For all of its selling points, Eufaula's best one may be that it offers a high quality of life at an affordable price.  It is a quiet oasis in a hectic world and has a cost of living roughly 20% below the national average.  The median home price for a single family home is just $130,000, also well below the national median.   A few single family homes are for sale for less than $100,000, but inventory opens up in mid-$100,000s.  Very nice larger dwellings, in the 2,500 to 3,000 square foot range, can be found in the high-$100,000s.   Country club homes start in the low-$200,000s, and renovated historic homes are generally priced in the $300,000s.   Lakefront single family homes typically start in the high-$300,000s, but a few lakefront condominiums and mobile homes on private land can be found for sale in the $200,000s.  

Apartments are few, but there are six mobile/manufactured home parks, including Grandview Mobile Home Park and Cedar Grove Mobile Home Park, in and around town.  None are age-restricted.

Eufaula property is taxed at a rate of 44 mills (.044), and real estate is assessed at 20% of its fair market value.    Homeowners 65 and better are exempt from all county property taxes, and a homestead exemption of up to $5,000 of assessed value on real property is granted to all residents.  A larger exemption is available to persons over 65.   Without exemptions, the annual property tax on a $130,000 home is approximately $1,145.  Social Security, military, civil service, state/local government and qualified private pensions are exempt from state tax.  Overall, Alabama has one of the lowest tax burdens in the country.

This is an interactive map.  Click on the arrows in the upper left hand corner to navigate the map and click on the +/- signs to zoom in and out.

Walter F. George Reservoir, south and east of town and navigable to the Intracoastal Waterway, is known as Lake Eufaula by locals and as the "Big Bass Capital of the World" by others.  With 640 miles of shoreline, the lake is the recreation center in the area and draws water skiers, boaters, picnickers, sailors, and of course, fishermen and women.   It is also true that alligators enjoy the lake.  Just something to keep in mind.   Nearby Lake Point State Park provides even more recreation venues, including tennis courts, picnic areas, rental cabins and hiking trails.  Birders and hikers also enjoy the 11,000-acre Eufaula Wildlife Refuge, home to several endangered bird species and located on both sides of the Chattahoochee River.  For golfers, Eufaula has three courses, one private (Eufaula Country Club) and two public.

In 1834, Eufaula's four main downtown streets were named Livingston, Orange, Randolph and Eufaula, creating the acronym LORE, and today the Seth Lore and Irwin Historic District has more than 700 structures on the National Register of Historic Places.   Included are the 1884 Shorter Mansion, an outstanding example of Neoclassical Revival architecture, and the 1854 Creek Revival Couric-Smith house (which once belonged to CBS television anchor Katie Couric's great-grandfather).  A favorite historic building is the Old City Jail, which was originally divided into two cells - one for men and one for, yes, “women and lunatics."   Each year the Eufaula Heritage Association sponsors the town's biggest event, the Eufaula Pilgrimage and Antique Show, and a tour of the town's oldest and most impressive homes.  

Eufaula is off the beaten path and has the ambiance that only an authentic, small Southern town can have.   Moss draped trees line quiet streets.   Stately neighborhoods with elegant pre-Civil War mansions evoke an earlier era.   Springtime dogwoods, magnolias and azaleas paint open spaces and parks in pink and white.    Homemade sweet tea is sipped on front porches.    Time flattens during languid summer days.   Residents help out a neighbor when needed, and old fashioned values are cherished and preserved.

Shopping is a bit limited, but there is a Wal-Mart.  Dining options consist primarily of family-style restaurants, fast food joints and cafes.   Wallace Community College offers vocational subjects, and  least 67 churches can be found (most are Baptist).  There is no public transportation.  

There are a few drawbacks to retirement in Eufaula.   Cultural amenities are not the town's strongest suit.  Getting here takes a little time and patience (the closest interstate highway is 50 miles away and the closest sizeable city, Dothan, Alabama with a population 65,000, is 45 miles away).   Summer weather is sticky (some might say oppressive).  The population is declining rather than growing, and the poverty rate is above the national average. 

For those seeking a quiet, Southern retirement, however, Eufaula entices.  In many ways, time here seems to have stood still, and life carries on at a leisurely pace.   And to many people, this is exactly what retirement is supposed to be.

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