Fl. gulf coast suggestions for living

After being down here for 15 1/2 years, (never looking back from New England winters), I can agree with all those that have said Florida West is a great location. From Tarpon Springs to Marco, we have all you could ask for. I couldn't agree more with the suggestion of visiting those spots that might become your winter home. There are so many to chose from! All offering their own special amenities.

Good luck on our quest!

Regards,

Dennis

 

Florida sucks, stay away. We are full, no more room.

Just kidding... everyday is a vacation when living in Florida. Good luck with your search.

 

Bought a house with dock out back in Cape Coral in 2012, but I travel for work extensively. Every day that I'm not there leaves me feeling empty inside.

 

Just curious...
Say you own a 40' boat and live in FL full time. What is less expensive to do - buy a house on a canal and pay the extra insurances to keep it there OR buy a landlocked house and keep the boat at a marina a few miles away?

Here in NJ, the home values for a house on the water are higher than the would be for the identical house that's not on the water. This means higher property taxes on the waterfront homes.

 

Very good point, but you also have to factor into the comparison the cost of absentee management for a 40 ft boat in Florida. The cost here is nothing at all like you guys who are used to wintering under shrink wrap on blocks and stands. If you think you will leave a boat in Florida for months without running and exercising it, then hop it her an go, well, that won't happen. If you think your baby will look great with one wax/polish a year….well, that won't happen either unless you are in a barn or under a covered slip. And, if you think the guy at the marina who told you yeah, list me as your hurricane plan ; I'll take care of your boat when a storm comes" ………..well, that ain't gonna happen either because that guy will be barred from crossing any bridge to get to the boat because the state closes all bridges when the wind get to 5O mph and besides, he won't be at the marina, he going to be nailing plywood over the windows at his house.

I choose to keep my boat in a full service marina with 24 hour security. I can do everything from a full detail to a bottom job with one cell phone call. The marina hauls every boat out of the water when a named storm comes within 75 miles of here….and I don't even have to make a decision or make a call….I just have to pay the bill when it comes. Our marina truly makes long distance ownership easy.

Buying a canal home locks you out of being near a beach and a beach view. That may or may not be a consideration, but our beach house is a family house. While we bought it primarily as a second home, now that our children are out of school and well into their own careers, having beach access is important since they come to Florida whenever they want to, put their key in the door, no reservations needed and they don't need the boat to enjoy Florida.

 

Frank
Understood. But I was wondering from a standpoint of living full time in FL when I was presenting both scenarios. There are many things to factor in when you are considering parking your boat behind your house vs. at a marina 15 min away. Of, of course, is the marina-life camaraderie that some say is "missed" when you aren't part of a marina. But I'm taking that out of the equation - let's pretend you didn't care about making friends.

Omitting the advantages of a full-service marina that is at your beck and call, how do the costs stack up in both scenarios.

Disclaimer: I am not moving to FL and likely never will. This is just something I've thought about as it pertains to NJ. Here in NJ, the answer is that even if you factor in the extra property tax and the premium you pay for waterfront (which you'll get that back when you sell), it would be cheaper to put the boat behind the house than at a marina for $100/ft summer (I'm omitting winter storage b/c I'd still haul out somewhere for the winter).

Joe, sorry for the tangent here but it is somewhat relevant (I think!).

 

Darn - I'm sorry to hear that!

 

When you get to the 40' level, I'm not sure $10,000 a year one way or the other makes a difference...ask me how I know :^D

 

heTSre' nothing better than looking out your back door/windows and seeing your boat sitting there. Ask me how i know. Been doing it for 16 years. Gets cleaned, used and maintained much more since I see it every day. Just saying.............

 

Take a look at Marco island, small city with everything near by, PUBLIX, liquors, cigars, lowes , west marine, Walmart, a lot of very good restaurant, nice bands, can be quiet a night, is close to Naples and a shor distance to for lauderdale airport or Fort Myers Int’l airport. Is also a run of 4 to 5 hours to the keys or to Sanibel or Captiva for a day trip.
We live on the marina marco island yacht club on the weekends and work in Fort Lauderdale, hope to retire soon in Marco Island
Our boat sea ray 400 sedan bridge 2001. Looks like a great place to live year round, a lot of friends.

 

We just bought a place in Bonita Springs. Love, love, love the area. We will use it for a vacation home for now, then we plan to be snowbirds in 2 years (we are 54 now and are retiring early). We started looking for a place on a canal, then changed our minds once the practicality of that set in (being away for a storm, insurance, boat complications) etc.
I plan to rack store a boat once we are snowbirds. For now I will remain just a northern boater.

I have spent time in Marco Island several times now. Great place, but if you will be there during the peak season, it is very crowded.

 

Sigh... my dream too...

 

We are traveling there from KY in July and are checking out homes in Bonita for a winter place. I want a canal home close enough to the beach for my wife!! Prices sure have jumped!!!

 

Ok, I'm in this discussion too. My wife and I are on a two year plan to move to FL. We're probably not bringing our 400DB with us. I would prefer to be on the water/canal so I can have a boat in the back yard. We're in our 40's and need to be somewhat close to some metropolitan area for her career. I've been eyeing Sarasota/Bradenton but wouldn't mind being a bit further south. This whole topic of insurance issues is very interesting.

 

As someone mentioned earlier, there is a marked temperature difference in the winter temperatures if you are south of Sarasota. We found Naples winter traffic was too much for us, and we ended up in Ft. Myers. It doesn't have the "name" of Naples or Sarasota, but it has everything we need - closer to the airport than Naples. We chose condo with boat at a nearby (10 miles) marina in Cape Coral. Being on the 12th floor of a condo constructed in '07/'08 brings all the latest hurricane construction standards. We have 2300 sq ft, three bedrooms, three bathrooms. And when you want to leave for a period of time, shut the water off, turn the water heater off, lock the door, and forward the mail. We are not on the beach - some would call that a disadvantage - but on the water overlooking the Caloosahatchee and downtown Ft. Myers. We have a free trolley that runs to/from downtown which has lots of restaurants and entertainment. I wish I had a shop, but I "survive" without one!! I've attached a picture of our view.


Canal homes in Cape Coral (600 miles of canals if I'm not mistaken) have many low bridges - limiting boat size. Canal homes with unrestricted Gulf access are 7 figures. Frank is spot on with FL boat maintenance. Diver once a month $200, Wax 4 times a year $7000 (58' boat). Hurricane plans - sign up for indoor air conditioned storage, 5 month minimum - $3000 a month. Boating in summer months is hot, with lots of TRWs.

This works well for us - as you know, we move the boat to Chattanooga for hurricane season to avoid that threat. I wish we'd bought a winter place in FL 20 years ago, we love it.

 

St Petersburg area is great I lived on the hook in Gulfport FL, , frowned upon , . Gulfport does have a decent municipal marina too though. There are many hotel condos as well, I'm a tile man and worked on many in that area,they are about 600 sq feet. Inland in gulfport area Housing was quite inexpensive

 

IMHO: As much as I wold love to have my boat in my backyard, it wouldn’t be worth it to me to have to worry about both my boat and my home in a storm.
There was a time when I thought my wife and I would sell once the kids were gone and buy something smaller on the water.
Live the dream with the boat in the backyard.
The views are beautiful and the convenience would be fantastic.
That all changed once I witnessed what happened to waterfront living during Super Storm Sandy.
I live 7.5 miles (20 minutes if I get stuck at all the traffic lights) from my dock, the ground floor of my house is about 116’ above sea level and I like it that way.

 

I thought the Punta Gorda area got pummeled about 15-20 year ago in back to back hurricanes. How bad was it? Seems like plenty of older mobile homes and block homes are there today.