Where to find absentee 2nd home/condo/townhouse in FL near major airport (Tampa: rent, HOA fees)

[floridas]

I need to buy a 2nd home in Florida near a major airport, such as MCO Orlando, TPA Tampa, FLL Fort Lauderdale, RSW Ft Myers, SFB-Orlando/Sanford for mail purposes while I travel the world. I would likely be at the home less than 1 month out of the year, so it would need to be in a far higher than average safe area for absentee owners. Housing units vacant for months at a time are far more likely to be burglarized, and thus insurance companies won't insure them, so I likely need a gated community or condo/townhome with security. It needs to have at least 1 enclosed garage to leave the car, not just a carport. I want low HOA fees, if any, preferably below $200/month. Price range preferred is below $200k. Because I would be gone for months, I would need a way to have a large mailbox, as I get a great deal of mail, or a place where the mailslots are in the door of the house. Many condo/townhome complexes have cluster mailboxes that are small like 4 x 4 inches, which would not be large enough. Timeframe to buy between now and end of 2018.


Alternative ideas:
1 to buy some farmland with a giant mailbox and have a farmer/neighbor collect it for me once or twice a month.

2 buy a house, rent it to someone and have them collect my mail for me.


I welcome advice from realtors or others, but I don't want to be called. You can post on here or send me a direct message with your email.

[bmw335xi]

Problem with HOA is they will not let you change your mailbox. You could rent a large PO BOX.

[OTownKnight]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Problem with HOA is they will not let you change your mailbox. You could rent a large PO BOX.

Exactly. I'm actually selling my townhome now near the airport with a 1 car garage and in a gated community, but the mailbox situation cannot be changed and it is the small 4x4" that OP mentioned.

That's the only type of mailbox you're going to get with townhome communities in this area, so I would also second the idea of getting a large PO Box. Your mail would be safe there since you need a key to access it and it won't show that your mail is overflowing right outside your home when you're gone for long periods of time.

[floridas]

Already have a PO Box, but that doesn't work because the Post Office makes so many mistakes in handling, delaying, losing my mail. It's not safe there when the Post Office mishandles it as it overflows in my PO Box.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by floridas

Already have a PO Box, but that doesn't work because the Post Office makes so many mistakes in handling, delaying, losing my mail. It's not safe there when the Post Office mishandles it as it overflows in my PO Box.

You dont have any other options, you could try UPS or something, but I guarantee no condo or townhome will allow it unfortunately.

[Liverpool1960]

[url]https://reyhomes.com/community/villasol

Gated, Safe 10 minutes from Airport

[floridas]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

You dont have any other options, you could try UPS or something, but I guarantee no condo or townhome will allow it unfortunately.

Huh? And will allow it? What is it?

The Post Office is a monopoly. Even if the senders wanted to mail letters to me via UPS, it cant happen. Only the post office can send letters/receive letters because UPS/FedEx are limited to packages. You cant put 50cents on an envelope and mail it through UPS/FedEx, so there is no need to try it.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by floridas

Huh? And will allow it? What is it?

The Post Office is a monopoly. Even if the senders wanted to mail letters to me via UPS, it cant happen. Only the post office can send letters/receive letters because UPS/FedEx are limited to packages. You cant put 50cents on an envelope and mail it through UPS/FedEx, so there is no need to try it.

So what is it exactly you are looking for? A hidden mail service that has extra large secured boxes for letter mailing that is more trust worthy than the United Postal Service?

[Ragnar]

OP, it sounds like you need a trusted friend or employee to collect your mail for you. I wonder if you could hire a virtual administrative assistant in the area to do the task?

[floridas]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

You dont have any other options, you could try UPS or something, but I guarantee no condo or townhome will allow it unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Ragnar

OP, it sounds like you need a trusted friend or employee to collect your mail for you. I wonder if you could hire a virtual administrative assistant in the area to do the task?

Not an employee, because this isn't a normal job, more like a task. I don't have any friends that are all of these: 1 near that post office 2 honest 3 reliable/responsible 4 have time/willingness to do the task.


I need someone in person, if as you suggest. This isn't an online/virtual job if they are going to collect the mail for me in person.


I still don't follow the comment about UPS. UPS doesn't deliver postal mail for individuals. The USPS/Postal Service has a monopoly on all letter mail, the type that uses stamps. One can't put a 50 cent forever stamp on a letter and have UPS deliver for you as they don't accept or deliver postal mail.