End of an era for us, and a new beginning

[Scuba]

I suggest that you grow a Fidelity rep in Sarasota and change the addresses on all your Fidelity accounts and keep the CA-based Fidelity rep as well.



Don't wait until January to apply for FL homestead exemption, do it right way and it will buttress your case that you are a part year resident in CA in 2023.

Thank you. Will definitely change our address on everything this year, and good idea to start a relationship with a local rep.

I read that in order to qualify for the homestead exemption in Florida, you must have owned the property on 1/1, so I thought we would not be able to apply until after 1/1/24. I’ll check into it again.

 

[Dreamer]

Congratulations! Wonderful that you found your new home and your home in CA had multiple offers.

 

[Dash man]

Congratulations!!! I left California for good in 1987 and have only been back to visit family. We now share our time between Pennsylvania, Florida and southern New Jersey. We have a winter home on the southeast coast of Florida and another at the Jersey Shore for the summer. You’ll enjoy Florida, and we’d be there full time except for family ties in PA. If you’re a baseball fan, you’ll love spring training games in the area.

 

[teej1985]

Congratulations!!! I left California for good in 1987 and have only been back to visit family. We now share our time between Pennsylvania, Florida and southern New Jersey. We have a winter home on the southeast coast of Florida and another at the Jersey Shore for the summer. You’ll enjoy Florida, and we’d be there full time except for family ties in PA. If you’re a baseball fan, you’ll love spring training games in the area.

How did you get used to the humidity? And have you ever encountered a gator?

 

[Dtail]

How did you get used to the humidity? And have you ever encountered a gator?

Not DASHMAN here, but one can assume in every fresh water lake that there will be a gator in there.
I have seen a few in my complex. You don't swim in these lakes and basically leave them alone.

 

[Aerides]

Not DASHMAN here, but one can assume in every fresh water lake that there will be a gator in there.
I have seen a few in my complex. You don't swim in these lakes and basically leave them alone.

Yeah you don't really "encounter" them in most any developed areas. In larger natural parks maybe, and occasionally they make the news out on a golf course. But you assume they are in every body of water, and you can hear them usually at night.

 

[braumeister]

Yeah you don't really "encounter" them in most any developed areas. In larger natural parks maybe, and occasionally they make the news out on a golf course. But you assume they are in every body of water, and you can hear them usually at night.

Well, I think you always have to be aware of your surroundings.

This is a story of self-control and marksmanship by a brave, cool-headed woman with a small pistol against a fierce predator. What’s the smallest caliber that you would trust to protect yourself?

Here’s her story in her own words: "While out walking along the edge of a pond just outside my house in The Villages with my soon to be ex-husband, discussing property settlement and other divorce issues, we were surprised by a huge 12-ft. alligator which suddenly emerged from the murky water and began charging us with its large jaws wide open. She must have been protecting her nest because she was extremely aggressive. If I had not had my little Beretta .25 caliber pistol with me, I would not be here today!”

"Just one shot to my estranged husband's knee cap was all it took. The 'gator got him easily, and I was able to escape by just walking away at a brisk pace. It's one of the best pistols in my collection, plus the amount I saved in lawyer's fees was really incredible. His life insurance was a big bonus.

 

[MarieIG]

Well, I think you always have to be aware of your surroundings.

This is a story of self-control and marksmanship by a brave, cool-headed woman with a small pistol against a fierce predator. What’s the smallest caliber that you would trust to protect yourself?

Here’s her story in her own words: "While out walking along the edge of a pond just outside my house in The Villages with my soon to be ex-husband, discussing property settlement and other divorce issues, we were surprised by a huge 12-ft. alligator which suddenly emerged from the murky water and began charging us with its large jaws wide open. She must have been protecting her nest because she was extremely aggressive. If I had not had my little Beretta .25 caliber pistol with me, I would not be here today!”

"Just one shot to my estranged husband's knee cap was all it took. The 'gator got him easily, and I was able to escape by just walking away at a brisk pace. It's one of the best pistols in my collection, plus the amount I saved in lawyer's fees was really incredible. His life insurance was a big bonus.

 

[2017ish]

Congrats, SCUBA!

We "talked" several times when you were contemplating things, and I'm glad that it worked out for you. The quick CA home sale is icing on the cake! Blow lots of bubbles in those relatively warm waters. (Don't know it I reported back to you after the Blue Heron dive; it was indeed quite nice.)

 

[Dash man]

How did you get used to the humidity? And have you ever encountered a gator?

The humidity isn’t bad during the winter months.
There was a pond behind my sister-in-law’s house that had an alligator. It never bothered anyone. Our condo is on the beach and never seen any alligators there.

 

[pb4uski]

Thank you. Will definitely change our address on everything this year, and good idea to start a relationship with a local rep.

I read that in order to qualify for the homestead exemption in Florida, you must have owned the property on 1/1, so I thought we would not be able to apply until after 1/1/24. I’ll check into it again.

You can apply anytime after you own the property. I applied in October. It was good that I applied early as there were some snags in proving that I would no longer be homesteading in Vermont. They wanted to see my document cancelling my homesteading in Vermont, but it doesn't work that way. It is an annual election that you file with your tax return since in Vermont property tax relief is based on income so I would not be filing that form with my part-year resident tax return in the year that we changed residency.

 

[pb4uski]

Not DASHMAN here, but one can assume in every fresh water lake that there will be a gator in there.

I have seen a few in my complex. You don't swim in these lakes and basically leave them alone.

A couple years ago we took her camper out for a brief trip to Lake Manatee State Park in Bradenton while work was being done on our Sarasota condo. As we were checking in the ranger was telling us about the various things to do, including swimming in the lake. DW expressed concern about swimming in the lake and alligators. The ranger asked her "Do you swim in the ocean?" She said "Sure". The ranger then said "Doesn't the ocean have sharks in it?" It was a funny moment. I actually did swim in the freshwater lake there no problem at all.

 

[Montecfo]

I suggest that you grow a Fidelity rep in Sarasota and change the addresses on all your Fidelity accounts and keep the CA-based Fidelity rep as well.



Don't wait until January to apply for FL homestead exemption, do it right way and it will buttress your case that you are a part year resident in CA in 2023.

I was going to suggest same on homestead. Leave no trace. They will leave no stone unturned.

 

[Montecfo]

Well, I think you always have to be aware of your surroundings.



This is a story of self-control and marksmanship by a brave, cool-headed woman with a small pistol against a fierce predator. What’s the smallest caliber that you would trust to protect yourself?



Here’s her story in her own words: "While out walking along the edge of a pond just outside my house in The Villages with my soon to be ex-husband, discussing property settlement and other divorce issues, we were surprised by a huge 12-ft. alligator which suddenly emerged from the murky water and began charging us with its large jaws wide open. She must have been protecting her nest because she was extremely aggressive. If I had not had my little Beretta .25 caliber pistol with me, I would not be here today!”



"Just one shot to my estranged husband's knee cap was all it took. The 'gator got him easily, and I was able to escape by just walking away at a brisk pace. It's one of the best pistols in my collection, plus the amount I saved in lawyer's fees was really incredible. His life insurance was a big bonus.

It pays to be prepared. She was probably a girl scout.

 

[GJW1]

Thank you. Will definitely change our address on everything this year, and good idea to start a relationship with a local rep.

I read that in order to qualify for the homestead exemption in Florida, you must have owned the property on 1/1, so I thought we would not be able to apply until after 1/1/24. I’ll check into it again.

One thing you have to have is a Florida driver’s license to apply online. Once you have a license with your new home address on it, that verifies that you have a permanent residence and it isn’t a seasonal residence, it is your primary residence. You can then apply, and it will take effect the following January. I just went through this drill…

 

[MichaelB]

Well, I think you always have to be aware of your surroundings.

This is a story of self-control and marksmanship by a brave, cool-headed woman with a small pistol against a fierce predator. What’s the smallest caliber that you would trust to protect yourself?

Here’s her story in her own words: "While out walking along the edge of a pond just outside my house in The Villages with my soon to be ex-husband, discussing property settlement and other divorce issues, we were surprised by a huge 12-ft. alligator which suddenly emerged from the murky water and began charging us with its large jaws wide open. She must have been protecting her nest because she was extremely aggressive. If I had not had my little Beretta .25 caliber pistol with me, I would not be here today!”

"Just one shot to my estranged husband's knee cap was all it took. The 'gator got him easily, and I was able to escape by just walking away at a brisk pace. It's one of the best pistols in my collection, plus the amount I saved in lawyer's fees was really incredible. His life insurance was a big bonus.

If we had a thread titled “best post of the year” candidates this would definitely be in it.

 

[REWahoo]

If we had a thread titled “best post of the year” candidates this would definitely be in it.

A Florida adaptation of "I don't have to outrun the bear". Well done!

 

[Aerides]

One thing you have to have is a Florida driver’s license to apply online. Once you have a license with your new home address on it, that verifies that you have a permanent residence and it isn’t a seasonal residence, it is your primary residence. You can then apply, and it will take effect the following January. I just went through this drill…

Oh...Scuba look online to book an appointment asap for your DL. Most of the offices near me don't do walk ins anymore, and appointments take a few weeks in advance to book. When I went to check in for my renewal, there was a guy - super frustrated - who was trying to get his license reinstated after a suspension, but still told he had to go book online after already completing his 30 days or whatever. Told to expect another 2-3 weeks.

Your area may differ, but I'd give it a go now, using the new address, for a date you'll know you'll be here. Especially since you'll be arriving with the snow birds.

 

[Scuba]

You can apply anytime after you own the property. I applied in October. It was good that I applied early as there were some snags in proving that I would no longer be homesteading in Vermont. They wanted to see my document cancelling my homesteading in Vermont, but it doesn't work that way. It is an annual election that you file with your tax return since in Vermont property tax relief is based on income so I would not be filing that form with my part-year resident tax return in the year that we changed residency.

Thank you. Good to know.

 

[Scuba]

One thing you have to have is a Florida driver’s license to apply online. Once you have a license with your new home address on it, that verifies that you have a permanent residence and it isn’t a seasonal residence, it is your primary residence. You can then apply, and it will take effect the following January. I just went through this drill…

Great, thank you for this information.

 

[TappyGee]

You can buy a multi-pack of different colors of packing tape. It made my last move soooo easy. Yellow kitchen, orange living room, purple bedroom 1, etc. We even assigned a color for the garage. I also put a piece of colored tape on the door of each room in the new place so the movers knew where to put the boxes.

 

[brett]

We trick is to make three of four passes and cull the things that you no longer want, should have discarded or placed in a garage sale five years ago, or are not worth carrying across the room let alone boxing up and moving. At the end we became ruthless. Well, we thought we had but we really had not.


Even after downsizing from 3700 sq feet to an 8x8x16 storage container we found ourselves discarding some items when we moved into a condo a year later. Took me five years to give away my ceramic tile saw, hedge trimmer, etc once we moved from our four year condo rental to our purchased bungalow. Still have the skill saw though...sitting in same box I placed it in 12 years ago and never opened.

Ditto for a few boxes of fine china, crystal, and some silverware. And some boxes of who knows what that we have yet to open after 12 years. They must contain some real keepers if we squeezed them into the storage container and moved them twice! Not.

 

[Red Rover]

I moved from Palm Springs to FL 2 years ago next week. It's different (weather isn't nearly as hot here despite what people here think) but it's nice. There are good and bad both places.

I really like being close to cruise terminals as we cruise a lot more being so close. Also, I travel quite a bit so it's nice being able to fly places and not have it take the entire day to get there and get back. Weekend trips up and down the east coast are very doable. Downside is that the airport isn't 5 minutes away anymore.

The things that I've found quite a bit more expensive here are: home insurance, health insurance and property tax. Also, there are toll roads everywhere.

As far as hurricanes go, it's nice to get warning about them to be able to prepare.

Enjoy the move and welcome to FL.

 

[Scuba]

You can buy a multi-pack of different colors of packing tape. It made my last move soooo easy. Yellow kitchen, orange living room, purple bedroom 1, etc. We even assigned a color for the garage. I also put a piece of colored tape on the door of each room in the new place so the movers knew where to put the boxes.

Great idea!!

 

[Scuba]

I moved from Palm Springs to FL 2 years ago next week. It's different (weather isn't nearly as hot here despite what people here think) but it's nice. There are good and bad both places.



I really like being close to cruise terminals as we cruise a lot more being so close. Also, I travel quite a bit so it's nice being able to fly places and not have it take the entire day to get there and get back. Weekend trips up and down the east coast are very doable. Downside is that the airport isn't 5 minutes away anymore.



The things that I've found quite a bit more expensive here are: home insurance, health insurance and property tax. Also, there are toll roads everywhere.



As far as hurricanes go, it's nice to get warning about them to be able to prepare.



Enjoy the move and welcome to FL.

Thank you! Great to hear from someone who successfully made the transition. I agree with you re the insurance, both home and health. Are your property taxes more because your FL property is more valuable? Or high CDD?