Best Places to Retire in FLORIDA 2021 -- NW FLORIDA

by Tim Whittemore

Best Places to Retire in FLORIDA 2021 --  NW FLORIDA

So, you're getting to that point to where you're considering, hey, I need to go somewhere to retire. And a lot of people talk about, hey, let's go to Florida. Well, in this video, we're going to talk about the top thirteen places that you can consider retiring here in the beautiful state of Florida. And you want to stick around to the end because we put a big emphasis up here on my specific area, here in the Emerald Coast.

But let's get into it a little bit more. Let's talk about where the entire state of Florida. Now, you may have seen a lot of these different videos and specifically for people that you want to talk to, which are people that know about housing. Realtors, right? Well, most of us are only really concentrated in one specific part of the entire state. Well, this time, I'm actually going to go out of research around this area so that you get the best information that I could find and rank where everybody wants to go to retire here in this area. So, I actually arrived down to Florida earlier than most people where I grew up. Can you guess where that is? Yeah, It's New York. Most New Yorkers end up down here in Florida, usually in central Florida. Heck, it's where we came down to vacation most of the years growing up. We absolutely love it. Just assume that we are going to end up down here. It wasn't until I realized that it was the Panhandle or what we call the Emerald Coast of Florida that became truly, truly home. But let's talk about these different places. Now, maybe you're moving from Colorado, you're moving from New York, California, it doesn't matter. Some of the real big reasons people are pushing down to Florida are because of these, and it's mainly because, the weather.

The weather here, if you like it warm, it stays really warm and pretty much a year-round. It's got that warmth, it's got that humidity to it. In South Florida, it is year round. As you move up a little bit towards further north, to the panhandle where we were at, it actually does get a little cooler. And cooler is a relative term for you guys up and say the Dakotas, you know. It doesn't get as cold as that. But it does get down to, we'll say, the 45 to 50s during the coldest part of the season. We have seen 20s, it seems like every four years or so. We seem to get into the colder parts there. But for the most part, very, very humid and very warm and gorgeous during most of the time that you're here.

Other reasons people move here are the taxes or the lack of taxes. The lack of income tax in this state is great. So, you don't have state income tax when you move down here. And depending on where you're going to, even property taxes are significantly lower than, say my home state of New York or where I used to live out in California. Also, it's the beaches. People are moving down here because of the beautiful gorgeous beaches, especially on the Emerald Coast, on the gulf side of Florida. And heck, even on the east, if you came from. If you're coming from the northeast and you went to the beach, and it was this just dark water with it, like, dark sandex. So, it was still really nice that you're at the beach. It's until you get to the other side of the Gulf of Mexico, you're like, wow, that was nothing. We became a beach stop once I moved here.

Another big reason people are moving down this area. Also, it's the relaxed community. There's just something about Florida, that just makes people relax, they're more on vacation, they're more in an upbeat mood. The weather's great, the sun's out most of the time. It's just a great community to be a part of. And, if you're up here in the Panhandle, it's a combination between the Floridians and the transplants like myself, and a mix of, like, the southern hospitality that you get here. And, it's really really nice and refreshing. And of all the places I've ever traveled, which was completely around the world, into the top, into the bottom, that's right. I have been to Antarctica, this was the best place that I decided to move to and bring my family to.

Now, also that there are year-round activities, year-round summer, so to speak, that you have things to do. You have golfing, boating, fishing, just all sorts of stuff to do throughout the year. You're never bored, there's always something to do. Of course, besides going to the beach, there's tons of things to do. And it is 2021, and heck over the last four, five, six years from this time, politics has been a big thing. But since the 2020 pandemic with COVID and everything like that, Florida has become more open, which has brought a lot more people into this state, especially over the last year. And that's across Florida. We've seen a huge, huge influx of people moving down to the sunshine shade.

WHERE ARE THE PLACES TO RETIRE?

Alright. So, where are the places that retire? We're gonna get into that right now. We have done some research between all different types of places to go through, from my personal experience and also through, vicariously through everyone else's that had traveled around. So, we kind of picked out, my team and I picked out the different places that we had seen ratings on throughout the state of Florida. And here's the top ones coming for you. Ranked right there at number one is Sarasota.

1. SARASOTA

My mother lives out in Sarasota. She loves it. Sarasota, the big place you want to go to is Lakewood Village. It's actually number two behind the villages, which is the fifty five plus communities. And that's what I'm going to mention most as we go through this list. If we're mentioning any of the places that we go to, they're always or mostly is a fifty five plus community, either being built or already built there.

2. THE VILLAGES

Okay. Moving on to number two is, The Villages. If you haven't heard of the villages, you got to google it. Come on. The Villages are in North Orlando. There's tons of amenities every time I talk to somebody that's looking to retire down here, they're always mentioning it. It didn't start off as a big thing, but they started kind of building it out and mixing you now. It's this great fifty five plus community in Northern Orlando.

3. OCALA

Moving on to number three, you have Ocala. Now, Ocala's got the, at the top of the world communities, another fifty five plus community. So definitely, check that out in Ocala.

4. PORT ST. LUCIE

If you haven't heard of Port St. Lucie, they consider it part of the quote unquote Real Florida. The fifty five plus community there is Valencia Grove. Really nice community out there. Okay.

5. TAMPA

And, Tampa is actually the biggest or rather third biggest city in the state of Florida. So, you have a ton of different places to go out to things to do sports. If you want access to the big city type of living, but still have that relaxed Florida feeling, that's a great place to go. If you're looking for that fifty five plus community, check out Valencia del Sol.

6. SAINT CLOUD

Keep on going, we have Saint Cloud. Now, Saint Cloud is just south of Orlando. There's a lot of stufft around Orlando, right? That fifty five plus community is Del Webb Sunbridge. So, you go check out for the fifty five plus community

7. DAYTONA BEACH

The reason this got here is because, there's a lot of race enthusiasts that like to move to this area. One of the really nice resorts that they have built out there is called Latitude Margaritaville. And, if you haven't been to Margaritaville, before it's kind of like a party, relaxed beach party the entire time. Now, they have those restaurants a lot through the Florida area. And if you've been there, then you're gonna have an idea of what it looks like. Obviously, they're going to have Bocce Ball Courts, they're going to have Pickleball. If you haven't looked at that, that's pretty cool big trending thing that's happened here in Florida. Tennis courts, of course, golf, swimming pools, access to a beach, all that great amenities right out there at Latitude's Margaritaville. We're going to get into that a little bit more here in a little bit too.

8. NAPLES

Still going on here, we've got Naples. Now, Naples is known for its shopping and of course, its beaches. Why? because Naples is on the Gulf Coast. Beautiful beaches there. If we are looking for your fifty five plus community there, look at Valencia Trails.

9. PONTE VEDRA

The reason that people want to go to this area is because of the golf. There's phenomenal world class golf courses there. And, the fifty five plus community you want to check out is, Del Webb Nocatee. Hopefully, I said that correctly.

10. FORT MYERS

Now, Fort Myers made the list because it's got a great combo of beaches, golf, fishing, shopping, tons of great stuff out that way. The community you want to look into is Valencia Bonita.

11. JACKSONVILLE

Jacksonville is the river city on the beach. At least that's what they call it. If you haven't been out to Jacksonville, it's kind of hit or miss depending on where you're moving to. But there's a lot of stuff going on in there. And again, it's another big city feel, but you have these little communities throughout. It might be for you. If you want to check out the fifty five plus community, check out Del Webb eTown.

12. NEW SMYRNA BEACH

Alright, we're getting here towards the end. Number twelve is, New Smyrna Beach. It is not even closely spelled to the way that it's pronounced. And, it took me a while to kind of figure that out and I probably still screwed it up, so I apologize if I do. But this is in south. If you wanna check out the community in there, check out Venetian Bay.

13. EMERALD COAST - 30A

Alright, last but not least is number thirteen, and you guessed it, it is the Emerald Coast - 30A area that we have out here. So, that's my area, that's our team's area. So, let's talk a little bit more about what you get moving here to the Emerald Coast. Where is the Emerald Coast? Why do we call it that? It is actually from Panama City Beach all the way to Pensacola, it's that entire area here in the last bit of the Panhandle of Florida.

Reason that people love this area is, it's because of the relaxed atmosphere, the great people. There's tons of military bases that are all throughout our area. And because of that, it brings a certain crowd that's also diverse, respectful and you also have the influence from Georgia and Alabama with a bit of that southern hospitality that comes with it. It's just a wonderful place to get around and it's not filled up with too many, well New Yorkers. I could say it, I'm a New Yorker. So, it is relaxed, it's a little bit slower paced, but just a real gorgeous area.

Now, I did mention 30A. Now, 30A is one of the most affluent areas in the Emerald Coast. This encompasses, but not fully and this is not a fully encompassing list, is Rosemary Beach. You have watercolor, great beach, seaside. Now, those of us that don't live specifically in that area will go out there for a little staycation. Actually, I just did that over at seaside a couple of months ago. And, just a great time, rent some bikes go down, great shopping, good food. Just a gorgeous place down there where you have tons of this untouched wooded area and just beautiful, beautiful million plus dollar homes, not just on the water but across the area. And, just a very highly affluent and just gorgeous and well kept area.

So, one thing, there is a fifty five plus community being built. Now, that's going to be the Latitude Margaritaville, remember I mentioned that earlier. This is going to be a water sound. Now, water sound is an area right in between the 30A areas that we had talked about, kind of smack dab in the middle. But you're going to see all the different things just like that Daytona location. You're going to see the different hiking trails, the dog parks, fitness center. You have the pool access to the beaches, of course, the restaurants. You got those cabanas and tiki huts, so you could really live that Florida Beach Life. Tennis, the Pickleball course that I was talking about, and so so much more.

If you're looking for prices for those types of communities in there. For this specific one, it's somewhere around two to four hundred thousand. And those villas, the smaller version is around 1,503 square feet. And you can get the single family homes that are all the way up to 2,568 square feet, and that's going to be pushing a little bit more north of the $400,000 price range.

So, you're going to be living in a community. Of course, there's going to be an HOA. That HOA, depending on where you're actually living, is anywhere from $230,000 to, I'm sorry, $230 per month to $270 per month. So, if you're moving to this area and you don't want to get into that fifty five plus community, that's perfectly fine. There's tons of stuff to do. There's plenty of areas to go out and explore here depending on what sort of lifestyle you're into.

Now, because we're here on the Emerald Coast and here in this wonderful atmosphere, you do have condo life that is part of the options that you have. Now, depending if you want to be out there and looking at the gulf every single day or you want to find one of those that are sitting back on the bays, that or the inner coastal waterways that are in this area, those options are available to you. Just know, the further that you get to the gulf if you're on it, is that you're going to be sharing this area with the vacationers, usually from spring break all the way until the kids go back to school. So, just anticipate that, that's a sort of lifestyle that you may be taking on.

Now, one other thing that I'll have to admit about this area is, it's got some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I go on cruises and I'm like, my beach back home is still better than this. You have world class boating out here. In the Destin area, one of the communities was actually voted in boating magazine of being one of the best areas to go boating. There are tons and tons of places to go shopping. Because it's Florida, most of these are outdoor malls that you'll be able to go to. You have outlets and tons of activities year round golf. Just everything and anything you want to go do out here that involves the beach and relaxing and being with great people, it's right here on the Emerald Coast.

 

So, that's all we have for you for the best places to retire here in Florida in 2021 and what we have here in Northwest Florida. If you have any questions about anything that I mentioned here, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com

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Tim Whittemore

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