Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

[kahuna123]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

To answer your question on the Gulf Harbors real estate. Your furthest no wake drive is probably 20 minutes total. Yes the closer you are to the gulf the more expensive. But not because of distance only. The houses get bigger and nicer also. You can buy on the water in there from 150k to 4 mil. This is my third house in 22 years here. Going North any further on this coast gets dicey with tides and deep water. You WILL pay through the nose for flood insurance if you have a mortgage. This area could get hit but its not nearly as likely as other parts of FL or the Gulf Coast. For 250 right now you can buy 2000ft 3-2, 2 car, on a decent lot.

Don't you gators ever graduate?

 

[colbyt]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Bubba, this year even the pan handle area of Florida was a bit cold so you need to be south of that.

Install Google Earth on your computer and look for water that way. You can then get names of towns and areas to search elsewhere.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

"IF" I could talk the admiral into leaving the US we would be in Puerto Rico next month.

Let me talk to her.........:laugh: I owed you a razz........

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

"IF" I could talk the admiral into leaving the US we would be in Puerto Rico next month. Done a LOT of work there for the Government, Adria Sterile Products (medical) and Goya Foods and have a lot of friends there and I love the climate.

May want to double think that. PR is having some seriously rough times these day. Insane levels of drugs, poverty and violence coupled with massive immigration away from the island :/ No bueno. Costa Rica on the other hand, is much nicer and more stable. More of a beach bum/jungle vibe.

 

[Floridaguy32514]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

the best search term I've found to use when looking for water front property is DOCK, granted you may miss a few waterfront places that don't have a dock, but who the hell wants those any way :lol:

 

[southkogs]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Hey Bubba: have you tried doing a search for waterfront on Zillow?

 

[angus63]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Actually ran across Zillow last night. Not bad although they too have some funny ideas of what "waterfront" means. I am guessing that because it's such a common problems with all the sites I've seen that the fault is with the listing realtors playing fast and loose with their submissions just to get someone to look at the listing.

Marketing is Latin for "stretching reality"

 

[southkogs]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Actually ran across Zillow last night. Not bad although they too have some funny ideas of what "waterfront" means. I am guessing that because it's such a common problem with all the sites I've seen that the fault is with the listing realtors playing fast and loose with their submissions just to get someone to look at the listing.

Typing a search string can be a real art form.

Though, at least here in TN - "waterfront" doesn't necessarily mean you have a dock at the shoreline. Too many of our shores are too steep for that kind of access. So, you have lake-view, lake-access, lake-frontage, etc., etc.

 

[FlaCowboy]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Bubba are you looking for freshwater or saltwater property?

 

[agallant80]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Actually ran across Zillow last night. Not bad although they too have some funny ideas of what "waterfront" means. I am guessing that because it's such a common problem with all the sites I've seen that the fault is with the listing realtors playing fast and loose with their submissions just to get someone to look at the listing.

I like zillow because you an use the brows on a map feature. You can see exactly where the house it.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Just a word of caution with Zillow. They have this zestamate feature that tells you what zillow thinks the property is worth. It can be way off. Its off by over $100,000 on my house.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

It goes by comps of sales of houses nearby. It is only accurate when houses in an area are very close to the same quality and land type.

I have seen 2 houses that are across the street from each other where one is on a lake and the one on the lake comes up less value.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

It's going to be down right cold Thursday... I might have to put my jeans on.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Bubba,

since my admiral is in real estate, I can tell you that simply checking water front or lake front on the web sites here in florida gets you a house in front of a mandatory water run-off retention pond.

you have to call the realtor and state that you want on the water. then you need to tell them what kind of water. A good realtor will know the area and within a few hours get you a list of properties

Good friends of mine just retired from the Chicago suburbs to one of the large lakes in Tennessee. while they did not escape winter all together, they only have a few weeks of it.

You could move south to Florida

 

[JustJason]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

Is this in Montana?

Lol... SW Florida

 

[southkogs]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

...Good friends of mine just retired from the Chicago suburbs to one of the large lakes in Tennessee. while they did not escape winter all together, they only have a few weeks of it...

If TN is on the table, I would HIGHLY suggest looking at Dale Hollow, Old Hickory or Norris. Kentucky lake to the NorthWest of us is supposed to be fantastic, but I don't have any experience there.

The Tennessee River is worth looking at too, especially down around Chattanooga.

 

[jkust]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

One of my buddies turned 62 and decided to move south with his wife with similar thought process as you. He was in a suburb of Chicago and went to Arizona. He has a large home and unfortunately it just wouldn't sell so he rented it. His tax burden dropped substantially in Arizona. He's still in the honeymoon phase as this is his first winter away from Illinois. I'm not a big fan of the desert but he is loving it.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

87* here-DRY.

Just don't be a true "Snowbird".

Drive 55 in the fast lane (turn signal on since Des Moines) and steal all the salt/pepper shakers from the restaurants!

 

[southkogs]

Re: Winter has me seriously thinking about moving south.

No waterfront homes on these lakes.

There's at least one on Norris: THIS ONE.