Retirement options

Tom has given me the green light to go research and find a great deal during this housing slump.
Find the place we want to be in our retirement. Tom is a golfer so he would prefer not to have a coastal retirement. He says coast courses are sandy and worn. He doesn't particularly like them. The exception would be Bandon Dunes. But that is too isolated for me, but not off the table.

My criteria is a little more sunshine and a little dryer. Conveniently located for my children and future grandchildren to visit. Our old town of Longview has great appeal. We have many dear friends and a fun golf club with a decent course.

Growing up, we had many vacations in Sun River. It was always of dream of mine to have a home there. Tom likes Eagle Crest. There is Black Butte also to look at. Many adorable communities surround the Bend area; Tumalo, sisters, Redmond among others. Its a tough choice. I may just have to go for a long drive and check them all out.

I have family in Bend. This is the time to buy if we are going to do it. I have a friend picking up deals in Vegas and doing very well renting them. My thought is to buy a place and rent it until it is time to move into it. I am just a little overwhelmed by the selection. There is a lot of stuff for sale. Surprisingly a lot of it is in our price range. Since this is a retirement forever kind of house, I am not looking for anything too big.

We have learned that we want a little land buffer with the house though. We love our neighbors and are extremely lucky that they are good neighbors. But Tom and I both agree a larger lot is more to our tastes. Twice as large at least than what we have.

Our neighbor in front of us on our flag lot has their house for sale. They are also like minded. They are wanting property, land to breath. Tom and I miss our five acres in La Center. Tom called it our little piece of Paradise. The privacy and lushness of the forest, it just smelled good when we came home.

A friend has a house on one acre in town with a big cedar in her yard. The air is breathable. You drive up and just gulp it in when you visit. That is what we are looking for, breathing room.
House hunting is a great distraction and makes for terrific busy work, studying maps and checking listings. It scares me when something good comes up. It just seems too soon.

But I wouldn't put my money in the market. It is such an intangible right now. That little blip that no one can explain reminds me of that Travolta movie about the hacker. Was the system hacked for ten minutes? There hasn't been any explanation of the system failures. Why scare the public with it. Anyway rentals are tangible assets creating passive income. Not bad. This is a great time to pick up a deal.

So I am browsing the housing market. Tory loves Tucson and her rental home there, but I don't necessarily want to have to get on a plane every time I need to go see the property or see a friend. Yes, you can write the trip off, but I want an easy life. Medford or Ashland also come to mind. Tom has an old boss that retired to that area and loves it. Ashland has the Shakespearean festival. I know my little sister and Margaret would visit often if we were located in that area.

But Golf is the primary , number one on the list. Have to keep the man happy. I would like to find a club though that wont charge high end prices. I like low initiation fees and monthly costs. That is one reason we didn't buy into a club here. They priced us out of their market. The local club does not have a pool or tennis courts either. If they offered an alternative to golf we probably would have scraped up the fee, but it just doesn't seem family friendly when it is all golf and nothing else for the children or the golf nine holer.

I went to Walla Walla when I was in college. I hear it has a lovely golf club. Lewiston Id. has two private clubs, one is across the river in Clarkston. Both are very affordable. The cold winters do worry me a bit. I like the idea of being on the Snake with the thought that water might make conditions a little milder. Hood River turns to ice in the winter some of the time, but then it melts away, with beautiful river activities in the summer.

My dad did this very thing. He traveled around in his retirement until he found what he was looking for. He wanted a town with a university in a dry hot area for his health. He tried Mexico and Costa Rica but found he appreciated being in America. He wanted the Spanish influence, the influences and interest of a foreign language without the stress of living in a foreign country. Tucson worked for him. He found a one story house just minutes from a hospital, with bike trails and nature walks built into the community development. A mall was nearby for his every need. He enrolled in school again to keep his mind young and fresh. He was a biker not a golfer, but there is plenty of golf around the area. It is just a bit too hot for me in the summer. I might have picked Flagstaff, but Dad said he didn't want to deal with snow at all anymore. He made a conscious decision, which is what we are trying to do now.

So favorite courses, favorite towns, I am interested in thoughts. If you could pick your golf retirement location, considering costs also, being reasonable, location to family, considering senior health with good hospitals nearby, where would you go?