Resist by all means to get the tropical look in landscaping by adding queen palms (cheap/look tropical).
As they mature they require a minimum twice per year cleaning out of seed pods and other residue. Early on one can do it but as they grow (quickly) they become too tall and even dirtier in their out put.

No on Queen palms.
Put in only cold hardy plants.

Wait a year or two to see what came with the house looks like.

You'll want attic stairs. You can do it yourself if you are handy. If not, there are many folks happy to help you. We had the garage floor epoxied after closing, so it was cured and ready to go when we moved in. We did the rest of the concrete later.

We ordered and installed blinds ourselves. You can get plantation shutters, which are gorgeous, but they also cost much more, and the frame blocks light from entering your home.

A water softener is good, but you don't need to go all out unless that is important to you. You can pick up a fine model at a big box store, install it yourself, of hire a handyman.

Washer and dryer. Ours were 12 years old; we sold them with the Northern house.

Don't landscape too quickly. Go a full season and look at everyone else's stuff. We landscaped too quickly and made mistakes which had to be corrected later.

Take a good hard look at your possessions. That oak furniture that looks so good up north ~ it just doesn't transition well. The resale stores are full of it.

IMO, most everything else can be done later, as you adjust to your new expenses.

Never heard of Palm rats before, wow.

Palm Trees
 

We have 9 palm trees and have not had a rodent problem.

For my two cents worth
 

RE: blinds
We bought four years ago and they were not included. We bought them privately and had them installed before we moved in. ERROR we made- we have arched windows and did not cover the arches. A mistake. A different times of the day, the sun makes it difficult to see the television, computer monitor or?
RE: epoxy garage floor
I had my woodworking stuff delivered to the living room. WIFE WAS NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT. We waited about a month to avoid cracks and then had the floor epoxied. We waited another month for the floor to fully cure. WIFE? wIFE WAS ready to carry my about 500 lb work table, full sized table saw. lathe etc out to the garage by herself.
RE: garage stairway
We did not have one installed. The space above the garage is not temperature controlled-very hot in summer and cold in winter. Whatever you might put up there will likely deteriorate. Also, I do not feel comfortable on those fold up ladders.
RE: AC
Our home was prebuilt so we were not offered any upgrades. We have a 15 SEER heatpump 2400 sq ft and our electric bills run between 60 and $120. I've replaced ALL of our lighting with LEDs but I don't think it matters much. No one mentions it but regular incandescent bulbs do put out a lot of heat that your AC needs to get rid of.
A more efficient AC would be 18 SEER the difference is just under 17%. Since, not all of your electric usage is for AC, you also use electricity for cooking, refrigerator, lights, etc
I do not believe you would save 12% so based on our bills
$60-12%= $7.20 to 14.40 a month.
RE: Kitchen cabinets
If, you can, I would explore upgrading them.

Assuming the tastes of the person the originally owned the home are the same as yours. If not, you will spend the same for changing the home to your tastes plus removal of what they had. An earlier post had it close to right, identify your wants vs your needs. Get as much done when they build your house, floors, granite tops, expanded lanai. Depending on your age, take a 30 year mortgage (and take the bond to 30 also) and play with their money. Unless you are wealthy it should all be about cash flow. When you move in get it as close to done as you can so you can enjoy the life here. Oh, when you look at expenses, increase the food and entertainment.....we all eat tons down here :)

13 palm trees, 4 years, no problem. We have a service come in twice a year to trim and fertilizer all trees and plants. While they do that we are on the golf course :)

Yeah Wiki says Palm Rats are only on 3 Islands, none of which are even remotely near Florida, or the USA for that matter.

I should have known.....

That seems to be true, but Roof Rats are commonly called Palm Rats, Citrus Rats, Black Rats or Ship Rats.

They are here, but you will probably never see them. I shudder to think what's in the palms with beards.

Our home came with blinds, fans, appliances...including washer and dryer. 80% of the furnishings were purchased from Amazon. The rest came from Rooms to Go. At some point I will purchase curtains for the windows...just as an added part of the decor. Blinds do a great job of keeping the sun/heat out. I did have to put grout sealer on the grout in tiled areas, and I coated the glass shower doors to help reduce buildup of minerals. We are considering a water filter...that should help extend the life of appliances...and reduce water spotting. We are also getting a whole house surge protector from SECO. Lots of lightening strikes!!! Skylights are a maybe in the future. Good luck in your hunt for a home. Fenney is great, as I am sure Desoto and the other new sites will be too!

Yes l be sure to look at resales. IMO a better bargain.

We just bought a house in Santo Domingo ... looking for advice ...
Who is the best source to epoxy the garage floor?

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...lation-106570/

These people are probably still out there....

Taste has little to do with attic stairs, washer and dryer, blinds, landscaping, and most of those are missing on a new home. Paint color is easy and cheap to change and most folks rip out carpet in new or used and replace with wood or tile. I personally have found resale homes to be a much better value then new homes. Most don't look at bond or those things that still have to be done in a new home that are already done in a resale. But you must if you want to really compare the two.

We bought in Fenney also, blinds were in. First few things we did were donuts around the sprinkler, someone to take care of the lawn, attic stairs, powered roof vent, Nova water system including softener, Nova is by far the lowest priced system and a softener is a softener, we've had them all over the years, also had gutters and downspouts put all the way around, and tiled our lanai floor, kitchen backsplash and then went into decorating and now have contracted landscape and driveway pavers. As far as lawn service, Fenney has St. Augustine, we used Deans and they all but destroyed our lawn, find someone else we are now doing it ourselves as we don't have much grass to maintain. Spectrum is down here for cable and internet and might as well get a house phone, no contract required, until the new cell towers are up as most have to go outside to use their cell phones.