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House Recon - OK, So Not a Cruise Blog...


WAAAYTOOO

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7 hours ago, Big Tule said:

Please be careful 'your credentials' are not being used by someone less capable.... 

To be honest, I am confident that this would be mentoring situation. They are trying to prepare for the future and that’s smart.  Frankly, while my credentials are important, it’s the longevity aspect that is the show stopper.  There’s really no substitute for that except to get someone in there to learn and put in the time so that they will eventually have longevity, too.  I’m happy to help.  

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6 minutes ago, Yesiamthere said:

Just finished reading all of this in one sitting.  I now feel “invested” in your decisions so please keep us updated on job or no job....move now or move later.  Thank you for such a “fun” read!

Lol.  You must be very bored.  ??

Will do.  I have some stuff to pass re: the trip, mask-wearing, airline policies, etc but just haven’t had time to sit down and do it.   

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update:

Had the closing on our VA house this morning and headed south with a VERY full 26' U Haul truck !  I can't believe everything fit in there, but it did.  I was even able to fit a number of my favorite Hibiscus (or high biscuits, as I call them) in there.  YIIPPEE !!!

Florence, SC is about 1/3 of the way so that's where we are spending the night, tonite.  JAX will be the next stop tomorrow night and then on to Port St. Lucie on Thursday.

We were able to secure an adequate rental home for the next year.  As long as it's reasonably clean (and I am assured that it will be) I really don't care much about it.  It's just an interim place to sleep.  It's in one of the newer gated communities (The Cascades) so I'm sure we'll be very comfortable there until our house is ready (Sept/Oct 2021).

I have accepted the PT job for my old contract as an Independent Contractor.  I will not be doing any work on that contract until probably early Dec. as I have to get to the new house and get settled.  Looking forward to it, truly.  It will be nice to be back with the old team.

Anyway, on with the new adventure !  How exciting.

RELEASE THE KRAKKEN !!

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I just read this entire thread.  Congrats on buying/building in Florida, selling your home, semi retiring, etc!  I’m looking forward to hearing about your building journey. 
 

I have a few more years to retirement but recently learned I can continue to work remote indefinitely, as long as I’m willing to fly in to a main office a few times a year (the only good thing to come out of Covid). So, our plan is to sell the house (we’re in Michigan) right after the holidays and move to Florida.  We’re going to rent for a while, as we’re not sure where we want to land. Like you, we most likely will build.   

Thanks for sharing your experiences!  It’s nice to read good news.  

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New update.

Decided that JAX was too close so we drove another hour and ended up in Palm Coast.  A very cute community close to Flagler Beach and north of Daytona.  This will leave just a short 2.5 hour drive in to PSL for tomorrow.  Our FL realtor will give us the key to the rental and then bright and early on Thursday we will unload the truck and return it to the local U Haul.  Things seem to be going frightfully  well.  I'm sure there is some surprise waiting for us somewhere....

For now though, all is well.  Last leg tomorrow !!!

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6 hours ago, Ferramc said:

our plan is to sell the house (we’re in Michigan) right after the holidays and move to Florida.  We’re going to rent for a while, as we’re not sure where we want to land. Like you, we most likely will build

This is very exciting news !!  I think you're making the right decision.  My advice is.....don't wait any longer than you have to.  The price of our new build has already gone up $5K since we signed in Sept.  They simply cannot build them fast enough down here.  It's a balmy 75 degrees here today. My daughter (western MD) sent a video of a steady snow.  NO THANKS !!!  SOOOO glad to be down here where it's warm.

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14 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This will leave just a short 2.5 hour drive in to PSL for tomorrow.

2.5 hour drive to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte?!?!? Now that's dedication!! ?

 

Seriously, though, glad you were able to make extra time yesterday so that today is a nice leisurely trip. May all the remaining steps along the way be equally smooth!

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  • 3 weeks later...

So we are completely moved into our temporary home for now.  Still plenty of unpacked boxes but they will remain that way until we move into the new house.  Every now and then I will have to go searching for something I need but we actually did a pretty good job of segregating everything we wanted to remain boxed. It makes me realize how much of this stuff I really do NOT need....even after we pared down substantially before we left.

We are in an over 55 development (as we will be, in the new house, too) and so there are some amenities here.  We stumbled upon a great deal for a golf cart (don't make fun !) and we've had a blast just puttering around.  Dan is going to the pool regularly and we are playing poker at the Clubhouse on Friday and Saturday nights.  Nothing very exciting.  The whole event is over by 9:00 but it's something to do.  They have bingo (yes, I love bingo) every Wednesday night but I haven't gotten up there yet.  I will try it this Wednesday.  I prefer playing bingo with electronic machines but I think the bingo here at the community is paper only.  UGH.  If they have one of those hand crank bingo barrels I will probably just pretend that I made a wrong turn and skeedaddle out of there.  LOL

So, we are very happy to be in Florida.  The weather has been incredible so far and we don't miss a single thing about northern Virginia.

The new/old job has been slow in getting started but that is just fine by me.  I have a call on Wednesday to make the final arrangements (I think) and should begin working soon. 

Our "office", which is really the breakfast nook, looks out onto a "lake" (really an irrigation pond) and Dan loves watching the birds.  There are all manner of storkish and craneish birds poking about all over the place.  They are, of course, completely used to people being around, so they are "tame" and will let you walk right up to them.  I'm sure they're also used to being fed !  They make an alarming sound when you're not expecting to hear it.  Dan loves talking to them.

Haven't seen a gator yet !  I think it's a myth.

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Oh, I forgot to mention....our rental house is haunted !!

The toilet water line makes a noise that is something like a cross between a banshee and a love-sick moose.  The freezer/ice maker makes a haunting groan that crescendos to a howl at all hours.  Dan has finally just turned the ice maker off at night.  It's terrifying to have that racket wake you up in the middle of the night.  Gases ?  Compressor ?  Nope.  Ghosts.

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Just catching up as I haven’t been around in the message boards much recently (sometimes feels like a hotel bar at closing time when the guy who’s been in sales for fifty years wants to tell you the sad story of his life) but congrats on the new locale. We’re working on doing the same, but a little further north into central Florida. 

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6 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Just catching up as I haven’t been around in the message boards much recently (sometimes feels like a hotel bar at closing time when the guy who’s been in sales for fifty years wants to tell you the sad story of his life) but congrats on the new locale. We’re working on doing the same, but a little further north into central Florida. 

YIPPEE !!  Come on down !  The weather's great !

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I am now officially re-employed !  Here's the ultimate irony.  It seems I am going to have to fly back to DC to get the badges and equipment I will need to work from Florida.  We threw all of the ideas around (for trying to do it from here) and it just seems that you can't get there from here....so after the first of the year, I will be going BACK up there to get everything formalized...then fly back home and actually start doing the routine stuff.

Since I've essentially been off the job since Feb I am ready to go get back to work.  The nice thing is, I will pretty much be able to work when I want to with a few structured requirements (meetings, etc.).  I will still be doing the travel that I love so it's totally win-win.  It took far longer to get the paperwork done than I had thought it would, but I've been in no hurry so it's all good.  YIPPEE !!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice, how is it going?

 

I was born and raised in Florida, came to NC for college.  I lived 5-10 minutes from the beach my whole childhood.  I did not appreciate that.

Our retirement goal is to live near/ on the beach.  Funny how life circles around like that.

I said I'd never live in Florida again but the benefits are stacking up.

We love to cruise, we (me) love Disney and we love to travel. 

I really like your approach on finding somewhere to live. 

I'm from Pinellas Park FL/, Tampa area.  After listening to you maybe I need to amend that statement of never living in Florida again to Not living in Tampa area.

Nothing against Tampa, just too much for me, I like a smaller city close to a big one.

Heck @twangsteralready convinced me to book an Alaska cruise with his blogs.

Maybe your swaying me to look at Florida again ?

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We love it.  We got out of VA just in time - the weather has been horrible up there so far this winter.  Still shorts weather down here.

19 minutes ago, MicDay said:

I really like your approach on finding somewhere to live. 

Thanks for that.  We felt like we were just swinging in the dark most of the time !  Finally we just decided that since cruising was really our reason for wanting to be here, the smart thing would be to locate to a central location, so that's how we chose Port St. Lucie.  I guess we got lucky...it's really a nice place and we are enjoying it very much.  While not our "dream house" we have a very comfortable rental for the year while our house is being built.  It could certainly have been MUCH worse - and almost was.  We came very close to just settling for an apartment, which would have been very difficult for us, since we are both still [trying] to work.

Come on down !  All the cool kids are moving to FL !

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We built this house we currently are in.  We hit a sweet time to build, our house to build is over $100,000 more than when we did 4 years ago. GF is trying to build a house very similar.

It crazy how much detail cost! 

Our daughter (only child) just graduated at NCSU and is eyeing Savannah GA to live.  So FL would not be too far.  It important for me to live near her and we have nothing tying us here.

I'm adding it to the list, we have a bit of time due to my job.

Good call on the house.  We rented an apartment because our last home sold so quick, nothing like yours.  I thought I'd like apartment living, I hated it.  I love having a garage to start with, it just felt off.  

I'd love to hang with the cool kids, I keep watching the group cruises.  Hopefully one fits and I can meet some of you.

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22 hours ago, teddy said:

I always think I want to move to Florida....then my wife reminds me that we've only been there during winter months.

Haha! I have only been there in August and it was literally the muggiest, heaviest, most oppressive heat I have ever felt, and we had just been to 5 Caribbean islands and Puerto Rico. ? Still, it would be awesome to drive to a cruise (one that doesn't end up in Mexico, San Diego's only option)!

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...

Resurrecting this one b/c we are about to bring this saga to a close !

Today is final walk-through for the new house.  So excited and yet have the stomach butterflies...

Today is final walk-through and next Wed (9-15) is closing.  We have quite a bit of "stuff" to do after closing so we will not move in until 9-26 but closing will trigger a flurry of activity.

Of note...we are closing almost exactly 1 year to the day from the day we signed the contract.  We signed on 9-19-20 and we will close on 9-15-21.  Closing is EXACTLY 6 months from the day they "broke ground" on the new build.  They started putting in forms for the foundation on 3-15-21.

This is the first new build I have ever done...so I really don't have anything to compare it to, but I will say that I just don't think things could have been any smoother.  Our timing (pure accident !) must have been perfect.  We managed to get most of the outside construction done during the "dry" season so we missed almost NO days to weather.  Those who are in the "outside" phase of the construction right now are missing nearly EVERY single afternoon due to heavy rains. During the initial phase of the development there were considerable problems with delivery of appliances.  There was much wailing from people who got the dreaded "appliance" letter.  We waited, thinking we would surely get one, too....but apparently they had solved the appliance "issue" by the time we came along b/c we had no problems or delays with delivery of ANYthing. (Apparently they got a new appliance vendor somewhere along the line which solved the delivery problem).

So, off we go to do the final inspection.  Wish us luck !!

PS.  We really don't need any luck.  We have been over at that house EVERY f'n day for the past 6 months.  I probably know more about this property than the builders do.  I know where every speck of drywall dust went and Dan has picked up every pebble out of the yard both pre-sod and post-sod.  HA !

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I just caught up and congrats on the new home. I am glad the build was smooth and I am sure the place looks beautiful. 

My mother has a plan to retire to FL in 2024, she has been hounding me to move with her. Its not even something I consider as I hate the heat but I told her I would come for a few months a year, (to coincide with cruising) and visit. 

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On 9/5/2020 at 2:00 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, we did use the HOV but honestly it wasn’t necessary.  We chose Port St Lucie precisely b/c of it’s equidistant between the 3 major cruise ports. We literally looked on a map and picked it by geographical position.  Turns out to be a nice place, luckily !

While cruising was shut down, we spent quite some time at Club Med in Port St. Lucie.  We only ventured out of Club Med a little bit, but from what we saw, Port St. Lucie seemed to be very nice.

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