NEVER HAS TO STOP. FUN

Start living the lifestyle you’ve been dreaming about with Encore by David Weekley Homes. Our lifestyle-driven approach to home design offers the ideal balance of livability with thoughtfully-designed floor plans featuring indoor and outdoor entertaining spaces and a high level of customization to make your new home everything you’ve imagined.

Plus, you’ll delight in more freedom and fun in one of our friendly 55+ lifestyle neighborhoods offering a variety of amenities, clubs and activities – all planned by a lifestyle director – to enhance your active life. These intimate communities make it easy to develop friendships with your neighbors, too.

by Kelly Godbey | kellyg@ideal-LIVING.com

It’s mid-December as I write this note of encouragement for you, and this morning I was out on my paddleboard in the Atlantic Ocean watching the sunrise. Yes, you heard me right, the middle of December, and I was in the ocean, albeit in a wetsuit, but the enjoyment and utter serenity were the same. Brilliant colors surrounded me as I paddled atop the glassy ocean, listening to the sea birds overhead and the splash of fish, all the while looking for friendly dolphins or hoping to spot a whale since I had heard of recent whale sitings. These moments of being on the water give me time to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that 2020 has brought to the world, yet I am filled with hope for the new year’s promise.

Ideal-LIVING magazine shows the possibilities of starting a new life in what can be the best part of your life. And, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the unknown can and has happened. As we take the time to honor the lives of those needlessly taken from us, those now inflicted with a long-term illness, or those who now shoulder the vast financial burden as a result of COVID, we should be ever-thankful for the opportunities we have to live fulfilling lives. If you are lucky enough to have your health, you have the ability to improve your quality of life exponentially by relocating to a destination with lower taxes and a better climate. Many can now work from home, so it might be easier to make that move sooner than you thought.

Throughout 2020 and into 2021, a real estate boom continues as a great migration occurs from highly populous areas to locations with more open space and a better quality of life (page 92). Overall, housing demand has skyrocketed, and inventory is waning (page 100). Ideal-LIVING speaks with new homeowners and developers who share their stories about this unprecedented marketplace. We also look at how COVID has transformed home design with the trends for 2021 (page 110) that include outdoor living space and home offices.

Saving the best for last, Ideal-LIVING presents a fabulous opportunity for our readers to attend our Winter 2021 VIRTUAL Resort & Retirement Shows. We have made vast improvements to our VIRTUAL program to include live webinars on how to choose the right place and lifestyle as well as home trend seminars presented by community representatives from Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and more (page 55). The show is the perfect place to speak with the people who live in these locations to find out about taxes, housing costs, and lifestyle options, all from the comfort and safety of your home. You can live chat with the representatives throughout the show hours. As editor of Ideal-LIVING magazine, I will be hosting live presentations where you can ask your questions.

You deserve to live your ideal life. We hope that you will spend a few hours at the Ideal-LIVING VIRTUAL Resort & Retirement Show with us to learn about the extraordinary life that awaits.