The hangover from the pandemic remains. Most high quality and popular golf communities in the Southeast have the skinniest inventories of homes for sale in their histories. A few examples will suffice.

The 10 golf communities comprising the Pawleys Island market area show a total of 43 properties for sale. These include just three at Pawleys Plantation – listed at Realtor.com -- that are not either sold or in contingent status, awaiting financing or other conditions to be met. I count five homes at Realtor.com for sale at The Reserve at Pawleys Island and four at the Heritage Club. Porters Neck Plantation in Wilmington has just two homes for sale and five homesites. In the 8,000-acre Savannah community known as The Landings, just 11 homes are currently for sale. I could write more, but you get the point.

This paints a pessimistic picture for those searching in earnest for a golf community home in a warm weather location. But there are some popular and well-rated golf communities in the Southeast with a good selection of properties for sale. The long-standing private Champion Hills community in Hendersonville, NC, for example, currently lists eight homes for sale ranging in price from $695,000 to $2 million. Those considering building their dream golf home will find 28 lots for sale, ranging in price from $17,500 to $149,900, that latter homesite located on Bobby Jones Drive and the 5th fairway of the Tom Fazio designed golf course. As if Bobby Jones Drive is not a conversation piece, the lot is currently owned by Mr. Fazio himself.

There seems to be an abundance of properties for sale in the communities surrounding Greenville, SC, a city that ranks highly with retirees aiming for a golfing lifestyle. In Travelers Rest, just 18 minutes north of the city and close to the beautiful campus of Furman University – excellent public golf course as well – more than 75 properties are listed for sale among four communities, two of them part of the Cliffs group of communities. Cliffs Valley and Cliffs at Mountain Park are showing a total of 67 properties for sale, Green Valley just three properties but reasonably priced, and Cherokee Valley with just one home for sale (pending financing) at $550,000, but 12 lots priced from $31,500 to a high of $89,500.

The following is a selection of popular golf markets in South Carolina, with a list of golf communities in each and the total number of properties currently for sale. I have visited virtually all of these communities and written about them. In many cases, I have helped people find a home there. If you are interested in any of these in the Palmetto State or in any of the other Southeast states, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Aiken (6 communities, 69 listings)
Houndslake Golf Club, Palmetto Golf Club, Aiken Golf Club, Golf Club at Cedar Creek, The Reserve at Woodside Plantation and Woodside Plantation Country Club

Daufuskie Island ( 3 communities, 31 listings)
Haig Point, Melrose, and Bloody Point (Note: Majority of properties (27) at Haig Point; the golf courses at Bloody Point and Melrose filed for bankruptcy and have closed).

McCormick (1 large community, Savannah Lakes Village, 44 listings)

Seabrook Island (1 community, Seabrook Island, with 13 listings)

Sunset (2 communities, 22 listings)
The Cliffs at Keowee Vineyard and The Reserve at Lake Keowee

Travelers Rest (4 communities, see above, 75 listings)

Westminster (1 community, Chickasaw Point, mostly lots, some homes in $300s)

The worst way to start a search for a golf community home, or any home for that matter, is by consulting any of the many “best states to live” lists. The criteria for ranking states is all over the place, and the lists themselves confusing one to the next. The close-second worst way to start a search is by taking seriously any “best communities” list.

Florida is considered by many the sine qua non of retirement states, but its rankings bounce all over best-of lists on the Internet. Sure, if you want to keep all of your retirement income from the greedy clutches of the state in which you choose to reside, Florida and its zero-income-tax approach is a great choice. But even better is Alaska, which offers the lowest overall tax rates, including property and sales as well as income tax. Therefore, if protecting your income is paramount, you move to Alaska, right?

What happens when other considerations, including winter temperatures, impose themselves? TopAgency.com factors in eight categories to calculate which states are best to live in; they include Affordability, Crime & Safety, Economy, Education, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Opportunity and Quality of Life. On that list, Florida finishes 9th behind the notoriously high-cost states of Vermont (#2 on the list), Massachusetts (#5) and, believe it or not, New Jersey (#7). Those last two states have been sending hundreds of thousands of retirees down Interstate 95 to Florida for five decades.

Florida is a great choice for those allergic to cold winters up north but your lifestyle will take a hit during sweltering Florida summers; either hang out in your air-conditioned Sunshine State home or flee to cooler climes, like Asheville, NC or the northern tier of the nation. Choosing the latter two-home solution, of course, erodes the savings that Florida’s income-tax rate provides.

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After drafting the above article, I stumbled over – and through – another best-of list, this one at Niche.com. Its 2022 Best Places to Retire list is a headscratcher. Not surprisingly for such retiree lists, Niche’s top 10 is dominated by Florida cities, seven in all. Number 6 on the list is Dutch Island, GA, a suburb of Savannah. Balmy winter weather is heavily weighted to determine its rankings, but #2 on the Niche list is Lake Success, NY, and #10 is Leland Grove, IL, a suburb of Springfield. Baby it’s cold outside in both places in January.

Niche explains how it comes up with its rankings but, frankly, the site also considers too heavily the general financial status of local retirees and, secondarily, winter temperatures. The top community on its list, Pelican Bay in the Naples, FL, area, shows average home values just over $1 million and, of course, the weather during winter is near perfect. Lake Success (see above) shows average home prices of almost $1.3 million. Winter weather leaves something to be desired. Conclusion: If you can’t afford a home of $800,000 or higher, skip Niche.com’s list. In fact, skip all the best-of lists.