On the verge of fulfilling a long awaited goal

[Teacher Terry]

I definitely couldn’t rent my house and feel comfortable.

 

[pb4uski]

I think in our case it would be easy... we have a close knit community and seasonal rentals are a prized commodity and when they come up they get snatched up quickly... typically word-of-mouth and the renters would likely be a friend of a friend.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Regardless people can be hard on furniture, etc especially when they don’t own it.

 

[Cut-Throat]

I think in our case it would be easy... we have a close knit community and seasonal rentals are a prized commodity and when they come up they get snatched up quickly... typically word-of-mouth and the renters would likely be a friend of a friend.

Yup, and that's the easy part of the job of a landlord.... Just ask one.

 

[brett]

We snowbird outside of North America. For the past six years it has been SE Asia or Central America. This year it is Thailand again, then Australia. When we stop traveling and select one location it will in all probability be Mexico.

 

[Nick12]

Not sure I agree with some of the negatives.
Weather - yes but why move to FLA unless one loves the heat. DGF and I love the heat including the summer. It doesn't stop us from doing anything outside.
Spanish first language - this is somewhat true in some specific sections of the Southeast Miami area and perhaps a piece of Orlando, not really any other large areas.
Food - yeah not really cheaper than the Northeast, but you can still find NE type restaurants. There are just much less of them.

Myself and a lot of my friends moved to FL for the mild winters, low cost of living ( compared to NorthEast and West Coast and no state income tax. Not many people I know that “love” being in the summer time heat - so hot you can fry an egg out in the parking lot) . I cut the grass and or play golf, tennis in the early mornings or early in the evening. Florida is nice where the weather’s warm and the drinks are cold.

 

[GravitySucks]

Enjoy!
Looks like this will be the first winter I'm stuck in upstate NY since I retired. Maybe I can get out for a week in February.
I'm envious.

 

[misshathaway]

Car is packed, will head out tomorrow and take about a week to eventually land ourselves in The Villages, Florida. Will see grandkids and old friends along the way. We don't expect to be back here in our home up north until mid-April.

I am atwitter with excitement. Footloose and fancy-free.

If there's a lull in the fun it would be great to hear about your experience in The Villages as newcomers.

 

[umograd83]

We live outside the Villages in a great 55+ community. We are year-round residents. We moved here in August from Maine and have loved every minute of it. We love going to the Villages for entertainment (music on the squares, shopping, restaurants). DH and I love amusement parks, so we bought annual passes to Universal. Given our proximity to Orlando, we know we will have plenty of visitors. We didn’t buy a home in the Villages because, as my husband says, we don’t want to have a GPS to get around. It is so big! Our community is the perfect size for us with all of the amenities that we need.

 

[Red Badger]

Myself and a lot of my friends moved to FL for the mild winters, low cost of living ( compared to NorthEast and West Coast and no state income tax. Not many people I know that “love” being in the summer time heat - so hot you can fry an egg out in the parking lot) . I cut the grass and or play golf, tennis in the early mornings or early in the evening. Florida is nice where the weather’s warm and the drinks are cold.

Advantage #1 of hot weather - it doesn't need shoveling.
Advantage #2 of hot weather - Margaritas

 

[Dreamer]

Congratulations! Hope you enjoy it. We are hoping to do this ourselves in the future. We still have 3 cats that are holding us back.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I don’t understand why you can’t move with the cats.

 

[misshathaway]

I don’t understand why you can’t move with the cats.

I do and I only have one cat. She is old and is the second biggest obstacle to moving, first one being getting rid of the remaining stuff in the house and selling it. There's no way she would survive a plane ride in cargo. I would have to drive down, which I think would be possible with a UHaul van with a cage big enough for a cat box and food. Even that would be hard on her I think.

My goal is to get down to just enough stuff to fit in a UHaul and rent furnished or with bare bones furnishings for a year.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We had a cat when I was a kid that we took every summer for a 10 hour car ride to a resort my parents owned . We stayed all summer. I know dogs travel easier and we travel on long trips with 3-4 dogs. Since moving is a one time thing I don’t understand how it’s a problem. Some of our dogs are very old.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

We are third generation snowbirds. First it was my grandparents, then my parents, and now us. We love it!!!!!

I started a thread about it last month. I loved going down as a kid to my grandparents and doing the most amazing thing ever!!!!!!! Swimming in January! Then we loved going down to my parents when our kids were little. We just watched family movies Christmas night of our kids at Fort Myers beach.....when they were ages 2 and 4. Our grandkids said, “Hey! That’s our beach!” I said yes and that’s your mommy when she was your age.

Wonderful times and memories.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

Daughter, son in law, grandkids. Grandkids have now been down 5 times and love it.

 

[Dtail]

View attachment 30372

Daughter, son in law, grandkids. Grandkids have now been down 5 times and love it.

That is a very cute age. Enjoy!!!!!

 

[ychuck46]

Myrtle Beach for us

For folks here on a tighter budget, you can do a month at Myrtle Beach (ocean front with balcony) during winter for ~$1100 for one bedroom efficiency with a kitchen. It aint Florida (might get cold) but everything is LCOL in the winter. Just FYI if cold and want to snowbird for about a grand a month. Obviously, I'm in NC, but meet my MN and ND sibs there each winter.

We snowbird in North Myrtle Beach each year and love it. We used to live in Upstate NY but moved to TN eight years ago, so our snowbird change is not as dramatic. We are at a high level in the Wyndham timeshare system so we are here for three months now. Except for Christmas and New Years the place is very quiet. Many discounts at restaurants and other retailers this time of year. And while Jan 1st 2018 was freezing today we are walking around in 75 degree temps.

 

[Kroeran]

Barbados

Congrats!, You'll love it!


This is our 9th Snowbird Winter... 4 in Florida, 3 Years in the Bahamas, 1 in Australia and this year Hawaii ..... Next winter Antigua, West Indies.



I would not want to own, as it would limit our travel options.... Too Much of the World to see....

I think Barbados is a better investment of time than Antigua.

 

[Kroeran]

I'm going there too, but only for a week in February as an AirBNB guest to a couple who has a house there. I'll be driving around central FL looking at 55+ retirement villages.

check out Port St Lucie area

there is an area there that is planning 37 pickle courts!

 

[Cut-Throat]

I think Barbados is a better investment of time than Antigua.

We've got of plenty of time, as we go for 3 months....


I could be happy in Barbados, if fact we have already done Barbados, so it's about variety... Also the Saltwater Flats Fly Fishing is better in Antigua...

 

[Kroeran]

Rules for successful snowbirding,

1) don't discuss religion or politics unless you really know the people in the room
2) check out condo/HOA politics and finances carefully
3) dont serve on boards, get on the good side of board
4) rent, dont buy
5) avoid openly snubbing people who will overlap social circles, be on friendly terms with everyone
6) dont overextend financially
7) dont pay for sq footage or amenities you will not use
8) pay attention to evacuation zones
9) figure out your tolerance for cold snaps, keep moving south
10) sell at builder turnover, milk builder subsidy during build out
11) rent a boat dont own
12) consider neighbourhoods where all doors are similar socio economic level
13)

 

[meleana]

Enjoy! My brother and his wife just bought a home in FLA. and are going down for three months next week. They love it there- Palm Coast. They used to have a condo there, but they never stayed more than 2 weeks. They upgraded recently to a house. They live on Long Island, NY.



For us-even if we could afford to, which we can't, I don't like leaving our home in rural NY during the winter. We have no neighbors, friends or family here to check on the house and too many things can go wrong. In fact, we only leave here for XMAS for a few days and go up to NH to visit with our son and come right back.


Actually, when my husband retires in a couple of years, we are hoping to move to NH. I hope it works out because we are getting old and tired.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

We snowbirded 7 winters (mid Jan- mid Apr) in Bonita Beach FL. Initially we loved it, but as our friends who did the same thing gradually stopped and the general attitude of "Gouge the Snowbirds" increased, we felt that what we got for our time and money wasn't worth it. Traffic was horrendous.
This will be our third winter in Arizona, the cost and congestion are still far better than FL but the drive is much longer (we like having our own car there instead of renting) and we've done most of the fun things around Phoenix, not sure what we'll do next year.


A friend who looked into buying several times is adamant that if you're not going to stay there six months of the year, it's cheaper to rent. Renting has its hassles but they are simply different hassles from owning, not more.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

!