NEW FLORIDA RESIDENT BLOG

  You’ve been working your whole adult life, and the only way you got through some of those years was to look at the cut-out of a tropical island that you taped on your computer screen. Now it’s finally happened – you’re retired, and you can finally book flights to that island. As of 2014, the average age of retirement in the United States is 66, up from 63 in 2002. Even then, 42 percent of Americans are at risk of retiring with, basically, nothing . (Almost half of US workers have stashed away just $10,000 or less in savings.) So if you’re retired, don’t be afraid to wade into the market for a vacation home. After all, in 2007 , one out of three homes sold was a vacation home or an investment property , and the demand in that area remains strong 10 years after the housing crisis. Just be sure to do your research on it and take the steps necessary to make sure it’s a good decision. Here are some steps to start out. The Finances Perhaps the initial step in finding the righ...

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Welcome to Paradise. I used to tell the story about walking into a Bank in Sarasota to open an account and dialing 911 on my phone because I thought the place was getting robbed.  Anyone from New England would have thought the same thing.  "Men who work in banks wear jackets and ties at all times." At least, that's the way I grew up. In Florida, bankers wear polo shirts everyday and I'm friends with an attorney who has a "shorts in the office" policy.  I get it, it can get warm here and when I'm showing a large property and need to walk it with clients, in July - I try to justify shorts.  But of course I was raised better. Long story short - this year my wife and I attended a wedding that was "White Tie" and I discovered I didn't have one.  I didn't have a white tie or, any other color for that matter.  It struck me that I've been in Florida for nearly 20 years and do not own a single tie anymore.  I guess you can actually b...

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Welcome to Paradise. I had a funny conversation this week with someone from my old neighborhood.  They were asking me how our 3 year old liked living in Florida.  I was tempted to remind my friend that Rocky has only been in Florida since birth.  (Well, we did drive to Georgia for Rain Storm Irma but that Southern Georgia is not terribly different than Florida so, it really doesn't count).  The point is, it's all Rocky knows.  In fact he likes to show off and tell people that.... 1. You never swim in lakes because of alligators. 2. A sand pile can be an indication of fire ants and can be dangerous so, should be avoided. and 3. The bright green lizards bite if you catch them, the black ones play dead. When my buddy heard this he thought Rocky must be some type of gifted savant and we should get him into the circus or something.  But I had to point out that every three year old here, knows these facts.  Rocky is a smart little guy but, has no id...

Welcome to Paradise. The first party I was invited to in Sarasota was in Indian Beach.  It was in a Fabulous yellow house that people are still talking about and writing about.  The owner at the time and I are friends and she misses the home and talks about it like it's a child off in college.  Of course, she had an amazing view not everyone in Indian Beach does. But, that doesn't matter.  A great location is just that, doesn't matter what you can see from your kitchen, it just matters where your kitchen is.  Indian beach is a little urban, a little beachy and a lot of fun. If you are looking to be downtown and near the beach but, looking for a bargain - let's talk about Indian Beach.  Seriously, call me today before everyone else finds out about it...