What areas in Florida would be good to buy land to use as a home base for storage, mail receiving (trailer, wide)

[roadit]

What areas in Florida would be good to buy land to use as a home base for storage, mail receiving?

I want to BUY some property in Florida to use as a home base to park a car, receive mail, have storage for household goods the size of about 10 x 10 x 10 feet or larger. These are the minimum size requirements, meaning, I could afford to buy something much larger. My situation is that I am a world traveler, so wouldn't be staying there, so wouldn't necessarily need a house/townhome on the property. It could be a farm, timberland, a house, an empty lot, an existing RV camp operation that wants to sell it to me, etc. My purposes are more for storage, not necessarily for living there. My budget is $700,000, which allows for many possibilities. I know I could buy a house or condo, but if I'm not going to be living there, that would be a huge waste, and still have problems of maintaining the property, paying HOA fees in many areas, higher taxes.

These are the firm requirements, then preferences:
MUST be inside Florida, but prefer North of Miami (too hot, crowded) and prefer south of Jacksonville (to be more warm).
MUST be able to receive mail.
MUST be a place I can buy. I am not looking to rent.
Prefer a place where a 20-40 foot storage containers would be allowed, in terms of zoning without upsetting the neighbors. This isn't a requirement if I have other types of storage buildings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty...quivalent_unit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty..._%E3%80%91.jpg


Also, would there be much demand for other people to want to rent such a space, such as if I bought land with 20-100 acres or more, where RV'ers could park vehicles, use storage for household goods, receive mail/packages? I know there are other facilities that already do this, but wanted to own my own property for greater control.

Any suggestions as to what counties or cities in FL that would be recommendable?

[engineman]

For international travel you want a major airport reasonably close by, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale.

I had a one story townhouse with a garage in the last place we lived. There was a mail slot next to the garage door and mail would collect there when we were away. We mostly traveled with a trailer in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Our bills were on autopay and we paid our credit cards as we went along.

I can't think of any place where containers would be welcome. If you have a garage it is no ones business what you are storing.

[roadit]

Engineman,

Thanks for your advice. Yes, you're right a major airport would be better of course, but since I might only be returning to Florida once a year, a major airport nearby is a preference more than a requirement.

As for where containers would be, maybe not welcome, but at least tolerated, a rural area, such as a farming community, or with enough land, it could be hidden behind trees, fence, or a wall. A container doesn't hurt anyone, aside from being a visual eyesore. So if it can't be seen from the road, I doubt neighbors would complain.

I have my credit cards and other bills are on autopay and estatements already. In my situation however, I get about 2000 mailpieces per year as part of my work, some of which are checks, 1099 tax forms, new/replacement credit/debit cards, etc. Yes, around 2000 mailpieces a year, that's not a typo. Ideally, I would have someone collect the mail out of my mailbox and send it to me wherever I happen to be, about once a month. I've already checked with the Post Office and used the Post Office. Last year, they "lost" over 240 of my letters, an entire tub of mail, falsely claiming I already received it. They don't want to have to deal with the volume, instead trying to run me off as a customer. I wonder if they intentionally lost my mail, as it's been over 6 months, and they can't seem to find it. There have been chronic problems in dealing with them, their mistakes. So when I report problems/mistakes they frequently make, instead of fixing the operational issues, it seems they want me to leave, and they've suggested that many times. I fear they will be causing other problems in the future, so I want to transition off of using them.

I know I could buy a small townhouse, which would cost an estimated $5000-10,000 per year to maintain in terms of HOA, taxes, cost of capital to buy one for $100,000+. Seems to be a waste to have to buy some type of housing, simply to have a mailbox to get my mail. So that's why I was thinking of buying land with no structures, putting a container on it for storage and to leave a car, so the taxes would be minimal, mostly on just the land value.

What city and complex was your townhouse? What did you pay to buy it, the monthly HOA, the annual taxes? I've also considered buying a house/condo, then renting it out, having the person who lives there send my mail, but if they decide to stop paying rent, they could cause problems by having control over my mail while I am going through the process of evicting them. Even if they pay on time, renters are more often short term, so then I would have the find someone new.

I'm brainstorming on ideas. I wonder how much demand there would be if I bought the land, put up a mailbox, let 1 or more RV'ers stay there for free in exchange for collecting and sending my mail.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by roadit

Engineman,

Thanks for your advice. Yes, you're right a major airport would be better of course, but since I might only be returning to Florida once a year, a major airport nearby is a preference more than a requirement.

As for where containers would be, maybe not welcome, but at least tolerated, a rural area, such as a farming community, or with enough land, it could be hidden behind trees, fence, or a wall. A container doesn't hurt anyone, aside from being a visual eyesore. So if it can't be seen from the road, I doubt neighbors would complain.

I have my credit cards and other bills are on autopay and estatements already. In my situation however, I get about 2000 mailpieces per year as part of my work, some of which are checks, 1099 tax forms, new/replacement credit/debit cards, etc. Yes, around 2000 mailpieces a year, that's not a typo. Ideally, I would have someone collect the mail out of my mailbox and send it to me wherever I happen to be, about once a month. I've already checked with the Post Office and used the Post Office. Last year, they "lost" over 240 of my letters, an entire tub of mail, falsely claiming I already received it. They don't want to have to deal with the volume, instead trying to run me off as a customer. I wonder if they intentionally lost my mail, as it's been over 6 months, and they can't seem to find it. There have been chronic problems in dealing with them, their mistakes. So when I report problems/mistakes they frequently make, instead of fixing the operational issues, it seems they want me to leave, and they've suggested that many times. I fear they will be causing other problems in the future, so I want to transition off of using them.

I know I could buy a small townhouse, which would cost an estimated $5000-10,000 per year to maintain in terms of HOA, taxes, cost of capital to buy one for $100,000+. Seems to be a waste to have to buy some type of housing, simply to have a mailbox to get my mail. So that's why I was thinking of buying land with no structures, putting a container on it for storage and to leave a car, so the taxes would be minimal, mostly on just the land value.

What city and complex was your townhouse? What did you pay to buy it, the monthly HOA, the annual taxes? I've also considered buying a house/condo, then renting it out, having the person who lives there send my mail, but if they decide to stop paying rent, they could cause problems by having control over my mail while I am going through the process of evicting them. Even if they pay on time, renters are more often short term, so then I would have the find someone new.

I'm brainstorming on ideas. I wonder how much demand there would be if I bought the land, put up a mailbox, let 1 or more RV'ers stay there for free in exchange for collecting and sending my mail.

You wouldn't have any trouble finding one or two RVers who would take that deal, especially if your land was near the ocean or a river/lake. What you might have trouble with is local ordinances that limit the amount of time you can spend camping on private land. (Living in an RV counts as camping in many places). Be sure to check that out.

[roadit]

Thanks Jacqueg,

Are there already any/many elite/upscale RV park communities? One suggestion the Post Office had was creating a service designed as I want for myself, and also selling/renting it out to others. If I buy property in a city, with only 1 acre, I can see where that would be a problem, but the further out into rural/farming areas, that's less likely to be a problem with local ordinances, although that would be wise to check the laws first. Does anyone know if you find land where camping on private land is initially allowed, but they later change the law where it's no longer allowed, are you usually grandfathered in, or not?

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by roadit

Engineman,

Thanks for your advice. Yes, you're right a major airport would be better of course, but since I might only be returning to Florida once a year, a major airport nearby is a preference more than a requirement.

As for where containers would be, maybe not welcome, but at least tolerated, a rural area, such as a farming community, or with enough land, it could be hidden behind trees, fence, or a wall. A container doesn't hurt anyone, aside from being a visual eyesore. So if it can't be seen from the road, I doubt neighbors would complain.
...
I'm brainstorming on ideas. I wonder how much demand there would be if I bought the land, put up a mailbox, let 1 or more RV'ers stay there for free in exchange for collecting and sending my mail.

Love to Brainstorm...

a plan I found that works for me (In income tax free TX, not income tax free FL) If in FL I would choose <40 min to the least expensive and ez to maneuver international airport. but... The only place I like / would consider living in FL is St Augustine (but that ain't gonna happen, too complex life at the moment, FL is not required to add to that...).

Rural property (no HOA) with a main house that is rented for a great positive cash flow, + a separate living space for me (and international guests)+ RV spots for friends who are passing through, or as additional rental income.



I have several of these properties, around USA (plan to add similar in Europe / Asia and SA... partner with a farmer)

typically...
$100k - $130k capital investment with $1500 monthly gross income (I use the 1% (per month) of capital rule)
<<<QUIET>>> View property (I like ez resell, and enjoyable stay while there)
Double wide modular (Foundation set)
Garage (minimum double triple preferred)
+++
Separate driveway / landscape masked (trees / walls...
Shop with apartment / or a bunkhouse
1+ 50A RV hookups (away from primary home)



but one of my TX Hill country props is really sweet;
(was not my cheapest)
$200k property cost, (Gross rents $2000/ mo (income))

1. nice cabin for us (Slave qtrs) very cute, built in 1940's (Knotty Pine)
2. (3) shops / barns
3. (3) RV sites
4. 40x70 shop
5. Nice view
6. pond
7. picnic area,
8. separate outdoor laundry and showers
9. 5 min from a great venue (8 miles from town)
10. 70 min to great airport (I keep a cheap minivan ($800) at a rental yard there)
11. 5 towns nearby (activities / art / museums / colleges)

[jamary1]

I wouldn't count on the postal service for dependable forwarding of your mail. I've have problems in the past with paying for the "premium forwarding" service, but the postman would still deliver some of it to our mailbox.


We go away for 4-5 months at a time and luckily, now, we have a relative who comes by every 3 weeks and picks up the mail. I have a Fedex account and I make up a bunch of envelopes so that he can just toss the mail in an envelope and drop it in any Fedex box to be forwarded to wherever we are.


Have you considered getting a box at one of the "mailbox places"? That gives you a legal street address (i.e. 123 Easy Street, #105, Hootieville, FL 99999). I've never used one but I'll bet for the right price, you could make some sort of arrangement to have your mail forwarded.

[roadit]

Jamary,
You're right. The Post Office has proven to be extremely unreliable losing months worth of mail, then falsely claiming I have it, claiming they already sent it to me.

Yes, Ive considered and rejected the idea of a "mailbox place," which are effectively higher priced PO Boxes that are less stable, more likely to go out of business or move. Of course some Post Offices close, but they are far less likely to do so.

I've already concluded that what I need to do is OWN my own address for greater control. The next question is what city and what type of structure - condo, house, empty lot, farmland, commercial building, etc.

[RMD3819]

I am a full time RVer.

You can use one of the many mail forwarding services. Most are based on TX, FL, or SD.

We use America's Mailbox in SD as we have changed or residency to there (from FL).

Some places will open and scan your mail.

We just go online and order our mail to be shipped to wherever we are. We get to pick how we want it shipped-USPS, FedEx etc.

Thousands and thousands of folks use these services and not all of them are RVers.

I know you have rejected this idea but wanted to give you some first hand knowledge about the services out there.

Look into Golden Gate Estates in Naples, FL. This is a HUGE semi rural area with many properties not visible from the road. You likely could buy some property and put up a storage shed and nothing else although I would check zoning first. I don't have any other idea about mail short of paying someone to pick up and resend your mail.

[beachmouse]

Florida is a strong building code state, even for accessory structures. (Your right to do what you want on your land is trumped by your neighbor's right to not have your poorly constructed garden shed take out their sun porch during a hurricane)

A good option might be a 5-10 year old singlewide mobile home that meets the latest HUD codes for windstorm and energy efficiency and then make sure it's properly tied down to the ground as required by code. The post-Andrew construction requirements if the manufactured home is to be sold in Florida are actually pretty good if it's correctly secured.