We did it. In probably the biggest milestone we’ve had since retirement – we found and are buying a condominium in Celebration, Florida, outside of Walt Disney World.

We had expressly agreed before we left Minnesota in January that we would NOT to look at real estate this year, but this place just clicked. The next thing you know – we’re signing an offer.

Why are we buying this place and how are we going to use it? Here’s our thinking …

🌟 Celebration Location – The charming town of Celebration, Florida has been on our list for a long time. We first visited in 1998. Originally a Disney-led experiment in New Urbanism, Celebration is world renowned for its unique combination of walkable neighborhoods, community activities, and extensive wildlife acreage.

It’s a remarkable town of front porches, shady boulevards, and 34-miles of bike/walking paths. It’s signature public buildings were designed by a who’s who of modern architects – Robert AM Stern, Michael Graves, Phillip Johnson, Cesar Pelli, Charles Moore, and others – under Disney’s prodigious patronage.

Related: Developed by Disney

🌳 Quiet, Wooded Area – The entire town is surrounded by wooded conservation areas, but this condo unit is in an especially quiet corner of Celebration. In fact, I’d be surprised if there’s a quieter street in the small town of 11,000 people. We enjoyed the party vibe of Margaritaville, but after a few too many weekends of people partying into the night, quiet will be good. This unit has a splendid water & woods view and is connected in all directions to Celebration’s extensive, lighted, trail system.

🔐 “Lock & Leave” Condo – Celebration is famous for combining different housing types together in mixed use neighborhoods of complementary architectural styles. At this point, we felt like a condo makes the most sense for us. We’ll be using it for only 3-4 months of the year, so we wanted something we can easily “lock & leave” without worries. The town has a fair number of Winter snowbirds and plenty of handymen, management companies, and friendly neighbors to help out.

🌞 Extraordinarily Bright & Airy – Our unit is on the first floor of a building, which will work well for taking our dog out. It wraps around the corner of the building with 17 windows (almost 6’ tall each) that bring light into the 5 main rooms from 3 directions. With 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, a small den, and large Celebration-signature front porch, there is plenty of room – for us and friends/family. The unit faces mostly to the Northeast – bringing us morning sun and cool shade in the sometimes steamy Florida afternoons.

🚘 Attached Garage – One big plus with this unit – which only a few units in the development have – is an attached garage. Most condos have detached, single car garages. This one is attached to the unit and wide enough to fit 1.5 cars. Many of the condos we’ve looked at in Florida don’t even have a garage – we’ll have an extra big one where we can keep a car locked up (and a golf cart?) when we’re gone.

😎 Private Club – From the time we started looking for a place in Florida, I told my wife, I don’t want to have a house in Florida, I want to live at a resort.” This one delivers.

The condo is in an exclusive enclave of Celebration called Artisan Park. This neighborhood of about 500 homes was built with its own private club, since it’s the farthest from the town market. It’s as Florida resort-like as you get: a private clubhouse, bar, restaurant, fitness center, ballroom, and geothermally heated pool & spa. A place to get coffee in the morning, work out, and join a meet-up group.

We’ve been told by many people that the Artisan Park Club is the envy of the town.

We’re excited. Excited and proud of how we’ve approached our ‘Florida Project’. We decided in 2021 that we would explore the state and find a property that made sense for us. Since then, we’ve stayed in 7 different cities and visited dozens of others to get a real feel for what worked the best for us.

We think Celebration is it.

We’re closing on the unit at the end of the month and need to fully furnish it over the next few weeks. We haven’t decided how much time we will spend down here, but are reasonably sure we’ll be well short of acquiring Florida Residency and the potential income tax savings.

We’re new to the world of owning a vacation place. Please let us know what wisdom you’ve learned over the years …!

Images: MrFireStation.com & MLS Listing