Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We did something similar.
We lived in NY and knew we would sell our home when my husband retired. We had two choices, either North Carolina (which we fell in love with when our son went to college there), or Florida, where I had some family members living.
Having visited family in Florida (Gulf Coast) for many years, we felt comfortable moving there. However, we never spent more than two weeks at a time during the winter months.
We put our home in NY on the market in the fall of 09 when the economy was collapsing. We thought it would take a long time to sell and my husband wasn't retiring for another year. As it turned out, house sold in 3 months and we had to rent until husband retired.
We put most of our furniture in storage and used what we needed in the rental. That summer, we decided to drive to North Carolina and Florida to look at houses. We knew we didn't want a condo or a 55+ type place.
We stayed in a hotel in North Carolina for two weeks. We looked at houses and a few areas during that time. Because it was summer and colleges out, we found a nice efficiency motel at a good price. My husband has health issues and actually got sick while there and I had to rush him to the ER. We were impressed with the medical care. Medicare and AARP supplement covered the costs for a three day stay in the hospital. This was in Chapel Hill.
We left there after two weeks, and stayed in Sarasota, Florida at our daughters vacation home on Siesta Key. We had been there many times but never more than a few weeks. We stayed 6 months. We looked at houses the entire time, every day. The market was crashing in Florida and so many houses were foreclosures. It was depressing. We knew, after 1 month, we would not want to live on a Key. One bridge (drawbridge), traffic terrible. If a medical emergency, no hospital on the Key.
After the 6 months, we moved to another Key (Longboat Key) and found a condo in St. Armands which we rented, knowing it was a foreclosure. We spent 3 months there and only looked at houses on the mainland.
We went back to NY, closed the rental there and arranged to have all our furniture moved down to Florida. We both decided that we loved N. Carolina but felt more comfortable in Florida, near family and that we knew our way around the area.
We found a house we liked after looking for almost a year and got it for a good price because the economy was bad. We do not live near the Keys, we live more inland so do not get the wonderful breezes near the Gulf of Mexico. But we are here now 7 years and feel comfortable.
We were lucky that we had family in the area which helped us feel more comfortable. However, Florida is really a outdoor lifestyle. Summers are very hot but a pool or the beaches help get through it. I dislike the heat and do travel back to New York to visit family and friends there during the summer. If we had enough money to have a place in both places, that would have been perfect. But we didn't.
The medical care has been good. Florida is geared to the elderly. There are so many doctors and Urgent Care places. Sarasota Memorial Hospital is good and we've both been there a few times.
I honestly don't think you need to spend 6 months. I knew after 2 months whether I was happy or not. So was my husband.
I think two months will give you a feel for an area. Moving our stuff down was no big deal. It cost about $1,200 and everything arrived in good shape.
Cash up front for the full 6 months - sure thing. Bring it in the form of cashiers check or lots of money orders - but No real cash.
.
Yes, that's what I thought would work, but the OP says otherwise. They tried offering to pay the entire 6 months in advance and the LL wouldn't take it. Don't know why. Maybe they LL thought they didn't have any other assets that were easy to garnish if something went wrong. At that point, the potential renter has to look elsewhere.
I think it's a great idea to stay in different targeted areas, however, three weeks is sufficient to get the feel of a place - so go for three weeks, come back for a couple of months and go again.
Yes, that's what I thought would work, but the OP says otherwise. They tried offering to pay the entire 6 months in advance and the LL wouldn't take it. Don't know why. Maybe they LL thought they didn't have any other assets that were easy to garnish if something went wrong. At that point, the potential renter has to look elsewhere.
Same happened to me. Ended up staying at a beachfront motel for 2 months and he gave me a monthly rental rate.
No job, no rental history. Pension, assets and liquidity in the bank that could have paid 6 months right up front. Tried 3 places (decent looking) ..no go. Some trashy looking ones though would take me but I wouldn't take them
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
