Mission Accomplished

Back home in Tel Aviv, having established my Florida base and played an appropriate grandmotherly role in the birth of my third granddaughter. The stay was neatly divided into two parts:

Part 1 - furnishing the condo (thank you Beverly S., Anne L., Lois & Harold R., Goodwill, Craig's List, Target, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and Sur La Table).

Part 2 - babysitting and cooking.

There were also a Part 3 and a Part 4 , which overlapped with Part 2: hosting houseguests, and finding a tenant for Feb-May (thanks again to Craig's List).

During the course of Part 4 I learned that my condo's target market is not exactly the typical snowbird who wants a swimming pool, water views, fitness room, and tennis court, all in a tropically-landscaped suburban setting. The people who want to live in my condo are people who may be thinking of buying in the area but in any case want to try Sarasota out during the best weather months, and also want to have the benefit of a more urban experience: walking to Whole Foods, the beautiful public library complete with aquarium, the opera, the Community Arts Center, Main Street cafes, shops, and festivals, the Players Community Theater, etc. They also don't want to pay for all the luxurious amenities, which add about $3,000 a month to the high season rents. [Note: as Brian reminds me, I have not considered foreign tourists, whose vacation needs don't necessarily match the snowbirds'.]

All of this by way of saying that if you know of such a person or couple, probably but not necessarily over 50, who are tired of Northern winters and are considering a 4-month (or longer) interlude in a reasonably-priced, comfortable, fully-furnished, 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom Florida condo starting Feb. 1, 2012, send them my way please.