here you don't own it to rent it through paying your tax homeowners tax ,any recreation facility is a charge to get in. we looked at getting a pavilion in the state park for a day a whopping 32 dollars an hour and our tax money bought and pad for it. oh gezz in some areas food tax at restaurants ( slush fund )liquor has an extra state tax. and the folks from Chicago and other places are coming in droves you wouldn't believe the building going on here. I live in the sticks so it maybe 8 or 10 years before we get hit. and thats the up side. Were last in the states on all the good things and first on all the bad things. oh and if you don't have kids anymore the state helps you out with there school tax ( adoption by proxy ) I just work here love my bus and home in the country and have great neighbors. I live on a dirt road and get taxed for that too , they call it improvements ,,,mmmmm how do you improve dirt. Mike- keep smiling | ||
| t gojenola
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Well, now, let's see. I spent army time in western Kentucky where we had to drive a hundred miles to find a beer. My ex wife is from East Tennessee where I discovered that if you go in a store and ask if they have some particular thing you need to come back tomorrow for the answer, and where your status is determined solely by your church affiliation. I am retired and still live in Alaska where there aint no snakes, skunks, possums or gators, but there's no escaping the red-necks. I'll stay here, thank you. | ||
| bruce knee (Bruceknee)
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Delaware has no sales tax, period. If the price tag says $4.99, you get change back from a $5. Property taxes are low too, around $600 per year on a $500,000. property. There is a 2.5% tax when regestering a motor vehicle. Hope everybody doesn't come though. | ||
| motorcoach1 Rating: N/A |
but bruce what are you guys going to do if the goverment calls in all those documented boats. hahahaha | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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JTNG;that's WV on the teeth brush , also what do you have when there are 32 beauty pagent contestants in the same room try'n out for Miss WV? A full set of teeth! Also of course we like seasoning on our road kill!don't you? Motorcoach1;yer improved dirt rd has rocks in it! t gojenola; (I hope I pronounced that right!) thosed are frosted red necks up there , and yose got polar bars, seals, eskimo's, and bullwinkle's! | ||
| t gojenola
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When you speak of red-necks please use the proper English format: "Those are frosted red necks" should be "Them is ......" tg | ||
| Mike (Busone)
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I think my mom was trying to tell me something when she bought me the Jeff Foxworthy book "You Might Be A Redneck If..." The scary thing is that book describes me. | ||
| FAST FRED Rating: N/A |
"Florida's become much too expensive and populated." The COAST of Florida is getting expensive , as is any waterfront property. 75 miles inland its not dirt cheap but a 10 acre "spread" with an old house trailer is still under 50K. But the summers are still lousey. FAST FRED | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
FF - "75 miles inland its not dirt cheap but a 10 acre "spread" with an old house trailer is still under 50K. " Not any more, Freddie. Single-wides on a less than a 1/4 acre lot, on Rt 192, between Melbourne and St. Cloud, bring well over 100k. There isn't anyplace in Floriduh that hasn't been stricken by the stupid bug. In fact, the homes and land are cheaper just over the border in Georgia and Alabama, than in Florida! Go ten feet over the border and into Florida, and pay 30k more. To make matters worse, the big-wig realty board head in Dothan Alabama wrote a nice article for the local journal. It was all about how the members should be raising their expectations of higher home pricing. He based his opinion on some of the recent sales, and the fact that those selling their Florida homes cannot afford to buy another in Florida and are moving northward, into Georgia and Alabama. The days of inexpensive living in Florida have ended..... There isn't much left down here, but 250k and up homes, 80k and up trailers, and me. The old joke regarding swamp land for sale, has become fact. Ads for property now contain the words: "presently submerged", "not presently buildable", and "inaccessible". Those properties are fetching the lower prices of course.. ... 20 to 50k for a 2/10 acre lot. http://public.brevardmls.com/brv/passwd.html http://www.1strealtyofsumter.com/ Come'on down! | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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And not to mention the RATS! Oh my gosh, I mean huge RATS! Down around in Orlando I saw a 6.5-7' tall RAT walking around on it's hind legs, wearing black shorts, red shirt, and suspenders! Just walkin' around and waving at everybody(relatives I guessed) I mean that RAT was HUGE! Oh yeah and get this talk about unsanitary even the HUGE RAT wore white gloves to keep germs off his paws! Eeewww do ya wanna live somewhere that even the RATS feel is unsanitary? | ||
| Jack Conrad (Jackconrad)
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5-40 acre tracts with no buildings (pasture land last year) in the middle of no-where between Ft. Mead and Avon Park, Florida STARTING at $169,000. Must have driven past the gates to 40-50 of these parcels. Almost everyone had a SOLD sign on the gate. The tax assessed value of our place increased by $40,000 in one year, Taxes increased by $800. Jack conrad | ||
| Brent Coursey
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Nobody mentioned South Carolina: Here are the PROS: 1) Mild Climate year round 2) You can register a 15 year or older RV..er BUS for maximum $300 in sales tax and $13.50/year property tax 3) If your over 65 or disabled you get a $50,000 exemption on your home...that should cover all the redneck accommodations. 4) SC has these "Meat and Three" places where you can eat dinner for under $5 5) You can still fill the old style propane valve tanks in SC...State Senator could not get his filled so he passed a state law making it legal. 6) People are extremely nice here. CONS: 1) Its hard to get anyone to work here...very slow paced 2) There is a state income tax if you are a working stiff 3) Don't ever buy a new vehicle in SC because the property taxes could add up to a new car in a few years 4) The southern drawl is so severe for some folks that you can't understand them and after a couple of beers they rival Ebonics(sp?). I own a resort and a guy comes in asking about Winneys...I thought he was talking about Winnebagos...finally figured out he was looking for hot dogs... 5) And lastly the war is not over here. Their still flying the flag on everything from hats to underwear. Hey, I'm from Texas and I'm proud of what the guys did at the Alamo...but I don't put "Remember" stickers on everything I've got... Brent | ||
| Bryce Gaston (Busted_knuckle)
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Brent if you read motorcoach1's post above you'll see he did mention S.C. | ||
| motorcoach1 Rating: N/A |
oh well South Cariolina is a good place to live ...just have culture shock a few years getting use to it lol | ||
| Doug Dickinson (Dougd470)
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My $0.02 worth. I live in MO now. I left FLorida in 1985 - too much crime. Some don't have a problem with that. If you move there from The NYC, CT, NJ area, it may sound nice - from other places - maybe not so nice. It's all perspective! I live in MO now and plan to keep my residence here when I retire. I have lived in MI, KS, MO, FL, NJ, and PA so far. You can achieve your "5-10 acre" dream reasonably for around $10-20K in a very rural and out-of-the-way place that is about 90 minutes from St Louis area (pop 2.5M). There are no building or zoning codes in some of those counties - that may be good or bad depending on your perspective - but it's available. As for weather - spring and fall are wonderful and beautiful times around here. I want to be here for that. Summer and winter are really bad, but then, with a coach, you just go somewhere else - right? State taxes are high (6% income and average 7.2$ sales), but the cost of living is so much lower, that it all works out. If you have a large retirement income to hide, then this is not the place. But then, if you Have a large retirement income, San Diego is more affordable. Like I said - it's all perspective. Florida is LAST on my places to live. High crime. High taxes (no state income taxes, but they get you everywhere else). The Tax BITE is different depending on where you go. IN PA, I paid the least taxes of anywhere. They hit you with lots of little taxes, but add them up and I paid out less there than anywhere. The Gov gets the money in every state - just different ways. Some people think Florida is great and more power to them. My view is different - with the benefit of having grown up there. If I grew up in NJ, I might have a different perspective. My $0.02 worth. Doug St Louis MC9 | ||
| Carroll4104
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BTW those ridges in NC are already filled. And I am so tired of hearing "In ___________ we do it this way." Carroll4104 | ||
| Mike (Busone)
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MO is one of the places we have considered moving to. I like the idea of no building code/zoning crap. I don't like having to pay the gubbermit a permit fee to install a new porch light. Yes it happened to me. The other half likes hot summers and mild winters so Ar or OK is where we will end up. I was raised in just outside of Denver so cold winters don't bother me. | ||
| David Evans (Dmd)
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Thanks to everyone for all the post, she has her territory search ammo for the weekend dream hunt. |