Does anyone live in Florida on here?

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

My husband and I are planning on moving to Florida in the near future. Right now we are in NC. I would love to chat with anyone who lives in Florida to get some ideas and helpful tips!
- Lindsey

 

[JustEngagedNicole]

I do! I live in Ocala which is maybe 1 1/2 hr north of WDW and about 30 min. south of Gainesville (University of Florida Gators). Ocala is horse capitol of the world and although is growing, it still has that small town feel. I love living in central Florida. I am an hour drive from anywhere (my favorite place= WDW!!). Sometimes I think I would like to live closer to WDW, but my fiance and I agree that it would lose some of it's magic (for us) if we could get there in 15 minutes whenever we wanted. If you'd like more info, email me at nicolepearce@cox.net. Good luck on your move!!

 

[druidia]

We live in Jacksonville, about 2.5 hours north of Orlando.

 

[sarah_n_brian2006]

I live in West Palm Beach. Let me know if I could be of somehelp!

 

[wendy46001]

I'm ten min. away from Mickey in central florida (orange county)

 

[purplegirl247]

I live in Orange County (a few minutes north of downtown, so about 30 minutes from Disney). I also grew up in Palm Beach Gardens in Palm Beach county (where sarah_n_brian apparently lives now! *waves*). So if you have any questions about Florida in general, just let me know!

P.S. In case you haven't already been warned: it's very humid in the summertime, rains every afternoon like clockwork, and we have these pesky hurricane things from time to time. On the bright side, if you like heat, you'll fit in great! Oh, and we don't pay state income tax or automobile tax. So it all balances out...

 

[disneybride2007]

We live in FL, for now, anyway. We are in Jacksonville, about 2 1/2 hours north of Disney. I say for now, because we are moving back to the west coast, in Feb. 2007- looks like we'll be flying to the world, 3 times a year for our Dis-fix let me know if you need anything

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Thanks for responding everyone! I know Florida very well because my entire family is from there and still lives there, so I've been going a few times a year ever since I was born! I have family in Pensacola, Gainesville, Stake, Florahome, Palatka, Vero Beach, and Marathon...so I know the Jacksonville area as well. My family has lived in Florida for years, so they can't give to much info. on price of living and all of that. Plus, they are not in the central Florida area. I'd really like to live in central Florida...as close to Orlando as possible, but I know how expensive it can be. I was just curious to what the best areas are in central Florida and the most affordable. I'd love to be able to buy or build a home, but that means it would have to be in a more affordable area. Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Lindsey

 

[scarlett873]

We're hoping to move to Jacksonville within the next 2 years!!

 

[wdwprincess03]

I'm from Bradenton, just south of Tampa. About 1 1/2 from WDW, used to live 5 minutes from the world, but we moved last january

 

[olbear]

DH & I live in the Daytona Beach area, Ormond Beach to be exact. We are about an hour to an hour and a half from the magic!

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[honeybee5517]

i do! i live in miami. if you want to know specifics about south florida, just ask me! its alot different from northern, and even central florida.

 

[pixiepower1971]

Lee county here. We live in Cape Coral at least half of every year. We are about 2.5 hours from WDW.

 

[DisneyFairy19]

I live in Fort Lauderdale... 3 hours from Orlando..

My e-mail is PrincisC19@aol.com

e-mail me with any questions

 

[sarah_n_brian2006]

I guess nobody is keeping up with this post. My advice is to stay away from the city. In Florida, if you live in a populated city (WPB, Miami, Orlando, Tampa...) or near one, the cost of living is outrageous. I live in Palm Beach County, where a 700sq.ft home w/ no AC is 200k! And the average apartment is 1000/month. So cost of living here is crazy!! But if you live in Okeechobee county cost of living can be as much as 1/2 the amount as here. My advice would be to contact a realtor and see what they could drum up for you. Tell them your budget, climate expectancy. Some areas of Florida can actually get a real frost, and you feel your in the beginning of winter. (Not here in Palm Beach County). Just look around. One more piece of advice. Gainsville area is starting to be the next real estate hot spot, Lots of country that goes on for miles. And it's like 2 1/2-3 hours to Orlando. Hope this helps! Oh and Congrats!!!!

 

[JandJ]

We live in Pinellas County, in the Tampa Bay area, about 1.5 hours from Disney. We bought our house 5 months before our wedding. I really love our house and the location is perfect - close to downtown, shopping, the beach, and not too far from the Mouse Where we are housing is not cheap and it's almost impossible to find a new house. Our house is over 50 years old but fortunately the previous owners did a complete remodel of the bathrooms and upgraded the kitchen. Some of our friends have bought new houses but they cost over $100k more than we paid and they're not close to anything. I like that we have a home that has more character than some of the new "cookie cutter communities." I don't necessarily like having to fix up all that character though

Good luck if you decide to move to FL! I've lived all over the state - Broward County (Miramar and Tamarac), North Central (Gainesville and Ocala), Central (Orlando), and now the West Coast. I think I like it here the best!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

I guess nobody is keeping up with this post. My advice is to stay away from the city. In Florida, if you live in a populated city (WPB, Miami, Orlando, Tampa...) or near one, the cost of living is outrageous. I live in Palm Beach County, where a 700sq.ft home w/ no AC is 200k! And the average apartment is 1000/month. So cost of living here is crazy!! But if you live in Okeechobee county cost of living can be as much as 1/2 the amount as here. My advice would be to contact a realtor and see what they could drum up for you. Tell them your budget, climate expectancy. Some areas of Florida can actually get a real frost, and you feel your in the beginning of winter. (Not here in Palm Beach County). Just look around. One more piece of advice. Gainsville area is starting to be the next real estate hot spot, Lots of country that goes on for miles. And it's like 2 1/2-3 hours to Orlando. Hope this helps! Oh and Congrats!!!!

Thanks so much for all the info! Yeah, I am thinking Gainesville possibly. I have an Aunt and Uncle there and everyone in my family, including my parents graduated from the University of Florida! Gator Country!

 

[zalansky]

I live in Tampa...and like other posters said, it has become very expensive here. I have read reports that Florida in general is very expensive now and people can't afford to retire here anymore and as a matter of fact, people here now talk of retiring to NC! My DH and I are looking to buy a newer home or build a home and for what we want, a 4 bedroom 2 or 3 bathroom with at least a 2 car garage....minimum 2300 square feet, is about $420,000. And taxes in our area for that house would be about $4500 -$5500 per year. It is insane. There are not enough people here in Florida who make the kind of money needed to afford that lifestyle.

A friend on mine built a new home in Auburndale which is about 25 minutes from Disney's maingate. They paid $270,000 over a year ago and have a really great house in a great neighborhood, but even those homes are well over $300k now. Keep in mind jobs. Though it would be nice to stay out of the larger city areas, will the rural areas have jobs for both of you? Good luck to you both!

 

[Eeyore77]

I just went through all that you are going through about 2 monthes ago. You see I was born and raised in NC and I moved here to Palm Beach Gardens on May 31 from Raleigh. I will tell you Florida is certainly a different place, but not in a bad way. I have missed home alot but it truely isn't that bad here. You will get asked a million times by the locals "Why would you move to FL from NC, when all the locals want to get to NC?" If I had a dollar for everytime I was asked that my overpriced rent would be paid for. It is expensive, but NC was starting to go up when I left so there is no where to hide from the rising cost of living these days. Good Luck with your move and if you need advice from a NC girl now in FL feel free to write me....

 

[lookingforward]

I live in Boca Raton in Palm Beach county and we are planning to move back to NC. I am not writing this to discourage you...there are PLENTY of wonderful things about Florida. The previous poster had a good point about the expense here, though. Northern Florida in definately more affordable than south Florida. Here in boca a 2000 square foot home is about 500,000 in a decent neighborhood with about 8000 in yearly taxes and 3000 in home owners insurance(although the market is falling). There are about 25 homes for sale in my development alone, last year they stayed on the market for no more than a month, now they are lingering over six months. SO,,,it should be more of a buyers market when you get here. Good for you, not so good for us! If you want to hear anything about south Florida I would be more than happy to help. There are so many great things here!

To me, NC is heaven. We lived there by the ocean for almost 8 years while my husband was in the USMC. Low crime, no traffic, low cost of living. But the trade offs are: less to do, less cultural activities, farther away from DISNEY and US/IOA

I love Florida, but for us it is time to go. Keep us informed about your move, and may all your dreams come true.