Not Your Typical Financial Journey {Part 5}

Catch up on the story by reading Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

No one ever expects a natural disaster to hit them. We certainly didn’t.

Then Tropical Storm Lee arrived literally on our doorstep.

That’s right, it wasn’t even a full-blown hurricane. But add a lot of water on top of already soaked ground from a very extremely wet Spring and Summer, and you have major flooding. We weren’t a fan.

A change in direction

Previously to the flood, we had jokingly tossed around the idea of moving South – more like Florida, in fact. No one thought we were serious. Ha – we didn’t even think we were serious. Then the flood hit, and we began viewing the house we were so exited about it the first place as a prison.

Photo by L. Thompson

Besides worrying about whether or not it would flood again, we took a good look around us.

We were trying to make a go at a rental business in one of the highest taxed states in the country. We were planning on buying houses in a depressed city that would take a miracle to rebound again. What were we thinking? And how could we have been so stupid?

But the thing is, we weren’t stupid. We were first-time home buyers. We learned, we grew, and we finally knew what we really wanted.

Introducing Operation Florida

After talking about our Florida dreams for over a year, they finally came true. Yes – this is an official announcement – we’re moving!

Joseph landed a job at a station in Ft. Myers and we are currently in the process of picking up our lives and moving across the country. North to South, that is. It still seems all too surreal. The emotions range from excitement to nervousness to everything in between. But we’ll make it – we always do.

Our future plans for this great state range from rental homes, to vacation homes, to blogging and writing full-time. The possibilities are endless, and we can do anything we set our minds to, within a budget, of course. {grin}

So what’s going to happen to our NY house?

Well, we’re planning on keeping it, at least for a little bit. After receiving some disheartening news from our real estate agent, we decided to rent out both parts of the duplex.

Funny thing is, financially, the house will basically be paying for itself and breaking even. Isn’t that sad? Like I said, investing in NY real estate is not so smart. We hope to make better decisions down the road.

Well, my friends, that concludes our financial journey story. It’s not the type of life most people take, but it’s ours, and we love it.

Have you ever picked up and moved out-of-state?

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If you’re curious about why we chose Florida specifically, I’ll have a post up for you in mid-February after we’ve settled in a little bit.

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