Last September I announced that Heidi and I had a major new project underway – now, December 2020, that project is very near fruition.
Last November, 2019, we discovered that the city of El Cajon’s planning commission had authorized construction of an apartment building, and although we lived in the COUNTY, it was to be built just over ONE block from our home. We saw no provision for parking associated with that approval and decided then and there it was time to leave that area. We immediately started searching for where we would do best as a pair of old retirees, (now in our 70’s), and focused in on UT, NV, AZ, TX and FL. Our investigative search began – then in March came Covid-19, which put a pretty good hitch in our planned giddy-up. Just the same, we finally focused on on Florida and in specific, the area in and around North Port and Port Charlotte, FL. (Our eldest, Tom, now in his 50’s, and his family have lived in Punta Gorda, FL since 2003, just before Hurricane Charlie came through).
We flew to Tampa Bay in July, rented a vehicle, and stayed with our son and his family for a week, with the intent of just familiarizing ourselves with the area. Tom and Dawna took that entire week off from work, and became our “Real Estate Uber/Guides” like you wouldn’t believe. We went out every day, being driven in his new F-150, and seeing the best parts of both North Port and Port Charlotte – taking advantage of their experience to look OUTSIDE the flood zones, and places they new we would thrive. We flew back to California very well familiarized with our intended area and continued to research/learn in the ensuing months.
Finally, in September, we selected an Agent, told him a financial figure we would have to have for our home, (think “over the curb price”), after his and all associated Escrow and other fees/taxes were paid and turned him loose on the project. The house was never put on the open market lists, inside the next month we entertained 18 different bidders, welcoming them to take all of the photographs and ask any questions they had. We filled out a “full disclosure” form in incredible detail – so everyone that looked knew about the old Pondee “Warts and All”. Bottom line, the home was sold, and we got a little more than our asked price. We were/are *very* satisfied with how everything turned out.
We decided to use moving Pods from 1-800-PACK-RAT to forward our possessions – they were held inside a temperature controlled warehouse in Tampa Bay until we established a new residence to have them actually delivered to. In the mean time, on top of the fee to move them across country, there was a monthly storage fee for each pod. This was the only way I could come up with to accomplish our coast-to-coast move with no actually address, nor idea of how long it would take to get one.
Bottom line – we made it and now own a home in Port Charlotte, Florida. We have .46 acres of land, (plenty for our wire Ham Antennas), are on city water and sewer, (no well water nor septic tank for us), and are happy as two bugs in a rug. With the help of friends and family, the last moving pod was unloaded and removed from our driveway last week. Of course, we are still unpacking all those boxes – but life is good in Florida!
Merry Christmas to all who read this! We will certainly enjoy ours in the “New Pondee”.