A boomer couple left Texas for the retirement of their dreams: 'We were brainwashed that it was the only place to be — it's not'
- Nancy and Jim Cotton, both lifelong Texans, moved to a small town in northern Georgia in 2022.
- The couple was tired of paying high property taxes and wanted a new adventure in retirement.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nancy, 60, and Jim Cotton, 66, who moved to a remote town near Ellijay, Georgia, in 2022 after decades of living in Texas. The essay, which also incorporates quotes from emails between the Cottons and BI, has been edited for length and clarity.
Nancy: I lived in Texas from the age of 16 until I was about 59 — so most of my adult life.
Jim: I grew up in Texas and lived there all but three years.Nancy: There's something very mythical about living in Texas. You just can't imagine living somewhere else. Although we liked living there very much, there wasn't anything in the state that we hadn't done four or five times. Trying something different was definitely appealing.
Nancy: We moved out of Texas in 2022 for several reasons. Sure, the state has no income tax, but when you are retired, the property tax is killer. Our property taxes on our large home were almost $24,000 a year.
Nancy: We wanted a new adventure in retirement, and to live somewhere where we could have the flexibility to stretch our income.
We wanted a new adventure
Nancy: We had always vacationed in the West and really thought we'd move to Colorado or Arizona or New Mexico. Those are all places we loved.
However, we ended up vacationing in Asheville, North Carolina — where my husband's aunt now lives with her husband — and loved it there. But it's kind of like Austin: A lot of people are moving there, and housing prices have gone way up.We were like, "OK, what if we go an hour to three hours out of Asheville. What else is around there?" That's when we stumbled upon Ellijay, Georgia. It's a tourist town that has wineries, apple orchards, and is located in the mountains.
We're saving a lot of money in Georgia
Nancy: We live in a small town about 15 minutes north of downtown Ellijay. It's not a big city and has only about three streets. We are in the mountains off of county roads. My husband and I wanted to live somewhere that was private but not remote.
Jim: The town is 75 miles north of Atlanta and 70 miles southeast of Chattanooga.Nancy: We bought a 2,800-square-foot home there for $696,000 that sits on three acres of land and has views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We have no mortgage and are saving $3,000 a month.The county we live in has a property-tax exemption for seniors on school taxes, so now we only pay $1,599 a year. Our water, which used to run $300 a month in Texas, is part of a community well, so it doesn't cost us anything.Though Georgia has an income tax, they don't tax Social Security and exclude up to $135,000 per couple for most retirement income like pensions and 401(k)s, so we pay barely anything.
Nancy: Before leaving Texas, we were living in a new subdivision in Leander, which was at the edge of the Texas Hill Country. In 2015, we purchased our 4,500-square-foot home for $695,000.
Jim: The neighborhood we lived in was very popular. Its housing prices were rising and the appraisal district was paying attention. Our house was valued at a far higher price than we could ever sell it for — it was really ridiculous.
Nancy: We eventually sold it to Californians at a huge profit, about $1.5 million.
We love our new home
Nancy: Moving to a new place at our age was very frightening. We had never moved across the country, and we were moving to an area where we didn't know anybody — it was a big roll of the dice.
Even so, I would say that we have a better quality of life now. By selling our Texas house at just the right time, we made a big profit. We were able to move to Georgia and buy a home with cash that doesn't have a mortgage, and our property taxes have dropped, too.
Nancy: I think I've had less of a culture shock because it was important to me to stay in the South. I really like it here and it's very pleasant. The people are polite and nice.
Nancy: Living in Texas so long, we were brainwashed that it was the only place to be — it's not.
I love Texas and the Austin area. It has great opportunities, especially when you're younger, in terms of employment and the cost of living. But I think, when you're our age and retired, there are other places to look at.