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Old 07-20-2015, 08:47 AM
 
Location: PHX -> ATL
6,311 posts, read 6,770,956 times
Reputation: 7167

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Hey guys! So my parents are traveling to Florida in a couple weeks for a potential relocation.

My parents are huge beach bums at heart. Despite being beach bums, the other reason they are looking at Florida is the gun laws as my parents are big gun-lovers. Their favorite region on Earth is the Caribbean, however since the Keys are not an option because it is too expensive, my parents are looking at places along the Gulf coast of Florida. Here is the criteria:

- They said to me that if they cannot find housing within one hour's drive to the beach that they would not even consider the move. Ideally, as close as possible to the sand for them (they would love to be able to walk to it and be able to have the ocean breeze at their house). They will probably be looking at 2 bedroom homes with a small yard for the dogs, so nothing large. I'm thinking the budget for them is 200-300k.

- They do not care about city size. It could be small or large as long as it's safe and affordable with decent shopping/restaurants nearby.

- So far my parents' favorite type of beach towns are ones with small walkable cores such as places like Huntington Beach, CA or Mission Beach, CA.

- Another plus would be an area with a conservative-leaning.

So far they are looking at St. Petersburg and nearby coastal areas in Tampa. Any other potential places they should look at on the Gulf?
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Old 07-20-2015, 09:02 AM
 
Location: Florida -
10,213 posts, read 14,791,304 times
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One can almost live in Central Florida and still be about an hour from the beach. $200-$300K (with no mortgage?) -- There are plenty of places where that also is quite feasible, but, prices are moving back up (at least in the Panhandle). There are still many 'walkable' beach towns, such as Satellite Beach, Indian Harbor Beach, Cocoa Beach Village (Brevard) and many others in other counties. But, that is generally where everyone wants to live, which quickly increases traffic and congestion.
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Old 07-20-2015, 11:19 AM
 
40 posts, read 37,890 times
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I don't know what the housing costs are and what size house they're considering but it sounds like Sarasota might fit the bill.. up to around Clearwater - after that the sand isn't so much sandy as silty until you get around the big bend toward Panama City.
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Old 07-20-2015, 06:26 PM
 
Location: Treasure Island Fl
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In that price range they could live on st pete beach, just a couple blocks from the beach. Plenty of older ranch style homes in that price range.
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Old 07-21-2015, 03:26 AM
 
Location: PHX -> ATL
6,311 posts, read 6,770,956 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jghorton View Post
One can almost live in Central Florida and still be about an hour from the beach. $200-$300K (with no mortgage?) -- There are plenty of places where that also is quite feasible, but, prices are moving back up (at least in the Panhandle). There are still many 'walkable' beach towns, such as Satellite Beach, Indian Harbor Beach, Cocoa Beach Village (Brevard) and many others in other counties. But, that is generally where everyone wants to live, which quickly increases traffic and congestion.
Traffic must be pretty tolerable in Florida if that's the case. Or we have different ideas of central... I always think of Orlando and Gainesville.
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Old 07-21-2015, 03:30 AM
 
Location: PHX -> ATL
6,311 posts, read 6,770,956 times
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Thank you guys for your help! It appears that Florida might be a good option for them since you all are saying there are places in the budget. Currently my parents live in about a 2000 sqft home with 4 bedrooms, and they will probably want to downsize as they are empty nesters now and if they do make this move, they'll probably grow old there.

What about the Fort Myers/Naples area?
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Old 07-21-2015, 06:05 AM
 
27,011 posts, read 43,613,652 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by :-D View Post
Thank you guys for your help! It appears that Florida might be a good option for them since you all are saying there are places in the budget. Currently my parents live in about a 2000 sqft home with 4 bedrooms, and they will probably want to downsize as they are empty nesters now and if they do make this move, they'll probably grow old there.

What about the Fort Myers/Naples area?
Since they're "conservative leaning" Naples/Bonita Springs/Fort Myers/Cape Coral would be a really good option for them, also in terms of home prices. Cape Coral and North Fort Myers would be good places to focus.
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Old 07-21-2015, 08:56 AM
 
40 posts, read 37,890 times
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Just a little fun thing.. if you use google earth, you can turn off the roads layer and zoom in to see the beach color/conditions all the way around Florida. It shows where, just south of Crystal River area where the white sands almost disappear and become muddy looking - then around the bend, toward Panama City, it becomes whitish again.
Daytona/Ormond might be good on the east coast for beach folks too... though housing is smaller tighter fit together. I'm going to assume the more tight fit the housing, the more deed restricted it's going to be too.. gotta watch for that too.
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Old 07-21-2015, 08:56 AM
 
Location: Florida -
10,213 posts, read 14,791,304 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by :-D View Post
Traffic must be pretty tolerable in Florida if that's the case. Or we have different ideas of central... I always think of Orlando and Gainesville.
Traffic in Florida is absolutely horrific in the major cities -- However, one can get on the Bee-Line in Orlando and arrive at the East Coast in around an hour. (Gainsville is further north in a wider part of the state).

Many people commuted daily between Orlando and Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center (not sure what the current situation is). I commuted daily between Kissimmee and Melbourne (Hwy 192) for about 6-7 months (1 hour and 15 minutes).
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Old 07-23-2015, 01:05 AM
 
Location: PHX -> ATL
6,311 posts, read 6,770,956 times
Reputation: 7167
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyle19125 View Post
Since they're "conservative leaning" Naples/Bonita Springs/Fort Myers/Cape Coral would be a really good option for them, also in terms of home prices. Cape Coral and North Fort Myers would be good places to focus.
Cape Coral is pretty cool to me since it looks that nearly every other street has houses with boat parking, which all lead out to the ocean. However my parents probably won't look at homes with boat parking as they get seasick very easily. What about Fort Myers Beach? I think they might like it there. The houses south on that island look feasible to them, the ones inland anyway.
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