Florida living

[Dtail]

The tax assessor's office warned me that the property taxes would be based off my purchase price, which was much higher than the previous owner was paying. The real estate agent, naturally, failed to mention this.

Although the tax bill was high, it did not make me cry, as it was still less than I'd been paying in Maryland, on a home assessed for considerably less.

Same here with our real estate agent who was our friend at the time. I insisted that in the end it is just a mathematical formula and estimated our taxes within 1%.

 

[38Chevy454]

I snowbird on the east coast, near Cape Canaveral. East coast seems less crowded than west coast, although I haven't really gone south as far as you are considering. Gulf side gets/has the red tide issues; not on Atlantic side. Something to consider although it is not a year round problem. Gulf side water and beaches are a little nicer than Atlantic. It seems hurricanes like to go up and get caught in the gulf, less hurricane worries on east coast.

You mentioned that you want a lock and go type place. You should look at some of the retirement type communities, where the yardwork is included as part of the HOA. It also would provide a good amount of activities and similar retired folks to make friends with. Doesn't have to be an over 55, but a place where more of the people are similar to you is nice when you want to lock up and go. Neighbors will look out for your place. A community pool might be enough for what you want? Depending on the community, there could be a lot more amenities you can take advantage of also: exercise room, pickleball or tennis courts, or golf course as examples.

I agree a single family residence is what I prefer. One story, or at least with full master and capabilities on first floor, with guest room or whatever on second could be acceptable. I absolutely can't stand apartment type living, and even a townhouse arrangement is too close for me. Give me the free space of single family.

Living somewhat close to the water does help moderate the weather. Sea breeze helps, although hot and humid is the correct description. I agree that elevation is more important than strict distance.

 

[Popsicletoes]

Might want to research more on healthcare

Access to healthcare providers in Sarasota is pretty tough, which we learned the hard way. Too many people (especially in winter when the snowbirds come to town). It also only has Sarasota Memorial Hospital, that’s it.

I highly suggest you try getting a primary care doctor while you’re there for a check-up and see how long you have to wait before they can see you.

Access to Specialists would take 3-4 months for a new patient.

You may want to consider Tampa instead- bigger city, better airport with lots of direct flights, more diversity in terms of people (a lot more young people and people of color), and the diverse people also mean more diverse food choices. They have multiple hospitals in Tampa and Tampa General is a Level 1 trauma hospital.

I lived in Northern Virginia before moving to Sarasota and I miss the food choices more than anything. I had 4 big ethnic supermarkets within 6 miles of my house where I got my steady supplies of fresh veggies and fruits, not to mention fresh seafood complete with all the spices I need to cook it with. In Sarasota, you get Italian galore and the usual chain restaurants and a couple of tiny Asian minimarts. If it wasn’t for the winter, I’d move back to Northern VA in a heartbeat.

 

[Scuba]

I snowbird on the east coast, near Cape Canaveral. East coast seems less crowded than west coast, although I haven't really gone south as far as you are considering. Gulf side gets/has the red tide issues; not on Atlantic side. Something to consider although it is not a year round problem. Gulf side water and beaches are a little nicer than Atlantic. It seems hurricanes like to go up and get caught in the gulf, less hurricane worries on east coast.

You mentioned that you want a lock and go type place. You should look at some of the retirement type communities, where the yardwork is included as part of the HOA. It also would provide a good amount of activities and similar retired folks to make friends with. Doesn't have to be an over 55, but a place where more of the people are similar to you is nice when you want to lock up and go. Neighbors will look out for your place. A community pool might be enough for what you want? Depending on the community, there could be a lot more amenities you can take advantage of also: exercise room, pickleball or tennis courts, or golf course as examples.

I agree a single family residence is what I prefer. One story, or at least with full master and capabilities on first floor, with guest room or whatever on second could be acceptable. I absolutely can't stand apartment type living, and even a townhouse arrangement is too close for me. Give me the free space of single family.

Living somewhat close to the water does help moderate the weather. Sea breeze helps, although hot and humid is the correct description. I agree that elevation is more important than strict distance.

Right now our home is an attached duplex, but each half is 2,600 sq ft so it feels like an SFR. It is all on one level so the homes feel very spacious. Our community has 15 pools, a gym, tennis and pickleball courts, and a 9-hole executive golf course. The community was built in the late 60’s and is very low density. Would love to find something similar but it seems like most newer developments, especially those involving any type of attached housing, are very high density.

 

[Scuba]

Thank you everyone for the input. Great thoughts and issues to consider. Please keep the feedback coming - very helpful!

 

[pb4uski]

Access to healthcare providers in Sarasota is pretty tough, which we learned the hard way. Too many people (especially in winter when the snowbirds come to town). It also only has Sarasota Memorial Hospital, that’s it. ...

We haven't had any issues there. I actually like my new PCP here in Sarasota better than my PCP in Vermont. Young guy who seems knowlegable and is a good communicator. We get on well.

Part of the reason that I selected him is that he was recommended to me by a friend and has admitting privileges at Lakewood Ranch hospital, which is the nearest hospital to where we live so if I was there it will be easiest for DW to visit, not to mention that it has a good reputation in our neighborhood.

 

[Lewis Clark]

... I highly suggest you try getting a primary care doctor while you’re there for a check-up and see how long you have to wait before they can see you. ...

+1

There is a shortage of primary care doctors in Florida these days. Ours moved out of the area last fall. Most of the primary care doctors we researched in Pinellas County had a three or four month wait to get an appointment as a new patient. Existing patients could be seen much sooner.

 

[simple girl]

Red tide has been really quite bad here in Sarasota lately. It has been affecting a large portion of the Southwest coast. I'm now glad I don't live super close to the ocean (but happy that we are still relatively close and still west of 75, as it is noticeably hotter east of 75).

Our friends rented for about a month in Bradenton in February. Red tide affected them almost their entire stay and they had to come to us to hang out by the pool instead of going to the beach. Such a DRAG! Although we did have several fun pool parties! lol

Our friends who live on Long Boat Key have had to stay inside much of the past month or two because of how intense it has been...couldn't even tolerate going outside for a walk. Ugh!

It appears to be much better now, thankfully! Here's a map where we check the forecast before heading to the beach. You click on the dots to get the actual forecast for each beach: https://habforecast.gcoos.org/

Sometimes it can last many months. One year it actually lasted 18 months - I hadn't recalled it was that long but my local friends recently reminded me of that. It's the "dirty little secret" they don't like to talk about on the news - I'm assuming because it would hurt tourism.

So, when they do start talking about it on the news, you know it's really intense.

I'm still glad I live here, but I do think newbies should realize it is a real issue at times!

 

[Dtail]

Yeah we went to Treasure Island beach a few weeks ago and a decent amount of coughing on the beach.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Red Tide isn't something that would dictate where I live and it can impact the entire coastline. When there is a bloom it varies day to day in the impact so you sort of adjust like you would the weather. Even the long lasting blooms like Simple Girl mentioned ebb and flow and the impacts vary from day to day and place to place depending on wind and currents. Bad blooms with fish kills linger and are quite disgusting until cleaned up but presence of red tide doesn't always yield a lot of dead fish in that area. The beach cities are quick to clean up the beaches when this happens. I am sensitive to it and get a dry scratchy cough but even a few blocks inland it doesn't bother me. When there are blooms, I definitely check before going out to do water activities.

 

[Badger]

I have lived in NE Florda since 1961 except for a few winters while in college but always in Fl during holidays and summer. My wife has been here since around 1950. Neither of us have become acclimated to the hot summers with high humidity and spend most of the day indoors during the worst months or take a trip to Maine or Canada during that time. Temperatures will get hot but the real discomfort is the humidity that will average around 75% in the winter months and as much as 90+% in the summer.
Something to think about. Your plan to spend the summer sounds like a good plan.
I would suggest supplementing your stay with some internet searches about Florida insects, wildlife, red tide, hurricanes and how to get out of south Florida if you need to evacuate (only 2 crowded interstates and 350 miles to get to the border), housing costs, insurance, traffic, overcrowded areas, tourists, etc. Those are a few reasons so many new residents eventually discover and move away.
Every state has their own fun features so I'm not trying to discourage you. Just be aware when you make the long move. I love living here and couldn't imagine dealing with snow, forest fires, earthquakes, drought, tornadoes, that people experience in other states.

Cheers!

 

[latexman]

Our friends rented for about a month in Bradenton in February. Red tide affected them almost their entire stay and they had to come to us to hang out by the pool instead of going to the beach. Such a DRAG! Although we did have several fun pool parties! lol

Sensitivity to red tide varies tremendously - the individual, day-to-day, location, "which way the wind is blowing", etc. We talked to the couple next door to us when they got back from the beach. Her eyes were noticably red, and she said she was coughing. He said, "no problem". DW and I didn't experience any effects at the condo in Bradenton, and we went to Holmes Beach several times in February with no effects and no smell. We didn't go in the water, but we walked the beach a couple times. Of course, a person who is more sensitive to it than us, may not do as good, so as simple girl said, beware!

 

[Dtail]

As far as the humidity goes, I still play Pickleball 6x weekly in the summer until 12-1pm daily.
Yes, I would rather have low humidity, but for those that are very active, we just deal with it rather than not playing. I tire of the heat around Oct, but then the break in heat comes.

 

[MarieIG]

I have a fair number of relatives in Florida. In spite of that, it took the most recent to buy, and her DH about a year to pick out her new home. They almost made choosing a retirement home a second career.

They scoped out quite a few communities, more than once. They decided on a SFH, in a 55+ with amenities, but they also wanted a large enough home, with a heated pool and a bird cage. It was not a new build, but for them the pool was a priority, the elevation was good and it had "survived" hurricanes in the past (and did so again more recently). (It had a large community pool but my cousin also wanted a built-in pool in the yard, and she uses it.) They had to wait to get the area they wanted and house that met their requirements, and offered slightly over ask.

You may want to consider a slightly older (but well built) home, to get the space and amenities you want. One of my Floridian friends, bought her dream house (by neighborhood and layout, and updated it with hurricane protection, including shutters and a built in generator).

Some of my snowbird relatives have condos chosen for beach and boating access, which are lock and leave, but have somewhat less amenities.

 

[Aerides]

Chiming in for SE Fla here: Palm Beach County.

First, PBI is the best airport, it's nice and easy and clean and pretty, but for major Intl stuff MIA is not far away, and you have FTL in between - makes flying pretty easy with a lot of choices.

No red tide over here, but we do get super crowded in season. July actually feels hotter for me than August, but if you can't stand it that's a good dealbreaker to decide. Still, driving around in March is another PITA.

Plenty of higher end 55+ communities, mostly not close to the beach though, but a 20 minute drive as most are west of Jog/Military, as they are newer builds. Nothing east of Military is a new sfh build unless it was a tear down. Most new stuff around me is apartments going up in office complexes. Nice ones, $4-5k a month rentals, or 1M townhomes.

If you go for a 55+ community, you'll want a decent sized one to spread around assessments - lot easier to repair the front entryway when it's spread over 900 residents than 200...Most of these will have a nice community pool, but do ask what temp it is heated to, as most seem to be 84f, which sounds nice to most people, but might as well be 55 once you've been here for a couple of years. (I don't swim under 87, and I like 91 lol). Shutters are a no-go if you have to put them up yourself - easy to do at 35, not 65, and not if you want freedom to travel - you'll at least want accordions, and most newer homes or remodels will have impact windows. When shopping, ask for considerations on homes that don't, or homes with roofs over 15 years. All of these neighborhoods will also have HOAs which will have limits on when you can have shutters up - you usually cannot board up the house from June to November and leave it looking like that, not at the front at least.


Delray has a level 1 trauma center, and one of the best hospitals. Insurers love florida, particular BCBS. I have no trouble finding providers and specialists - I mean sure I have to look and try them out, but no problems doing so.

Politics seems to be hyper local - your neighborhood. You can be a in a blue county with a red subdivision, and vice versa. Also florida doesn't stay the same for long, we swing back and forth every 10 years or so. Of course, we have no income tax, yay.

 

[W2R]

Sensitivity to red tide varies tremendously - the individual, day-to-day, location, "which way the wind is blowing", etc. We talked to the couple next door to us when they got back from the beach. Her eyes were noticably red, and she said she was coughing. He said, "no problem". DW and I didn't experience any effects at the condo in Bradenton, and we went to Holmes Beach several times in February with no effects and no smell. We didn't go in the water, but we walked the beach a couple times. Of course, a person who is more sensitive to it than us, may not do as good, so as simple girl said, beware!

We used to go to Longboat Key for spring vacation, for two or three years back in the early to mid 1960's. The red tide was pretty bad! My father (a surgeon), instructed me to not go swimming or touch the dead fish (so I didn't). The hotel tried to clean up the dead fish on their beach, but it seemed to be an impossible task. Didn't bother me, though. I still remember how much fun it was to walk the beaches and look for shells. I thought it was so beautiful there! I don't remember having any problems or symptoms at all due to the red tide. Wonderful memories of those vacations long ago.

 

[simple girl]

Red Tide isn't something that would dictate where I live and it can impact the entire coastline. When there is a bloom it varies day to day in the impact so you sort of adjust like you would the weather. Even the long lasting blooms like Simple Girl mentioned ebb and flow and the impacts vary from day to day and place to place depending on wind and currents. Bad blooms with fish kills linger and are quite disgusting until cleaned up but presence of red tide doesn't always yield a lot of dead fish in that area. The beach cities are quick to clean up the beaches when this happens. I am sensitive to it and get a dry scratchy cough but even a few blocks inland it doesn't bother me. When there are blooms, I definitely check before going out to do water activities.

Agree completely, except it would impact my decision if I wanted to live on an island or really close to the beach. I would hate to pay all of that money and then not be able to enjoy going outside at certain times of the year.

Sensitivity to red tide varies tremendously - the individual, day-to-day, location, "which way the wind is blowing", etc. We talked to the couple next door to us when they got back from the beach. Her eyes were noticably red, and she said she was coughing. He said, "no problem". DW and I didn't experience any effects at the condo in Bradenton, and we went to Holmes Beach several times in February with no effects and no smell. We didn't go in the water, but we walked the beach a couple times. Of course, a person who is more sensitive to it than us, may not do as good, so as simple girl said, beware!

Yes, you are correct. I am super sensitive. I get a metallic taste in my mouth and then I start coughing shortly thereafter. Interesting that people react differently.

 

[Dash man]

We’ve had a place near Tampa and now have a condo just south of Boca Raton. I much prefer the east coast of Florida because of nicer water and coastline and I believe the traffic isn’t as bad as the west coast. When we decided back in 2016 to move closer to the water, we drove around the west coast to check it out. Traffic in Sarasota and Bradenton scared me away. Tampa and Pasco county were much worse than before we originally bought there.
We now have a condo in a sleepy little town on the A1A with uncrowded beaches. However the public beaches down the road are busy. We love our little place and can watch the ocean from our living room or balcony, or go down to it whenever we like.

 

[MarieIG]

We’ve had a place near Tampa and now have a condo just south of Boca Raton. I much prefer the east coast of Florida because of nicer water and coastline and I believe the traffic isn’t as bad as the west coast. When we decided back in 2016 to move closer to the water, we drove around the west coast to check it out. Traffic in Sarasota and Bradenton scared me away. Tampa and Pasco county were much worse than before we originally bought there.
We now have a condo in a sleepy little town on the A1A with uncrowded beaches. However the public beaches down the road are busy. We love our little place and can watch the ocean from our living room or balcony, or go down to it whenever we like.

It sounds lovely.

 

[LiveBelowMeans]

While you're in North port, check out Venice. Nice downtown. Close beaches.
Nice small town community feel. Not very touristy and its close to Siesta key and Sarasota(great culture) JMHO

 

[Scuba]

Red tide has been really quite bad here in Sarasota lately. It has been affecting a large portion of the Southwest coast. I'm now glad I don't live super close to the ocean (but happy that we are still relatively close and still west of 75, as it is noticeably hotter east of 75).



Our friends rented for about a month in Bradenton in February. Red tide affected them almost their entire stay and they had to come to us to hang out by the pool instead of going to the beach. Such a DRAG! Although we did have several fun pool parties! lol



Our friends who live on Long Boat Key have had to stay inside much of the past month or two because of how intense it has been...couldn't even tolerate going outside for a walk. Ugh!



It appears to be much better now, thankfully! Here's a map where we check the forecast before heading to the beach. You click on the dots to get the actual forecast for each beach: https://habforecast.gcoos.org/



Sometimes it can last many months. One year it actually lasted 18 months - I hadn't recalled it was that long but my local friends recently reminded me of that. It's the "dirty little secret" they don't like to talk about on the news - I'm assuming because it would hurt tourism.



So, when they do start talking about it on the news, you know it's really intense.



I'm still glad I live here, but I do think newbies should realize it is a real issue at times!

Thank you for mentioning this. We initially thought we would prefer the West Coast, as we like the idea of calm water, boating to nearby islands and sand bars, and the more laid back culture vs the East Coast. However, between red tide and sea temperatures, we are now leaning towards SE FL. Apparently due to the Gulf Stream, the water on the Atlantic side is much warmer than the Gulf side in winter when we want warmer water, and it’s cooler in the summer on the Atlantic side, which sounds pretty appealing.

We are looking forward to experiencing both sides of South FL so we can make a better decision.

 

[Scuba]

I have lived in NE Florda since 1961 except for a few winters while in college but always in Fl during holidays and summer. My wife has been here since around 1950. Neither of us have become acclimated to the hot summers with high humidity and spend most of the day indoors during the worst months or take a trip to Maine or Canada during that time. Temperatures will get hot but the real discomfort is the humidity that will average around 75% in the winter months and as much as 90+% in the summer.
Something to think about. Your plan to spend the summer sounds like a good plan.
I would suggest supplementing your stay with some internet searches about Florida insects, wildlife, red tide, hurricanes and how to get out of south Florida if you need to evacuate (only 2 crowded interstates and 350 miles to get to the border), housing costs, insurance, traffic, overcrowded areas, tourists, etc. Those are a few reasons so many new residents eventually discover and move away.
Every state has their own fun features so I'm not trying to discourage you. Just be aware when you make the long move. I love living here and couldn't imagine dealing with snow, forest fires, earthquakes, drought, tornadoes, that people experience in other states.

Cheers!

Thanks Badger. We have somewhat of a head start on understanding heat, humidity, bugs and hurricanes. I grew up on the Gulf Coast of a Southern state and lived in Houston for 10 years before moving to CA. Still, it’s been a long time since I’ve lived in a humid climate. When everyone else in Palm Springs where we live now is sitting inside in the A/C because it’s 115-120 outside, DH and I are happily in the pool.

The evacuation issue does concern me. I recall reading about people running out of gas on the highways leading out of Houston when Hurricane Harvey was on the way. Do most people deal with this by evacuating early, flying out before the storm, or

 

[Scuba]

As far as the humidity goes, I still play Pickleball 6x weekly in the summer until 12-1pm daily.
Yes, I would rather have low humidity, but for those that are very active, we just deal with it rather than not playing. I tire of the heat around Oct, but then the break in heat comes.

Wow, you are tough playing outdoors until 12-1 pm. When I lived in the South, I tried to get my exercise in early or late in the day.

 

[Scuba]

I have a fair number of relatives in Florida. In spite of that, it took the most recent to buy, and her DH about a year to pick out her new home. They almost made choosing a retirement home a second career.



They scoped out quite a few communities, more than once. They decided on a SFH, in a 55+ with amenities, but they also wanted a large enough home, with a heated pool and a bird cage. It was not a new build, but for them the pool was a priority, the elevation was good and it had "survived" hurricanes in the past (and did so again more recently). (It had a large community pool but my cousin also wanted a built-in pool in the yard, and she uses it.) They had to wait to get the area they wanted and house that met their requirements, and offered slightly over ask.



You may want to consider a slightly older (but well built) home, to get the space and amenities you want. One of my Floridian friends, bought her dream house (by neighborhood and layout, and updated it with hurricane protection, including shutters and a built in generator).



Some of my snowbird relatives have condos chosen for beach and boating access, which are lock and leave, but have somewhat less amenities.

Another advantage of an older home is that the community it’s in is likely to be lower density. Our community in Palm Springs was built in the late 60’s/early 70’s and has a lot of green space between homes. All homes in our neighborhood are one story. The newer construction homes in this area are a few feet from their neighbors, and many are 2-story even though a huge percentage of the market here is homes for retirees.

 

[Scuba]

Chiming in for SE Fla here: Palm Beach County.

First, PBI is the best airport, it's nice and easy and clean and pretty, but for major Intl stuff MIA is not far away, and you have FTL in between - makes flying pretty easy with a lot of choices.

No red tide over here, but we do get super crowded in season. July actually feels hotter for me than August, but if you can't stand it that's a good dealbreaker to decide. Still, driving around in March is another PITA.

Plenty of higher end 55+ communities, mostly not close to the beach though, but a 20 minute drive as most are west of Jog/Military, as they are newer builds. Nothing east of Military is a new sfh build unless it was a tear down. Most new stuff around me is apartments going up in office complexes. Nice ones, $4-5k a month rentals, or 1M townhomes.

If you go for a 55+ community, you'll want a decent sized one to spread around assessments - lot easier to repair the front entryway when it's spread over 900 residents than 200...Most of these will have a nice community pool, but do ask what temp it is heated to, as most seem to be 84f, which sounds nice to most people, but might as well be 55 once you've been here for a couple of years. (I don't swim under 87, and I like 91 lol). Shutters are a no-go if you have to put them up yourself - easy to do at 35, not 65, and not if you want freedom to travel - you'll at least want accordions, and most newer homes or remodels will have impact windows. When shopping, ask for considerations on homes that don't, or homes with roofs over 15 years. All of these neighborhoods will also have HOAs which will have limits on when you can have shutters up - you usually cannot board up the house from June to November and leave it looking like that, not at the front at least.


Delray has a level 1 trauma center, and one of the best hospitals. Insurers love florida, particular BCBS. I have no trouble finding providers and specialists - I mean sure I have to look and try them out, but no problems doing so.

Politics seems to be hyper local - your neighborhood. You can be a in a blue county with a red subdivision, and vice versa. Also florida doesn't stay the same for long, we swing back and forth every 10 years or so. Of course, we have no income tax, yay.

This is very helpful information, thank you. When we visit, we will be staying in Boca Raton, Jensen Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and maybe another town or two along the East Coast. Have heard great things re Delray Beach. Also a lot of people seem to like Vero Beach and Melbourne, although that may be too far north for us.

Great point about pool heating - my preferred temp is also 90+ but I’m sure most community pools won’t go for that. Any recommendations on other towns to consider or avoid?

Glad to hear you’ve been able to access doctors. In Palm Springs, finding a PCP taking new patients is almost impossible. The only reason I got one is that DH’s cardiac surgeon referred him to a new PCP after his heart attack, and that doc took me on also.