Retiring to Florida in 4 years Over 55+ Community (family, best, wife)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My cousin lived in Barefoot Bay for years and loved it. After one major hurricane, too much damage so she sold and moved in with her daughter in Texas. But she was there a long time..
don't those structures just look like they're begging to be swept away by Trop Storm or Cat I winds?....and if that doesn't get you, the surge will.....but most people in MHs are asked to evacuate and not sit things out.
It has a section for a list of parks and basic information about them
Even the for sale section is helpful in giving an idea of the how well the values have held up in any particular one.
Admittedly. it's isn't all inclusive but does have a lot.
Not for a community that you desire in South Florida. I would never call that type of area safe or desirable. Unfortunately you need at least $250k - $350k to get anywhere near what you are looking for. Then there will be an additional $100 - $300 a month HOA. You get what you pay for. Again, I would NOT call a permanent Mobile home park desirable in any form. All the ones round here are terrible, and the clientele are less than desirable. JMHO. I wish you all the best with your search, but do not hold much hope for you, unless you settle for a lot less. Maybe you should select a lower cost of living state from a Real Estate perspective.
You seem to be comparing a gated over 55 mobile home park with a traditional mobile home park which can be full of undesirable neighbors and crime. They are totally different and I can't see how you can say a gated over 55 park would not be safe.
So they aren't for you, that's fine. The ones I have seen look clean, well kept, and perfectly fine for a retired couple. The hurrican issue is a concern of course, but even the bad stories included the line "she lived there for a long time". I mean these places are not all destroyed with every storm or there would be no mobile homes left. They could very well be there the rest of their lives and never have a storm so bad it destroys their home. Evacuations every now and then would just be a way of life, my only concern would the ability to do so as they age. But I'd be more concerned about the Florida summers, coming from Buffalo they would be brutal.
Not for a community that you desire in South Florida. I would never call that type of area safe or desirable. Unfortunately you need at least $250k - $350k to get anywhere near what you are looking for. Then there will be an additional $100 - $300 a month HOA. You get what you pay for. Again, I would NOT call a permanent Mobile home park desirable in any form. All the ones round here are terrible, and the clientele are less than desirable. JMHO. I wish you all the best with your search, but do not hold much hope for you, unless you settle for a lot less. Maybe you should select a lower cost of living state from a Real Estate perspective.
Your post would have been helpful ( maybe) if you gave your location so OP wouldn't bother looking there since the other points you made are neither universally true or helpful.
Oak Run in Ocala, Florida, is a 55+ community. People own their own lots. Houses are mostly 2 bedroom, 1 to 2 bathrooms, and start in the mid 70s up to $300K. The community is gated and has about 3500 homes in it. There is a golf course, six pools, tennis courts, pickle ball, etc. There is no HOA per se, but there is a company that manages the amenities. Current monthly fee is $118 and includes basic cable TV and use of all the facilities. There are several clubhouses and the owners have different clubs that you can join. There are medical facilities nearby, both a Super Walmart and a Neighborhood Walmart, other grocery stores, drugstores, etc., restaurants, basically everything a person needs without having to go to downtown Ocala.
Ocala itself is the county seat for Marion County, which is just slightly larger than the whole state of Rhode Island. Lots to do here and we're about an hour from a fairly decent beach. There are other 55+ communities, but Oak Run sounds most like what you're looking for. On Top of the World is a 55+ community near Oak Run, but the HOA fees are horrendous ($440+ a month).
You're welcome to PM if you have questions and I'll try to answer.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Ocala seems to be exactly what we are looking for. The only reason I was originally thinking about mobile homes was that I thought we couldn't afford anything else down there. You've opened my eyes to a whole new world. I've checked out quite a few over 55 communities in the Ocala area and it seems like just what we are looking for. These communities seem very affordable and seem like it would be the better investment.
I will be contacting you with some questions. Thank you very much!
You are still putting your hard earned money into a DEPRECIATING Asset, your choice.
Yes, it is OP's choice. I totally understand where OP is coming from. For one thing, anyone who believes real estate is a sound investment is sorely mistaken. Remember 2008? And here in Houston, people have been devastated by Hurricane Harvey and can't unload their homes if their life depended on it. So many have been flooded and can't sell and even the ones that haven't are moving slowly because people are gun shy about buying in such a flood prone area. Or potential buyers don't believe they weren't flooded. Plus there's the teeny tiny factor of being able to live comfortably for the next 20 or 30 years. So OP, I think it's smart to buy what you can afford. Buying a home based on what a theoretical buyer MIGHT want a decade or more from now, especially when you are retiring in the home, makes no sense whatsoever. Good luck to you.
Oak Run in Ocala, Florida, is a 55+ community. People own their own lots. Houses are mostly 2 bedroom, 1 to 2 bathrooms, and start in the mid 70s up to $300K. The community is gated and has about 3500 homes in it. There is a golf course, six pools, tennis courts, pickle ball, etc. There is no HOA per se, but there is a company that manages the amenities. Current monthly fee is $118 and includes basic cable TV and use of all the facilities. There are several clubhouses and the owners have different clubs that you can join. There are medical facilities nearby, both a Super Walmart and a Neighborhood Walmart, other grocery stores, drugstores, etc., restaurants, basically everything a person needs without having to go to downtown Ocala.
Ocala itself is the county seat for Marion County, which is just slightly larger than the whole state of Rhode Island. Lots to do here and we're about an hour from a fairly decent beach. There are other 55+ communities, but Oak Run sounds most like what you're looking for. On Top of the World is a 55+ community near Oak Run, but the HOA fees are horrendous ($440+ a month).
You're welcome to PM if you have questions and I'll try to answer.
I have a sibling in Oak Run and agree that there are cute little houses and amenities for reasonable prices.
But where is there a decent beach within an hour?
Daytona, due east, google maps to 1.32 and with FL traffic you can bet its more
same for Hermando beach which is SW and
Cedar Key which is NE (no real beach that I know but the Gulf for boating)
Due east is just swamp coast
The worst thing about FL is the traffic is just crazy, so much traffic!
Interesting about Top of the World HOA fees - why is that and is that something to worry about when buying into
places like Oak Run?
My mom lived out her final years in a doublewide in a gated community, but that was in Pennsylvania. Florida is a whole nuther animal entirely. You are getting good advice to not consider a mobile home down here, they have bullseyes painted on them, and in a storm you wind up with toothpicks.
There is also the issue of insurance. It might be very costly or hard to get entirely. I know you have your budget and your heart set on owning one, but they are a horrible investment and not safe with the increasingly bad storms we are getting here.
You should be able to find a nice regular home for that kind of money, especially in the areas you mentioned. Don't mean to rain on your parade, but don't want to see you sorry later on either.
BTW, you will love living here, I will never go back because I am able to do things 12 months a year, rather than 3.
You truly own a bit of nothing. A mobile home is akin to a motor home....depreciates every year and can blow away with the first stiff wind. You won't own the land it sits on and that does not depreciate. I agree with those who think a mobile home community is not a good idea.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
