Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch - Part 2

Status
Not open for further replies.

Semiretired

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Sep 24, 2011
5,404
58,647
Middle Georgia
I grew up in Lake Worth. Lived in Live Oak and Orlando as an adult. Mom lives in Sebastian after being in WPB for 30+ yrs. Have no desire to be any further south than Sebastian. I'd like to find a spot in Ormand Beach, but it's expensive. Daytona's not bad, price wise, for older homes, just have to check out the neighborhood. City Data website is very helpful for that.

Raleigh area is just too expensive. Any place I can afford is in a neighborhood I wouldn't want to live in. I'm limited. Once I buy, I have to survive on SSD. Not easy. And I won't have much to spend to begin with. Having a slim budget is impossible here. My $$$ will go further in FL. I'd rather be in a restricted 55+ complex. It's quieter. :)

We are leaning the heaviest toward the Pensacola area, but not really Pensacola more like maybe Navarres or something like that - the area fits our lifestyle and this may sound odd, but I like the one hour time zone difference - it works better into other things and frees up some of the day...
 

Semiretired

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Sep 24, 2011
5,404
58,647
Middle Georgia
Just so you do not think that we have only looked at sunny locations - we also looked at Colorado, Ohio, Virginia and Washington State - almost bought a house in Fort Collins Co. a few years back... We have many second thoughts about passing it up. For us - it is a combination of all characteristics of an area - crime, taxes, employment (even though I am retired), housing, recreational, etc...

We want our cake and eat it to - so to speak...
 

Iffy

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Feb 3, 2011
9,626
79,411
Florida Suncoast
You can get an acre of land out there for around $20k...

I got 'nuff land (nice residential lot). I just gotta be really near sum salt water in case I need a transfusion! My brother and I have talked 'bout some interior land fer a 'compound' fer decades. Unfortunately his dream is larger than his wallet.

There is some really nice rea$onable property to be had. But, how close do ya want to be to a hospital, cultural events, shopping, etc.?


My $$$ will go further in FL.

Whoa! All ya'll really need to check da cost of living very closely in da locale ya want to relocate to. Also, beware of any association/maintenance fee$. Dey can eat your wallet quicker dan termites in a sawdust pile.

Just do yourselves a favor and do due diligence in your quests!!!
 
Last edited:

clnire

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jan 15, 2013
7,719
73,217
Florida
When we first started coming to Ocala back in the late 90s it was mostly open space, pasture and horse country. Now only the northern part is still horse farms. But south they split them up into house upon house subdivisions. It's sad to drive along past a big zero lot line community and see an old dilapidated barn melting away in the distance.

We have one+ acre about 15 miles west amd it is still pretty open but they are encroaching fast.
 

Semiretired

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Sep 24, 2011
5,404
58,647
Middle Georgia
I got 'nuff land (nice residential lot). I just gotta be really near sum salt water! My brother and I have talked 'bout some interior land fer a 'compound' fer decades. Unfortunately his dream is larger than his wallet.

There is some really nice rea$onable property to be had. But, how close do ya want to be to a hospital, cultural events, shopping, etc.?




Whoa! All ya'll really need to check da cost of living very closely in da locale ya want to relocate to. Also, beware of any association/maintenance fee$. Dey can eat your wallet quicker dan termites in a sawdust pile.

Just do yourselves a favor and do due diligence in your quests!!!

What Iffy said and more...
 

therussellv

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Nov 23, 2013
4,291
20,875
Winters, Texas
Well, let's see - I also research Abilene, Houston, Angleton, and San Antonio - my wifes has relatives in Angleton and Abilene. Tornado alley most of them... Just like I thought of Oklahoma also...

I could probably start my own Retirement Website with all the areas I have researched - you gotta remember retirement is like vaping and flavors - every one's perfect one is different... :D
I was actually born in Abilene, nice town.
 

MikeE3

Vaping Master
Supporting Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Aug 23, 2011
8,639
114,680
Downingtown, PA
Just so you do not think that we have only looked at sunny locations - we also looked at Colorado, Ohio, Virginia and Washington State - almost bought a house in Fort Collins Co. a few years back... We have many second thoughts about passing it up. For us - it is a combination of all characteristics of an area - crime, taxes, employment (even though I am retired), housing, recreational, etc...

We want our cake and eat it to - so to speak...

Funny you should reference Colorado as a location "other than sunny". Our daughter lived in San Diego for a number of years and now she's in Denver. She says she has more sunny days in Denver than when living in San Diego. She taught us the term grey May and June gloom, the 2 months they rarely see the sun in sunny southern California.
 

Semiretired

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Sep 24, 2011
5,404
58,647
Middle Georgia
Funny you should reference Colorado as a location "other than sunny". Our daughter lived in San Diego for a number of years and now she's in Denver. She says she has more sunny days in Denver than when living in San Diego. She taught us the term grey May and June gloom, the 2 months they rarely see the sun in sunny southern California.

For some reason with the location of the mountains and stuff - Fort Collins does not get as much snow and other stuff as Denver does. It is a college and high tech town - I had considered a job there a while back and had thought that if I took the job it would also be a good place to retire. Did not take the job - still considered it for a retirement area, but over time that slipped from our thoughts... No family or any real contacts in the area and that is important when starting up. If I had taken the job I would have had time to build a friend network before I retired... Friend or family networks are important when looking at a new area.
 

Janet H

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Sep 3, 2011
2,129
68,241
PA
Morning ya'll! Nice to see some of you still have family visiting. You're blessed. :)

Been looking at condos in FL, haven't decided if I'll try to stay here or move down with the rest of the old people in 'god's waiting room'. :laugh: So much less hassle. No yard work to deal with, etc. Some even have reasonable monthly HOA's under $300. I'll be going down there to visit my mom after I get the RV anyway, might as well look around. I grew up in south FL, so I'm familiar. Mom has been there over 50 yrs. Although we have never been close, I guess I should consider being near her. I'd leave the condo to my son, they'll have a place to retire, can rent it out in the mean time. Decisions decisions. :confused:

I've run into people who have rented out their houses and it was a royal pain. My BIL had 2 different renters and thought he'd checked them out well before renting. After a couple years he hadn't made a dime given the repairs and legal fees to get them out. It was awful. Our daughter, on the advice of military friends, is renting out her house using a property management company. It's worked out great - no headaches. They research and find the renters, go after them if they don't pay or cause damage and take care of any problems. I believe they charge 1 mo rent to find/research renters and 10% of the monthly rent to handle things. You could check out the companies in your area and see if that would work for you until your son is ready to move in.

I grew up in Lake Worth. Lived in Live Oak and Orlando as an adult. Mom lives in Sebastian after being in WPB for 30+ yrs. Have no desire to be any further south than Sebastian. I'd like to find a spot in Ormand Beach, but it's expensive. Daytona's not bad, price wise, for older homes, just have to check out the neighborhood. City Data website is very helpful for that.

Raleigh area is just too expensive. Any place I can afford is in a neighborhood I wouldn't want to live in. I'm limited. Once I buy, I have to survive on SSD. Not easy. And I won't have much to spend to begin with. Having a slim budget is impossible here. My $$$ will go further in FL. I'd rather be in a restricted 55+ complex. It's quieter. :)

Please check out those places with associations. You might want to make sure you talk to a few residents about how that's going and also get on the board. Could be just fine, but keep an eye on them. On the other hand, they're usually gated and you wouldn't have a neighborhood full of noisy kids.

Just so you do not think that we have only looked at sunny locations - we also looked at Colorado, Ohio, Virginia and Washington State - almost bought a house in Fort Collins Co. a few years back... We have many second thoughts about passing it up. For us - it is a combination of all characteristics of an area - crime, taxes, employment (even though I am retired), housing, recreational, etc...

We want our cake and eat it to - so to speak...

Of course, what good is having cake if you can't eat it! We made the same list of characteristics - might as well as get as much of it as you can. Funny you mention Fort Collins. Our daughter may be moving from Denver closer to that area this Spring/Summer. I never would have even thought of Colorado as a place to live until our daughter moved there. It's a pretty nice place and the weather is so much better than we would have imagined. Mostly their weather is nicer than it is here. One interesting thing though, Colorado is a lot of browns where PA is green. Our daughter does say she misses the green.
 

Iffy

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Feb 3, 2011
9,626
79,411
Florida Suncoast
... using a property management company.

thumbsup.gif
 

MattB101

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Jul 9, 2012
2,560
74,146
68
Deerfield Beach, FL
I grew up in Lake Worth. Lived in Live Oak and Orlando as an adult. Mom lives in Sebastian after being in WPB for 30+ yrs. Have no desire to be any further south than Sebastian. I'd like to find a spot in Ormand Beach, but it's expensive. Daytona's not bad, price wise, for older homes, just have to check out the neighborhood. City Data website is very helpful for that.

Raleigh area is just too expensive. Any place I can afford is in a neighborhood I wouldn't want to live in. I'm limited. Once I buy, I have to survive on SSD. Not easy. And I won't have much to spend to begin with. Having a slim budget is impossible here. My $$$ will go further in FL. I'd rather be in a restricted 55+ complex. It's quieter. :)

I might have a place for you in Daytona. My brother just moved out of the house we all grew up in. Î will be on the market as soon as they get it cleaned up and ready to sell. Two story balloon frame stucco old Florida House. Built is the 20's. Completely overhauled about 20 years ago. My nephew owns it now. My brothers daughter's husband. 5 houses off the beach on Seaview Avenue.

Sent with no malice and not a whole lot of forethought from my new Galaxy Tab 4. Thanks Santa!
 

Rotowoman

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Sep 27, 2014
639
15,388
Louisiana
Sorry, you never know what topic will pop up on the back porch! We go in all kinds of directions with topics... :toast:

OH, no need to be sorry. I've been seriously considering selling my house and going mobile. I don't need this house anymore. It's just that the last time I moved, it took me months to recover.
 

Debadoo

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
May 18, 2012
18,052
133,969
Texas, near Fort Hood
I was just thinking, between ncpatches, semi, iffy and myself we could populate our own little neighborhood. I'm looking for a large plot of land out in Loxahatchee, why don't I up it to around 10 acres and we all build our dream homes. We would each have a couple of acres so we wouldn't be in each others way. You can get an acre of land out there for around $20k and your only about 20 minutes from Deerfield Beach and Palm Beach. All the amenities right near by.

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk

This has always been the dream of me and my SIL to have sort of a compound for family. Of course, our dream is bigger than our wallet too as someone else said

You guys could always just move down here to Texas

I vote for this!!! Of course, in other places, there are different states closer to each other than one end of Texas is to............. the middle!! lol

Damn, I wish I had known you then. I'd a bit no problem. I wanted to do the same thing!

Sent with no malice and not a whole lot of forethought from my new Galaxy Tab 4. Thanks Santa!

See Semi......you HAD takers...........ya just didn't know who/where they were. :)

I'd rather be in a restricted 55+ complex. It's quieter. :)
They couldn't even keep a 55+ porch here lol I think I would like somewhat of an older neighborhood, but sometimes ya need some young blood.

We have one+ acre about 15 miles west amd it is still pretty open but they are encroaching fast.

Barr the door....batten the hatches.......call in the reserves......don't let em in!!!

Being retired military - I am used to moving and starting anew, but have also learned a lot of lessons over the years of what to and what not to consider. Our plan is detailed with no absolute time frame - just a general direction...We are doing it our pace. :D

That's the best way I think. And what this time of life is for. Time to relax, quit punchin time card, snappin to, etc. I'll do it when I do it, leave me alone! lol


Mornin everyone!!
 

Janet H

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Sep 3, 2011
2,129
68,241
PA
OH, no need to be sorry. I've been seriously considering selling my house and going mobile. I don't need this house anymore. It's just that the last time I moved, it took me months to recover.

I finally got to the point where the work to keep up the house and grounds just seemed to be too much. The thought of packing up and moving is overwhelming. The good thing is that I've spent the last few years getting rid of stuff and convincing Mike that he should do the same. Can't believe all the stuff we've gotten rid of already and there's still so much left! Ideally I'd love to have a small place around here and a small place in CO. Then we could be snowbirds from east to west. Gonna need a winning lottery ticket to make that happen!!
 

Flowersoul

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Mar 20, 2009
3,316
71,886
NE Florida
We researched mighty hard before we bought our home in NE Florida...Palm Coast.....best detective work we did. Close to the beach, cause that is a priority; close enough to I-95, stores, our doctors, and hospital but we're out of the way so don't hear any traffic.

Daughter is in Tampa, son is in St. Augustine, and one cousin here in P.C. and another in Port Orange and even more cousins down in Palm Beach. Close enough that we get together often and far enough that we have our space. Only one of my daughters is in Md., but she won't leave! She'd have to change teaching positions, and she's not willing to do that.

Because we in the NE Sector, we even get freezes here. I'm glad I didn't get rid of my winter garb, because I do use it here.

May I add my voice here to research and research deeply. Talk to residents if you can. Stay at a motel for a weekend, and scout the area.
 

MattB101

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Jul 9, 2012
2,560
74,146
68
Deerfield Beach, FL
This has always been the dream of me and my SIL to have sort of a compound for family. Of course, our dream is bigger than our wallet too as someone else said



I vote for this!!! Of course, in other places, there are different states closer to each other than one end of Texas is to............. the middle!! lol



See Semi......you HAD takers...........ya just didn't know who/where they were. :)

They couldn't even keep a 55+ porch here lol I think I would like somewhat of an older neighborhood, but sometimes ya need some young blood.



Barr the door....batten the hatches.......call in the reserves......don't let em in!!!



That's the best way I think. And what this time of life is for. Time to relax, quit punchin time card, snappin to, etc. I'll do it when I do it, leave me alone! lol


Mornin everyone!!

The place we are fixing to move into (MIL's house) is kinda in that kind of neighborhood. Lots of older folks but starting to get younger as the older generation passes on. One lady here is 92 and still driving. I thought that was wild and dangerous until I saw how spry she was. I would have guessed low 70s.

Sent with no malice and not a whole lot of forethought from my new Galaxy Tab 4. Thanks Santa!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread