Yesterday, while lounging around the pool and day dreaming, my wife and I started talking about what to do when we retire (we’re looking at about 10 years before this comes to pass).
She lived in Charleston, SC for several years and loved it and would like to go back to the area; however, Charleston real estate is expensive now, much less what’ll cost in 10 years. After giving it some hazy thought (this being the 4th and the margarittas being particularly tasty), we decided that Wilmington, NC might not be a bad spot. The beach is close (an absolute must - not a negotiable point with either of us), it is within a reasonable driving distance of family we’d be leaving here in VA, and it we’ve read some good reports about the area in general.
Does anyone have any first hand experience with Wilmington or the surrounding area?
My mother grew up in Wilmington, and my dad’s family has an old, beat-up cottage down at Wrightsville Beach, so I spent a lot of my childhood down there. Unfortunately, I’ve not been back in several years (although I’ll be going later this summer).
From what I remember, Wilmington itself is not a particularly noteworthy town: there was nothing about it that I loved, no areas that were perfect for walking. Wrightsville Beach is better. It’s a very thin island, bordered by the Atlantic on one side and the sound on the other (and when I say it’s thin, I mean you can walk from the ocean to the sound in less than five minutes). One end of the beach is Shell Island: after being way overdeveloped, the beach was extended by a good distance, and I think that end of the beach is now off-limits to development (it’s called Shell Island, I believe, because prior to a big hurricane a few decades ago an inlet separated it from Wrightsville).
There’s also a really cool island nearby, Masonboro Island. It’s also uninhabited and is great for swimming, if you’re willing to cross a short but very dangerous inlet to get there (it’s fine if you’re in a boat, but the undertow there kills people pretty often when they foolishly go for a swim).
I’d definitely recommend taking a visit to the area. Charleston has better historical stuff and prettier architecture, but it also has crazy temperatures that IME aren’t quite reached in Wilmington/Wrightsville.
My parents retired to Swansboro, which is about an hour north of Wilmington, near Jacksonville and Emerald Isle. They built a beautiful house right on the water (my husband and I were married in their backyard). They sold it about eight years later and moved to Florida because they weren’t happy there. The big complaint was lack of “civilization” - they moved from the D.C. area and they weren’t used to the lack of big-city life. Wilmington itself would be better than where they were, but it still probably runs at a slower pace than they liked. Wilmington always struck me as not having much soul. My father decided that there was still too much snow there for his liking. So, they’re in FL now, but they’re going to move
back up to NC to be closer to the rest of the family.
Having been to both cities, I think I would prefer Charleston. More personality. It does get stinkin’ hot, though.
My wife went to college in Wilmington and absolutely loved it. The proximity to the beach was a huge plus for her, but she also said the town was pretty good. It has a fairly large film industry, so you may see some celebrities there. There’s also a decent amount of good restaurants and artistic stuff to do there. I’ve only been there twice but my impression of it was favorable.
As far as the surrounding area, my in-laws live in Jacksonville, about an hour away from Wilmington. Jacksonville isn’t really much of a town (it’s more of an outgrowth of Camp Lejeune) but the areas around it are pretty nice. I like it rural and if you want to buy a few acres that are both fairly isolated and yet close to a fair size town like Wilmington, you could do that and not pay too much.
All in all, that area of North Carolina is pretty decent in my opinion, especially for retirement purposes.
Another place you may want to consider is Beaufort. It’s nearby, it’s a little more touristy and a lot smaller, it’s got an island nearby with wild horses and very few people (which makes it good for skinnydipping), and it’s pretty freakin’ beautiful.
To piggyback on Left Hand, Beaufort is a sweet little town, worth checking out. Be aware, though, that there’s a coastal Beaufort (pronounced bo-fert), North Carolina and a coastal Beaufort (pronounced bew-furd), South Carolina. It can get a touch confusing if you’re not from the region. Both are nice places, though I slightly prefer the NC Beaufort.
If you decide to buy property on or near the coast, one thing to be really careful about is to check out what kind of insurance you can get on your property and how much it costs. I know several people who live in NC and SC coastal areas (Jacksonville and Charleston, specifically) who have either had their insurance cancelled or had it go sky-high as a result of skittishness on the part of insurance companies in the wake of Katrina, Rita and the general beating Florida has been taking over the last 10-15 years. Federal flood insurance may be the only thing you can get for flooding (which is limited in its payout), and some companies are also excluding wind damage from their coverage now.
We hang out at Ocean Isle Beach sometimes, which isn’t far from there. I’ve gotten the impression that there are a fair amount of retirees in OIB - a goodly number of them occupy themselves tracking / relocating / monitoring Loggerhead Turtle nests. Definitely full of tourists in the summer (like me!), but mostly residential… lots of beach houses.
There are lots of restaurants there, including on the mainland, plus decent groceries, golf, a planetarium, etc…
I have limited experience with Wilmington, but was a little surprised at finding a quaint area near downtown with brick streets, etc… Nice. (We were visiting an exhibit of poisonous snakes, which is not likely to be a reason to relocate somewhere…)
Thanks, everyone, for the comments, suggestions, etc.
We’ve mapped out our tour for the fall and will be visiting Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah. Somewhere along there will probably work out pretty well (yes, I know it’s early, but I’ve got some money stashed away and would like to buy the real estate sooner rather than later).
I lived in Wilmington from 1992-1996. Even though I now live only a few hours away, I’ve never had any reason to ever go back. On the other hand, the few times I’ve gone though Savannah I’ve been very favorably impressed.