Definitely don't buy the extended warranty then. That would be a waste of cash.

I'm not sure what happened. I remember it being definitive that we would move by September but where remained flexible. Mom later said it is not conclusive that we would move, but we needed to be prepared to move by September if that door opens.

Mom considered the negatives of the area we were contemplating. That is not a problem. We'll find someplace else. Mom recognized the challenge of moving in general. Mom is not as young as she used to be, and the only way she could move is to hire professional movers. That would be expensive.

Mom is getting this house fixed. There's that. Otherwise, this tropical hell, which is far away from the rest of our family, will remain our bug in location.

Jeanette Isabelle

Well, you'll just have to make the best of it for now!

you do know that you have a world class medical facility just up the road at Shands...

UF74

I doubt that there is any place, even the most desirable, that doesn't have its negatives. California has a generally mild climate (not always!), but we must endure earthquakes and wildfires.

Spending time with my grandparents in Illinois, everyone was looking forward eagerly to retirement, yearning to relocate to either California or Florida...

BTW, temps in Death Valley (California) hit 128F recently, but it was a dry heat....

True. Texas has more weeds than Florida.

Jeanette Isabelle

As I’ve said , we live very urban, NY-NJ Metro. I’m a city boy . I don’t like to brearh any air I can’t see! ( just kidding. Our local air quality is surprisingly good).

Over the years we tripped to Florida to visit relatives/ friends & taken the kids to Disney World, which I hated. Although, Universal was cool.

Over the years we inherited 2 small places in Florida. One was actually on Singer Island and was kinda nice. But , I couldn’t get past my dislike of the place. We sold them both.

To me , Florida is God’s waiting room! Hot, flat , buggy, filled with objectionable critters and bigoted, slow moving rednecks. Get one mile out of a major metro area and it all starts to look like a bad caricature of Appalachia. Intellectual and artistic pursuits are non-existent. Speaking of lacking intellect ,look at the mess they’re in because they won’t take basic public heath needs seriously..... “. Masks violate my Constituttional rights and so does closing the clubs and the bars!” Better to have tens of thousands sicken , perhaps be permanently medically compromised or even die from Covid19.

Twice my in-laws wife and kids had to evacuate and keep retreating, over a period of days, due to wild fires. Especially tough, as our oldest has multiple handicaps. I will give a tip of my hat to the state’s emergency services on those occasions. They did a good job of protecting the handicapped.

Friends who retired there have bee wiped out by the increasingly common ad mors severe hurricanes and wild fire. As for crime, In the North I feel relatively safe in almost all the areas I frequent, as long as common sense is in gear., Not so much In Florida. And I overall HATE the heat.and year round humidity. Never found a day in the North I couldn’t get warm. I never felt cool & comfortable in Florida.

I get the tax haven benefits and lower cost of housing, especially in retirement. But the trade off is too great for me to ever consider the move. Besides, it’s going to be mostly underwater or the new Venice , in a relatively few years. I feel. Sorry for JI.

C'mon Acropolis50, tell us what you really think. You're among friends. I hate it when you hold back.

As a northern boy, I get what you say. Heat and humidity? That's nasty, miserable stuff. No thank you.

I've never been to FL so I can't badmouth it but I also know I wouldn't live there. I'm not crazy about the cold but it beats heat, especially coupled with oppressive humidity. And hurricanes, don't get me started on hurricanes! Tornadoes are terrifying but they're not hundreds of miles wide.

deleted rude comment from a 1/2 century+ Floridian