[patfla06]

I think no matter where you live it's a busy time of year.
The cold and the darkness just make it seem more exhausting.
It's amazing how spoiled you get from sunny skies.

My Son and his Wife flew in from N.Y. tonight and I kidded him
he could take off his coat and put it away for the week.
They were both so happy to get out of New York City!

After 16 years in FLA I have forgotten the cold, gloomy weather
of N.Y.

[Ohiogirl]

This is our 4th winter in TV. Almost became full-timers a couple of years ago, but bought a small condo in a pretty, walkable suburb of Columbus almost 2 years ago. We spend about 4 mos. here in the summer, and come back for 2-4 weeks late Nov./early December, in part because of a charity to which my husband belongs - they have several fundraisers this time of year.

We also reconnect with friends and see family, although right now 2 of our kids live in NC - which is perfect for stopping over coming and going. I think that is making the difference for us.

This year, we've had much more snow and ice than normal for here - did not enjoy the "walkability part" of where we live. Neither of us enjoyed walking the dog 4 times a day and dealing with icy patches and snow everywhere. Yesterday it warmed up, snow mostly melted, but supposed to have torrential rain tomorrow. We do NOT come back in Dec. because of the weather, although it is nice to look out and see a pretty snowfall (once). Very different than having to drive to and from work in bad conditions.

We may not always come back in December, but we really enjoy the summers here. For us, transitioning to a condo was the key - no worries about leaving it to the elements, plus it is very secure, and relative to a house, inexpensive to own. We still like to travel, but only 2-3 times a year, and love having our own "nests" in both places. I would not be a good renter, need to make a place my own.

So - if you are up north and having a hard time making that decision, remember that it doesn't always have to be Here or There. There are alternative solutions for some. Just helped clean out my stepfather's home after he passed away - 40 years of stuff and a deteriorating house to deal with. If a house is getting to be too much for you, or too big, or whatever, maybe you want to consider a solution similar to ours. We may not keep our condo forever, but for now it's working for us. We think easier than owning (and worrying about) 2 places. Much easier to leave our villa in Florida for the summer (ease of finding reasonable caretakers, maintenance, etc) than it would be to leave a house up north all winter. Plus, we are Florida residents, which helps tax-wise.

Just something to consider. Have met several retirees both in TV and here in Ohio who do something similar.

[CFrance]

Just remember, things go wrong in condos too! Last year was our turning point for becoming frogs. Over the winter the fridge in the condo broke, the roof leaked, ruining a bathroom ceiling, the water heater burst, a double-pane window failed. All of these things were financially on us. The year before, the furnace broke two days before we took off for TV. Had it been a couple of days later, it could have been disastrous.

It's tough leaving a domicile empty for so long, especially over the winter. There are no home watch people in Muskegon, MI, and our son lives over an hour away and is swamped at work. We had a friend who stopped in once a week, except when she was gone for six weeks. That place was a constant worry to me over the winter.

[Ohiogirl]

Yes, not totally worry-free, but our building has inside entrances, only 3 windows (1 is a french door), a new fridge, new water heater, new hvac system, and there is another condo above ours (which, yes, could leak into ours - but they and their insurance would be responsible to fix any damage to ours. And yes, the new stuff could fail also, but the odds are with us. Just saying it's a lot less of a worry than a single-family house.

There is also an onsite part-time maintenance person (who is one of the owners) who can oversee that type of repair (damage from the condo above ours) if we are not here. I have a brother-in-law who will check ours monthly, but could (and might) also pay the on-site caretaker to do that. He already has the right from the condo assoc. to enter to see if we are causing or or on the receiving end of any damages. We turn the water off, and the heat down as it is when we leave.

Condos have their disadvantages too, don't get me wrong, just saying there is another alternative than owning and maintaining 2 single-family homes.

The other set of people the snowbird thing tends to work well for seems to be people with lake or mountain houses, which are already vacation-type properties that people are used to leaving, with caretakers often readily available.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl

Yes, not totally worry-free, but our building has inside entrances, only 3 windows (1 is a french door), a new fridge, new water heater, new hvac system, and there is another condo above ours (which, yes, could leak into ours - but they and their insurance would be responsible to fix any damage to ours. And yes, the new stuff could fail also, but the odds are with us. Just saying it's a lot less of a worry than a single-family house.

There is also an onsite part-time maintenance person (who is one of the owners) who can oversee that type of repair (damage from the condo above ours) if we are not here. I have a brother-in-law who will check ours monthly, but could (and might) also pay the on-site caretaker to do that. He already has the right from the condo assoc. to enter to see if we are causing or or on the receiving end of any damages. We turn the water off, and the heat down as it is when we leave.


Condos have their disadvantages too, don't get me wrong, just saying there is another alternative than owning and maintaining 2 single-family homes.

The other set of people the snowbird thing tends to work well for seems to be people with lake or mountain houses, which are already vacation-type properties that people are used to leaving, with caretakers often readily available.

You are right in that it depends on your situation. Our fridge was new, HVAC not but serviced yearly. Water heater was moderate age, ten years. The roof... Let's just say it wasn't checked as often as it should have been for the age of the building by the condo boards.

But I agree I would rather leave a condo alone than a single family home. Ours was four units to a building, all with ingegral garages and separate outside entries. Loved it but not the worry. Although of course my husband slept like a baby...