Would like to share a house in the Keys

[Fermion]

I am going to toss this out there to long time forum members. My wife and I (late 40s) would like to spend a year in the Florida Keys, fishing, biking, sailing, playing board games, and generally goofing off. Our budget would allow this if we keep our housing costs at $1500 a month or lower but alas this doesn't get you much in the Keys.

$3000 though, that can get you a year lease on a 2 or 3 bedroom canal front home (no bed tax either on a year lease!)

It would also be fun to have another couple to occasionally play games or take out sailing/fishing on our little Montgomery 17. We have quite a bit of experience now sailing and could teach you the ropes so to speak. I think we even have the course books still from our blue water sailing school studies.

We have been traveling the country (in 2016 mostly) after selling our home near Seattle but this year we bought ~30 acres of mountain land in Washington and have been riding snowmobiles all winter. We would probably store the RV, snowmobiles and just bring our truck/sailboat to Florida (no need for the RV if we have a house).

It does not have to be this year (we have a lease until Oct 2018 on a small apartment here in Washington) because we also want to spend a year in the U.P. Michigan and a year in Maine. I am kind of sold on living in sticks and bricks during winters as it has been -10 degrees at times here in the mountains of Washington state. We are quite flexible though which year to spend in the Keys.

I have been a forum member for quite a long time and would have some measure of trust in a similar member (certainly a lot better than finding someone on Craigslist). We have family in Georgia but nobody who can afford to bum around in the Keys for a year or share the cost of a house.

Anyway, I just wanted to put this out there. I may bump the thread from time to time or update it if I have a different idea. Perhaps a few pictures of our adventures are in order:

 

[MichaelB]

Interesting idea - the Keys are really nice. Hope it works out.

The thread was moved to the Travel Forum, where it looks like a better fit.

 

[Fermion]

A few things more:

We are non-smokers and I think the other couple would also need to be non-smokers, because...well, to put it bluntly, smokers reek.

No kids. We don't have kids. If you have kids that are grown and won't be begging to shack up, that is fine.

Pets. Maybe a cat. My wife loves cats even though we don't have one. It is something to discuss. Fish are ok.

We like Pina Coladas but are social drinkers at best. As long as you are not driving or at the tiller of my sailboat, I don't have a problem with alcohol.

Having lived in Seattle, we don't even notice getting caught in the rain.

We probably should be into health food but I eat about anything. We love to cook Indian, Thai, Mexican, Italian, etc.

We are both retired engineers (she software, he electrical) and we love to build stuff (we built our own RV from scratch!). We play board games, both complicated and simple. We like Texas Holdem too.

I can't even stay up until midnight anymore (sad) so the dunes are safe.

 

[IMATERP]

During our last cruise to the Caribbean (Dec 2017,) my wife and I met a couple from Marathon Florida. They talked about the devastation following the hurricane - and that most of their rentals needed repair. Apparently, needed materials are not getting quite down to where they are needed.

Home insurance is pretty much unavailable due to the high probability of damage from hurricanes, thus folks live there knowing they will have to fend for themselves.

Nice area, but rents are incredibly high due to lack of insurance.

I

 

[VanWinkle]

Is that Motor-home on an Isuzu chassis?

 

[Scrapr]

Is that Motor-home on an Isuzu chassis?

That's what I was going to ask. Looks interesting

 

[VanWinkle]

That's what I was going to ask. Looks interesting

Those trucks are workhorses, but I hadn't seen one as a motor home!

 

[savory]

I love the idea of reaching out to share. A year in the Keys (or most places) would be too long for us since we like to travel more. We have stayed in places for a couple of months which has worked well.

The Keys are great though, so enjoy. Your choice for the UP and Maine are also terrific.

 

[Svensk Anga]

Interesting. I can't see us signing up for a year, but one month might work. We've done some sailing on your scale too. I could risk half of one months rent without problems in the event there is incompatibility. Can you see rotating through a selection of ER.org folks?

 

[braumeister]

I have been a forum member for quite a long time and would have some measure of trust in a similar member

All that time and you still haven't figured out that none of us is anything like our online persona? Tsk tsk!

 

[Walt34]

All that time and you still haven't figured out that none of us is anything like our online persona? Tsk tsk!

The ones I've met IRL haven't seemed more than "half a bubble off center".

 

[socca]

A few things more:

We are non-smokers and I think the other couple would also need to be non-smokers, because...well, to put it bluntly, smokers reek.

No kids. We don't have kids. If you have kids that are grown and won't be begging to shack up, that is fine.

Pets. Maybe a cat. My wife loves cats even though we don't have one. It is something to discuss. Fish are ok.

Maybe you'll have better luck posting an inquiry on a website for couples who swing? Um, ok, no - forget that.

 

[MarieIG]

Very nice. The "Washington" part of the post caught my attention. DS is being transferred to Whidbey Island (sp?), and there is a grandbaby on the way. So suddenly a rental in that area is looking attractive, lol.

 

[RAE]

Interesting post. I might be interested (at least for a month or two), but we have a dog that we would not be able to leave behind. You mention that you want to spend a year in the U.P. of Michigan. That caught my attention, as that is where we live. We love the U.P. from spring thru fall, but are you sure you want to spend the winter months there? I suppose if you are into snowmobiling (or skiing), you might find it to your liking, but otherwise there is not a whole lot to do outside (it was 22 below zero this morning where we live). That is why my wife and I are in Texas right now, for a couple months...........to escape the worst of the U.P. winter.

 

[SheitlQueen]

I would be interested but due to three cats and sheep a year is unfortunately probably not practical. I could sell the sheep, but never the cats (they are my kids).
Maybe you would have better luck if you broke it down into month(s)?
Three months I could probably do, but a year would be difficult.

 

[MRG]

I could sell the sheep, but never the cats (they are my kids).
Maybe you would have better luck if you broke it down into month(s)?
Three months I could probably do, but a year would be difficult.

What kind of sheep? Pictures?

 

[Fermion]

VanWinkle: Hi! I don't want this to totally devolve into a brag about our RV but yes it is on a Isuzu NRR flatbed truck. The "pods", a living pod and a garage/workshop pod both come off the truck in an hour or so. We use the flatbed truck sometimes for other things, like hauling our 8000 pound mini excavator (which we really just use like a big Tonka toy so far...I have been plowing snow with it recently). I will put a couple more RV pics to show off what I mean.

SheitlQueen: Sheep?!? It never even crossed my mind! We could make the whole thing three months but I have really enjoyed the longer stay in a area plus you get some saving from a longer rental (it is also not taxed that way as a vacation). You can get some nice canal rentals short term, but they are more in the $4500 a month range after you figure in the bed tax. Right now I am not sure we would want to find four to twelve compatible couples to share an aggregate year...talk about herding cats!

RAE: I might want to ask you some questions about the U.P. We want to sail around there in the summer and do the whole ice fishing hut thing in the winter. We have utility four stroke sleds which would be great for hauling a small ice hut. It was -10 degrees or colder a couple of weeks ago when we were riding in the mountains of Eastern Washington and I was quite comfortable in my 3 layers + Klim gear. I would probably add another layer or two for -22 degrees. That is getting into the range where I would seriously worry about any exposed skin on the face or what have you.

I am thinking alternating extreme climates would be fun. A year in U.P. then a year in the Keys, then a year in Maine, then a year sailing in the south Pacific, then a year or two in Alaska.

 

[FUEGO]

I could sublet from you for a month or two during summer Maybe serious there...

We were looking for a 3 wk to 1 month rental in the Keys and didn't see anything in our price range that looked decent (ended up oceanfront in Freeport Bahamas for $2300 for the month all costs included through Airbnb - 2 BR / 2 BA condo with pool).

 

[SheitlQueen]

What kind of sheep? Pictures?

I have two kinds....St. Croix and Katahdins.
They are hair sheep instead of wool sheep, so they don't need to be sheared. They shed every year.
These aren't my sheep, but the first photo is of St. Croix, rams get manes on them.
The second are Katahdins.

 

[VanWinkle]

Thanks for the reply Fermion. That is one sweet MH you have. My son also self built on a Dodge chassis. I am sending him a picture of yours to see what he thinks(He will be jealous for sure)

 

[RAE]

RAE: I might want to ask you some questions about the U.P. We want to sail around there in the summer and do the whole ice fishing hut thing in the winter. We have utility four stroke sleds which would be great for hauling a small ice hut. It was -10 degrees or colder a couple of weeks ago when we were riding in the mountains of Eastern Washington and I was quite comfortable in my 3 layers + Klim gear. I would probably add another layer or two for -22 degrees. That is getting into the range where I would seriously worry about any exposed skin on the face or what have you.

Sure, ask away, I'll be glad to tell you anything you want to know about the U.P.. One thing to keep in mind: ice fishing in a hut is only going to be a viable activity from about Jan. 1 -through mid March or so, in most winters. The ice typically doesn't get thick enough to haul a hut out there (with a truck or snowmobile) until around Christmas or early January, and then the State requires you to remove it around mid-March (I believe), when ice conditions start to deteriorate a bit. So you need to think about how you will occupy your time in months like November, December,late March, and April, when there is no ice fishing, but it's definitely not warm enough for sailing or other summer activities. Personally, I enjoy things like mushroom collecting and deer hunting in the Fall (plus harvesting my garden veggies and wild fruits, etc). In April, I usually get the vegetable garden prepped for planting and do some house maintenance, get our lake cottage opened for the year, etc.. So I have no problem staying busy, but you'll want to give some thought to how you will spend your time during those late Fall and early spring months.

 

[Dreamer]

I love the idea of reaching out to share also. I agree that 1 year would be too long a time for us. We would love to travel more, but we have 4 cats.

On our last trip to FL, we stayed in AirBnB's in St. Augustine, Key Largo and Key West. We met some very nice people.

 

[Fermion]

We like to travel too but I have found that a couple of weeks in one area is not really enough to get into the local scene. By the time you unpack and get set up it is time to start thinking about packing up again.

Three months might be ok, but that puts you strictly in the vacation rental territory.

I have my eye on Fort Myers as a backup plan. I checked weather.com and saw it is 74 degrees there this week. Apartments or houses there about 1/3 to 1/2 what they are in the Keys.

Not giving up on the Keys though!

 

[FUEGO]

We like to travel too but I have found that a couple of weeks in one area is not really enough to get into the local scene. By the time you unpack and get set up it is time to start thinking about packing up again.

Three months might be ok, but that puts you strictly in the vacation rental territory.

I have my eye on Fort Myers as a backup plan. I checked weather.com and saw it is 74 degrees there this week. Apartments or houses there about 1/3 to 1/2 what they are in the Keys.

Not giving up on the Keys though!

You might also be able to find a summer sublet opportunity or a 6 month rental. Lots of snowbirds staying Oct-Mar, sometimes to get 183 days of residency, then looking to go back home to wherever it is to avoid the hot/humid summers. Don't know if that's a thing in the Keys but I think it's more common elsewhere in S Florida.

 

[Carpediem]

You might also be able to find a summer sublet opportunity or a 6 month rental. Lots of snowbirds staying Oct-Mar, sometimes to get 183 days of residency, then looking to go back home to wherever it is to avoid the hot/humid summers. Don't know if that's a thing in the Keys but I think it's more common elsewhere in S Florida.

Does staying in a rental for 183 days meet the FL residential requirements? If so, that might be something we'd need to think about.