Buying a lake community home in the winter

[JilianBlue]

Originally Posted by BillTex

Looks like OP is suffering from paralysis by analysis. Sooner or later you need to jump in, if this is something you really want. You know the old expression: it’s waterfront and they Aren’t making any more of it.

Good luck, Bill

You are not wrong here I'm an accountant and my analytical skills sometimes get the best of me and keep me from making a leap.

[JilianBlue]

Re: Florida - I lived there for 10 years - from 2004 - 2014, I'm happy to answer any questions. We lived on the SW Coast in a town called North Port - it is in between Tampa and Fort Myers. It wasn't for us. Florida is a beautiful place to vacation, but a tough place to live year-round. It gets unbearably hot from May - October. You just shuttle yourself from air-conditioned location to air-conditioned location. We love outdoor life (hiking, kayaking, etc) and that was dangerous there. There are fire ants in the grass - look them up if you haven't heard of them. Their bites are incredibly painful and they swarm you and you can easily get multiple bites before you realize you're being swarmed. We regularly had bobcats in our yard, diamondback rattlesnakes, and scorpions in our home a handful of times. Wolf spiders are common and get into your house - they're as big as a hand in some cases and FAST. Freshwater almost always has gators in it. And Florida seems to be the sex offender capitol of the US. There were a disproportionate number of sex offenders and predators in our area. Then there are the hurricanes, the very expensive insurance and the inflated home prices. With FEMA and some other agencies who help during natural disasters losing funding & employees - hurricane-hit areas are going to have a tougher time than usual this hurricane season. You may want to wait one hurricane season and see how that shakes out before deciding.

Good luck with your decision!

[BillTex]

Originally Posted by JilianBlue

Re: Florida - I lived there for 10 years - from 2004 - 2014, I'm happy to answer any questions. We lived on the SW Coast in a town called North Port - it is in between Tampa and Fort Myers. It wasn't for us. Florida is a beautiful place to vacation, but a tough place to live year-round. It gets unbearably hot from May - October. You just shuttle yourself from air-conditioned location to air-conditioned location. We love outdoor life (hiking, kayaking, etc) and that was dangerous there. There are fire ants in the grass - look them up if you haven't heard of them. Their bites are incredibly painful and they swarm you and you can easily get multiple bites before you realize you're being swarmed. We regularly had bobcats in our yard, diamondback rattlesnakes, and scorpions in our home a handful of times. Wolf spiders are common and get into your house - they're as big as a hand in some cases and FAST. Freshwater almost always has gators in it. And Florida seems to be the sex offender capitol of the US. There were a disproportionate number of sex offenders and predators in our area. Then there are the hurricanes, the very expensive insurance and the inflated home prices. With FEMA and some other agencies who help during natural disasters losing funding & employees - hurricane-hit areas are going to have a tougher time than usual this hurricane season. You may want to wait one hurricane season and see how that shakes out before deciding.

Good luck with your decision!

Convinced me!

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by BillTex

Convinced me!

He made it sound so inviting!

[Mr. V]

On the subject of climate...

I was raised in NJ, back in the days when most homes had windown fans and no AC.

Summers were hot and humid, and the only way to get relief was to travel north to NH to take advantage of typically cooler, my temperate conditions.

But that left the winters, and mud season ... brutal, and an acquired taste, one which I never acquired.

I'd traveled this land and settled in Portland, Oregon, which I feel has a climate best suited to me: moderate, temperate, little snow, little crushing humidity.

YMMV