I meet so many people every day who have made Florida their home, at least for part of the year. They originally came for a short vacation to get away from nasty winter weather, engage in their favorite outdoor activity or just enjoy the rides and attractions at Walt Disney World and other theme parks. They came back because they got a lot of bang for the buck and found that the laid-back Florida lifestyle was a welcome retreat from the pressure and chaos they experienced the rest of the year.

A vacation home in Florida can be a real haven for anyone, and a great long-term investment for most. With home values down and still declining in some overvalued areas, at this time, I would not even consider a second home in markets like Miami, Bradenton/Sarasota, Boca Raton or Fort Myers, where the lure of steeply escalating property values a few years ago attracted too many speculators and non-resident investors, flippers who slapped on some paint, installed a few new appliances and quickly made a huge profit by reselling the property in a month or two. Developers, assuming that the bubble would never burst, built far more houses and condo complexes than the demand could satisfy.

If you really love to vacation in Florida, the reality check in realty prices has made your second-home dream more affordable than it has been in the last few years in many areas like Daytona Beach, Panama City, Vero Beach and Lakeland. Unless you have a lot of money to spare, single family homes are not a part-time resident’s first choice because they are usually quite expensive to buy and maintain. Property taxes and insurance costs for a home that you’ll use just a few weeks or a few months each year can cost a small fortune. But a time share at the beach or near your favorite recreation area, or a condo that you can rent out when you’re not using it might be a sensible choice for anyone who wants to make Florida their second home.