Where should I move?

A big problem right now is that supply is low and demand is high. If I was just a healthy old guy sitting around watching TV, moving would be easy. In fact, I wouldn't have sold my beach house and would have moved there; but, no motorcycles allowed.

I want/need a bigger shop, single story house, with room to breath, and without govt/HOA telling me what I can and can't do on my property. I am spending a LOT of time looking daily. Moving will be a royal PITA so I want to be sure it makes sense. There is no room in my current house that doesn't have motorcycle parts and some have motorcycles. My shop is packed.

I've found a few places in TX that might have worked, but they already have contracts or were still listed but already sold.
You have to move FAST. Texas is in HIGH demand
 
Thought the Great State was huge GP .... we study other Countries in our school system up here ....
 
One thing to remember is you are not young and you will not have vast amount of time left so the threat of people moving in and ruining your life are less important.
Texas has the advantage of size. Lots of places to look at.
I remember speaking to Clubman and he was going to move out of CT. I moved and it is
what you have to do.
 
If you stuck on staying in your homeland and there nothing wrong with that .... we spent a week in Asheville NC a while back , absolutely the best ride area I have visited other than where I live .... I would heartily recommend taking a serious look , folks were very polite and extremely friendly a big plus .... if I wasn’t Canadian I would have a hard time not to move there ... good luck in your search !!! can’t say I blame you for wanting to move on given your reasoning ....
When I first started looking, the corridor between Charlotte, VA and Asheville, NC is where I was looking (basically along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Interstates 81, 26, and 40). There's just nothing for sale there that works. I could buy land and build, but that was more attractive when I was much younger. That whole area is great for riding, especially the Blue Ridge Parkway.
 
One thing to remember is you are not young and you will not have vast amount of time left ...
Trust me, I know. One reason I need to not be far into the countryside is that although I'm fine now, I've been in the hospital 8 times since 2012, three life-threatening, and one when I wasn't expected to make it. All men in their 70s have relatively little good time left. In hindsight, I should have moved when my wife died, now I'm eight years older and it's getting harder.

I barely missed a place in AL that was perfect. Coffee county has no planning and zoning. Enterprise, AL is a nice sized town with hospital and stores but does have planning and zoning and is in Coffee county. There was a place that matched everything I need and was few hundred feet outside the city limits. It was listed one day and gone the next before the Realtor even returned my call. I looked there becuase I probably have a lot of family (that I don't know) still living in that area since my father was born tere.
 
Maybe pick your 3 preferred areas , contact realtor and have them get antennas up for properties that maybe coming to market , so you can get a heads up , before hand ... folks do that around here regularly , good luck !
 
For some months now, I've been looking for somewhere to move. Why? I live 8 miles SW of Washington DC - you can't even watch the weather without hearing about politics! More importantly, it is no fun to ride in this area and simple things like machine shops do not exist. I'm thinking warmer winters, less government, and definitely less busy body communities and governments deciding what I can do on my own property. I found the perfect place in Ormond Beach, FL, but their zoning disallows my motorcycle business and that seems true in most of FL. Lately I've been focusing on Georgia even though I know little about the state. Anywhere I move must either have a LARGE shop or room to build one. So, I'm looking for recommendations.

I have family in DC, Annapolis and St. Michaels. The ones in DC and Annapolis all sound like you in terms of commuting.

Arkansas has some of best riding roads in the lower half. Same with Louisiana. I don't know about living there, I have only visited.
Tennessee and Kentucky have some great landscape and mind your own biz governmental authority.

I have buddy who lives on Ocracoke Island NC and swears by the convenience and great roads for his 550 Honda.
 
snipped I found the perfect place in Ormond Beach, FL, but their zoning disallows my motorcycle business and that seems true in most of FL. snipped
Wrong part of the state. Most of Florida is flat and over populated. Here in SE Florida, you risk your life riding in the winter. To many snow birds who don't know how to drive. The area around Lakeland, Florida is beautiful. Mostly rural, with hills! OMG, there's actually a section of Florida that isn't flat. I've even seen houses with a basement there. Tampa is about 30 miles away, but health care is very good all over the state. If you like airplanes, Lakeland hosts Sun N' Fun [Oshkosh light] every spring. As you probably already know, no state income tax.
 
Greg reconsider NC i live just west of charlotte in belmont (avoid charlotte at all costs) but Lincoln and Cleveland counties west and north of me have open space and small towns and not much congestion that's where i ride my bikes
 
Of course I'm partial to Texas.... Oklahoma & Arkansas have some major beauty and good folks also... Louisiana is just too Louisiana and muggy wet. New Mex, Arizona, Cali, Oregon, Wa you can keep.... BC now that I could take a sizeable helping of.... Ak is pretty, but my old carcass couldn't take the winter anymore.... So it looks like I'll die where I was born.
 
Maybe pick your 3 preferred areas , contact realtor and have them get antennas up for properties that maybe coming to market , so you can get a heads up , before hand ... folks do that around here regularly , good luck !
I actually have many more than three looking or who at least say they are. Years ago, I was a Realtor and my mother was for many years - it shocks me when I call and leave a message or email and don't get a call or email back for 2-3 day or not at all. I guess they have more work than they can handle right now.
 
Oh , too bad that how it is , keep trying will work eventually
 
Trust me, I know. One reason I need to not be far into the countryside is that although I'm fine now, I've been in the hospital 8 times since 2012, three life-threatening, and one when I wasn't expected to make it. All men in their 70s have relatively little good time left. In hindsight, I should have moved when my wife died, now I'm eight years older and it's getting harder.

I barely missed a place in AL that was perfect. Coffee county has no planning and zoning. Enterprise, AL is a nice sized town with hospital and stores but does have planning and zoning and is in Coffee county. There was a place that matched everything I need and was few hundred feet outside the city limits. It was listed one day and gone the next before the Realtor even returned my call. I looked there becuase I probably have a lot of family (that I don't know) still living in that area since my father was born tere.
Then there’s the Birmingham area. Then you wouldn’t have an excuse for ever missing the Vintage Festival.
 
Update...

Still looking, like the TX idea but can find nothing that works. VA, NC, SC, and AL have been targets all along, but again, nothing that works. FL turned out to be a bust every time I found a place that would work.

I found a newly listed place about an hour south of Atlanta - more inland than I wanted, and the house is bigger than I wanted, but the 40' x 80' shop with electricity is enticing! It is a single story house - good, has 1gb Internet - critical, has an attached 2-car oversized garage - good, has 3 acres - good, both hospital and shopping are less than 15 minutes away - good enough, and by Virginia standards is nearly free.

For those pushing for AU or NZ - love the idea, but would move to Germany if leaving the country - lived there a long time and really liked it.

Trying to arrange a road trip to see it this weekend.

So, right now I have way too many projects - can't get half of them in the 720 sq ft shop (they are in the house). How long will it take me to fill 3200 sq ft if I buy the place :D
 
Update...
I found a newly listed place about an hour south of Atlanta - more inland than I wanted, and the house is bigger than I wanted, but the 40' x 80' shop with electricity is enticing! It is a single story house - good, has 1gb Internet - critical, has an attached 2-car oversized garage - good, has 3 acres - good, both hospital and shopping are less than 15 minutes away - good enough, and by Virginia standards is nearly free.
Shoot, that sounds REAL nice!

Garage big enough for an ultralight, and as long as that 3 acres is "long-ish", plenty of room to take off and land!
 
Shoot, that sounds REAL nice!

Garage big enough for an ultralight, and as long as that 3 acres is "long-ish", plenty of room to take off and land!
Might buy a KitFox kit and STOL in and out of there :) Wish I had followed through and got my pilot's license when I a 16. Could get it now, my stepson is instructor qualified.
 
For very selfish reasons, i vote for staying put (at least for the next 6 months)
 
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