***Curious about retirement and buying a home in Ocala or outskirts (Gainesville: neighborhood, living in)

[folkguitarist555]

Please tell me more about Lecanto, Dunnellon, Crystal River, Inverness, Hernando......I guess I mean Citrus County....that is that area I been looking closer at.....would anyone recommend Citrus County and why? thanks

[SusannRI]

Kathy you're post was immensely helpful!! It summed up everything we've been seeing online and wondered if it could be true ! We are moving from RI to FL. We have zeroed in on Dunellon or Crystal River areas. There are many, many listings for double wides on 1/2 acres and up for under $50,000 which would make paying cash doable. Do you find this to be accurate? We will be visiting the specific area first, I have lived in Orlando previously and this move is something we've planned for 20 years ( kids grew up "made their own way" and are doing just fine ). My husband is a commercial fisherman and would prefer being outdoors to inside anytime. Plus we have dogs, will always have dogs and love having dogs LOL ;-). Room to run is wonderful!

[SusannRI]

Folk Guitarist, we have friends who moved from RI to Dunellon and absolutely love it! I don't have specifics but the husband says everything that made it hard for them here (RI) IS better in Dunellon---weather, taxes, car AND home insurance. Their home is larger and their land is triple what they own in RI and they still pay less for taxes and upkeep. The area is warm and inviting---the people extremely friendly.

[rjm1cc]

Originally Posted by SusannRI

Kathy you're post was immensely helpful!! It summed up everything we've been seeing online and wondered if it could be true ! We are moving from RI to FL. We have zeroed in on Dunellon or Crystal River areas. There are many, many listings for double wides on 1/2 acres and up for under $50,000 which would make paying cash doable. Do you find this to be accurate? We will be visiting the specific area first, I have lived in Orlando previously and this move is something we've planned for 20 years ( kids grew up "made their own way" and are doing just fine ). My husband is a commercial fisherman and would prefer being outdoors to inside anytime. Plus we have dogs, will always have dogs and love having dogs LOL ;-). Room to run is wonderful!

Be sure to hire a home inspector. Check the source of water and sewer. It may not be utility supplied.

[folkguitarist555]

Well that is good to hear, I have read some good and some bad over time on CD....still hard to judge, without seeing the area. I have heard they are not too fond of northerners and outsiders and etc, there though. I know that Citrus is rural, which I like though. Don't think I would care for Ocala much, and have read that Ocala has high crime and is getting worse, and that the electric bills are sky high. Don't mean to be offensive, but going on what I have read over the years here in CD, and from various threads.

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by KathyA11

Or for someone who wants to landscape their property to their tastes, or leave their second car on the driveway apron instead of squeezing it into a '2-car' garage that really only fits two subcompacts, or who wants to leave the garage door open while they work in the yard, or who owns dogs over a certain size and weight -- or any number of other things I've read in deed restrictions, and read about in different threads here Consistency is one thing -- but some of the horror stories I've heard that have occurred in developments with HOAs will make your hair curl. The boards tend to attract control freaks who like to tell other people how to live.

Talking to my SIL who lives in The Villages, they don't even allow fancy decrative container plants around the house. She has to keep them out of sight of the street that no one walks on and few cars pass. They're all cramped in the doorway alcove, kind of behind an approved tall evergreen bush. To me that's worse than renting. And like renting, her HOA fees keep increasing. The entire subdivision she lives in looks fake, like a budget movie set. Devoid of life. Empty. It's creepy....

[njkate]

Originally Posted by =^..^=

Talking to my SIL who lives in The Villages, they don't even allow fancy decrative container plants around the house. She has to keep them out of sight of the street that no one walks on and few cars pass. They're all cramped in the doorway alcove, kind of behind an approved tall evergreen bush. To me that's worse than renting. And like renting, her HOA fees keep increasing. The entire subdivision she lives in looks fake, like a budget movie set. Devoid of life. Empty. It's creepy....

Have to agree on that, no thank you

[Achira]

You are dreaming a beautiful house.
All the best.. You will find soon..

[OzarkChickenLover]

Originally Posted by OpinionInOcala

Ocala (and much of Florida) has some of the worst and most dangerous drivers that I've seen anywhere in the country.

You should try Missouri. The speed limit is a suggestion in most of the state, while in the others it seems as though the officers are competing for the number of tickets they can hand out. People going 80 on 270 is not uncommon. I've been going 70+ and gotten passed like I was standing still. Oh, and don't forget the rudeness....they'll cut you off and flip you off all at once.

I'll take Florida drivers any time!

[OpinionInOcala]

Originally Posted by OzarkChickenLover

You should try Missouri. The speed limit is a suggestion in most of the state, while in the others it seems as though the officers are competing for the number of tickets they can hand out. People going 80 on 270 is not uncommon. I've been going 70+ and gotten passed like I was standing still. Oh, and don't forget the rudeness....they'll cut you off and flip you off all at once.

I'll take Florida drivers any time!

Oh, I don't doubt it. There are screwballs everywhere. Louisiana was atrocious too in my experience (I frequently encountered drivers cruising down the wrong side of the road).

The county I live in here in Florida has just been exceptionally bad, however. For example, Marion County, FL, has the 2nd highest per capita rate (by county) of BAC over 0.08 during fatal auto accidents in the entire nation. Daily driving here typically consists of:

• driving 20 (or more) under/over the limit
• completely ignoring red lights and stop signs
• driving over curbs/sidewalks due to impatience
• deliberately pulling out in front of oncoming traffic or randomly slamming on one's brakes in the middle of the road hoping to score an easy insurance payout
• flashing gun & gang hand gestures in low-income areas as they cut you off in traffic
• making sudden, abrupt turns via cutting across four lanes of traffic at an intersection
• local wannabe elitists will risk running over pedestrians in shopping center parking lots out of sheer arrogance
• oblivious retirees rule the daylight hours in certain parts of town
• women trying to use a portable curling iron while eating a Panera sandwich in congested traffic
• hillbilly wannabe types with mini monster trucks, replete with multiple illegal light bars
• hispanic Fast & Furious wannabes weaving in and out of traffic in their 20+ year old fart can muffler cars that have been lowered to within an inch of the ground
• teens looking everywhere but the road
• texting while driving en masse
• motorcycle riders frequently drive in between side-by-side cars in traffic as though there's an invisible lane just for them
• flat-beds and pickup trucks flying down the road with one or more frightened dogs chained up and sliding around

Etc., etc... if you can dream it, I see it regularly, and it's horrifying. I joke that I've become a professional stunt driver since having moved to the area, and I always make sure to remind the wife that I love her in case I don't make it home from my daily death wish commutes.