Clump
Active Member
We moved from Frederick, MD to lower, slower Felton, DE in December 2021.
Here's my original thread - https://www.mdshooters.com/threads/moving-to-delaware.258507/
Adjusted pretty well, pretty quickly. Did a bunch of things to the house that made it our own and added value. We have great neighbors and the people you run into are VERY friendly. Somebody told me that Felton is 15 minutes from everything and that's spot on.
My office is in Rockville. I haven't had to go too often and yes, if I leave Felton at 5am I can be at my desk before 7. I did have 1 instance of Bay Bridge trouble that took an extra hour, but for the most part the beltway is the problem, especially coming home.
I was so happy to walk in Cabela's and walk out 30 minutes later with a new handgun. No 7 day wait! Then DE said "Hey Maryland, hold my beer!" and started passing dumb ass, unconstitutional laws. It was nice for the short time it lasted.
I didn't understand that MD and DE don't have a reciprocal agreement. Because my income is from MD I still pay MD income tax. I was paying estimated tax to DE. I ended up writing a large check to MD, including an underpayment penalty, and some day will get a large refund from DE. They sure are taking their time! This is my fault for assuming and not doing my homework.
2022 went pretty well.
2023 has been a shit storm.
Not to go too far down this rabbit hole, but it is very important. My partner was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2009. We were told then she had less than 1 year. Chemo and radiation kept it at bay until November 2022 when it started coming back. By March 2023 it was raging. She had surgery March 13. Confirmed it was grade 4 GBM. She died on April 9. Yes, it sucks more than you can imagine. She was my best friend. 4 months later I'm doing OK. I have a lot of support and some fantastic friends that are local (Cheswold).
A couple of weeks ago it was announced that we will be returning to the office 3 days/week. I sure can't do the commute 3 days a week. Several people have very kindly offered for me to stay at their homes, but I have a dog and a house and no one to look after it if I'm not home. We made the move knowing that someday this would happen and I would need to retire. That day has come. My last day is September 8. I was planning to retire in the spring of 2025, so really only pulled me up 18 months. I just didn't expect to be doing this alone.
My family is mostly all in Northeast PA. I'm thinking about a move to PA, but wondering when their laws will go Maryland style. Right now it's great, but there's a lot of potential for it to turn. Either way, I really can't sell the house until her estate is closed, so there's time to figure it out. I still love the house and the area. Going to OBX from here is a breeze, no I95! Going back to Frederick is very Bay Bridge dependent, especially summer weekends and going north involves getting around Philadelphia, which can be a challenge. I'm also still really pissed off about the crazy stupid gun laws they've passed in the last year.
Other than a major health issue that would have happened either way the move was pretty successful. The courts seem to be slow walking challenges to the new laws, but I guess that's expected.
I'm not posting this looking for a pity party. I'm in good financial shape for retirement and trying to recover from a terrible loss. I thought it was a good time for an update with big changes afoot.
Here's my original thread - https://www.mdshooters.com/threads/moving-to-delaware.258507/
Adjusted pretty well, pretty quickly. Did a bunch of things to the house that made it our own and added value. We have great neighbors and the people you run into are VERY friendly. Somebody told me that Felton is 15 minutes from everything and that's spot on.
My office is in Rockville. I haven't had to go too often and yes, if I leave Felton at 5am I can be at my desk before 7. I did have 1 instance of Bay Bridge trouble that took an extra hour, but for the most part the beltway is the problem, especially coming home.
I was so happy to walk in Cabela's and walk out 30 minutes later with a new handgun. No 7 day wait! Then DE said "Hey Maryland, hold my beer!" and started passing dumb ass, unconstitutional laws. It was nice for the short time it lasted.
I didn't understand that MD and DE don't have a reciprocal agreement. Because my income is from MD I still pay MD income tax. I was paying estimated tax to DE. I ended up writing a large check to MD, including an underpayment penalty, and some day will get a large refund from DE. They sure are taking their time! This is my fault for assuming and not doing my homework.
2022 went pretty well.
2023 has been a shit storm.
Not to go too far down this rabbit hole, but it is very important. My partner was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2009. We were told then she had less than 1 year. Chemo and radiation kept it at bay until November 2022 when it started coming back. By March 2023 it was raging. She had surgery March 13. Confirmed it was grade 4 GBM. She died on April 9. Yes, it sucks more than you can imagine. She was my best friend. 4 months later I'm doing OK. I have a lot of support and some fantastic friends that are local (Cheswold).
A couple of weeks ago it was announced that we will be returning to the office 3 days/week. I sure can't do the commute 3 days a week. Several people have very kindly offered for me to stay at their homes, but I have a dog and a house and no one to look after it if I'm not home. We made the move knowing that someday this would happen and I would need to retire. That day has come. My last day is September 8. I was planning to retire in the spring of 2025, so really only pulled me up 18 months. I just didn't expect to be doing this alone.
My family is mostly all in Northeast PA. I'm thinking about a move to PA, but wondering when their laws will go Maryland style. Right now it's great, but there's a lot of potential for it to turn. Either way, I really can't sell the house until her estate is closed, so there's time to figure it out. I still love the house and the area. Going to OBX from here is a breeze, no I95! Going back to Frederick is very Bay Bridge dependent, especially summer weekends and going north involves getting around Philadelphia, which can be a challenge. I'm also still really pissed off about the crazy stupid gun laws they've passed in the last year.
Other than a major health issue that would have happened either way the move was pretty successful. The courts seem to be slow walking challenges to the new laws, but I guess that's expected.
I'm not posting this looking for a pity party. I'm in good financial shape for retirement and trying to recover from a terrible loss. I thought it was a good time for an update with big changes afoot.
