Earlier this week we noticed an influx of web registrations on our Search MLS site from up North and we wondered if perhaps the weather up North was turning cold. Each year, and especially in the brutally cold years, we receive inquires from our Northern friends looking at what they can purchase in sunny SW Florida.
Weather Up North Affecting Real Estate in SW Florida
I understand their interest for our family moved to SW Florida in the 80’s from Illinois. I didn’t have to search too hard as last Monday night I turned on Monday Night Football from Chicago and the temps were below zero. I remember those days well.
Even people flying in and out of the Fort Myers airport were delayed due to cancellations in Dallas and delays up and down the Eastern seaboard. Weather up North is frightful and it’s starting early in December. This could be a long winter if this keeps up.
Chicago on Wed was forecast for snow and a low of -2 degrees. Green Bay WI was forecast at a high of 2 degrees and low of -8. Minneapolis isn’t forecast to even hit zero. I’m writing this article on Tuesday just for frame of reference.
Back in the 1990’s I put a little graphic on our website www.TopAgent.com that showed Fort Myers current weather. It registered like 80 degrees while GunnisonCO was about -40 that day. I had many inquiries that week from frozen people who were sick and tired of shoveling snow and dealing with the ice.
Every bad winter since then we’ve noticed an uptick in fed up people looking to relocate. Not everyone is in a position to do so, but every year the baby boomers get one year closer to retirement and they start planning.
Many snowbirds, as us Floridian’s affectionately like to call them, will come down and pick out a place they can purchase and use for vacation until they’re ready to make the move full-time. Some never make the move full-time but buy places their entire family can come vacation to in cold wintry times just like we have this week.
We call it Season for a reason here in SW Florida because just as we enjoy some of our most beautiful weather of the year Jan-March, the snowbirds suffer through their worst.
Some buyers look for a 1 or 2 bedroom condo on the beach, while others look for a single family home close to the airport for easy access in and out. Others want property on a golf course so they can golf while their friends back home are suffering through another snowstorm. Still others want a waterfront home on a canal so they can take their boat out and text pictures of the big fish they just caught to their co-workers. Nothing like rubbing it in. I can’t tell you how many times customers in our office can’t wait to rub it in to their friends about the place they just bought in SW Florida.
We’ve even had a few customers ask us to email pictures of their new place to their friends just to boast about their new found vacation home. Of course, many of these vacation owners end up moving here permanently, or split time between the two homes.
The vacation home purchase begins the process. Typical buyers who buy a vacation home will buy another home down here in the future once they get their job and family in a position where they can move.
So here’s to that process beginning early this year, and with each cold snap or snowstorm we and other Realtors alike look forward to more phone calls and web registrations from our snowbird friends. Good luck and Happy House Hunting!
If you’d like to search the market as either a buyer or seller, visit www.Topagent.com If you need extra help we’re always available to talk to you and help you make better decisions. Our phone number is 239-489-4042 Good luck and Happy House Hunting!
To search the MLS for properties go to www.TopAgent.com or give us a call at 239-489-4042 Good luck and Happy House Hunting!!!
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