Charlotte, N.C.’s low cost of living helped place it near the top of the 50 best metro areas for retirement in recent rankings performed separately by MagnifyMoney (#4) and Bankrate (#13), but retirees moving to the “Queen City” could face sticker shock.

“The Charlotte area, while a much better area for cost of living than somewhere like New Jersey or New York City, can still be quite expensive depending on location,” said Cheryl Sherrard, director of financial planning at Clearview Wealth Management in Charlotte.

The city is in the midst of a booming housing market, she said, as its gentrification and influx of millennials continue. In some neighborhoods, bidding wars are occurring and small, pricey homes are being knocked down and replaced with McMansions, she said.

“A $500,000 nest egg is definitely doable here in Charlotte, assuming your home is paid off and you are also collecting a decent amount of Social Security benefits or other pension income,” she said. “However, it isn’t enough to afford you luxury living.”

Luxury living in Charlotte typically includes a house close to uptown (the city center) that’s worth $1 million or more, she said, or maybe a home on Lake Norman, where waterfront properties start at $1 million and up. Then there are the extras, she said, noting that some lakefront dwellers have their own helicopters and floatplanes.

Retirees with larger houses in Charlotte’s outlying areas can’t really downsize to smaller homes for lesser costs, she said, because townhomes and condos near the city sport high price tags and high condo association fees. Apartment rents are also rising near uptown, which offers high-end shops, museums and performing arts venues. Many people seeking less expensive housing and lower taxes are moving to surrounding counties (such as Union County) and across the state line to South Carolina, she said.

Jeff Carbone, a managing partner at Cornerstone Wealth Group in greater Charlotte, said retirees withdrawing $20,000 a year from a $500,000 nest egg and collecting another $40,000 to $50,000 a year in Social Security and a pension should be able to afford to buy a house in the $300,000 to $350,000 range. A $400,000 to $450,000 home and a $100,000-plus annual lifestyle requires a portfolio of at least $1 million, he added.

However, Charlotte is “definitely a seller’s market, like much of the Southeast,” he said, so houses in the $250,000 to $500,000 range aren’t staying on the market for long.

Retirees relocating from the Northeast may save on property taxes and auto insurance, said Carbone, but “halfbacks” moving from Florida, where the cost structure is similar, will start shouldering state income tax. Some of his clients maintain primary residences in Florida and have mountain homes in Asheville, Blowing Rock and Boone, N.C.

“If you like the mountains, we’ve got the mountains,” he said, “and if you like the coast, we’ve got the coast.”

First « 1 2 » Next