How many Snow Birds out there?

Al Launier

Member
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1,683
Location
Bedford, NH
I've been wanting to downsize & move south for years. However, my wife can't tolerate the heat, even in the winter at room temperature. Personally, I don't like the cold & am tired of yard work, lawn in the summer, snow in the winter. So what to do? Looks like the only option is a condo in warmer climes during winter months. We live in NH & enjoy the home we currently live in as well as the NH environment excluding the winters of course. I have been casually checking out different locations and right now Charleston, SC looks pretty good. But, the search has just started.

So, I 'm curious what those of you who Snow Bird have experienced and think of as the upside & downside of this option.
 
My parents have been snow birds for the past 17 years. First they started off with pulling a 5th wheel around for a while, then started taking it to Phoenix every year, now they leave the 5th wheel here and own a "park model" which is like a one bedroom trailer home that is permanently parked in a retirement community in Phoenix. They've got a great community there and lots to do. Very central to a lot of stuff around Phoenix. They bought their place for about $20,000 (theirs came furnished and had a porch/parking canopy and shed) and pay about $2000 a year for their spot if I remember correctly. The place next to them was nice and sold for around $8000.

The weather there over the winter varies, but most days it's in the 70's and 80's, some days warmer, some cooler. I'd like to do the same, maybe even before I retire if my work will allow me to start working remotely.

They are full time rv'ers still, they live in a 5th wheel down in southern MO where my dad trout fishes during the summer and pull the fifth wheel to park at my place or my sisters for a few weeks here and there through out the summers.
 
My folks were snow birds. They had a home in Syracuse NY, a summer place reachable only by boat on a lake in Ontario Canada, and a double wide in a nice retirement community near Orlando. They enjoyed the travel, had loads of friends in all the places and looked forward to the changing seasons. I picked a spot in between with four seasons and a relatively mild climate. There is some serious heat in the south, and I can remember freezing my butt off in Panama City Fla one December on a business trip. Make sure you do plenty of scouting before you settle on a spot.
 
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