[giddyup]

Well I'm not retiring (35) yet, but here is my list of reasons:
1. There is a great church plant in Ocala that I want to be a part of. ( I fully believe that no matter where a person goes, if they don't find a community of people to live in and among they will not be happy anywhere)
2. My sinuses get worse from the winters each year; I watched my dad suffer the chicago winters and get sinus infections each year and talk about moving, but he never did. He died almost 3 years ago after a 5 year battle with cancer in chicago. Ironically, right before he had to suffer another winter.
3. I need sunshine, granted arizona has the higher sunshine index than does the sunshine state, but right now we get far too many days stacked together without seeing the sun; my limited florida experience has shown me the sun almost every day, even it was only for a few minutes.
4. Overall tax (including insurance) burden is lower.
5. I have to live somewhere and I already sold my house in chicago and have been without my own place to call home for 5 months now.
6. I can have a pool to swim in year round and it doesnt' have to be enclosed in a room that cost as much as my house.
7. The people that I've met as a whole are much friendlier than what I was used to in chicago. It is odd reading on this forum that people are unfriendly in ocala, this may be a reap what you sow effect.
8. I can save on vacations, in the last 15 years I've vacationed more to Florida than anywhere else; my wife and I greatly enjoy the disney experience and each year when we plan our vacations we struggle to not include disney at least for a few days. We look forward to increasing our cruising travel which is probably one of our favorite ways to vacation, and we won't be torn about whether we should stop by disney since we're down there already. My wife doesnt enjoy flying so whenever we go to Florida it is a 20 hour straight drive to vacation. Not to say I'm old, but that is getting harder and harder to do as I do get older.

Negative side of moving is the bugs / wild life... my bride is petrified of snakes, but she has seen for the last several years the longing in my eyes and has agreed that at this time, that is the best place for us. So she is willing to overcome her fears and live among the questionable parts of God's creation.

Thanks for starting this thread and if you read this far, thanks for letting me share my list

[nomoresnow]

Isn't DIsney the coolest place on earth??? :-D

[Norrisrose2]

Frank,

When my wife and I read your tread we were so happy! It's so relieving to hear somebody as excited as we are about relocating. We hope to be in your shoes in the next year or so. I love to read positive treads in this forum. There are so many negatives ones. I hope everything works out for you!

Please keep writing treads so we can see how everything is going. I love to hear about about folks who just relocated and what they went through, instead of the people on their way out of Florida or are disenchanted.

Good Luck, Bud!

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by nomoresnow

Isn't DIsney the coolest place on earth??? :-D

No, Seaworld is the best place to be.

Norris, I like to hear both the good and the bad. Not that I like reading and feeling bummed out, but some of the negatives that are posted are very legit things to think about.

[nomoresnow]

Seaworld is nice, too, but Disney has so much more variety....and Mickey, too!

[spotrod]

Frank you might want to see if you still have a house to close on and recheck the insurance rates ....

[jhlcomp]

Because ....

The rose-orange sunsets take your breath away

When the first Heron lands on your lawn it makes you stop in you tracks

When you glimpse the ocean at sunrise you're sure it just doesn't get any better than that

When you walk on the white sandy beach in Naples you feel transported to another world

Life is diverse, multi cutural, cosmopolitan

Lots of different cuisines

Decent weather

Clean

Good opporunities for cultural activities

Great music

Good medical

Example - each morning I let my dog out our back yard and we live on a lake. Every morning this is what I see:

The resident Iguana who knows that we won't bother him and continues to enjoy the morning sun before climbing up his favorits tree until lunch time.

Fish jumping in the lake

We have these little moorhens

Egrets and Blue Herons

Birds that sing

Good highways with easy access

. . . . I guess I got carried away - I know I didn't say anything about people.

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

So........Why am I buying a house in Florida?? There seems to be a lot of negitives here...some I have learned from, but just for balance, I'd thought I'd try to start a positive thread. I admit, I'm a newbie here, and have A LOT to learn about Florida, but a person does not spend 6 figures on a home without having some reasons........here are mine. If I find I made the wrong decision after a few years, I can always go somewhere else......

1) I liked the community in the gated community I am moving in. The neighbors seem great. Good sense of community.

2) I think I will actually like the weather. I think I will tolorate the summers better than I can tolorate the Buffalo winters.

3) Florida is one of the best states tax wise for my pension, etc. I do not think that will change.

4) I am not scared of hurricanes where I am moving to in Leesburg. I'm thinking that by the time one hits the middle of the state it should lose some of its punch. I know how to replace shingles.....

5) Real estate prices have gone up there steadily...my equity will grow more then it is here in NY.

6) My taxes are 1/2 what I pay in New York. Even with the higher homeowners insurance, I am making out better.

7) The gated community I'm moving to seems safe and almost no crime. There are many activities I think i'll like.

8) The local hospital system is rated very highly. The paid fire/ems station is less then 1/2 a mile away from my house. If I need a paramedic, they will be there fast.

I suppose I could go on, and i'm sure there are things I need to learn. No place is perfect, but this seems like it is worth trying. If I do not like living here, I could always relocate somewhere else. What a great country we live in that we have that freedom.

We close on the house this week, and we will be down there by Wednesday for a week or two, checking and buying everything for the house. Then back to NY.......until retirement.

Frank D.

Frank,

Looks like you did your research correctly and you took the right decision. Keep us posted on your moving experience and welcome to Florida.

[john1963]

80 degrees in daytona yesterday, frank come on down!

[Rhett_Butler]

I think the amount that one will enjoy 80+ degrees for two months out of the year and 90+ degrees for what seems like nine months out of the year is directly proportional to how much snow they've seen in thier lifetime....

Things I'll miss when I leave....

1) Yeah, the tropical vegetation is neat and there's nothing like that feeling of being on your porch right before the sun comes up.... It's the only time of the day to me where the humidity is kind of welcome... There's a feel in the air that's nice that I can't describe.

2) Canoeing on the Wekiva. Only place I can think of where you can rent a canoe for $20 for the day and occasionally see alligators and such. Kind of cool.

3) Year round golf. Though I don't play golf much, it's nice to have the option.

4) Disney World. I'd get a season pass if I was staying.

5) St. Augustine. The only historical location in Florida that really does it right.

6) Friends I've met.... Where ever you are from, you can meet someone else from there quite easily.... So few down here are actually from here anyway...

Good luck and enjoy. There's certainly nice things about it here, it just isn't what I'm looking for for the rest of my life..... But you aren't me....