Buy or Rent

If you're bringing your RV down, you might want to look at SunNFun RV Resort in Sarasota.

They also rent park models by the week or month.

Worth a look if you want an active lifestyle.

As a general rule of thumb for south Fla you can rent for three months for what the HOA fees, insurance, and property taxes will cost you if you own the lot. Yes, renting for only a month while you check places out can be a pain, but better that than realizing you cannot stand a place or the neighbors and you've paid for three months.

Last winter we 'toured' Florida in the Mhome looking at communities going down the florida east coast, crossing to the gulf side, and driving north through Naples, Ft. Myers, Tampa etc. Most areas were too crowded for our tastes. One problem we had on that trip was finding a place to camp. We are typically ad hoc travelers, making reservations a few days in advance, once we know how the trip is shaping up. Most Florida campground spots were chewed up with snowbirders who had locked in long term leases. Cannot do the Walmart boondock thing due to municipal ordinances. We had to beg a few times to land a no services parking spot. So finding a place to live, every day, was painful.

On that trip, we struggled to find an area that wasn't too crowded, congested and noisy, where we would want to return for a whole winter.

This year we rented a home in aa active full facilitied 55+ community, off the beaten path, south of Tampa. We're having a ball, and love the people we've met. Connecting with folks socially has taken the sting out of being away from our home and away from friends and family. We have committed to a 4 month rental next year. There are many houses here for sale and rent (as there were all over Florida), so we see no compelling reason to buy, at least for now. Renting for 3-4 months a year is way cheaper than the carrying costs of owning (aside from the initial purchase).

We will use the Mhome for other not winter travel. Hope our story helps you with your thinking.

We brought our rv south for several years but last year and this year we have rented a villa in the campground where we always stay. We still get to be with all our friends but don't have the hassle of pulling the trailer out of storage buried in three feet of snow and iced in.

If you have never been to a place you would do a lot better to rent first, unless you have friends at a particular place that would recommend it.

My wife and I snow birded for years, in the Florida Keys and then two years ago found a great deal on a spot for sale in a gated RV condominium park. Last year we rented it out, but this year we are staying in it. We came in October and will return to our mountain house in April.

We knew long before we bought that this place was where we wanted to be and we love it, but I can't imagine just jumping into a place that you have no knowledge of the rules, regulations or the type of people that stay there

Good luck,

Jack L

Maybe a little off the topic, but do you really feel that you need a 41 ft fifth wheel for your needs? You could be so much more flexible (state parks etc.) with a smaller unit.

Absolutely rent first so you can get a "real" idea of the place. In our case we lucked out, I sat down and actually listed what I wanted in our Florida lot, location, access to lakes for boating and fishing, near-by shopping and such, then researched places until I found one, we rented for two seasons and when the owner offered to sell it to us we bought it knowing full well what we were getting. The other factor to me was the fact that Frau Blücher and I retired sorta' young and we planned to "snow-bird" for at least ten+ years (were on year six now) and I figured we would be paying almost the asking price in rent so by owning we'll be able to recover a good chunk of our money when we decide to pack it in and another important aspect is rv properties do change hands and all details are subject to change as our friends found out when their parks went into receivership or bought out by one of those big rv property outfits to see their rents increase substantially, knowing our costs from year to year really helps the bottom line! In our case we own a fairly large landscaped concrete lot with a 12'x10' hurricane rated shed that we leave our cart, grill, and furniture and I strap our pontoon boat down to the concrete so when we go home for the summer I know if we get hit by storms things will be OK. Now mind you this works for us in our situation and might not be the way to go for others but for us so far,,, so good!

Red Green: There's only two things that excite a man, expensive toys and real expensive toys.

Greg; We were in a similar position several years ago and debated buying a place in the warm south. Then a friend told me to rent instead (I use VBRO); We tried it out and love it.
Advantages:
1 - different place every year - different view every year.
2 - when the lease is up you hand back the keys and leave
3 - no maintenance/up-keep when you are not there
4 - no worries when you're not there
etc etc.

we will be "touring" the south next year by renting a different house/condo
each week - again VBRO makes this really easy.

We're still fairly young (60) - and somehow I'm not sure we will ever buy a place in the south but it is a great place to visit during the North-East winters.

We rented first, then bought when we found what we liked but definitely rent first.