I was fortunate to have a friend here before I moved. When I was thinking I would do the same, I asked her what she would do differently. The only thing was to buy it now and continue working at her job to have enough working capital to make your enhancements to your property before you retired and not have to dip into your savings/investments. I followed that advice. In 2005 I met with a realtor with my list of wants and on the first day, the 4th house in, I purchased my new home. Back then you couldnt build what you wanted, and they only sold what they built so we couldnt pick out a model, lot, etc. I wanted property with a southern facing lanai to enable a sunrise on the left and a sunset on the right. I also knew I wanted a window over my kitchen sink and now I look out over the fields, etc. it’s beautiful . No immediate neighbors in my back yard that could look into my lanai, open concept, 3/2.I wanted to be able to add a bird cage and one day, an outdoor kitchen. We also wanted to close to publix as I am person who enjoys cooking and entertaining and like to be near the grocery etc. We also wanted to be close to Sumter landing. At the time we didnt know about Pickleball, but started playing it and realized we were just far enough away from the courts that we didnt hear the noise at 7AM everyday, so that should be a consideration at all. Some dont mind it, I know I would mind it. We also do not have any neighbors behind our home, only open fields with no guarantee that someday it might be sold…16 years and we still fortunate. Over the years we tore up the carpets and put tile down, we paved our driveway with pavers and did a full landscaping job and have since added stacking walls etc. Back north, I had a 4500 square foot home and a pool. I knew as I aged I wanted smaller and no pool as we have 6 within 5 mins of our home. We live near the highschool and 466 and our location is perfect for us. We have made the 3rd bedroom into a den/TV room/Office, expanded our living room, and birdcage and added storage cabinets in the garage along the front and sides for our stuff. We only brought our personal belongings with us and bought all new furniture etc when we bought our home. We basically started over, but I was able to do that over a period of time as we didnt official move in until 2007. Before we added the birdcage, we also had a line dug and natural gas line place to accommodate our Webber grill. Five years ago, we finally got to add our outdoor kitchen and our natural gas line was already in place. I also knew as I aged, I didnt want to lug the gas tank. We also have added a sunbrella top over the bird cage which makes it even more enjoyable… Hope these comments help. My only regret is the lack of a golf cart garage but we have managed as we are. Good luck.
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