Arizona is great. Lots of hiking, some hunting, good Mexican food. Grand Canyon trips, if you like whitewater.

My wife and I were in the same situation. Love the 55+ community. We chose the Ft. Myers area. Been around quite a bit of Florida. Alot of it we didn't care a whole lot for. But then we went to the Ft. Myers area. Actually the southern gulf sid e of the state is fantastic. Close to the ocean, airports etc. Sun, palm trees and sand. Also lots of greenery. So much of that locale also seems to be new. Lots of new construction. Tons of restaurants etc. I will say I like Az. as well. Spent time there too. Not much greenery though. I get tired of the bland look of the desert. But come May thru Sept. I'd rather be up north somewhere. They both SUCK in the summer IMO.

Kramden, I hear ya, our home is in MI and I despise the hot humid summers there even.

quote:

Originally posted by Warhorse:
...but we are considering purchasing manufactured housing in a 55+ community.

Be sure to check out homeowners insurance first.

^Especially in Florida with the hurricanes and flooding.

this will be the 4th year that a sibling has spent Jan/Feb in gulf shores ,Al .

He and his wife like it , but they have not been to FL or Mesa , AZ for comparison.

they will be reserving another condo , for next year, prior to their departure.

My parents have been going to brooksidebluff.com for over 20 years now. It's remote but there's golf right there. Tons of activities going on.
One of a limited number of parks where you own the land the unit is on. Many require lot rent. There is a monthly fee that covers water, sewer, trash, yard maintenance and cable TV. Think it's $108 per lot. Some have 1.5 lots or 2.
I'm in the process of buying a unit there in order to be able to spend some time with my parents in my early retirement.
Great group of people in the park.
About an hour NE of Ft.Myers.

I work in a lot of 55+ mobile home park communities around Phoenix. My uncle was in a nice one in Yuma for a while. I've been in some pretty nice ones around Phoenix, but some real hovels too. The farther away you get from central Phoenix, the cheaper it gets. I don't know exact prices, but I can't imagine many even approach $100k. There is a lot of vacancy and lots of folks trying to get rid of their deceased parents' places. So you can probably find some deals. No better gun culture in the US than in AZ, especially the Phoenix area.

While I hate to see more out of state license plates in the winter, Arizona has much to offer. I live in Phoenix, with every amenity to offer. But I can be sitting by my pool in the morning and on the ski slopes in just over two hours. Be on the beach in Mexico in under four. Two hours away is the largest stand of Ponderosa Pines in the country at 6000' and up, so it's not all desert. I've only been to Florida a few times, but the humidity about killed me.

Water is Florida's best attribute, no state income tax is a probably second. Take away those two things and Florida is just like a lot of other places, except with hurricanes, alligators, a lot of rain, high humidity for 8 months, a gazillion people from somewhere else especially during snowbird season. If I were not a water person, I'd check out Arizona.

The cool thing for you, Warhorse, is that you can pack up the RV and go check Arizona out. You have a couple of months at least before you go back to Michigan.

This is my wife’s and my first winter out of the cold of upstate ny. She picked Jacksonville for our first BnB. We have looked at umpteen mobile homes,(cause houses are crazy expensive)the thing that stops us is “lot rent”.A nice double wide can be bought completely furnished for 25-30grand. BUT there’s a monthly rent of 4-6hundred a month.

quote:

Originally posted by roarindan:
This is my wife’s and my first winter out of the cold of upstate ny. She picked Jacksonville for our first BnB. We have looked at umpteen mobile homes,(cause houses are crazy expensive)the thing that stops us is “lot rent”.A nice double wide can be bought completely furnished for 25-30grand. BUT there’s a monthly rent of 4-6hundred a month.

Are you in Jacksonville now? If so what part of town?

Brrrring, Brrrring,
ca-click,

The Time is: 1:05
The Local Temperature is: 68 degrees

Thank you
Central FL....

I would buy a condo. Much better quality of life than a manufactured home. Lock the door and go when you leave and it's safe. Plenty of them can be had in 55+ communities on either the West or East coast of FL and they're cheap and appreciate in value.

I would utilize your RV and keep moving to different area's every few weeks until you find the area you like to set roots in first. Not having reservations shouldn't be an issue at 27', just make some phone calls or utilize the internet and I'm sure plenty of parks in Southern Florida should have a spot available. Gainesville is not wintering in South Florida or etc. It still gets pretty cold in Gainesville.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:

quote:

Originally posted by roarindan:
This is my wife’s and my first winter out of the cold of upstate ny. She picked Jacksonville for our first BnB. We have looked at umpteen mobile homes,(cause houses are crazy expensive)the thing that stops us is “lot rent”.A nice double wide can be bought completely furnished for 25-30grand. BUT there’s a monthly rent of 4-6hundred a month.

Are you in Jacksonville now? If so what part of town?

. Wife says Avondale,on Hershal

Brrring, Brrring,
ca-click;

This is Arizona calling.
No hurricane has ever made landfall here.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
Brrring, Brrring,
ca-click;

This is Arizona calling.
No hurricane has ever made landfall here.

Yes that's right.

I live in Tornado Alley, and we get those pesky tornados as well as very large hail stones often enough that our car insurance and home insurance is just too..darn..high.. And add the stress of tornado season and I'm outta here in a few more years.

I'm looking at a retirement area around Tucson, and my friends who live there already tell me they've not had a tornado nor large hail stones.

NO hurricanes, tornados, hail, etc.

What's not to like about Arizona? And they have some airports that can take you anywhere pretty darn quickly.

Win Win for me!

quote:

Originally posted by roarindan:

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:

quote:

Originally posted by roarindan:
This is my wife’s and my first winter out of the cold of upstate ny. She picked Jacksonville for our first BnB. We have looked at umpteen mobile homes,(cause houses are crazy expensive)the thing that stops us is “lot rent”.A nice double wide can be bought completely furnished for 25-30grand. BUT there’s a monthly rent of 4-6hundred a month.

Are you in Jacksonville now? If so what part of town?

. Wife says Avondale,on Hershal

That puts you just on the other side of downtown. Have you gotten to check out the surrounding area much? NE FL has some really cool things to do. Too much thread drift but if I can help you out with any info about he area or the best BBQ around let me know.

quote:

I would buy a condo. Much better quality of life than a manufactured home. Lock the door and go when you leave and it's safe. Plenty of them can be had in 55+ communities on either the West or East coast of FL and they're cheap and appreciate in value.

^^^^^^^^^^
This makes more sense. People are told to evacuate mobile homes in Category One hurricanes. They are just not safe in high winds.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
Brrring, Brrring,
ca-click;

This is Arizona calling.
No hurricane has ever made landfall here.

Yes that's right.

I live in Tornado Alley, and we get those pesky tornados as well as very large hail stones often enough that our car insurance and home insurance is just too..darn..high.. And add the stress of tornado season and I'm outta here in a few more years.

I'm looking at a retirement area around Tucson, and my friends who live there already tell me they've not had a tornado nor large hail stones.

NO hurricanes, tornados, hail, etc.

What's not to like about Arizona? And they have some airports that can take you anywhere pretty darn quickly.

Win Win for me!

Try to find an area OUTSIDE of Tucson city limits. The Democratic tied city council and mayor has really screwed up that city.