Do You Need a Realtor?

The answer is a resounding YES!

By now, hopefully, you have narrowed down some areas you would like to look at. If they are in driving distance, you would benefit greatly from spending a day there, eating out, walking around the town, going in a few shops and talking with the locals and yes, stopping in to see a realtor. They have a ton of information, not only about houses and properties for sale, but about the area, and a half hour talk with them can save you lots of time doing your own research.

If the areas you are thinking about are not within an easy distance, of course vacationing there would be the best scenario. (What fun!) But connecting online with a realtor is also a great way to get to "know" a place. Most are happy to share information with you, of course hoping you may visit and use their services, but they know people are cost conscience these days and cannot just travel all over to check out a place, and they are very willing to "talk" with you via email.

We had contacted a couple of realtors, some of whom we never met, but only wrote back and forth to online. When we finally decided to check out an area, we called an office near where we wanted to start looking, and just through luck wound up talking to the most knowledgeable and astute realtor we could have found. She listened to what we thought we wanted, then asked us a bunch of questions, on some things we had never even thought about, and narrowed down what we were really looking for.

We spent many days, and many trips to the area (which was a little over four hours from where we presently live) very happily looking at towns and properties. She didn't waste our time on places or properties that she knew wasn't in our criteria, and we were even able to email her places we saw ourselves online, and she would let us know whether they were what we had in mind or not. Even if they weren't in her area. And we went to see them all!

We expected to spend about a year looking, but don't be surprised if it takes even longer, especially if the areas are far away, and you hope to visit them on vacations. The search is part of the fun!

Till next time.

Deciding Where You Want Be

This question, for us, wasn't too difficult. We both knew we wanted to be on the water. We already knew in what area of the country we wanted to settle, (east coast, near our family), then decided on what amenities we wanted to be near. We decided we wanted to build a home, so we would just look at "lots" (it wound up to be lots of lots!), then we narrowed down the "type" of body of water, (ocean, lake, river) and with that answer, we jumped in.

For some of you, though, it may not be as easy. You can start your search by writing down a list of what things will be important to you; health care and hospitals near by (of course), what climate zone?, cost of living?, housing costs, activities?, restaurants?, shopping? Will you want to be near family? Do you want the city life, where you can walk to all the amenities, or a more private setting, where you'll need to drive everywhere, but will have some peace and quiet. Did you always dream of living by a golf course? A lake? A ski resort? Do you think you want to look at an active adult community? There are many around the country, and more being built with so many of us reaching retirement age. This is the time to write down all these ideas, even if they seem crazy. Then, little by little, you will change your mind about some of your choices. Once you see them in print, and let yourself accept them as a real possibility, you will find that some were just notions, some just whimsy. And then you will find that some really have meaning for you. An area may call to you, and you can't get it out of your mind, no matter how impractical it may seem. That's where to start.

There is a magazine called "Where to Retire" that has some very good information. You can't access too much on the web site, www.wheretoretiremagazine.com but you can try a free issue, or request some free brochures from the current issue's advertisers. My advice is to get a copy once you've narrowed down your choices a bit. Each issue highlights certain areas, so you can buy or back-order one that has the area you may be interested in.

You can also check out www.epodunk.com, it has tons of information about different cities, or www.citysearch.com.

So first, write down your wish list of areas and amenities, then narrow it down it much as possible. This is just the beginning and you have to start somewhere, so don't worry too much that it's not complete or perfect.

In the coming weeks and months we hope to bring you some information from some of the people who we have had the pleasure of working with, our realtor, our builder, our landscaper, etc. If you have any questions, please send them in.

Till next time.

What'll We Do When We Retire?

These days, the question may be, CAN we retire. But, that's another discussion.
As we baby boomers get to be of a certain age, our kids grow up, they move out, (maybe) and we think, what do WE want to do?

Many of us are still taking care of elderly parents, (we are) or still need to work, (we do), but still want to start THINKING about what we'll want to do, where we'll want to live and how we'll want to enjoy our, let's say, later years.

This blog will be based around our search for those answers. It will, I hope, give you some ideas, and help you make some decisions about finding the right spot, finding the right people to help you develop your dream home, and how to enjoy the process.

I hope you'll join us.