For better or worse, we selected our future retirement home a few years ago. It is in a seaside community about 100 miles north of San Francisco. We have been spending time vacation here, off and on, to see how it feels and it's pretty remarkable. Air and environment are pristine. There is not a traffic signal for about fifty miles. We are five minutes from grocery, tennis, swimming, gym, golf, and restaurants. There are 50 miles of hiking, biking and horseback trails at our door step. The local community is highly educated and engaged in environmental and arts activities. They put on opera and theater events in a local barn.
Having just been here two weeks, I am amazed at how busy and engaging this place is. We play tennis every morning and do at least one hike a day. I haven't had a chance to read a book or play Candy Crush since we arrived. People are super friendly and open; they seem to run the gamut from college professors to CEOs to FIREd state/utility workers. There is also plenty of need along the coast to support underprivileged people through service and education. If I can find a teaching job within 50 miles or so I might be able to put in a couple days a week.
We rent the place out, selectively, when we are not here, thorough an agency which takes care of it all and maintains the property better than I would. (We currently live/work about 7,000 miles away rent-free). The property, like many vacation rentals, is a net loser most months but interest on mortgage is 2.75% and will be paid in ten years. We bought near the bottom of the market and for 25% less than the hapless seller paid in 2003. If I thought real estate here was going to be cheaper in 5-10 years I might have deferred the purchase but prices seem to rise faster than inflation along the California coast. Google, Apple and the rest of them are having an enormous impact on real estate in the Bay area and well beyond. I also share the slightly irrational idea that many of you have that I want to be mortgage free in retirement, even if it means tying up perfectly good investment money in a stupid house.
The point of my post, I guess, is that we have a plan in place and are testing it as we go. I am a little tentative on what this is costing, but it is well within our budget (the house cost about 2x what we save annually) and time we spend here reaffirms how much we love the area and will be happy to spend a lot more in the future to the benefit of our mental and physical health as well as the environmental and social needs of the area.
