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Where to retire

I love it here in Michigan. If it were only up to me I'd retire to the western UP. Unlike most I seem to find my tolerance for cold is getting better as I get older but my tolerance for heat is becoming almost non-existent. Any more anything above 85F is really uncomfortable for me. Unfortunately my wife has the opposite opinion. :tearsofjoy: Fortunately we're pretty happy where we're at right now so I may just retire in place.
 
I've been on active duty for 23 years and looked really hard for the perfect retirement destination the last 10 years. We settled on NW North Carolina. If you like the college town atmosphere Boone (Appalachian State) would be the spot. Excellent deer and turkey numbers plus trout fishing and a few months of skiing. Land prices are all over the map with $4k/acre being about average for recreational uncleared land.

I'd also look in:

- NW SC (Oconee or Pickens County) near Clemson.
-East TN, you really want the elevation in the summer and west TN is a CWD hot bed.
-West Virginia has some interesting places.
 
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mtsrunner said:
Maybe somewhere in upstate SC or NE GA. Close to Clemson, USC and UGA. All great football towns. SC and GA both have liberal seasons. Weather is decent and cost of living is not bad.

I live in the mountains of NC, near Asheville. I’m a graduate of UT, but it’s a two hour drive to get back to Knoxville. Hunting here is decent, but not as good as SC or GA. Cost of living is steep. Weather is awesome. I’m not planning on leaving when I retire.
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Western NC is beautiful. We looked long and hard before settling on property in the mountains well north of Asheville. The counties of Watauga, Ashe, Wilkes and Alleghany have a much higher deer and turkey density. And...less liberals if that matters to you.
 
Murph4028 said:
I'd stay away from NC. It's crazy hot here in the high 80s-90s and humid during early season until about mid to late October. I'm not in the mountains I am in the central part of the state.
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I grew up in the Carolinas, the mountains are the only place I'd consider living full time. It's just too hot in the lower elevations. In the mountains it rarely gets above 85F all summer and the winters are nothing compared to most of the country.
 
My brother bought a retirement house outside Greeneville, TN (NE corner). Very reasonable land prices, lots of turkey and deer, and we’ve seen plenty of bear sign. Weather seems to be moderate compared to lower elevation locations as stated above.
 
Wow a lot of nods for TN! I'll throw in another. My wife and I "retired" about 30 min south of Nashville. We run a real estate and property management company here. It was the only place that offered a super high growth economy (for our property business) but also has hundreds of thousands of acres of public land for awesome deer and turkey hunting. Super high populations of both species. Oh and did I mention there are lakes everytwhere too? Tennessee man. Do it.
 
Athens Ohio, we are one of the biggest college party towns in the US or gotta be close. OU Bobcats! I bought a plow for my quad 6 years ago and used it about 3 times now, not sure where the snow went but it's not around anymore and Nobody can complain about the hunting if they are even a reasonable hunter

Property is starting to boom especially just outside Athens in Albany. Our house value has went up 65k in 5 years... Yippee!
 
Buckkillr said:
Athens Ohio, we are one of the biggest college party towns in the US or gotta be close. OU Bobcats! I bought a plow for my quad 6 years ago and used it about 3 times now, not sure where the snow went but it's not around anymore and Nobody can complain about the hunting if they are even a reasonable hunter

Property is starting to boom especially just outside Athens in Albany. Our house value has went up 65k in 5 years... Yippee!
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Pre virus prices obviously...

I’d hate to buy or sell anytime soon.

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You guys are making a good case for Tennessee and making me question my plan, which is to split time between here (Western MD) and Lake Anna VA. We started instituting the plan last year when we bought property at LKA and turned the storage shed that came with it into a small cabin. Our youngest kid is 10. When he moves out we are selling our 2k square foot house and building a 1k sq ft house in the middle of what will become our 90 acres here, and another 1k sq ft house at LKA. I'll fish for striper and bass part of the time and hunt Whitetails part of the time.
 
Gator said:
Wait til next election. VA residents just had a major wake up call that I feel pretty good about will be answered soon.


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Highly likely. If that doesn’t happen I don’t think VA will ever turn around.


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Gator said:
Wait til next election. VA residents just had a major wake up call that I feel pretty good about will be answered soon.


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I'll do my part, just like last election and I can only hope you're right and more people wake up and show up.
 
Murph4028 said:
I'd stay away from NC. It's crazy hot here in the high 80s-90s and humid during early season until about mid to late October. I'm not in the mountains I am in the central part of the state.
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But, the good thing about our area in NC, our deer hunting season is coming in early September till Jan. 1 vs mid/late October in the mountain area of NC. Charlotte, NC area has it's perks, closer to the mountains, very close to SC border where deer hunting is starting in August. One could still hang out in the mountains while it's hot, but the rest of the year, weather is pretty nice with only a couple of days/inches of snow a year.
 
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