Costs//rent?/while stayiing coldest part of winter?

21 years ago

I am here in Wisconsin, contemplating retirement in a couple years, I guess, want to know what it costs to rent/stay in AZ, FL, or someplace warmer over the coldest parts of this awful season that comes here from Jan-Mar.

I envy those with plenty of resources to be able to just pick up and go, that isn't the case here, just would like to be able to be comfortable moneywise for a few months while I enjoy not being COLD. Would someone have some good suggestions? Appreciate any information.

Comments (14)

cattknap
21 years ago
I will ask my son who lives in Phoenix about how much he pays for his heating/air conditioning. He and his wife have a house that is about 2,000 square feet. It is unbelievably hot there in the summer very nice in the winter although it can be pretty nippy sometimes.
mamatoad
21 years ago
I have lived in Tucson for almost forty years. Rent is a bit less expensive here than in Phoenix and the traffic is not quite so heavy. Sierra Vista is a nice little town about 70 miles from Tucson and it is much smaller. Cost of living is supposed to be about 30 percent less than here. Are you interested in a house, apartment, mobile home or ???
If you will e-mail me, with your address, I will send you the apartment guide, newcomer information, etc. for this area. We have relatives near Sheboygan who come to visit in the winter so they can "thaw out".
Related Discussions
Allotment rent increase
Q
Comments (25)
Window insulation for cheapskates: get some sheets of Rmax insulation from Home Depot. 1" thickness works well. It needs to have the aluminum foil on both sides. Cut them to fit snugly into your window frames on the inside of the house. They need to be snug enough to stop most air flow. I guess you could use them on the outside too, if your frames are shaped right to hold them. Make sure the side with the printing on it is facing inside, so it doesn't look ugly from the outside. To conceal the insulation on the inside of the house, use curtains, blinds, etc. I had a room with two double doors to the outside. It was freezing cold in the winter, even with the heat on. With the Rmax installed, it's cozy warm, and uses very little heat. You need the foil on the outside surface to keep the sunlight away from the plastic foam. You need the foil on the inside surface to act as a vapor barrier. I keep the Rmax in over the summer on the south side. It keeps the house a lot cooler. I'm single, so I get to do stuff like this. I don't guarantee it will pass the wife test. For a better-looking window covering, look at the Comfortrack system (see link). The cellular shade gives good insulation, and the plastic strips stop air flow. I have two windows with this, and it's excellent. But it's a couple of hundred bucks per window. Here is a link that might be useful: Comfortrack system
...See More
My builder did not rent a porta potty
Q
Comments (32)
Anne, your consultant wins the "Most Respectful" award. I haven't built a house, but it wouldn't occur to me that people working in the house couldn't use our bathroom. I did leave towels in there for them to use. And I am horrified with the way some subs are treating peoples' property. I can think of a lot of solutions to a bathroom emergency that don't include leaving a pile on the garage floor. I shudder to think what that person's workmanship was like.
...See More
Rent or Own?
Q
Comments (41)
I've lived in 22 homes/locations in my over 80 years, including 6 years in a university dorm. A number of them were provided by my employer. In some cases, I shared a home with others, and once shared a house with a couple of other men, and we ate in another house on the same compound where three or four women lived: we were all missionaries, helping with health and educational issues in war-torn Korea, with some of us helping refugees get back on their feet. I boarded with an old lady for a couple of years 25 or so years ago when re-locating back to Ontario, rented a room from a guy for a couple of years, then shared a two-bedroom townhouse with unfinished basement with another guy for a couple of years and continued living there alone for another dozen years or so. I was paying about $800./mo. for the townhouse, paid for my power and heater rent but water provided, no sewwer or garbage fee, prior to moving here to what was old step-unle's farm, nearly 7 years ago. The bungalow on the farm had two bedrooms and a wreck room, plus unfinished basement, but being older it had somewhat less utility than the one in town ... but the initial rent was $450.00 per month. Water for washing, etc. was from a well so the only fee was the power bill to run the pump, but the well is too close to what used to be the barnyard so I pick up water in the city, etc. in jugs for drinking and most cooking, though I may boil potatoes in well water. Landlord will pay to pump the septic tank if/when it may need it. I pay the power bill, and landlord shares it, as he installed it into his shop from the same meter a few years ago. Put newspapers, plastic out for recycling, free - could do so for aluminum cans, but I sell them to scrap dealer. Garbage costs $1.75 a bag, but much of it is added to the landlord's burn pile. While travelling past my old townhouse home the other day, I saw that they were offering them for rent, starting at $849./mo., so that rent has not gone up a huge amount since my departure. I'm paying $512.50 rental, with increase as of Mar. 1 anticipated. I have a shed in which to park my car, with extra room in it where a friend's van is parked, a garage where I have builing materials, supplies, a couple of trunks and a freezer, plus space in the barn which I use to service the large garden that I have, plowed and tilled by my landlord ... and he gets a share of the produce. The government offered us a tax-free savings account aimed at home owneership about 35 years ago, max. allowable $1,000. per year, $10,000. total and I thought that I'd need to find a home on retirement in about 20 years. I invested the max allowable $1,000./yr. beginning in '74, and continuing till '83, missed one year so had invested for 9 years, $9,000. total, into a fairly stable, mortgage-based mutual fund. Its current value, having been unmolested in the interim, has grown from $9,000. in '84 to over $73,000. now, 27 years later, i.e. about 9% annual compound rate - with no deduction for the high-rate income tax that I've paid annually on the increases. I've been thinking that, in the interim between seniors, especially singles, living in their traditional home and entering a residential or nursing home, it seems to me that, rather than buyig a (temporry) condo or renting an apartment lone, it makes a great deal of sense for several singles to share a home. There are several advantages: sharing a home means discussion and more mental activity than when one lives alone; I find that I'm inclined to talk to strangers when I'm out, and am sure that I would do less of it if I shared my home with someone. Many find that carrying out all of the chores related to operating a household becomes onerous - and sharing would mean shared chores. They eat better, for several atthetable wouldd preclude the"tea and toast:" that a number of seniors may refer to as a meal. If someone fell, there'd be help available - and they couold triage:we can rtake care of it; we call this person's caregiver; or we call 9-1-1 - right now! There'd be major saving of money, what with rent, utilities, insurance, etdc. Gotta run - 3 min. to library closing (but I figure that my loaner car'll get me safely home). ole joyful
...See More
Own or Rent for a single woman retiree?
Q
Comments (41)
HOA fees can be fairly predictable, they usually don't take huge jumps. We have an HOA on the lot we bought and there is a limit to the increase. It should be published somewhere. I think it is a consideration but I wouldn't think it is a vast swing one way or the other. Full disclosure - I am not retired, but I believe that most people go through several phases of homes - The starter home, the family home, and the retirement home and each of those phases are a departure from the things we wanted/needed before. It really all depends on what you want. My mind always goes to the financial perspective when thinking about these things. If you find a community that you like, there is nothing wrong with doing things for non financial reasons. There is no point in having a little more money if you are not going to use it to be happy. From a financial perspective there is no real difference. Rarely have interest rates been good enough to see a spread once you are retired and have a low risk appetite, but they are now. I personally prefer a small single family house, my grandmother turned 94 in a small "shotgun" house. There are some good Christmas memories as we packed a lot of people into that tiny house. I have lived in condos and townhomes, they don't seem the same to me. But that is just me.
...See More
bill_h
21 years ago
we rented a condo in ft myers fla, jan,feb,and march 2bdrm,1 bath, furnished, 1600.00 a month plus utilitys. found sevral condos and trailers in that area. in that genral price range.
mamatoad
21 years ago
Fuddyduddy, I got your e-mail and accidentally deleted it! I am glad you found the packet of materials useful. Some of the rental rates seem to be very reasonable. Arizona is the place to be in the wintertime! (My totally biased opinion, of course. LOL) Bettye/AZ
Tris
21 years ago
We go to Texas in the winter.We have a travel trailor and stay in a very nice park.Lots of enterment library shuffleboard swimminy pool craft and sewing rooms dances many programs and we pay about 370.00 a month. many places you can stay for 200 and they are nice also The weather is wonderful usually sunny but almost always windy. You can rent condo on the gulf of mexico both in corpus christi and South Padre Island and I am told they are not to expensive during the winter months.The people are very friendly and like having us there as it is good for the economy.
Linda_in_CA
21 years ago
A woman who lives in Bend, OR told me it is cheaper for her to go to Mexico for a couple of months in the winter than it is for her to stay home and pay her heating bill.
scott55405
21 years ago
Fuddyduddy, my parents live in winter in a community called Green Valley, which is about 30 minutes or so south of Tucson. It is for people 55 and up. It is a lovely place with all manner of shopping, activities of all kinds and other things, and Tucson is close at hand. There seems to be a lot to see and do in that part of AZ. I enjoy visiting them there every year. The people are really nice. They purchased a townhome there a few years ago, but the first couple times they went, they rented one for 3 months, and I don't recall the cost being terribly high. Might be worth checking into. They leave right after Thanksgiving, and come back to WI in early May.
gina_in_fl
21 years ago
I'm in west central fla (Tampa Bay area), and if you look, you can rent a house for $600 per month for the season. Lots of folks down here have trailers in parks that they retreat to.

I wore my shorts yesterday -- Christmas Day -- did you?
BigMama
21 years ago
My vote would be south Texas too. It is warm there most of the time and the rent is very reasonable....Cost of living is probably lower than must any of the other places I saw mentioned. There are large retirement areas.....In some areas $600 would get you a very nice apartment.
ginger_st_thomas
21 years ago
Don't come here! It's VERY expensive. Hope you found a place, though.
ginger_st_thomas
21 years ago
The site below might help. You enter your needs/budget, etc. plus the state you're interested in.

Here is a link that might be useful: Apartments
betty_the_villages
21 years ago
The Villages in Florida is the best that I know of to retire to..... for ever or just for a few months. I am a litle late in writing here, but perhaps fuddyduddy has not decided as yet where to go in the cold months?
I think we are located at the best place to come to in the winter. But, I have never been to those other places.
The Villages in Florida have so much to offer. More than any other place here in Florida that I know of. And we have lived in Florida for over 55 years. We can use our golf carts to do everything we need to do for transportation to do "EVERYTHING."
They rentals are very reasonable. Rentals from $500 up per month and that includes lots of amenities. Living costs are reasonable.
The weather is great here in the Central part of Florida. We have the best drinking water here in The Villages. The people here are so friendly.
Hope this helps someone?
Betty in Florida
Speer8ns_yahoo_com
13 years ago
My husband and I are also retired and looking for a nice, affordable, and warm place to stay during winter months. We currently live in Iowa and can't stay one more winter. We, like most retirees are on a fixed budget and would like to get as much for our money as possible. I'm leaning toward the Tucson, Az. area. Any suggestions???
sushipup1
13 years ago
Thanks for reviving an old thread! My parents lived in both Tucson and Phoenix over the years, and I greatly prefer the Tucson area. Smaller, easier to get around, prettier, at least to my mind. It's all personal preference, tho.

I found this website when googling Tucson+retire+winter. I hope it's useful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tucson for seniors

Costs//rent?/while stayiing coldest part of winter?

Comments (14)

cattknap

mamatoad

Related Discussions

bill_h

mamatoad

Tris

Linda_in_CA

scott55405

gina_in_fl

BigMama

ginger_st_thomas

ginger_st_thomas

betty_the_villages

Speer8ns_yahoo_com

sushipup1

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US