Hi all,

   I'm just starting to think about retirement in a few years and am thinking about settling in North Carolina, probably central, near the Triangle Park region. Can anyone offer any suggestions about where to consider, ponds, lakes, or realtors? Not looking for a $200K waterfront lot, but perhaps a community with lake access, slips etc.

   Thanks for any thoughts.

NC has some great lakes, ive been dying to get down there this summer but it hasnt worked out for me yet, but me and my brother in law are planning a night of fishing on gaston lake and a night on kerr lake. you should also look into falls lake. i dont know if this is going to help you any, as im not familiar with the real estate in NC, but i do know there is some great fishing there, especially at gaston and kerr. dont know how true it is, but when i was a kid i heard stories of some divers studying kerr and said there were catfish in there big enough to eat humans...

    Check into Badin Lake, North Carolina.  It is right outside the triangle in Asheboro.  It looks great there and the fishing is fantastic.

Anything within launch distance from one of the Catawba rivers is great as well. Do a google on "Duke power Lake Wylie access" you should find their page that lets you link to all the lakes on that chain.

When you get bored of that we have got a ton of awesome trout streams in the mountains.

I fish Wylie and I have gotten a ton of Bass out of it this year.

I live in Durham and have just started fishing again. I would recommend you look at Holly Springs as it is still very reasonably priced and is starting to grow a bit. I would look at homes on Avent Farms rd which goes out to Harris Lake. I was down there for a triathlon last weekend and was very impressed with the park facilities and the lake. Jordan Lake and Falls would probably be more expensive but closer to the cities. You should also look at the town of Bahama just north of Durham as Lake Michie in town is supposed to have some great bass fishing but no swimming or recreational boating. If you're into golf look for some foreclosures in Treyburn - great golf course. Also several foreclosures in Black Horse Run - good deals I've heard from friends.

I'm not a real estate agent but while researching our house 1.5 years ago I found I soon knew a lot more than our worthless moron agent who got 3% for pushing a few papers around.

Good Luck,

Thanks all for the tips. Visiting next weekend, I'll start looking around!