HomeExchange in Florida

When we decided to leave Mexico for awhile, we signed our home up for HomeExchange and Love Home Swap. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I did know a few folks who used both sites and loved the experience.

To say we have been thrilled with it to date would be an understatement. It has allowed us the opportunity to travel more than originally planned without having to pay for hotels. 

Recently, we traded our Mexico home for a condo in Ft.Myers Beach for two weeks. The owner of the condo will be headed to our home a bit later in the year for the same amount of time. I had reached out to several places in the area a few months ago in hopes of finding someplace for us and the dogs to go so we could visit with friends for longer than a weekend. The only person who was interested owns a really cool condo right off the beach. Sadly, dogs weren't allowed so we had to leave them with my mom, which thankfully she didn't mind. 

Here is a tour of the new condo we get to stay in for the next few weeks!

As of right now, we also plan to visit Amsterdam in July and Paris in September through HomeExchange and Love Home Swap. I can't wait to see what else we do this year and next!

Where else should we go?

Buying a Home in Lake Ozark, Missouri

Keith and I have been looking to find a home in the US ever since we left. We loved Seattle but it was too expensive for us to keep a home there and retire. We have been watch the Netflix show Ozark and they mentioned Lake Ozark has more coastline than California. That intrigued me.

I have been doing a ton of research on rentals in the area and how they perform and it seems, even though seasonal, they have a high % of rentals that perform rather well. We went to visit the area and REALLY liked it. The people are seriously some of the nicest I have ever met... and I'm originally from the South! Plus, we could afford a nice condo right on the lake, which is what we were hoping for.

So, after much searching, we found a condo we liked, made an offer and we closed on November 2nd.

We flew up for the closing and started on the place before the ink was dry. Keith had to fly back to Seattle to help his mother with a few things so I was left, with my father, to paint, decorate and get the place in order. We pretty much got everything done, except for a few things we plan to do in January.

Our plan for this place to to do the reverse snowbird so we can enjoy both locations. Plus we will be renting our Mexico place and the Lake Ozark home on Airbnb. Are you looking for a vacation?

Right now only our Mexico penthouse is listed on Airbnb as we are still working on the Lake Ozark condo. We do have a facebook page for both as well with lots of pictures and information. Check out La Casa Morada (Mexico) and the Blue Cat Condo (Lake Ozark).

If you watch the show Ozark you should understand the name and the decor... 

Check out our listings, share them with your friends/family, rent a few nights... We'd love to have you!

Our New Barn Doors Finally Installed

When we first moved here we had a ton of work done on our new place to get it all ready for us. We had our patio covered and screened in, new cabinets added in the kitchen, book shelves, lock boxes installed, a bar built and a barn door for the laundry room. To say it was a quick and easy process would be a huge lie. It has caused us more stress than we'd care to admit.

The barn door has been the last thing we are trying to get updated as the first one was very poorly made and started to warp very quickly. It wasn't cheap either and took us many months just to get the guy to come back and look at it. He offered to fix it but then ghosted us for months. Finally at the end of our rope we told him no thanks and we wanted our money back... He refused and said he'd fix it but tried to just bring back the same door. No thanks. Plus the bar he installed was warped due to the weight of the original door. It's now trash. Sadly, we knew we'd never get our money back as you really don't have a place for recourse here... it is what it is... So, we hired the guys who built our bar to build us new ones. They do amazing work. We should have hired them from the start but we were trying to save some money. This barn door has officially become the most expensive item we've had made for our condo. 

It only took them a month to make the doors and when they came to install them they did it all in a few hours. They look amazing and we are super pleased. Plus we know if anything happens they will fix it - they are good like that!! So, if you are in the Riviera Maya and you need some carpentry work done, call Ferro & Legno. They know their stuff!!