Is there affordable retirement inland from Boca or Miami (Sunrise: transplants, real estate)

[LRG514]

I've spent my morning on real estate sites getting very depressed about what is available for retirement in the South Florida. We are retiring, next spring. Looking for either a rental, no more than $1600, 2 bedroom/ 1 1/2-2 baths, pet friendly. We have pre-qualified for a mortgage of $240,000, but are a little hesitant about making a huge outlay of cash, upfront. I'm 64, my husband is 68 and we are definitely young/old, so "old people" places or anything with a ceramics kiln is not what we are looking for. culture more important than beaches. In fact, beaches are a little scary since we were seriously flooded out during Superstorm Sandy and don't want to repeat that scenario. Proximity to Jewish institutions desirable. would welcome input from people who have more knowledge about the area than we do. we lived in Central, Fl, for a while and we need better access to medical care in particular (my husband is a transplant survivor)

[City Guy997S]

Pet friendly, 2 bedroom $1600 max and avoidance of old people communities......you are in a tough spot. I would guess you are going to have to pick 1 or 2 of these options but you will have a hard time finding the trifecta of all three.

[Bocabilly]

Go to Palm Coast. Its slow paced and nice.

[wizrap]

Have you checked Broward County? I live in Weston and there is an older section of the city known as Bonaventure. There are some single family homes, and also lots of condos and townhomes. It would be near impossible to rent a SFH for $1600 a month, but there are lots of condos and townhomes for rent that are definitely within your price point. You should google Weston Bonaventure For Rent.

That section is a nice mix of retirees like you and your husband, younger singles and younger families, and snow birds. Weston also is a very pet friendly city with lots of sidewalks and parks, and also a dog park in nearby Sunrise. There are some restaurants in the city with outdoor dining that allow dogs. Of course, since so many of the rentals are privately owned, you would have to check with the policy of the owner to see if the home is pet-friendly.

I live in Weston and volunteer at Cleveland Clinic Florida there, in the pet therapy program; Cleveland Clinic was just in the paper recently as one of the few hospitals in the area with a transplant program that specializes in heart, kidney and liver. I mention Weston because it would fit your price point, is not near the ocean, is a mix of families, snow birds and retirees and the Cleveland Clinic, with experience in organ transplant, just minutes from Bonaventure.

Good luck in your search.

[loribell38]

We have few things in common as we too flooded out in Sandy! And my brother is transplant survivor as well. I agree with wizrap. Check out the older section of Weston known as Bonaventure. Also the area of West Sunrise just off of Weston Rd. near New River circle. If you are open to it there are townhouse & villas in that area. Only thing that would bother me is some of those were built before Hurricane Andrew & before stricter building codes were made. Being survivors of Sandy I think we both agree on that.

Also in terms of the transplant care you can not beat University of Miami!!! If not for them my brother would not be alive today! They have an incredible team of doctors when it comes to their transplant program! The care he got...and that we received as family members was fantastic! Not saying Cleveland clinic is bad, just when it comes to transplants we have more personal experience with U of Miami so can give my honest opinion. You will find temples in area. You can look up Jewish family services of Broward at jfsbroward.org.