topic Re: Question for the snowbirds... in Community Chat

Question for the snowbirds...

qualitygal — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 12:32:56 GMT

I have a SIL & BIL who are snowbirds, and I know they are here for the holidays and then off they go south. I understand this part, but I wonder if there's anyone who could just move south and not go back and forth. Maybe it's too hot and humid down south. Although, we have humidity here to choke you! But the chance to be out of snow once and for all, would be great. We have other reasons to stay in this state and I really don't want to be down south full time. (Bugs). I just wonder, if you could would you move where you don't have to contend with snow?

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

MaggieToo — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:03:35 GMT

We have a lot of snowbirds where I live and, eventually, many of them decide to move here. I guess they get to a certain age and decide enough of snow is enough. Too much work.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

FrostyBabe — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:09:32 GMT

At this point in my life, I wouldn't. Even though I'm right on the beach, I try not to go near the state of Florida between May 1st and October 1st. It's waaaayyyyy too hot and humid. I have a lot of friends, family and other interests there though, so sometimes I have to buck up and make a long weekend run.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

terrier3 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:25:42 GMT

I have a number of relatives with second homes in FLA.

They wouldn't THINK of going there past April - early May at the latest.

They enjoy the FLA weather but also love the change of seasons up North too.

One time I used my cousin's place at Seaside over the 4th of July....NEVER AGAIN!!!!!

A woman I worked with got a Disneyworld timeshare for Labor Day week. It was a bargain - I can imagine why...

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

151949 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:53:38 GMT

We are snowbirds. When we started this we knew that ultimately we would end up full time in Florida so we sold our home here and moved into one we had built there. Now, when we come north for 5 months, we stay in a camper near Pittsburgh. It is quite large for a camper and very comfortable but , nonetheless, it is a camper, and we can't be here when it is cold out.We leave when the campground closes in mid Oct and come back to Pa. around mid May. our plan is to do this until it becomes too much of a burden on us then we will move full time to our home in Florida. We are 65 & 69 years old and we are hoping we can do this another 10 years, God willing.We do not have children or grandchildren - that makes a huge difference in us not feeling we need to be here for the holidays. This is much less complicated than having 2 homes to care for. There are services that do home watches in Fl for a small fee. In the plan where I live 2/3 of the residents snowbird so it is extremely quiet during the summer there. The nice thing about only having a camper up here is when we leave we drain out all the water and we pay a company to come in and winterize everything with antifreeze, and we don't have to even think about it again until spring. We have been doing this for 4 years so far we are happy with our decision to do this. We are glad we sold our home and got the move over with so when we do choose to quit snowbirding we won't have that to face at 80 years old. Our next move I assume will be into the Assisted living someday.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

151949 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 14:01:32 GMT

I wanted to add that we moved to the small town where we live in Fl. because we have family there , and when we visited we loved it there. Since then 2 other couples who are good friends and visited us there fell in love with our area and have also purchased homes and moved there. One is our closest friend. It has made a tremendous difference to us having our very good friends and some close relatives closeby. Of course we have made friends with some of our neighbors but that is not the same as the friends you have known for as long as you can remember.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

colliegirls — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 14:53:33 GMT

Jobs took us to Florida years ago. It was like being on vacation year round!! Never got used to the roaches but we loved living the good life in Florida!!

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

151949 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 14:55:53 GMT

As for bugs in Florida - we have our home sprayed outside 4x a year and we wrap up all the food in the pantry to keep things out of it after learning the hard way about ants. We have not had an insect in the house since we started with the exterminator. We had one palmetto bug once that came in with a bag of peaches - DH killed him with wasp spray. Knock on wood - haven't had any since. You can't leave fruit and things sitting out in Fl though the way you can up north.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

sunshine45 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:04:30 GMT

my aunt just made the decision to STOP being a snowbird and live in florida all year long. she will probably only come up during the christmas holidays since her entire family is still here. her kids are not happy about it, especially with her health problems, but they really cannot do anything.

she downsized from her large home about 10 years ago, bought a townhouse here and bought a townhouse in boynton beach. she would have her car shipped back and forth twice a year. she put her townhouse on the market about a month ago, pretty much sold everything out of it and is ready to go back to florida, even if her home doesnt sell by september.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

MikafromTopeka — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:05:49 GMT

The only answer is California. (My home, born and raised for 35 years.) Not much humidity and the extra taxes are worth every penny.

Between the work of dealing with snow and the ick that builds up on walls and everything in your house in a humid climate (and Wisconsin isn't as bad as the more southern states) it's a whole lotta work. Add to that the fact that there are a few months of the year in mid winter where the weather is just deadly if you lose power or heat or a car breakdown or just a slip and fall on your own back porch can be fatal if no one is there to help.

FYI.....just because that California tax bill seems high doesn't mean everything else is higher. I just lost my mother about 30 hours ago. The cost for a simple cremation with a simple container is $3,400. My aunt in California was cremated two years ago and with the purchase of a nice urn (they were having services for her where they would need one) it was $1,000 less.

Note: I'm a little more jaded against the mid-west right now because I just came off of 2+ months of not having sewer because our main line froze this year in this record breaking cold. $500 heating bills are no fun either.

I bought a motorhome a few months ago to fix up and outfit for DH's retirement in August of next year 2015 and we're outta here! At least temporarily. I won't take my middle son out of high school as long as he's doing great here so we can't move permanently until after 2017.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

sunshine45 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:07:30 GMT

i have an apartment and business in southern california AND a home and a business here. i do NOT want to move permanently to southern california, even though my s/o is there. i really like being able to enjoy 4 seasons AND a more affordable cost of living. he says he would never survive the winters here. LOL....typical southern california man.....if it gets below 70 he is COLD.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

scotttie — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:10:37 GMT

I was just going to suggest perhaps a move south but not so far south as Florida? There are states that have much milder winters but aren't as hot and humid as Florida in the summer?

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

MikafromTopeka — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:10:58 GMT

For the record....in my post #9 I was referring to Northern California.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

151949 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:26:57 GMT

On 6/28/2014 scotttie said:
I was just going to suggest perhaps a move south but not so far south as Florida? There are states that have much milder winters but aren't as hot and humid as Florida in the summer?

I have friends who live in Hilton Head SC - it gets just as hot and humid in the summer and yet they have to put up with winter weather as well. Not for me!

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

scotttie — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:28:00 GMT

On 6/28/2014 happy housewife said:
On 6/28/2014 scotttie said:
I was just going to suggest perhaps a move south but not so far south as Florida? There are states that have much milder winters but aren't as hot and humid as Florida in the summer?

I have friends who live in Hilton Head SC - it gets just as hot and humid in the summer and yet they have to put up with winter weather as well. Not for me!

When you say ""winter weather"" you are certainly not referring to 8 ft. snow drifts.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

colliegirls — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:32:11 GMT

On 6/28/2014 happy housewife said:
On 6/28/2014 scotttie said:
I was just going to suggest perhaps a move south but not so far south as Florida? There are states that have much milder winters but aren't as hot and humid as Florida in the summer?

I have friends who live in Hilton Head SC - it gets just as hot and humid in the summer and yet they have to put up with winter weather as well. Not for me!

Winter weather?? Hardly. Nothing more than a rare cold morning.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

151949 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:34:08 GMT

On 6/28/2014 scotttie said:
On 6/28/2014 happy housewife said:
On 6/28/2014 scotttie said:
I was just going to suggest perhaps a move south but not so far south as Florida? There are states that have much milder winters but aren't as hot and humid as Florida in the summer?

I have friends who live in Hilton Head SC - it gets just as hot and humid in the summer and yet they have to put up with winter weather as well. Not for me!

When you say ""winter weather"" you are certainly not referring to 8 ft. snow drifts.

I am referring to it being cold enough to have ice and snow. And it is cold all winter - they have to change out to winter clothes - we in south Fl get a few cold days a year only.

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

brii — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:34:33 GMT

Florida gets chilly at night in the winter. It's not severe winter weather, but it does get cold.

I have family that lives in Las Vegas. They get down into the 40s sometimes at night in the winter.

Once we get our kids through college, we will wind up living somewhere where we won't ever have to see snow again!!

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

scotttie — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:35:37 GMT

On 6/28/2014 colliegirls said:
On 6/28/2014 happy housewife said:
On 6/28/2014 scotttie said:
I was just going to suggest perhaps a move south but not so far south as Florida? There are states that have much milder winters but aren't as hot and humid as Florida in the summer?

I have friends who live in Hilton Head SC - it gets just as hot and humid in the summer and yet they have to put up with winter weather as well. Not for me!

Winter weather?? Hardly. Nothing more than a rare cold morning.

That's what I thought.

*my edit

Re: Question for the snowbirds...

151949 — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 15:41:08 GMT

On 6/28/2014 scotttie said:
On 6/28/2014 colliegirls said:
On 6/28/2014 happy housewife said:
On 6/28/2014 scotttie said:
I was just going to suggest perhaps a move south but not so far south as Florida? There are states that have much milder winters but aren't as hot and humid as Florida in the summer?

I have friends who live in Hilton Head SC - it gets just as hot and humid in the summer and yet they have to put up with winter weather as well. Not for me!

Winter weather?? Hardly. Nothing more than a rare cold morning.

That's what I thought.

*my edit

Well, you all should go to SC for the winters then. Fl gets too crowded in the season anyway.