Six months ago we decided to pack up our lives and move from the Midwest to Florida. Brandon had a stable job with great benefits, and that’s what kept us there for so long. After living in the Midwest for years, we realized there was truly nothing holding us there other than those benefits. Once we sat down and looked at the kind of life we wanted to live, we realized that we didn’t need to stay there. So, we made the decision to move to our condo in Florida and haven’t really looked back.
After 6 months, here is our honest review of condo living in Florida!
Pros
The Weather
The weather is one of our favorite parts of living in Florida. The Midwest is always kind of dark and grey, and during the winter months I always got a little down because I was seriously lacking Vitamin D. Here, in sunny Florida, we can always get some time outside in the sun and enjoy the bright days we have on a regular basis.
School
Despite the hot lunches our school serves, we truly love the school our kids attend. They have an exceptional program and teachers we truly love.
Friends
We have met such high quality people here in Florida. Our kids regularly have play dates and we enjoy spending time with other couples we’ve met.
Simple and Low Maintenance
Condo living is super simple and low maintenance. We don’t have to take care of the yard, the pool or the property. Because we live in such a small space, we downsized considerably before moving here. We love everything in our condo, and love living with less. It has truly been one of my favorite changes!
No Financial Burden
We love not having a house payment. Owning our condo outright means that we aren’t throwing thousands of dollars a month towards a house. This has freed us up to give more and travel more, both of which we plan to continue in 2017.
More Family Time
Living simply in such a small space has allowed us to spend more time together as a family, and that has been an incredible benefit of our new lifestyle.
CONS
While there aren’t too many cons, we do have a few things we don’t love about condo living in Florida.
- Our kids have to share a room. They don’t mind just yet, but we’d like to have them in their own rooms eventually.
- It’s hard to work AND live in such a small space. I’ve recently set up an office, but up until then, it was hard to get things done in the condo.
- We have no garage and don’t love the view from our front porch. This is just what it is...but we do miss a garage.
Overall, the cons aren’t all that big of a deal. However, the thing that’s been hardest is I haven’t quite felt settled yet. Because we had some difficulty deciding about our next steps in terms of a house, and have had some deals fall through, it has been hard to really feel grounded and settled in the condo. However, the pros of this lifestyle have really been a huge blessing for our family in this season of life. Being able to live below our means has allowed us to experience more together and give more than we’ve ever given before. We truly love this new, simpler life, and while it’s not perfect, it is exactly where we need to be.