Retirement fantasy question
 

So, a few years ago, my wife says she would like to have a modest home in Italy for retirement. We love Italy, but would live there 6 months a year at most.

I am not certain that will will do this. It is a risk. But dreaming is free. And my buds on PPOT have some great brainpower.

The question:

It seems buying in Italy is awful. (Renting is a real option and probably the best one)

Where else is should we consider?

What is warm, sunny, safe, affordable, easy to travel to, desirable for friends to visit, good food / wine, beautiful, friendly and fun?

Spain is a great choice as is Croatia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. So are Portugal and France. Thailand is fantastic and I assume Vietnam and other nearby countries would be great. I also love Turkey.

See the problem? Too many choices!

What is the nexus between affordable, wonderful, and interesting?

Thanks for indulging my first world fantasy problem.

Being a Puerto Rican resident has major tax advantages.

If you're renting you could do them all. A different place each year.

Exactly right.

Buying a house in Italy seems odd to me given the plethora of options to rent really fine places for reasonable sums without the hassle of what will essentially be a time share. Italy is great but by year three you are going to looking at brochures of Thailand...

I very good friend of mine lived in Italy for four years - they loved the experience and lived "on the economy", but were happy to come back to the US. They travel extensively and rent.

https://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Europe/Italy/Buying-Guide

I have not been to Croatia but have spent lots of time in the other places you mentioned. I could only do SEA in the winter since humidity is my Kryptonite. Weather would be my prime criteria after threat levels and logistics!

Rent.

Whatever you do - don't come to Florida. This place is awful!

It’s more freaky than awful.

I would recommend renting as opposed to buying. Why? Because for instance when you buy property in Spain you can get the property lines adjusted later by others and not necessarily in your favor. When my mother bought property in Spain it was broken into when she was not there. And if you don't speak the language it is hard to talk to anybody including the police, lawyers etc.

Yes as the above says rent wherever you go especially if you go away for six months. In the meantime your property at home will be rented out or vacant or?

Nothing wrong with dreams, world would be a dull place if people didn't have dreams

Italy has everything you could wish for as a holiday destination but living there is extremely hard work. You need to be very worldly wise/street smart to do anything that involves money

We lived there for 7yrs while I worked and loved it but never once thought it would be a country we would buy in

We found our nexus in neighbouring Slovenia and bought a cheap, small place with million $ view on the sunny side of the valley in a traditional 1000yr old farming village at the cheap end of the Alps :D

Running costs are about the same as a car so $2-3k a year for everything, we lock it, leave it knowing our neighbours will take care of it while we're away

Mainland Europe has so much to offer, I can't think of anywhere in the world that can offer so many varied cultures, landscapes, architecture, food/wine, experiences within relative easily driving distances

In one day we could have breakfast at our house, apfelstrudel in an Austrian mountain village, lunch in Italy and seafood supper overlooking the Adriatic sea on the coast of Croatia or ski in the morning and swim in the sea in the afternoon

Only advice I can give is visit as many places as you can and you'll know when you've found youR home from home. If unsure rent before you buy and make sure you have enough around you so you don't get cabin/beach hut fever

Good luck

What is warm, sunny, safe, affordable, easy to travel to, desirable for friends to visit, good food / wine, beautiful, friendly and fun?


Asheville, NC. (Edit: stay in Black Mountain)

Checks every box on your list.

Not sure I’d agree with affordable. YMMV but I work in NYC and still didn’t think it was cheap.
You’d need to be an hour or more away to get a cheap(ish) house IMO too.

Pretty area though, even if it’s being flooded with Yankees.

I know two different people looking hard at Portugal as a retirement destination right now. One more that thinks renting in San Sebastián is the way to go. Both countries have been mentioned, but it’s another data point.

Even if you think you love a place, rent for the first year so it's easier to change your mind. And you get to know the place and which side of town you want to live on.

Being in easy driving distance of a big city is a good idea so you don't have too many hops to get anywhere else (drive, small plane, night in hotel, big plane and flight :( ).

A client of mine bought a place in Vietnam about 8-9 years ago for a song. He visited there before right his retirement and bought the place three months after their trip. He was in the Navy during the war there. I didn't ask him the purchase price but according to him, it was dirt cheap.

I have dreaming about doing something like that, but my cousin talked some sense into me and suggest I rent. They were going to buy in CA and use that during the winter. They live in Calgary. Other's are correct, what's not to like? Live in a different place/country every 6 months to a year? The only draw back is that is feels like moving every 6 months to a year. Plus, rent is dirt cheap in some of those places. I think Indonesia or Malaysia may be a very cool place to live for 6 months. I am worry about the heat and humidity

Hey Jim, is it really that bad? I've only been there once over 20 years ago and saw the typical touristy places. From the surface, it seem pretty normal, just like any US cities.

Second, or is it third for Portugal. There is a substantial British expat population so finding native English speakers will not be difficult.

Depending on how you define warm and sunny, you should find something that meets your definition. The climate is very similar to California. North definitely has 4 seasons. Central has 3, South has 1 season.

It is a poor country so your housing dollars will go far but it is a small country so you can live relatively far from Lisbon or Porto (2 biggest cities) and still be to one or the other in 2-4 hours.

I don’t know the big cities, my family comes from a very rural area but I would give the Algarve region a hard look. Even at 4 hours from Lisbon, you could hop a shuttle flight to Lisbon and then get back the US if need be.

I second renting and don’t be afraid to rent away from the cities. There are many safe towns where you’ll do fine with being a native speaker.

Like visiting anywhere else, an earnest effort to learn basic greetings will get you the latitude you need to switch back to English.


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That was our long-term plan, but appearance of a grandkid will modify it a bit.

That's what is so great about Europe. It's compact, and easy to get around in.

Thanks! Keep em coming. I did fall in love with Lake Bled, Slovenia. Portugal is great and easy as well.

Southern Spain...I'd move in a heartbeat if I could convince the Mrs.

Cross Hawaii off your list as your retirement $$$ won't go very far. I'd like to live in Thailand after my obligations are done. My gf is clueless. She wants to go back to Korea and live there. She said in Korea, if you have money, you can do anything you want. Hello! Yes, you can do anything you want, but your money will run out fast!

Buy a house on the off tourist side of Santorini.
You may be surprised at how cheap they are & the Greeks are the friendliest people in the world.

.... Lots and lots of Americans keep going back year after year. :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1558942479.jpg

^^^Nice!