In a previous post I mentioned having lost money investing out of my own area. One time I counted up all the places I’d tried to money and it turns out that I’ve invested in over half the various states in addition to two foreign countries. Most of these deals either made very little money, or lost money. On the other hand, I have also divided my time between Florida and Nevada and made money in both places.
There’s nothing magic about these two States except the fact that they don’t have any State income tax. I might have done just as well in other areas if I’d invested there. That’s what this post is about, making a wise transition out of one area into another.
My primary motivation was to be able to enjoy the dry summer heat and change of seasons in Nevada, but to be able to scamper back to the warmth of Florida when it turned cold. I picked Florida originally not because there were more investment opportunities there; it was because of the proximity to beaches, lakes, and rivers. In short, Florida is a lush place to live with lots of water-recreation between hurricanes.
Before moving there, I began spending vacations traveling around the State picking out the location that I wanted to live in. I finally wound up in Tampa because I found a job that enabled me to make the move.
Before moving to Nevada, I spent almost 20 years visiting the State and vacationing there. All that time I looked for the right house deal, and finally found it a Lake Tahoe. That’s when everything fell into place and I started living there part of the time. Only after spending a few years there did I begin investing in real estate there.
My point is that I did a lot of looking, then “test drove” the area on my vacations before making my move; and even after that, I didn’t jump into the real estate market in either Florida or Nevada until I’d studied it in depth for a few years.
