Where to live in Florida?

[thatguy]

I might be the only person who does not want to be near water in FL. I don't care for gators & snakes, don't do boating and can't think of anything more boring than laying on a beach. There are some view locations that I liked where the homesite was at a high elevation with a panaramic view of a large lake at a distance. I think we've missed the best time to buy. We can still spend a week or 2 in a motel each winter.

[socca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thatguy I might be the only person who does not want to be near water in FL.

I enjoy living on a lake; I have no desire to live on or near the beach. The house prices & flood insurance premiums are enough to discourage me. That said, according to neighbors the lake rises substantially every 10 years, but not enough to flood houses. A 100-year flood could be nasty. 😠

[Dash man]

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Originally Posted by socca I enjoy living on a lake; I have no desire to live on or near the beach. The house prices & flood insurance premiums are enough to discourage me. That said, according to neighbors the lake rises substantially every 10 years, but not enough to flood houses. A 100-year flood could be nasty. [emoji34]

No flood insurance on the eighth floor of a beachfront condo. Insurance is about $1160/yr with hurricane windows installed. Love the sound of the ocean at night, and while drinking coffee in the morning on our balcony. No snakes or alligators seen, but a few jellyfish in the warmer months.

[bubba]

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Originally Posted by Moemg I live on the border of Sarasota and Bradenton and the area is getting so overbuilt . The traffic is horrendous and the house prices are crazy . I used to live in Venice .I loved the area but even that is being over developed.

Moemg, if you wanted to move to that general area from up north, but didn't want to pay Sarasota prices and deal with Sarasota traffic, where would you look? Would Ft. Myers be better?

[aaronc879]

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Originally Posted by bubba Moemg, if you wanted to move to that general area from up north, but didn't want to pay Sarasota prices and deal with Sarasota traffic, where would you look? Would Ft. Myers be better?

There are some pretty bad areas in Florida. North Ft Myers is one of those areas. If you want a nice, safe place, then you will have to pay the higher prices.

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubba Moemg, if you wanted to move to that general area from up north, but didn't want to pay Sarasota prices and deal with Sarasota traffic, where would you look? Would Ft. Myers be better?

A few years ago I would have said Venice but that is getting built up maybe Englewood ?Another place that is great for families is Parrish . It is still slightly rural but cheaper prices and very family oriented .

[Fermion]

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Originally Posted by djr59 Trust me I know about scope. I don't need a anchoring or a boat lesson. Anchoring is not always about scope and sometimes it's about holding power. You can't have the perfect anchor for all conditions. This was in a river with a bottom full of weeds and twigs. What seems great can break free. It was also my first time anchoring. We are better at it now but after that one time DW has laid down the law. We still anchor but we don't sleep on it. But thanks for trying to teach me what I already know. Also scope only works when you have room to drop and swing. On Long Island we get tight anchorages and that is not always a luxury. Try google "chain"

There are ways you can control swing, plus you can always set two anchors. Chain is good...having multiple anchor types for different bottom is good too. We have anchored in poor conditions by setting two anchors and running a line in the dinghy to shore to control swing. GPS alarm was on but we did not move more than a couple of feet during the night.

I was mostly just joking about scope but you would be surprised how many people we see with 50+ foot yachts who think a 2:1 is just fine and dandy. Had one guy drag his anchor through the harbor during the night tangling about 5 other boats...he thought you just drop the anchor until it hits bottom and tie it off....he was the new owner of a huge 55 foot yacht.

[djr59]

I still prefer a dock. I like to relax with a cocktail and know I won't have to drive boat.

[Fermion]

I prefer a dock too, but we go places where there are no docks (or people).

[bearkeley]

We are lucky enough to have our own dock right now and would definitely want our own in the future as well. Just so much easier. I also do love anchoring but still haven't figured out how to sleep through the nite without constantly checking if we have drifted. Just learned about drag queen app but don't trust it yet!

I dont think anyone mentioned Titusville yet....any thoughts?

[djr59]

I think I lean towards east coast from around Stuart south and west coast from Naples south. I want a community. Would be great if it had a marina. I don't need golf. Want tennis. Want clubhouse. I like admirals cove in Jupiter but the hoa fees and equity membership is off the map.

Also would consider buying now and renting.

[unclemick]

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Originally Posted by bigcmagor We like Cape Coral. For your boating needs, there are 400 miles of canals to explore, along with Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Captiva, St. James City, etc. We have all the retail stores and dozens of restaurants all within a few miles of us. It's busy in season, but the whole state seems to be getting that way. There are many folks buying houses in our area, gutting and updating them and renting them out by the week or month. Presumably some are for personal use later in life. If you don't mind putting more money in the house later, I suppose this approach reduces the acquisition expense depending on how beat up the house gets. We use ours in the peak season so never considered renting it out.

Our second trip(rental by owner FT Meyers Beach) in December. Wife like's it but also thinks it's 'busy.' Nut case that I am I couldn't wait to get back to - 17 degrees and snow at 'The Farm' and several days of frozen pipes.

heh heh heh - Nuts! yeah you right but I did spent thirty years in New Orleans. Our neighbor here in KC likes the 'bend' on the Gulf side between the panhandle and peninsula with no particular town picked yet. Neither of us are boaters anymore.

[harley]

There is not much of anything south of Naples. Marco Island and Everglades City, and that's about it. And Everglades City is not a community. It's not a city. It's not even a decent trailer park. So Naples and Marco Island is it. Nice places, but pretty expensive. I'm a few feet north of Naples. It's amazing what a difference a county boundary can make to prices.


As far as buying now and renting, IMO it would be better to go the other way (rent until you know where you want to buy). Unless you can really lock down on where you want to be, then maybe buying and renting might be worthwhile.

[djr59]

What town u in? Bonita springs is nice too

[imoldernu]

As some have mentioned, boating doesn't necessarily mean ocean, or salt water. As I recall, Florida has 30,000 lakes encompassing 3 million acres.

Our FL community (Lake Griffin Harbor) is located on the Harris Chain of Lakes, all connected by navigable rivers, canals and one lock. A total of 212 miles of shoreline. With 53 boat slips on a 2 mile by 8 mile lake, many residents are active in the boating part of the community, which does boat flotillas to various activity and eating places on the chain. The connected Ocklawaha River which eventually goes out to the ocean, near Jacksonville. It offers a multi day challenge for adventurers. Poke around Utube for some of the videos.



A side effect for most lake situated communities, is that the cost is often much, much less than most salt water communities.

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by djr59 What town u in? Bonita springs is nice too

Yep, you got it. Or as they call it in Naples, "the wrong side of the tracks".

[dm]

I'm in Punta Gorda, another town with miles of canals leading out to the gulf. We moved here about 3 years ago and like it.

Prices have been rising and there have been quite a few new homes going up. Not many lots left.

It defiantly gets crowded during the season though. And summers are hot, humid, and long. We try and take vacations during the summer months.

[INTJ10]

We live in Tampa. We like it but boat slips are expensive here. OP, have you considered just exploring the Bahamas? My neighbor ran a charter business in the Caribbean and said he could easily spend years exploring the islands.

[hesperus]

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Originally Posted by harley There is not much of anything south of Naples. Marco Island and Everglades City, and that's about it.

How is Marco Island? Have a friend with a condo there who's been asking me to go and stay there.

[harley]

It's a nice place. Overbuilt, like the rest of SWFL, but fairly upscale. There's a ton of watersports and nature stuff available, and it's really close to the Glades. It's about a half hour or so trip for us, but we go at least once a year to a bar/restaurant down there called The Snook Inn. I like it, but don't want to spend the money to live there.