House Hunting....Ugggg

[jlb27537]

Hi, thinking a bit down the road, we presently have a house in Mo. Spend the winters in the Montie in the RGV for 5 months yearly. Still like to travel west 2-3 months every year.

Did you look at Lake Weir Preserve or The Villages in your looking at a Florida residence?

http://www.lakeweirliving.com/

http://www.thevillages.com/

Thanks Jim

[Artemus Gordon]

Lolrof. Thanks Joe for reading!!! Lol. We have not decided where to go when Sue retires for second time! Lol. I love being retired and think we will travel full time for couple years. Oh and yes, if we could sell, the money would go further, the problem is getting a buyer's that can qualify for loan's to buy our property's here. Florida could be option,but we have second home near Saratoga NY on the Battenkill. We also like rural Tenn. Hell we could buy half the county there! I do know that we are tired of California and the cost of living, elements from LA moving north and my home town looks unfamiliar to me!

[JandC]

quote:Originally posted by jlb27537

Hi, thinking a bit down the road, we presently have a house in Mo. Spend the winters in the Montie in the RGV for 5 months yearly. Still like to travel west 2-3 months every year.

Did you look at Lake Weir Preserve or The Villages in your looking at a Florida residence?

http://www.lakeweirliving.com/

http://www.thevillages.com/

Thanks Jim

We really didn't consider those. We have wintered or at least vacationed (prior to having an RV) in numerous locations in Florida, on both coasts. The area between Naples and Venice was always our favorite so we just had to narrow it down to one of probably four or five cities. Many factors played into the final location. At the top of the list was the location of our different friends, plus current crime rates.

If you check crimereports.com for a location, or neighborhood, you can see how much crime they have had. Actually you can even see where all the sex offenders reside. Most of the cities and counties in Florida enter their updated crime reports into that public system. That site is actually a tool I sometimes use when traveling across county in the Montana. If I suspect a certain CG is located in a "suspect" area I check the area using that site.

There are dozens of places in Florida that we truly love. Cape Coral has a population of around 150,000, good medical facilities, 20 minutes from 2 airports, 30 minutes to an hour from beaches (depending on which one and traffic), lower average crime rates than Florida's overall average rate, and property values rising at a current rate of 5 - 7% per year. In many ways it is similar to Peoria Illinois, except it doesn't have 12 to 20 murders every year and you don't have to wear gloves 6 months out of 12.

[mazboy]

what price range are you looking at anyway? i think you need to up the price a bit.....there are some great looking houses out there that are for sale.

[mazboy]

are you sure you have a 'good' realtor? or maybe you have not communicated with him/her what you want to look at....there are a lot of great looking houses down there but you have to tell the realtor what you want.

[jlb27537]

Thank You for the link to https://www.crimereports.com/

I plugged in my house, my neighborhood is ok, but down the road, good to know info.

Jim

[sailer]

You should have come down to Bonita Springs, We have been here now for 21 years and love it
sailer

[JandC]

quote:Originally posted by mazboy

what price range are you looking at anyway? i think you need to up the price a bit.....there are some great looking houses out there that are for sale.

Everything approved and waiting on appraisal, should close before end of March. Ended up with just under 1700 sq. feet, 3/2/2, new in ground pool w/cage installed last month. They even threw in all new stainless appliances that have never been used!

Bonita and/or Naples would have been our next target area if we would not have found this one. Of course, after appraisal Tuesday I still need several inspections before it is a done deal.

[Steve and Susie]

Well, for what its worth, we bought our home in Inverness and are very happy here. If you would like a good sensible realty Lady to work with I would recommend Debra McFarland at ERA realty in Inverness. There are quite a few nice homes in our area for sale, some refinished and some like we bought ours, needing some TLC. We have completely painted the house inside and out and are finally being able to enjoy the fruits of our labor, like sitting by the pool in the afternoon. Anyhow if we can help you in any way in considering our area here give us a shout. Happy Trails, Steve and Susie

[JandC]

The hunt and gut is finally over! The original one we had a contract on the first of March was going to be way short on appraisal. Seller would not budge so we dumped that contract and got our money back (you have to love Florida's real estate laws). Found one we liked better right away and made deal. This time we thought the appraisal would be close, but it was still short. Seller was good about adjusting price and we are set!

Heading out this morning for a quick 2400 miles turn-around run to Illinois to get first load of tools/equipment in bed of pickup. Should close on house sometime the middle of April.

[Bill-N-Donna]

Two years ago we purchased our dream home. When we looked at it I told them I was ready to make the purchase, where do I sign? After 31 years of living in the same place I found out how things had changed. We could only place a bid on the house after looking at it. We had to wait over the weekend just to find out if we were the successful bidder or not. That was certainly an eye opener on how things had changed. Glad it worked out for you!

[JandC]

This Florida housing market was sure an eye opener for me. Not used to the value swing that these properties experience over several years. The house we purchased sold new in 2005 for $274,000. That is almost $165 per square foot! We are buying it for just over half of that. My buddy bought his in Cape Coral 3 years ago and has seen its value increase right at 50% already.

We are hoping this is our dream home. I sure don't want to go through the process again.

[DQDick]

Here's wishing you're right and this turns out to be the best purchase of your life.

[PackerFan]

Wishing you guys the best of luck with the new home. Enjoy and hope you make many fond memories.