Retirement location

[Shiny moose]

I know its still 4.5 years away but I have to start looking and making decisions. We are looking for a place to retire with our Mooney. Airpark, or great community with a great airport. Any information will be helpful,  Some of our considerations.

 

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking

2. Reasonable  cost of property taxes, and  insurance

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down 

5. Friendly people

6. University in the area

7. Great weather more warmer than cold

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany )

 

 

 

[gsxrpilot]

52 minutes ago, Shiny moose said:

I know its still 4.5 years away but I have to start looking and making decisions. We are looking for a place to retire with our Mooney. Airpark, or great community with a great airport. Any information will be helpful,  Some of our considerations.

 

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking

2. Reasonable  cost of property taxes, and  insurance

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down 

5. Friendly people

6. University in the area

7. Great weather more warmer than cold

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany )

 

 

 

Smithville, TX. 

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking - a couple of large State parks and the Colorado river (not that one) runs around the end of the airport and through town. There are regularly kayakers on the river. Also good mountain biking in the State parks.

2. Reasonable  cost of property taxes, and  insurance - Property taxes are on the high side, but property is so cheap that it's a wash. Insurance is cheap.

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive - Austin International is 45 minutes.

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down - Hangars are available.

5. Friendly people - Stop in at Zimmerhanzels for lunch and you'll see how friendly the locals are.

6. University in the area - University of Texas is 50 minutes away in Austin. Lots of cultural activities and of course ACL and SXSW both huge events.

7. Great weather more warmer than cold - A little too hot in the summer but not cold in the winter.

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany ) - Condor flies non-stop to Frankfurt now and Lufthansa will start non-stop service this fall. BA also flies to London out of Austin.

Bonus Answer: SWTA a Mooney Service Center is on the field at 84R and also runs the FBO. The owners, JD and Laura live in Smithville within 5 minutes of the airport.

[carusoam]

Nice detailed response, Paul!

Best regards,

-a-

[Shiny moose]

Thanks Paul 

[MooneyBob]

8 hours ago, Shiny moose said:

I know its still 4.5 years away but I have to start looking and making decisions. We are looking for a place to retire with our Mooney. Airpark, or great community with a great airport. Any information will be helpful,  Some of our considerations.

 

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking

2. Reasonable  cost of property taxes, and  insurance

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down 

5. Friendly people

6. University in the area

7. Great weather more warmer than cold

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany )

 

 

 

We live at the Wing South airpark, Naples Florida. It would check all you boxes. 

20 mins to the Fort Myers with direct flights to Germany. PM me if you need more details. 

[Oldguy]

11 hours ago, Shiny moose said:

I know its still 4.5 years away but I have to start looking and making decisions. We are looking for a place to retire with our Mooney. Airpark, or great community with a great airport. Any information will be helpful,  Some of our considerations.

 

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking

2. Reasonable  cost of property taxes, and  insurance

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down 

5. Friendly people

6. University in the area

7. Great weather more warmer than cold

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany )

 

 

 

We are between 2 and 3 years from retirement, and went through a similar analysis a while back. We finished building our house in March this year, and Laura is in the process of furnishing it. I was assuming we would move furniture from our current house, but I was obviously wrong.

Here is what our answers to your questions would be:

Lakeland, FL

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking - I am not a kayaker, but biking around the many and various lakes in the area is a big thing as is walking/hiking.

2. Reasonable cost of property taxes, and insurance - houses can be bought/built for reasonable amounts and homesteading your property makes the taxes reasonable. Insurance is not nearly as bad as on either coast, and our ~2,500 sq. ft. 4/3/2 runs <$1AMU/year.

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive - Tampa and Orlando are within an hour from our house.

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down - I put my name on the list at KLAL in January and had a T-hangar in April. Right at $300/mo.

5. Friendly people - KLAL - home of Sun-n-Fun. All kinds of folks in the area, and not just retirement age. Good medical facilities with doctors moving into the area on a regular basis.

6. University in the area - Start with Florida Southern (home to over 30 Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings), and go to other universities in the area from Southeastern University to Polk State.

7. Great weather more warmer than cold - You did see it was Florida, right?

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany ) - Also, easy Mooney flights to Key West, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. 

Added benefits: The Detroit Tigers have their spring training in Lakeland, and the Yankees are in Tampa. Jack Brown Seaplane base in Winter Haven (20 minutes from the house) for adding that ASES certification instead of a Flight Review one year. Hawk Aircraft Painting at Tampa Executive airport for keeping the plane looking sharp. For grand-kids or other family visiting, the Orlando world of Disney, Universal, et al. is withing an hour's drive. Oh, yeah, apparently golf is a big thing down there as well, but since I don't play, I often overlook it.

Finally, if I did not want to be at KLAL with the plane, Bartow (KBOW) is about 15 minutes from our house as well. I had put my name in both places for a hangar, and Lakeland hit first. I won't say we chose the place to build our house because it was equidistant between the two airports. 100LL at both is currently running less than $4.10/gal.

But in all fairness to Paul( @gsxrpilot ), I am a Texan by birth, and Smithville would be a fine place as well.

[Hank]

13 hours ago, Shiny moose said:

I know its still 4.5 years away but I have to start looking and making decisions. We are looking for a place to retire with our Mooney. Airpark, or great community with a great airport. Any information will be helpful,  Some of our considerations.

Check out the area around Auburn, AL.

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking--look up Lake Martin [44,000 acres]. Abundant water sports and hiking opportunities. Even West Pint Lake isn't too far. Lots of ponds and smaller lakes everywhere, like the three in my subdivision [1/4 to 4 acres each].

2. Reasonable  cost of property taxes, and  insurance--outside of Lee County, taxes are very low, less than half what I paid in NC and OH, even insurance is less here. My home on 2 acres, 4 beds/3 baths is ~$650/year in tax.

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive--right on 90 minutes from Auburn to ATL; outlying areas will add a few minutes.

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down--KAUO just built new hangars; also check KALX, 7A3, 06A and 41A nearby.

5. Friendly people--VERY! We're Southern . . .

6. University in the area--Two, Auburn and Tuskegee. Many smaller schools in the area.

7. Great weather more warmer than cold--I sometimes use the defroster in winter. Expect a dusting of snow every few years, and everything shuts down.

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany )--YEP!

 

There are so many choices when you aren't tied to a paycheck. Take your time, sample several and see where you fit.

P.S.--in my C, it's an hour's flight to Panama City Beach [go Mooney Summit!] and Gulf Shores, AL, for the whole salt water and sand thing.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Hank

[HRM]

15 hours ago, Shiny moose said:

Some of our considerations.

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking

2. Reasonable  cost of property taxes, and  insurance

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down 

5. Friendly people

6. University in the area

7. Great weather more warmer than cold

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany )

Wilmington, NC meets all that. Wifey and I will be moving there in about a year and a half. Add to your list great beach access and offshore diving.

[Shiny moose]

19 hours ago, Oldguy said:

We are between 2 and 3 years from retirement, and went through a similar analysis a while back. We finished building our house in March this year, and Laura is in the process of furnishing it. I was assuming we would move furniture from our current house, but I was obviously wrong.

Here is what our answers to your questions would be:

Lakeland, FL

1. Nature near, biking, walking, kayaking - I am not a kayaker, but biking around the many and various lakes in the area is a big thing as is walking/hiking.

2. Reasonable cost of property taxes, and insurance - houses can be bought/built for reasonable amounts and homesteading your property makes the taxes reasonable. Insurance is not nearly as bad as on either coast, and our ~2,500 sq. ft. 4/3/2 runs <$1AMU/year.

3. Large major airport within 2 hours drive - Tampa and Orlando are within an hour from our house.

4. Enclosed hanger, no tie down - I put my name on the list at KLAL in January and had a T-hangar in April. Right at $300/mo.

5. Friendly people - KLAL - home of Sun-n-Fun. All kinds of folks in the area, and not just retirement age. Good medical facilities with doctors moving into the area on a regular basis.

6. University in the area - Start with Florida Southern (home to over 30 Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings), and go to other universities in the area from Southeastern University to Polk State.

7. Great weather more warmer than cold - You did see it was Florida, right?

8. Southeastern US preferred but not mandatory  (wifey wants easier flight to Germany ) - Also, easy Mooney flights to Key West, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. 

Added benefits: The Detroit Tigers have their spring training in Lakeland, and the Yankees are in Tampa. Jack Brown Seaplane base in Winter Haven (20 minutes from the house) for adding that ASES certification instead of a Flight Review one year. Hawk Aircraft Painting at Tampa Executive airport for keeping the plane looking sharp. For grand-kids or other family visiting, the Orlando world of Disney, Universal, et al. is withing an hour's drive. Oh, yeah, apparently golf is a big thing down there as well, but since I don't play, I often overlook it.

Finally, if I did not want to be at KLAL with the plane, Bartow (KBOW) is about 15 minutes from our house as well. I had put my name in both places for a hangar, and Lakeland hit first. I won't say we chose the place to build our house because it was equidistant between the two airports. 100LL at both is currently running less than $4.10/gal.

But in all fairness to Paul( @gsxrpilot ), I am a Texan by birth, and Smithville would be a fine place as well.

That’s great info, I do like that area, I have a few friends that live on Pilot Country air park (X05) and I do visit a few times a year

[Shiny moose]

15 hours ago, HRM said:

Wilmington, NC meets all that. Wifey and I will be moving there in about a year and a half. Add to your list great beach access and offshore diving.

I will be looking into Wilmington  thanks

[Shiny moose]

17 hours ago, Hank said:

There are so many choices when you aren't tied to a paycheck. Take your time, sample several and see where you fit.

P.S.--in my C, it's an hour's flight to Panama City Beach [go Mooney Summit!] and Gulf Shores, AL, for the whole salt water and sand thing.

I really like to visit  Gulf Shores, we were there a few times in tha last year, Auburn I have not been to in years( since my corporate pilot days) I will check that out.

ThankJeff

 

[Shiny moose]

23 hours ago, MooneyBob said:

We live at the Wing South airpark, Naples Florida. It would check all you boxes. 

20 mins to the Fort Myers with direct flights to Germany. PM me if you need more details. 

I used to travel to Naples quite often in the 90s I guess I have to go back and check it out.

Thanks

Jeff

[Piloto]

I would recommend Spruce Creek in north Florida http://www.7fl6.com/

Besides all the features you want there is cemetery nearby for that last trip.

José

[Rick Junkin]

And out of left field.... 

We live 10 minutes from the airport, and have everything you've mentioned except Southeastern US, in of all places.... wait for it.... St Louis MO. Actually St Charles MO, a suburb of St Louis. We're 3 hours from the Gulf beaches in our TLS/Bravo, and not much further to anything else east of the Rockies. Summers are a bit hot and humid, but winters are fairly short and avoidable by a 3 hour flight to the Gulf beaches. Maybe not perfection, but certainly a place to consider. We really like it here and are planning to stay.

Cheers,
Rick

[Shiny moose]

6 hours ago, Junkman said:

And out of left field.... 

We live 10 minutes from the airport, and have everything you've mentioned except Southeastern US, in of all places.... wait for it.... St Louis MO. Actually St Charles MO, a suburb of St Louis. We're 3 hours from the Gulf beaches in our TLS/Bravo, and not much further to anything else east of the Rockies. Summers are a bit hot and humid, but winters are fairly short and avoidable by a 3 hour flight to the Gulf beaches. Maybe not perfection, but certainly a place to consider. We really like it here and are planning to stay.

Cheers,
Rick

Junckman,

I live in Joplin Mo. yes its hot in the summer, or how about in June (105 yesterday on truck temp gauge), winter can be cold and snow or motorcycle weather . I live 5 min from airport with hanger rent 165 including electric. But we THINK we want different and more. We are not exactly sure what that means. Thanks for your input 

[neilpilot]

On 6/28/2018 at 6:05 AM, Shiny moose said:

Large major airport within 2 hours drive

On 6/27/2018 at 2:17 PM, HRM said:

Wilmington, NC meets all that. Wifey and I will be moving there in about a year and a half. Add to your list great beach access and offshore diving.

We are planning a short visit to visit a cousin who lives in Wilmington NC in late July, and will take a look.  However, I question that Wilmington has a "large major airport" within 2 hours drive.  What am I missing?

[HRM]

15 minutes ago, neilpilot said:

However, I question that Wilmington has a "large major airport" within 2 hours drive.  What am I missing?

Your definition of 'Large Major Airport' 

ILM is not O'hare, Bush or even CLT, but it does hit the major hubs fairly well with directs to LGA (important for my wife and I since both our kids are in Manhattan). The other thing is that it is growing and it is named "Wilmington International Airport".

[neilpilot]

30 minutes ago, HRM said:

Your definition of 'Large Major Airport' 

ILM is not O'hare, Bush or even CLT, but it does hit the major hubs fairly well with directs to LGA (important for my wife and I since both our kids are in Manhattan). The other thing is that it is growing and it is named "Wilmington International Airport".

I used to fly gliders out of a 2400' turf runway at VA85, New Castle International Airport.

[HRM]

3 hours ago, neilpilot said:

New Castle International Airport

The mouse that roared...

[Jim Peace]

On 6/28/2018 at 9:09 PM, Piloto said:

I would recommend Spruce Creek in north Florida http://www.7fl6.com/

Besides all the features you want there is cemetery nearby for that last trip.

José

In escrow there now and will be the new home for my old mooney. 

Probably the best airpark in the USA. 

[flyboy0681]

On 6/27/2018 at 11:45 AM, Oldguy said:

2. Reasonable cost of property taxes, and insurance - houses can be bought/built for reasonable amounts and homesteading your property makes the taxes reasonable. Insurance is not nearly as bad as on either coast, and our ~2,500 sq. ft. 4/3/2 runs <$1AMU/year.
 

I agree with you on just about all of your points about FLA, but are you really paying that little for homeowners insurance? We have slightly more space than you and pay a little over $5k for coverage. Granted we are 15 miles from the coast, but we are not on the coast and the house was constructed using Miami codes and we have full hurricane protection.

 

[Oldguy]

28 minutes ago, flyboy0681 said:

I agree with you on just about all of your points about FLA, but are you really paying that little for homeowners insurance? We have slightly more space than you and pay a little over $5k for coverage. Granted we are 15 miles from the coast, but we are not on the coast and the house was constructed using Miami codes and we have full hurricane protection.

Yeah, I was wondering about the insurance price as well when I got the quote, but everything checked out. I was more familiar with the $5k figure when we lived in Galveston in 1999-2001. It was interesting to me our insurance and property taxes were both in that range, but then again we had 5 acres and were 1/4 mile from the gulf from the front door and 1/4 mile from the bay on the back side of the house. Growing up on the Gulf Coast, I have a healthy respect for hurricanes and the accompanying weather, and I do not want to be caught without coverage.

I think one thing we have going for us is the county where are located does not border the coast. From past experience, it seems no matter how far you are from the shore, they treat all the homes in the county as if they are across the street from the gulf. And your location probably has a higher per sq. ft. price than we are seeing up here.

[Bob_Belville]

We retired several years ago but have little reason to move. We're in small town NC, a short drive to the mountains, 1:15 drive to CHT airport. Maine, Florida, Wisconsin, and Texas are non stop in our old Mooney which is hangared ($250/mo.) 15 minutes away on a fine airport which not coincidentally is the home of my personal MSC.  

[kpaul]

54 minutes ago, Bob_Belville said:

a fine airport which not coincidentally is the home of my personal MSC.  

Wait, does that mean I shouldn't bid on the AGL annual at the Summit?  I would hate to get in between you and your "personal" MSC

[Bob_Belville]

1 hour ago, kpaul said:

Wait, does that mean I shouldn't bid on the AGL annual at the Summit?  I would hate to get in between you and your "personal" MSC

Oh, they have to work on other planes, including non-Mooneys, gasp, from time to time. All I ask is drop-everything-priority. <vbg> Tamara...