Retirement in Florida - Page 2

Sweet_Serenity · ‎01-22-2016

Relocated last spring from NY to Boco Ratan. Retired 58 single and no regrets. Moved for several reasons. First! Tired traveling twice year see my Granddaughter, Turns 5 end of the month, Already want to stop the clock. Growing up in NYC my family purchased condo in Bal-Harbor Miami Beach...Best memories! Cabana at Doral along with Dancing my GrandFather Starlight Roof. Point is Florida is and has always been very dear to me. Lived in Hollywood traveled all over the country and abroad. Every place has positive and negative effects. Besides family love senior community and lifestyle. Many have given you excellent suggestions. Wish you happiness and joy.

software · ‎06-08-2016

I never saw a cockroach the size of my hand until I moved south.

They go by many different names but it's still a cockroach and they can fly.

Fireants - avoid them.

Yes, the bugs are bigger and more plentiful in the southeast.

You learn to accept it and control it.

I was born & raised in New England, moved south 40 years ago

The southeast is very different. I can't imagine anyone wanting to uproot and move without spending extended time in the south. The culture is different, food is different, weather, you name it.

Nothing inherently bad about it, just very different

Elom · ‎06-15-2010

I know a few people who live in Spanish lakes country club village in Ft Pierce FL

my family also has a long history in that particular community. The Wynne developers have a few of them but our fondness was the country club village. There is more there to do and activities scheduled every month than you can imagine. You can get involved as much or as little as you desire. They have block homes as well as Mobile homes. For as old as it is it is very well maintained. I am partial to the SE coast of Florida. I do have family that live in Lake City Fl and that is a very nice area also and not as busy. I stayed with my daughter in the Orlando area and glad I did as it is not for me. Lake city is more my liking.

Deb213 · ‎05-27-2011

Thanks to everyone for responding - that is really good advice! I will miss the Northeast and the seasons for sure so the Northeast part of Florida might be best for us. It will be cool in the Winter, but without the snow and ice. I do want to rent and get a feel for what life is really like down there over the long haul before we sell. I just need to narrow it down to a specific place.

Also, I should have mentioned in my first post that airports, hospitals, and general infrastructure are important to us as well. We currently live just outside of a major city so we dont want to get too rural.

If anyone else has any input, please feel free to contribute!

Lori Kaye · ‎03-14-2010

@Deb213 We have friends that lived in upstate NY all their lives. They are in their 60's and decided to retire and move to a retirement community in Tampa 7 years ago. They were miserable there, especially with the drastic change in temperature. They just sold their place and are moving to Maine in the fall. Good luck with your decision!!

Group 5 minus 1 · ‎03-11-2010

Before you make the big move I will tell you about friends of ours. They wanted to retire and move to Florida. Had always taken a winter vacation there. When they did retire they sold their house which was a beautiful home and moved. Did not realize how very hot it was in the summer. Moved back here but had to buy a home not at all like their former home and were very unhappy.My advice is this: live in Florida in the summer to see if you like it.

Deb213 · ‎05-27-2011

@Lori Kaye

Oh dear! That is my worst fear! I have been so happy in our home for 25 plus years. I would hate to get down there and realize that I was happier up here! But I also accept that we are getting older and eventually, this house will be too much for us. Especially the stairs! We have a very large home. But thank you for letting me know that even if I do make a mistake, we can always move back up North!

Ocalagala · ‎04-22-2015

Having lived in Florida for 24 years I feel more than qualified to answer your question. You really need more than a 2 week visit to decide where you want to live. And you need to decide if you want to be close to the coast or live inland. It's more humid on the coast and you have to deal with hurricanes. It's hot inland, but not as humid. And in north central Florida, the weather starts to cool down by the end of September. They also get 3 seasons, so much cooler than being on the coast in South Florida, which has one season...summer.

We first moved to Miami from Ohio for my husband's job. We bought a house a few blocks from the ocean. But the windstorm insurance and property taxes were very high. Almost $6,000 a year for each. We had a tree fall on our house in one hurricane and we lost our screened in birdcage in another. When it was time to retire, we knew we wanted to stay in Florida, but also knew we didn't want to be on the coast anymore, so we started looking inland.

We started with The Villages in Lady Lake. A community of 11,000 homes and still growing. Way too large & too busy for us. In season the roads are like parking lots and you cannot get into a restaurant. After checking around the center of the state for around 2 years, we wound up purchasing in a Del Webb community in Ocala. It's an over-55, gated community and we love it. You can be as busy as you want to be. Tons of activities. A beautiful gym, 2 pools, exercise classes, etc. Also a large clubhouse with all sorts of clubs and groups to join. If we want to deal with the big city we are an hour or so away from Tampa and Orlando.

Yes there are bugs in Florida, but if you have your house treated monthly by a licensed exterminator, you will almost never see any. I won't lie to you, the weather is hot. It's not as humid as south Florida, because we aren't near the ocean. We are 1 1/2 hours from the Atlantic & the Gulf of Mexico. We get storms, but by the time a hurricane gets to the center of the state it's considerably weakened and usually a large rain event. In north central Florida we also get 3 seasons. It actually can go into the 20s in the winter. South of Orlando, it's summer all year long.

Some things to consider: Your retirement dollar will go much farther if you don't live on either coast. The cost of taxes and insurances are very high. Also, restaurants and entertainment are more expensive in the beach communities. We didn't realize this until after we moved here.

Moving here from out of state is a big move. I would definitely rent during the summer or visit for an extended period to see if you can tolerate the heat.

Someone gave us some advice when we left Ohio for Florida. They said pretend your seasons are reversed. You have your New Year's Eve party on the lanai and your July 4th barbeque indoors.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Zhills · ‎11-15-2011

You learn to schedule around the heat just like they do around snow days up North. How many things just have to be done between 12 and 5?

You use an exterminator for bugs. We PAY if we want to see boas and gators. You see them on TV, not in real life. We got a small one in our pond a d peel would stop beside the road to see him. They are rare and fascinating!

Do check out all areas. They are different! Central Florida is beautiful and a lovely place to live. Pasco, Polk, Osceola and Hillsborough are active places. Lots of things to do! From old cars to corn Festival..

DianeJ2 · ‎08-07-2015

I'm from New England and I moved to Ponte Vedra Beach (northern fl) for a year. I always knew I had the option to come back to CT and I did after a year. That really takes the finality stress away! If you don't like it, you're not stuck.

I really liked Ponte Vedra, there's expensive homes and moderately priced there too. As some posters have said, it's just a different experience. I loved the town, the weather did get hot in the spring/summer but the fall/winter saw cooler temperatures being northern Florida. I wasn't comfortable walking my small dog, had to pick him up constantly between the fire ants and alligators (I did see them on the sidewalks). My mom retired to North Carolina and loved it. Best to you on your decision...