Fueled by Caffeine wrote: So let me get this straight. You have a choice to live in a trailer in Florida vs wine country in NorCal? And there is a debate raging about this?
Yes. And those of us outside of California seem to all be leaning toward the trailer. Berkeley California, they can ship their wine to me.
In reply to KyAllroad:
Not this guy. Don't throw me into that lot. You can have your trailer in Florida. California ain't a bad place to live, especially that part.
Seriously.
A
Trailer
In
Florida.
Let it sink in.
I'm leaning toward the trailer entirely for cost reasons. California's not a bad place to live if you're rich, but this isn't Ferrarichat. Heck, I wish I only had California's emissions laws to deal with instead of import duties (and shipping costs) from hell.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Seriously. A Trailer In Florida. Let it sink in.
You missed the part about it being free. Free can cover a multitude of sins.
If they like the location they save for a proper house. If they don't like it they can easily save for a relocation do-over.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Seriously. A Trailer In Florida. Let it sink in.
Sink in like let the trailer fall into a sinkhole?
I've spent over half of my life in trailers. Nothing I'm not used to.
One thing to keep in mind is that IMHO the climate in Florida is between nice and bearable for about 8 months of the year. The remaining four months are too hot and humid, at least for this poster. The climate in and around Sonoma is a bit more temperate and more importantly, you normally can't cut the air with a knife.
OK, I'm a little prejudiced but Fla in the summer is major migraine territory for me.
Yeah. Honestly I love California, but there are just too many people and too many restrictions on everything for me to live there. Never mind the money side of things.
That said, I'm not sure I would want to live in Brooksville. Is there an option C: move to a nicer part of Florida?
I live in a really nice house in Saskatoon. It was -32 yesterday morning. A trailer in Florida sounds fabulous. A free trailer in Florida is making me tingle.
I grew up near Brooksville, Dade City in fact. One of the things I promised myself is I would never, ever live in a trailer...
I live in Florida and would pick Sonoma over Fl.
When I lived in Tampa, a large percentage of criminal shenanigans reported in the news seemed to occur in the vicinity of Spring Hill. And it was really hot. And there was a total lack of topography which made me sad. But winters were nice.
When I visited Sonoma California, and drove around the coast of NoCal and over to Tahoe, it was heaven, but crazy expensive.
If you can find a place to live and have the means, go West.
I have lived in Florida (Jacksonville area, Gainesville, Orlando) and Southern California (Los Angeles and San Bernardino). I currently live in neither. Given the choice, I would absolutely choose California, though probably not San Bernardino. I prefer California's weather, landscape, and culture to Florida's. I made a lot more in CA, but regardless, I had to compromise on the size of the place where I was living compared to Orlando. The weather, mountains, food, and coastline were more to my tastes than in FL (even though I certainly love BBQ, Cuban, and southern food). The first time I drove my SVT Focus in the canyons was just unbelievable.
If your goal is to escape snow as cheap as possible, FL's got that. If you want to modify a car in any way you damn please, or want easy access to hunting, fishing, or boating, FL's probably the better place for you.
Streetwiseguy wrote: I live in a really nice house in Saskatoon. It was -32 yesterday morning. A trailer in Florida sounds fabulous. A free trailer in Florida is making me tingle.
That's just frostbite nibbling on your toes.
Florida sounds pretty good right now.
I hate this song and grow to dislike the weather that inspired it more every year. https://www.youtube.com/embed/3BJ3AUlt1-4
Who all else has noticed that the white trash rednecks is having all the fun, while the rest of the proper folks is running around trying to care about E36 M3 that don't matter?
I couldnt handle the humidity in florida but id move too siberia before going near california so id take the free trailer in florida!
I got electric socks for Christmas. I'm tired of living somewhere that I could use electric socks. I'd be in a trailer in Florida tomorrow if that was a choice.
In October, I moved from a CBS 3/2 in Ft. Lauderdale to a tin box, 40 years old, in Bradenton. Had sworn for years that I would never do that. End result is I really like it. The Reality is that even an old trailer home can be upgraded and fixed up quite nice. Ours has a new stainless steel kitchen, two very upgraded bathrooms, laminate floors, new AC, and is 500.00 less than FtL. Turned out to be a more pleasant and livable space. Oh, the place we moved out of is now on the market for 250,000.00. If you can fix up an old car, you can improve that trailer. I will not disagree that Florida can get miserable in July and August, but you really will acclimate quickly. I came here from Ohio, it took a year to get used to the humidity. But now I see news video of northern snow storms and actually shiver.
Another Florida tidbit- For the first time in a very long time I saw a rusted vehicle. Late model Dodge truck, rusted over the rear wheel arches. Had Colorado plates.
Don't get me wrong--- there is a reason Northern California is so expensive---- it's beautiful, has lots of culture, great roads, food and topography.
I've lived in Mass, IL, CO and FL. I've also travelled extensively throughout the U.S. I'm convinced that anyplace can be great, and anyplace can suck. It's all what you make of it.
Funny enough, you do get used to the humidity. Whenever I travel to Cali, or Las Vegas, or even Denver, I actually look forward to feeling the humidity when I return home. No chapped lips, no need for skin lotion, no hair that feels weird and flat. The human body is a strange thing--- we are very adaptable.
One thing FL has over CA in a huge way----- you can actually swim in the ocean without freezing your willie off. If you enjoy spending time in the water without a wetsuit--- FL is the place for you.
Option C.
Hit up the single wide in Florida for a couple of years. You mention rent being $2K per month in Ca, bank that instead.
Two years down the line you have $48K, say it slowly, Forty Eight Thousand United States Dollars. And that's assuming you just stuck it under the mattress and didn't earn a dime on it. Stretch it to three years and it's $72K. If you can have the self-discipline to save it not spend it, in 2-3 years you've got a massive down payment on a $100-200K house that you could pay off in another few years. You could easily pay off a $150K house in another 5 years from then.
It sounds like you're young enough to make it work. I wouldn’t' do it at my age, but I assume you late 20's right? It could be a leg up on a hell of a good future for you.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
I was fortunate enough to be in a similar situation as what Adrian describes for awhile, and it truly has changed my life for the better. Live in the rent free place while paying off debt and saving for the house that you really want, in a location that you want to live in. Skip buying the "starter home", and just save until you can reasonably afford your "forever home". It's an approach that has worked out great for me.
Free real estate is a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge deal. If I could live somewhere with a reasonable amount of stuff nearby (Walmart, NAPA, Lowes, Autozone, a reasonable provider like MetroPCS, decent Mexican food, etc) FOR FREE and only be 52 minutes from a pretty big city (in this case Tampa) and 90 minutes from another big city (in this case Orlando) I would be there yesterday.
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