[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

Raised ranches with the garage underneath the main level is not what I would ever want. You have to go up a flight of stairs to get to the main level of the home from the garage. No thank you. Hubby and I, while house hunting up north, were shown a home that had a really nice floor plan. Come time to see the garage, we had to go down a flight of stairs. I vetoed that house so fast your head would spin. We walked out immediately.

I don't like raised ranches either. But they're an example of a house where you can have the house on a smaller lot of land and still accommodate the garage, and not have to see "a garage with a little house attached." Which is why I mentioned them at all.

There are lots of other examples but myopic's gonna myopic.

[Taltarzac725]

I would have never thought in 1995 that in 2024 I would have been living in Florida for 29 years.

Most of the years before that were in Nevada, California, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. With first almost ten years in my native Wisconsin.

[Bwanajim]

Been here over a year .
Simple answer: if I won 50 million in the lottery I would still live here.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Bwanajim

Been here over a year .
Simple answer: if I won 50 million in the lottery I would still live here.

I might too but would not tell anyone that I had won anything big.

A neighbor a number of years ago won $100,000 promptly moved out of the Villages. Not a close neighbor. They lived a few blocks over.

[mntlblok]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Or nestled on a low plateau of the Smoky Mountains at the SC/TN border somewhere.

Know exactly where you mean and love that region but my pedantry forces me to point out that SC and TN just don't quite "adjoin". :-) The drive along 64 up yonder is one of my favorites. Am told that Highlands is in what is considered to be a rain forest. Maybe NC/TN border - also wonderful. Found these "three state junctions". Might have to go make that drive. Google Maps

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

Not sure we are talking about the same place. Spring is Nice? Really? We have had snow in May. Even this year which was relatively nice most days are in the 50s and rainy. You have to take a jacket to the 4th of July fireworks. It is nice most of June through September. But then October back to Jackets. Overall it is my home state, but I like Florida way better.

I do not understand the love for basements. Everyone I know who has one has had flooding in it. One thing I like about TV is no basement

I still spend my summers in the Finger Lakes region of NY, and we have delightful Springs here. But they don't happen until mid-June. Last year, on May 18, I looked across the lake at the many vineyards, and they were lighting fires trying to mitigate crop damage due to a heavy frost. That's "Spring" in Western NY.

[sharonl7340]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Actually, it is just that simple. In fact, it is easier than when you came here. You can easily research other communities in Florida because they are just a car drive away.

No it isn't as simple as that. Have to sell and then buy at an inflated price, so you are probably in the hole. Not to mention the exorbitant closing cost. Moving is expensive. Perhaps you have money to burn, I dont.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by sharonl7340

No it isn't as simple as that. Have to sell and then buy at an inflated price, so you are probably in the hole. Not to mention the exorbitant closing cost. Moving is expensive. Perhaps you have money to burn, I dont.

Moving costs can easily be covered by choosing a community where the properties are lower priced. There are many. I truly hope that you consider seeking happiness rather than remaining in a place that you are dis-satisfied with. Life is too short.

[Normal]

After moving to Florida:

Do you have less friends?
Have less options for going out?
Feel unsafe?
Do you drive past unkept homes?
Do you belong to less clubs and their activities?
Do you enjoy winter months less?
Do you see grey skies most of the time?

My answer is no.

Even better is the fact that we live in the center of the state. Hurricane storm surge is a zero issue and we get the warm weather.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by mntlblok

Know exactly where you mean and love that region but my pedantry forces me to point out that SC and TN just don't quite "adjoin". :-) The drive along 64 up yonder is one of my favorites. Am told that Highlands is in what is considered to be a rain forest. Maybe NC/TN border - also wonderful. Found these "three state junctions". Might have to go make that drive. Google Maps

Could you imagine? Instead of going to the lakes to enjoy some truly local fried gator, you'd go to the roadside grill for local venison stew and bison burgers. No need to stock the retention pond - there's plenty of fly-fishing on the creek behind the rec center.

Want some exercise? Take your pick of walking trails - each has its own difficulty level. And when you look outside the picture window in your back yard you don't see a row of electric towers at the far edge of the golf course, you see the rise of mountains instead.

[LeRoySmith]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Could you imagine? Instead of going to the lakes to enjoy some truly local fried gator, you'd go to the roadside grill for local venison stew and bison burgers. No need to stock the retention pond - there's plenty of fly-fishing on the creek behind the rec center.

Want some exercise? Take your pick of walking trails - each has its own difficulty level. And when you look outside the picture window in your back yard you don't see a row of electric towers at the far edge of the golf course, you see the rise of mountains instead.

I just sold the place you describe and bought in the Villages.....

[LeRoySmith]

Originally Posted by mntlblok

Know exactly where you mean and love that region but my pedantry forces me to point out that SC and TN just don't quite "adjoin". :-) The drive along 64 up yonder is one of my favorites. Am told that Highlands is in what is considered to be a rain forest. Maybe NC/TN border - also wonderful. Found these "three state junctions". Might have to go make that drive. Google Maps

I wouldn't call it a rainforest but there are times it rains with some force, nothing like we've seen here. The big difference is here the water soaks in and is spread out. Up there it doesn't soak in as much and it all runs into the valley, after you concentrate all that rain it gets ugly fast.

[LeRoySmith]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

roadside grill for local venison stew and bison burgers....... look outside the picture window in your back yard

Sorry, no venison stew or bison there. Barbeque bologna is as exotic as it gets.

I'll attach a pic of my back deck view and of my driveway.

[bob47]

Originally Posted by LeRoySmith

Sorry, no venison stew or bison there. Barbeque bologna is as exotic as it gets.

I'll attach a pic of my back deck view and of my driveway.

You are one lucky guy. Thanks for sharing.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by LeRoySmith

Sorry, no venison stew or bison there. Barbeque bologna is as exotic as it gets.

I'll attach a pic of my back deck view and of my driveway.

Nice pictures. Do not want people to say I am full of boloney so will pass on that