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Old 01-22-2015, 10:32 AM   #1
JandC
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Full Timing Modification

Just prior to coming up on the 2 year mark of full timing, and we may be making a slight adjustment. We really love SW Florida for extended winter stays. We stumbled upon a small lot on a canal that is so cheap we may not be able to pass it up.

Problem is you can't park an RV on it, you have to put a manufactured home on it. Still in the "thinking it through" stages. But the price is right and we could still and be full time in Montana 7 months out of the year.
 
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Old 01-22-2015, 01:19 PM   #2
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Good to have options, that does sound good.
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Old 01-22-2015, 02:31 PM   #3
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Sounds like a great deal, I'd go for it.
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Old 01-22-2015, 03:09 PM   #4
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Full timing may be fine right now but one must always be prepared for and have an eye on the future, I vote go for it as well!
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Old 01-22-2015, 03:57 PM   #5
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Weighing options. Not ready to give up the full time life style yet, but on the other hand I can see it being easier to not pull the Montana back and forth to SW Florida each season. We enjoy traveling and hauling it down the road, but we do all of our extended traveling between June and September. A lot to think about.
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Old 01-23-2015, 10:15 AM   #6
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Do you think if you purchased the lot that in the future they may change the ruling on No RV's? Might be worth purchasing it for future use and leave it empty for now until you are ready to settle down. You might even be able to file for a change to the ordinance to allow an RV on it.
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Old 01-23-2015, 01:20 PM   #7
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I think everyone has a Plan B (even C, D and E). Being a full time rv'er, means you are flexible and open, to new things, so I'm sure you will make the right decision for you. Good luck!
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Old 01-24-2015, 02:12 AM   #8
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In South Florida, location, location, location AND investigate, investigate, investigate.
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Old 01-24-2015, 03:51 AM   #9
kdeiss
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If you like the park and price is right I think that would be an excellent investment. We love having unit on a perm intent lot. Was just time for us no more towing!

We have a home in Florida which turned out to be an Excellent Investment has appreciated $50,000 in the last 5 Years. We do like living in our unit in the summer BUT love coming home to our very comfortable Home.

I would like to point out Home Owner and Wind Insurance in Florida on a Mobile Home can be Expensive. We have a Friend that pays about the same on a 30 Year Old Mobile Home as we do on Our Home
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Old 01-25-2015, 02:20 AM   #10
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Scott, the county will allow an RV on the lot but the "corporation" or homeowners won't. I don't think that will ever change.

Mike, have talked to several people who have owned lots/units in the park for long periods of time. Two of the guys I spent time with were there when Charlie took their units, which is the hurricane that created the empty lot that we looked at. It was sold but before the new owners had a home put on it they found an existing one on the next street over and purchased it instead, so the homeowner corporation put the "for sale" sign back on this one.

Ken, my buddy has experienced the same type of appreciation in the last few years on his new home in Cape Coral. That was part of the reason we even started to look around. We thought that if we waited several more years the prices down here would be through the roof again. And you are correct, insurance will be very expensive even with a $5,000.00 deductible. There are actually some folks we talked to that have just dropped their insurance, but we are not that brave.

We had our interview with 3 park Board Chairmen. We provided proof of being over 55 and purchased the lot. We have also looked at some Manufactured homes to have placed on it, and are in the final stages of deciding on the exact floor plan. The $125.00 monthly maintenance fee (water, sewer, mowing) will be the cheapest part of this whole thing. Building permits are several hundred dollars. The county charges an "Impact" fee when a new residence is added. This is due to the extra stress on their schools, emergency services, and recreation facilities, and it will be somewhere between $900 to $2,000. Taxes and insurance will add another $3,000 or more per year.

But then again in the whole scheme of things, where can you live in a 1300 square foot residence, with SW Florida average temps, on a canal, with access to a heated pool, no yard work, for less than $5,000 a year? Heck, our taxes on our previous sticknbrick in Illinois were almost $4,000 a year! Actually, we are paying just over $6,000 for 4 months rent this winter in the RV Resort we are currently in, and that is not counting the expense of pulling the Monte down here and back.
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Old 01-26-2015, 05:25 AM   #11
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After the last few months, I can definitely say there is an advantage to some sort of permanent home. Over a year ago I tore my Rotator cuff a bit but living with it was fine. In fact after being in Colorado last fall we stored the RV in NM planning to back after Christmas to pickup the RV on the way to AZ. Marcie hasn't sold her place yet and some small trips would keep us busy through the holidays. Well best plans always can go bad. By the time we returned to Illinois I started having shoulder pain. The repair is behind us but the Physical Therapy grinds on. When we get to NM is uncertain but we now know that the confines of the small RV (compared to Marcy's home) would have had both of us climbing the walls for the first 8 weeks.
Montana4two wrote "a full time rv'er, means you are flexible and open, to new things", How true. I don't say Northwestern Illinois is the favorite place to winter but I do like to see the snow fall. My option which I'm going to look for is a place that the RV could parked, lived in with some permanent structure to do the dirty hobbies, other activities or go to listen to your programs without interference.
I support your wanting another place but how is the Medical?
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Old 01-26-2015, 10:37 AM   #12
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Congrats on your new purchase and adventure! Sue and I have talked about this same thing too and are thinking about one of those park models at RV Parks as a home base or permanent home when the time comes to settle down some where.
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Old 01-26-2015, 11:03 AM   #13
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We do have a home in Ohio but we are getting tired of the tow back and forth to Florida every winter and are also looking for a residence here in our Winter resort. We are considering downsizing to a smaller Rv for our summer travels.
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Old 02-12-2015, 03:05 AM   #14
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Don't know if any Florida members are familiar with Charlotte County (Punta Gorda area) or not, but them folks at the code office are picky! Had a new 1300+ square foot new manufactured home all optioned out for our new lot. A couple board members from the park and I had located the lot marking metal pins and made sure the new home would fit with all known existing set-back requirements. Just prior to paying a surveyor $375.00 for the official site plan and then ordering a $90,000 plus home, we found out that Charlotte county passed a new requirement. Homes, manufactured or stick-built, can not have a footprint that takes up more than 40% of the lot they are on.

So now we were faced with either downsizing our home order to about 900 square feet, or getting our money back on the lot and moving on. We got our money back on the lot and cancelled ordering the home. Thankfully none of this has actually cost us anything yet since the park is giving us a full refund on the lot.

Now we are beginning a search for a stick-built. Uggggg!
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Old 02-12-2015, 10:12 AM   #15
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That's to bad, at least you were able to get all of your money back and walk away clean. Could have been a lot worse! On the upside, I guess you are meant to stay in your Montana and keep traveling!!
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Old 02-12-2015, 01:50 PM   #16
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Sorry for your troubles but as my DW always says these things happen to us for a reason, which we will fully understand later?
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Old 02-13-2015, 12:41 AM   #17
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We are staying at Cypress Trail RV resort in Ft. Myers for the winter, not to confuse with Cypress Woods, (that's an older adjacent park). It's located off of I-75, exit 139 where there's a CW. The lots are intended for ownership, but you can rent for days or for months. Because it's a brand new resort, the lot entry prices are still considered low. You can add a shed, more concrete or paver's and landscape it to your heart's content. Most owners here have motor coaches and a number have 5th wheelers, (and other campers at least 24 ft. in length), however; lot owners can place a permanent park model. I believe we have 3 park models, each built to withstand hurricane force winds. It's something to consider, especially if you're interested in wintering in SW Florida. We weren't looking to purchase, but the journey eventually led us to getting something permanent and retaining a value. We also looked at it because of it's location to a major interstate corridor, easy accessible airport, shopping, restaurants and entertainment. I'm not an investor and I'm not in sales, so nothing to sell or gain, but if you've got the time, you ought to look at it or maybe you've already seen it. In any case, it's worth the look.
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Old 02-13-2015, 01:41 AM   #18
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Thanks Woodman, Packerfan, and Darmar, we haven't driven through Cypress Trail Resort but have looked at their site and talked to someone else that is camped out there. It seems like a really nice new development. Part of the reason we started on this journey was due to the experience of my buddy that retired down here 3 years ago. He and his DW purchased a new 4 bedroom home (previously lost by builder)for $90,000. They were thinking about selling last fall and going full time in their fiver so they had it appraised. It appraised for over $145,000. So in just 3 years their property value has risen around 50%. They are staying put.

So when the DW and I was talking about having a future place down here we didn't want to buy when the market was at the high end. We thought we had a few years before Florida prices really started taking off again. I think they are climbing pretty good now so we have started looking at residential homes.
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