[Icemodeled]

I posted awhile back and since then decided to expand our search to all of FL. First, about us. Mid/late 20s, no kids, self employed. Will pay cash for the house, max is $120,000. Would consider fixer upper also. Need 3 bedroom, decent area, my husband wants country and I prefer nice neighborhood (this were still debating). We enjoy dining, beaches, lakes, hiking, museums, attractions, flea markets, antique malls. For a town, we prefer smaller-medium sized (current town is 27k pop) a nice downtown, outdoor options like trails and parks. Amenities like restaurants, grocery stores, movie theater, target ect. We do not want a "party" town or anywhere thats known for wild spring breakers. We are also fine with an older demographic or family friendly areas.

Also, we need to be in or near a good rental market. We like to buy forclosures/fixer uppers and fix them up/rent out. Also have been looking into the idea of vacation rentals but not sure yet about it. Another side job we do is lawncare. Mowing, muching, ect. We will not be looking for jobs, though if we ever do want part time jobs would be retail, bank teller, entry level jobs.

So far our search has led us to north port, englewood, vero beach, sabastian and port st lucie. This was concentrating more southern florida. We are open to suggestions elsewhere. We considered lakeland, but ruled it out. I have been looking more northern but not much has caught my eye. St augustine sounds fairly nice, close to major cities. I am not sure what we would like more, northern or southern. from what iv read, the north sounds like a lot of rednecks.. which is why i hadnt looked much into it. Is that really true? We wouldnt want to be around that so much.

We visited last year for 2 months in july and august (around sarasota, which we loved) but this year were coming down in middle of December to see what it is like in winter vs summer. Plus, heard traffic is much worse at that time. we plan to visit any towns on our list.

If you have any good suggestions of towns for us to look into it would be much appreciated. We are hoping to move late next year if were able to sell by them. Thanks

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by Icemodeled

So far our search has led us to north port, englewood, vero beach, sabastian and port st lucie. This was concentrating more southern florida. We are open to suggestions elsewhere. We considered lakeland, but ruled it out. I have been looking more northern but not much has caught my eye. St augustine sounds fairly nice, close to major cities. I am not sure what we would like more, northern or southern. from what iv read, the north sounds like a lot of rednecks.. which is why i hadnt looked much into it. Is that really true? We wouldnt want to be around that so much.

We visited last year for 2 months in july and august (around sarasota, which we loved) but this year were coming down in middle of December to see what it is like in winter vs summer. Plus, heard traffic is much worse at that time. we plan to visit any towns on our list.

If you have any good suggestions of towns for us to look into it would be much appreciated. We are hoping to move late next year if were able to sell by them. Thanks

Rednecks are indeed in much of North FL/Panhandle.
You really won't have to worry about that in St-Augustine or St-John's county as a whole.
Seems to be that any town in St-John's county would be a good fit for you.

[Icemodeled]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Rednecks are indeed in much of North FL/Panhandle.
You really won't have to worry about that in St-Augustine or St-John's county as a whole.
Seems to be that any town in St-John's county would be a good fit for you.

Yes, st johns county sounds very nice and there are many outdoor activities within an hour radius. Are there any other similar counties/towns like that, gulf or atlantic side either central or northern we should consider?

I will certainly keep st johns county on our radar. Thanks!

[vacoder]

Since you are already going to look at North Port and Englewood you may want to also look at Punta Gorda. You mention lawn mowing and landscaping and there is a large deed restricted section there called Punta Gorda Isles. People aren't allowed sheds so most hire landscapers. It also has a very good rental market.

[Icemodeled]

Thanks vacoder, I will check into it for sure!

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Icemodeled

I posted awhile back and since then decided to expand our search to all of FL. First, about us. Mid/late 20s, no kids, self employed. Will pay cash for the house, max is $120,000. Would consider fixer upper also. Need 3 bedroom, decent area, my husband wants country and I prefer nice neighborhood (this were still debating). We enjoy dining, beaches, lakes, hiking, museums, attractions, flea markets, antique malls. For a town, we prefer smaller-medium sized (current town is 27k pop) a nice downtown, outdoor options like trails and parks. Amenities like restaurants, grocery stores, movie theater, target ect. We do not want a "party" town or anywhere thats known for wild spring breakers. We are also fine with an older demographic or family friendly areas.

Also, we need to be in or near a good rental market. We like to buy forclosures/fixer uppers and fix them up/rent out. Also have been looking into the idea of vacation rentals but not sure yet about it. Another side job we do is lawncare. Mowing, muching, ect. We will not be looking for jobs, though if we ever do want part time jobs would be retail, bank teller, entry level jobs.

So far our search has led us to north port, englewood, vero beach, sabastian and port st lucie. This was concentrating more southern florida. We are open to suggestions elsewhere. We considered lakeland, but ruled it out. I have been looking more northern but not much has caught my eye. St augustine sounds fairly nice, close to major cities. I am not sure what we would like more, northern or southern. from what iv read, the north sounds like a lot of rednecks.. which is why i hadnt looked much into it. Is that really true? We wouldnt want to be around that so much.

We visited last year for 2 months in july and august (around sarasota, which we loved) but this year were coming down in middle of December to see what it is like in winter vs summer. Plus, heard traffic is much worse at that time. we plan to visit any towns on our list.

If you have any good suggestions of towns for us to look into it would be much appreciated. We are hoping to move late next year if were able to sell by them. Thanks

Yep avoid the northern areas, doing the red necks a favor as they like to be around friendly non judgmental people who make good neighbors.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Yep avoid the northern areas, doing the red necks a favor as they like to be around friendly non judgmental people who make good neighbors.

I didn't think OP was being judgmental at all. Simply stated that living in redneck's paradise isn't their cup of tea. Nothing wrong with that. Rednecks live a certain lifestyle, and not everyone wants to be a part of it.

[snowtired14]

Originally Posted by Icemodeled

Also, we need to be in or near a good rental market. We like to buy forclosures/fixer uppers and fix them up/rent out. Also have been looking into the idea of vacation rentals but not sure yet about it.

You didn't get this idea from one of those TV "flipper" shows, did you? I always figured that if they were doing so well, they wouldn't have time to do a TV show.

[kiggy]

I don't think in this market you would have much of an inventory at $125K, even to fix up, in the areas you're describing, especially not the St Johns/St Augustine area.

[Sheepie2000]

I think Palm Coast could be a great fit for you. It's halfway between Daytona Beach and St Augustine and also halfway between Orlando and Jacksonville. Lots of parks and preserves, flea markets, farmers' markets. Definitely not a party town, pretty quiet, but we always find lots to do here or in the surrounding areas. Palm Coast isn't trying to attract a rowdy crowd of tourists, in fact, they've been very successful in promoting their sport complex and bringing in softball and lacrosse type tournaments, so lots of families. Housing is still reasonable. Check it out.