Wintering in Florida - Montana Owners Club

Vet4jdc · 02-04-2023, 06:25 AM

My wife and I plan to retire in 2 more years. We have an interest in purchasing a "pad" somewhere in Florida to give us a place to go for 3-4 months in the winter. Buying a pad has some advantages for us as opposed to renting a campsite each year. We are leaning more towards a 55 and older community.

What have forum members found in Florida that fits the bill? Anyone have a lead on a good site that fits our criteria?

Thanks in advance!

phillyg · 02-04-2023, 06:50 AM

So many choices. Best bet is to find RV sites for sale online. They have become very expensive.

Vet4jdc · 02-04-2023, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillyg

So many choices. Best bet is to find RV sites for sale online. They have become very expensive.

Done that already. I thought I might get some feedback from real people here?

MandK · 02-04-2023, 08:24 AM

No first hand experience, but we know four couples that own pads in FL at four different places. 3 around FT Myers, 1 in Davenport. They all love it. A couple of them are very involved in the Hoa’s and active in running activities and events. One just likes to chill and play golf. The other is more like us in that they like to travel around. They bought in Davenport because they have a daughter that works at Disney so they spend a lot of time there as their “home base” but go camping throughout the state to see and do different things. They feel they can afford to spend time away because their taxes and hoa fees are very affordable compared to many places. Be sure to read the fine print in the park rules, some parks are nothing like campgrounds, no fires, no pets, no motorcycles or scooters etc, etc if you care about those things.
We rented a condo for a couple of winters and found we became bored with being in one place too long. We bought the Montana so we could bring our house with us and we have picked out 3 locations, Ft Myers, Pinellas, St Augustine, to spend a month at each with a week or 2 on the front and back end at different places. This is our second year at the parks we are at. Next year we may drop one of the parks and add another month to another, or just move to another place and see something different. We spent a week over in the Port St Lucie area on our way down this year at a COE campground and liked the area, we may spend a little more time there next year. That’s just us, there are rv parks everywhere here to buy or rent, maybe renting in a couple different ones to try them out and then buy might be a good option, although nothing is getting any cheaper, renting or buying.

Vet4jdc · 02-04-2023, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandK

No first hand experience, but we know four couples that own pads in FL at four different places. 3 around FT Myers, 1 in Davenport. They all love it. A couple of them are very involved in the Hoa’s and active in running activities and events. One just likes to chill and play golf. The other is more like us in that they like to travel around. They bought in Davenport because they have a daughter that works at Disney so they spend a lot of time there as their “home base” but go camping throughout the state to see and do different things. They feel they can afford to spend time away because their taxes and hoa fees are very affordable compared to many places. Be sure to read the fine print in the park rules, some parks are nothing like campgrounds, no fires, no pets, no motorcycles or scooters etc, etc if you care about those things.
We rented a condo for a couple of winters and found we became bored with being in one place too long. We bought the Montana so we could bring our house with us and we have picked out 3 locations, Ft Myers, Pinellas, St Augustine, to spend a month at each with a week or 2 on the front and back end at different places. This is our second year at the parks we are at. Next year we may drop one of the parks and add another month to another, or just move to another place and see something different. We spent a week over in the Port St Lucie area on our way down this year at a COE campground and liked the area, we may spend a little more time there next year. That’s just us, there are rv parks everywhere here to buy or rent, maybe renting in a couple different ones to try them out and then buy might be a good option, although nothing is getting any cheaper, renting or buying.

All great info M&K. Do you happen to know the name of the place in Davenport? We also have some friends that purchased in Deer Creek in Davenport.

MandK · 02-04-2023, 08:55 AM

Maybe we have the same friends,LOL.
Deer Creek! They just spent a week last month with us at the park in Ft Myers. They are back at Deer Creek now.

Vet4jdc · 02-05-2023, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MandK

Maybe we have the same friends,LOL.
Deer Creek! They just spent a week last month with us at the park in Ft Myers. They are back at Deer Creek now.

Maybe!

Where are you staying in Ft Meyers?

MandK · 02-05-2023, 06:16 AM

We were at Upriver RV resort.

wed · 02-05-2023, 04:54 PM

There are many just check with the areas you want to look in and ask the cvb to send info

Chief Brown · 02-08-2023, 08:50 AM

We own a lot in Willow Lakes RV Resort in Titusville, Fla. It is an over 55 community. The lot would be available for rent April 1st through December 31st. If interested in renting while you look around let me know.

CalandLinda · 02-23-2023, 05:24 AM

We wintered twice at Roberts' Mobile Home and RV Park. We were temps because we lived in and traveled with our fiver rig.

On our 2nd year my aunt and uncle from Maine visited us. Like you, they were looking for seasonal places to winter down. They ended up purchasing a seasonal site with a park model on it.

https://robertsrv.com/

JNLVaughn · 02-24-2023, 12:29 PM

Avon Park
Avion Palms
Torrey Trails
Torrey Oaks..5th wheel and Class A only
These are all located in Bowling Green/Wauchula area

DadsHemi · 02-24-2023, 03:38 PM

We have a time share in Davenport FL, Fawn Ridge Deer Creek. We will head down there something in June. It’s a nice area.

bseebeck · 03-22-2023, 04:36 PM

We went through that, owned a lot in Chrystal River at Nature Coast Landings. Thought is was a good idea at the time. We had the lot for two years nice place but a lot of infighting and HOA dues kept going up. Sold out and find it better to rent while we are here. We also like the idea if we don’t like we just move. Would never buy again.

Cbrez · 03-23-2023, 03:54 PM

Friends of ours bought a lot in Wauchula. They were on a wait list for about 3 years. They were 120+/- on the list when they signed up. They like the community, management and affordability of the resort. It’s far less expensive than coastal resorts and with such a long waitlist, the lots sell immediately when you decide to move on. Although they can derive rental income from the lot when they are not there, the reality is that it seldom rents between May-Oct. they are full timers, so the lack of rental income is not an issue for them.

JNLVaughn · 03-23-2023, 05:50 PM

Did they buy in Torrey Oaks by chance?

Cbrez · 03-23-2023, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JNLVaughn

Did they buy in Torrey Oaks by chance?

I don’t think so. It’s Florida SKP Resort.

JNLVaughn · 03-23-2023, 07:06 PM

Yep, Escapee's SKP park.... Nice park

Vet4jdc · 03-25-2023, 04:59 AM

Thanks everyone for the responses. As we have continued to look at this option we have seen prices soar. It may be best to rent for a while before committing to one place. We'll keep working a couple of years and then decide!

PNW Fireguy · 03-26-2023, 08:09 AM

We are currently wintering in Florida. In the beginning we kicked around the idea of purchasing a place as well. Florida is a pretty big state and as such the prices varying considerably geographically. However the one constant is that prices are increasing. We ultimately decided it was far more cost effective to rent or lease a site since our criteria called for a location which would be susceptible to hurricane and storm surge damage. Those insurance riders are damn near impossible to get. Leaving that headache to someone else leaves me with much more peace of mind. Add to the fact that there are so many coastal locations available we could stay at different locations for the next 20 years never seeing the same place twice…and spending less than we would have to purchase.

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