It started with vacations. Vacations stretched into winters. Lured by the warm weather, Harold and Belle Neuhut were snowbirds for 10 years, traveling between South Florida and their home on Long Island, N.Y. Finally, tired of juggling two homes, the couple five years ago decided to live full time in their lakefront condo in Pembroke Pines.

“We had years of snow. It was enough for both of us,” said Harold Neuhut, a retiree in his 80s. In addition to the warm weather, the couple thinks Florida’s cost of living is a bargain compared with New York, and there’s no state income tax. “We’d recommend Florida for everyone,” Neuhut said.

According to a recent University of Florida study, almost one in four people ages 55 and older who moved full time to the Sunshine State between 2000 and 2003 started out as a snowbird. In addition, 30 percent of current snowbirds said it was “likely or very likely” they would move here year-round at some point.

Florida led the country in the number of snowbirds, with about 818,000 winter residents in 2005, followed by Texas and Arizona, the study found. Snowbirds add billions of dollars to the economy. But with spiraling property taxes and the threat of hurricanes, Florida “is facing more competition from other states that are becoming attractive to seniors,” such as Georgia and the Carolinas, said demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution in Washington.

click here for article

Real estate agent Caesar Parisi stands ready with effective advice on buying or selling Boca Raton FL condos.

search for : , ,