Question Tell me the TRUTH.....

[Raydawg]

There are alternatives to south and central Florida. Take a look at the Florida Panhandle (it's like a whole different country). Then, there's Alabama's gulf coast, also known as the Redneck Riviera, and southern Georgia. You may not be really close to the kids, but that may not be a bad thing. You sure enough wouldn't be a whole country away!

Well I just booked us a flight into Miami in June, arriving around 5pm, with the idea of heading north up to Pompano Beach and staying a day, then going north heading to St. Augustine with the option to stop or continue the 300 miles. Then we'll head west, maybe stop inland, or go to the Gulf Coast, ending up in the Clearwater-Tampa area, dropping off the rental and flying out from there home. Taking 8 days, hopefully it will be a learning experience...... either way the kids inheritance just got a few K lighter. OH, BTW, it will be my brides BIG SEVEN-OH, and we would celebrate that too along the journey, hopefully we can find a special place along the way.

THANK YOU ALL for your help!!!!!

 

[Raydawg]

I lived in SoCal for years, the weather is not the same.

I lived in SoCal my first 50......
When you could actually see the ocean from PCH.
You're right, the weather isn't the same, however the meth heads are......

 

[sanda]

Well if I want my laundry done and meals cooked, yeah I guess I am willing to bring my wife too

If you left her at home you'd have to kiss her goodbye.

 

[Chargerman]

It’s hard to beat going to the beach, boating and playing golf in February.

 

[Underboss]

Well I just booked us a flight into Miami in June, arriving around 5pm, with the idea of heading north up to Pompano Beach and staying a day, then going north heading to St. Augustine with the option to stop or continue the 300 miles. Then we'll head west, maybe stop inland, or go to the Gulf Coast, ending up in the Clearwater-Tampa area, dropping off the rental and flying out from there home. Taking 8 days, hopefully it will be a learning experience...... either way the kids inheritance just got a few K lighter. OH, BTW, it will be my brides BIG SEVEN-OH, and we would celebrate that too along the journey, hopefully we can find a special place along the way.

THANK YOU ALL for your help!!!!!

I went down to Miami to help a friend two times in the last two weeks. I would never move there, its worse then living in LA. The Melbourne/Viera area is getting a little crowded but a beautiful area, right off 95. I live in an rv community 25 miles north of Viera. Everything from rv spots to ports to Rv Garage homes in a double gated community.
If you are looking at any rv homes, be careful, there is a builder who makes them look great but cheap windows are used and lots of heat/ac loss.
The St Augustine area and Jacksonville have beautiful areas but the utilities, water/sewer are extremely high compared to other areas as are the property taxes.
If you have any questions, send a message and I will send my number. I have been in FL since 2019 and lived in a few areas whether a home or rv.
Enjoy the trip and the hunt
PS They are trying to get rid of property taxes here, if that happens real estate prices will rise

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Be sure to take time to understand:
- weather, both humidity and temps
- cost of housing, initial capital, property taxes and insurance. FL has some good property tax cap laws in place that manage annual increases, but what the prior owner paid vs what you may pay as a new Floridian can be night and day different. Insurance is increasing dramatically every year.
- Florida is a “melting pot” of people from all over the country, take time to get to know an area. Consider renting before buying.
- HOAs are the norm, the general idea is to protect your community but how it plays out can vary dramatically, with some HOA leaders acting like they should control everything - are you allowed to put a potted plant on your front porch if you want? Impacts the overall community tone and friendliness.

 

[Raydawg]

If you left her at home you'd have to kiss her goodbye.

I'll take your advice into submission, Gee......how much time do I have to decide sanda?

 

[Holdmybeer]

Be sure to take time to understand:
- weather, both humidity and temps
- cost of housing, initial capital, property taxes and insurance. FL has some good property tax cap laws in place that manage annual increases, but what the prior owner paid vs what you may pay as a new Floridian can be night and day different. Insurance is increasing dramatically every year.
- Florida is a “melting pot” of people from all over the country, take time to get to know an area. Consider renting before buying.
- HOAs are the norm, the general idea is to protect your community but how it plays out can vary dramatically, with some HOA leaders acting like they should control everything - are you allowed to put a potted plant on your front porch if you want? Impacts the overall community tone and friendliness.

Know too, like there are two Louisiana's ( North and South of the Alexandria line of demarcation), the only resemblance North and especially NW Fla. have to South Florida is the color of their license plate. North Florida and NW Florida are really just Southern Georgia and Alabama. The " Redneck Riviera" refers to the stretch of clear water and white sand stretching from Panama City Beach west to Gulf Shores, Ala. It was once the vacation and weekend destination mostly for Alabama and Georgia hell raisers, especially PCB. When I was a kid there in the 60's Destin was a fishing pier with a couple of seine boats and one stop light.

 

[Raydawg]

Know too, like there are two Louisiana's ( North and South of the Alexandria line of demarcation), the only resemblance North and especially NW Fla. have to South Florida is the color of their license plate. North Florida and NW Florida are really just Southern Georgia and Alabama. The " Redneck Riviera" refers to the stretch of clear water and white sand stretching from Panama City Beach west to Gulf Shores, Ala. It was once the vacation and weekend destination mostly for Alabama and Georgia hell raisers, especially PCB. When I was a kid there in the 60's Destin was a fishing pier with a couple of seine boats and one stop light.

At this point in time where and if will depend on where the kids end up, and we will follow so as to be close by, that is the whole point of all of this insanity, minutes away, not hours

 

[Scooterfan]

If I read your initial post correctly, you are already quite a distance from your family. So your visits are occasional. I have always wanted to be close to family and we are blessed to be with a few hours in any direction. So if my family was moving to Florida I'd be packing the RV. Where you live isn't as important as
being near loved ones. I think your instincts are spot on...follow. (Maybe don't sell your Island house however )

 

[Raydawg]

If I read your initial post correctly, you are already quite a distance from your family. So your visits are occasional. I have always wanted to be close to family and we are blessed to be with a few hours in any direction. So if my family was moving to Florida I'd be packing the RV. Where you live isn't as important as
being near loved ones. I think your instincts are spot on...follow. (Maybe don't sell your Island house however )

Yes, you are correct, we are 1300 miles apart. We could keep this house and still purchase another home by digging into our savings, but that scream LOOK OUT as I would be so far away and to get the right tenants, etc..... I dunno. This area requires lots of upkeep landscape wise, but too rentals are in great demand and seeing the home is paid off, the 2K plus a month would offer some cushion, but I hate headaches too, even for profit..... thanks for your input, just one more thing to confuse me

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

We are in our 70s and we went through the same thought process a couple of years ago - our son came to us one day and said that they were thinking about moving from Northern California to Middle Tennessee and would like us to join them. So, the summer of 2023 we decided to go and look at properties in the area, and try to get a feel for the different towns around Nashville. Fast forward to spring of 2024 and we put our houses in California on the market and we moved into the RV while the houses sold. The plan was to have our son find a place to buy and then we would find something near them. Of course that changed when we found a house that ticked ALL our requirements: about 1600 square feet, single storey, on several acres, with a spot to park our RV. We were looking for about 2 acres and ended up with 5, but everything else is perfect, except for the fact that it's an hour from where they found their house! We're an hour south of Nashville just outside a town with a population of less than 2000 people - paradise! Our son and his family are an hour north of us, and about 40 minutes east of Nashville.

Long story short: we absolutely LOVE it here, and cannot see us ever wanting to visit California again! The people are great, weather is different from California (we have 4 seasons hers), scenery is awesome, gas prices are under $2.50 per gallon right now, and life is good!

 

[sanda]

I'll take your advice into submission, Gee......how much time do I have to decide sanda?

Before you leave home.