Just Saying Hi

[Nibeht]

Hi All,

I am new to the forum and just starting out on the information gathering of owning in Florida. Have been there 3 times and something I have wanted to do for many years and now nearing retirement want to tie down if a possibility or if a dream

All the best,
Nibeht

[Jill]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Owning comes with pros and cons but you are in the right place if you have any questions on owning a home in Florida

[gail and david roberts]

Hi Welcome to the forum , do your homework , like Jill say's lots of ups and downs owning a villa in Florida

[Nibeht]

Hi Jill, Gail and David,

Thank you for the welcome and advice. In the few days I have been on the site have gleaned a lot and certainly opened my eyes up to the reality of owning in Florida.

My partner and I recently got back and had looked at several properties, 4 and 5 bed villas, loved Highlands Reserve with the golf course views :-).

However back to England and back down to earth. I did not have in my mind making any sort of profit on this, it was going to be purely because I want to be out of the UK during the winter months and to enjoy the outdoors. I was hoping to spend 6 months a year there but it looks as though I would have to rent for approx 30 weeks to "hopefully" cover costs. Now whilst I am fortunate that no mortgage would be required after having read on here the sort of monthly running costs involved, $2,500 - $3,500 a month, I am definitely veering to either a condo (lock up and leave) or just renting a place for 5-6 months. A case of nervous of spending that sort of money on a house and having a business to run to make it work. I think my mindset is now in retirement mode :-)

With that in mind I think will ask the realtor to find out what 3 bedroom condo's go for and if can be found on, hopefully a gated community.

I will be looking through forums to find out anything I can on the Condo side of things but would appreciate all your opinions, thoughts and suggestions on this as well.

Thank you for the welcome and any thoughts\idea\feedback on the above gladly welcomed. I aim to learn from the experienced.

[Nibeht]

Hi all,

Thanks for the warm welcome, typed something here yesterday and said had to wait for it to be approved by moderator. Not sure how long that takes or if I hit the wrong button and it has disappeared into the Ether somewhere

Thanks for the advice, have been looking through the forum and a few home realities starting to roost......
Having recently been looking at Villas it looks as though for it to be remotely viable, even without a mortgage, we would have to run as a business and rent out for 24-30 weeks a year. As I wanted to live in it for 5-6 months a year am starting to think maybe a condo
or townhouse will be more viable. I would prefer not to rent out the other time we are there but the running costs of a villa
looks prohibitive and really think I have my mind on retirement rather than running a business.

So a call to the realtor and start looking at the running costs of a condo I think :-) Have to find out if the resorts have condo's townhouses as would definitely like to see anything on gated community with facilities.

Any info \ advice on my condo\townhouse solution still gladly accepted .

Thanks again for the warm welcome.

[LFCGeorge]

I'm also keen to follow this thread for information. Any pointers to websites or places to visit for further information would be appreciated.

[Nibeht]

Hi Jill,

My third try to responding to my own thread......Previous posts not appeared so presume a slow process of moderating or I am doing something wrong..:-)

Thank you for all your welcome and advice to make sure I research.

I have been reading the postings and gleaning information from where ever I can. I and my partner would probably be able to purchase outright but even then it looks as though it is a expensive, risky and busy thing to do. I am not looking to make a buck or long term investment, purely to enjoy 5-6 months a year of my retirement in the sun. So as really not wanting to rent out am looking into Condos now but think I may be better off just renting a place for 5-6 months instead I think.

Thanks,
Nibeht

[Jill]

I have not been on the forum the last couple of days as have been away but see that all your posts are now showing. One advantage of purely renting for 5 to 6 months per year is you do not have any of the headaches of owning but the opportunity to try different communities.

[Nibeht]

testing

[LFCGeorge]

Hi Jill, do you mean renting a place out for 5 to 6 months per year to someone else or renting a place for yourself to stay in for 5 to 6 months?

I would like to invest in a villa to rent it out and stay there myself whenever I visit Florida.