This time last year, Gwen and Paul Edmond were in Florida for a five-month stay, but after many changes, they’ve decided the U.S. state is no longer for them. The couple, who lives in Dartmouth, N.S., will be back in March to pack it all up for good. “There are a lot less people. It’s a lot less tearing at my heart to go, it’s more like I own a home here, so I must go. Things have changed; you sort of feel the tension in the air. Some of our friends are feeling different and some the same as us and I just found it’s not for me anymore,” says Paul. The two Maritimers bought their first condo on the beach in Florida in 2011 and then a house in a 55-plus park in Largo in 2018. They enjoyed golf, socials, the beach, their friends and the warm weather. “There’s activities from 8 o’clock in the morning until the evening. There is something for everyone every day that lives there. There were a lot of Canadians that lived in our park, not so many anymore,” says Gwen. They listed their home in November and, in the next few weeks, they will visit to pack up their belongings and sell their car. “We are going to take some things home, plus it’s a nice opportunity for our kids, our son and his children to come spend the week and have that opportunity because they wouldn’t have come here in March because the weather isn’t decent. So that’s kind of my main reason for going,” says Gwen. “Should we get a nice phone call in the next few weeks and it’s a nice offer and reasonably decent, then March will be our last time there for a while at least,” says Paul. Paul says he has been ready to leave for a while due to being bored of the same day-to-day routine, but he waited for Gwen to be on the same page. After their travels to Portugal this summer, they agreed it was time to see more of the world. Gwen adds a reason she wants to sell now is the change in the U.S. government. “We are not happy with the change in government, as many aren’t. We will just leave it at that, I guess. It feels very unsettled there,” says Gwen. “You hear comments, people think it’s a joke to talk about the 51st State and are told to get back in your car and go back to Canada, by someone that lives in our park. For us we are proud Canadians and we wouldn’t have heard that 10 years ago,” says Paul. Martin Firestone, president of Travel Secure, based out of Toronto, is a snowbird and is currently staying in Delray Beach, Florida, for the next four months. He says the only difference he’s noticed is fewer travellers. “There are no lineups like there used to be at restaurants or other attractions, so in many ways for us it’s a positive, but to the owners of the businesses, maybe not so,” says Firestone. One thing he’s noticed in his own business is more people buying trip cancellation and interruption insurance. “For fear of travel advisories, restricted airspace as we recently saw with the Venezuela scenario, and they’re definitely insuring their trips, whether it be for rentals or airlines that get delayed or cancelled, or cruises they are supposed to reach that they never get to because they can’t get there,” says Firestone. Firestone says he feels the Floridians are feeling the effects of less traffic in their businesses. “The currency isn’t going to change dramatically. There was a time when Canada was at par with the U.S., even higher, I can’t see that happening. As far as the feeling in the government with the U.S. and their feelings towards Canada, don’t see that changing either in the next couple years,” says Firestone. Firestone says the clients he works with are homeowners in the U.S., so he feels he’s an anomaly, as many are content to stay. “They are happy and content because, quite frankly, they own. The few that would even think about selling that aren’t in the cards either. Real estate right now is very level, it’s not up, and if anything goes down, so now is not the time to sell. For ones that say they want to sell and want out of the U.S., selling isn’t really an option at this time, so you have to make the best of it,” he says. Paul and Gwen are ready to close the doors on their place in Florida and start a new chapter. “We are going to try a few areas and maybe go down to Costa Rica, maybe try Panama, and Spain and Portugal again,” says Paul. “It will be nice to do some other things, and we will meet new people. There’s always more people to meet,” says Gwen. “We probably won’t go anywhere, I can’t imagine I would be buying a place again, but you never know. We will see.”
