Future retirees buying homes in Southwest Florida now to enjoy later
Flexible work schedules and the lowest home prices in years are attracting a new type of buyer to Southwest Florida — future retirees. These buyers are planning ahead for retirement, purchasing now to enjoy later. In the meantime, many are testing the Florida waters, so to speak, by working winters and spending long vacations here.
That’s exactly why Laurie and Tom Owens, of Syracuse, N.Y., purchased a pre-retirement home in Sandoval in 2005. “We always knew we would buy a home in Florida some day,” said Laurie. “We were visiting friends in North Port, took a ride and ended up at Sandoval. We decided to take the opportunity and bought a Pulte Homes villa in the Greendale neighborhood that same week.”
When their home was completed in 2006, both Laurie and Tom were still working, with no real retirement plans in sight. Then, Tom, who was in the corporate communications field, accepted an early buyout option and spent four months last winter enjoying Southwest Florida. “He loved it,” said Laurie, the IT manager for National Grid, an electric and gas energy-delivery company. “After all those years working in the corporate world, he did everything he wanted to. He drove his Corvette down and while here, he would ride his bike and enjoy the pool and the fitness center. I’d visit him every chance I could.”