FL Residents: How do you like living in FL?

[dvcgirl]

Cebhfhionn,

We're from central NJ and just moved here a month ago. We've been thinking and talking about this move for years and years. My DH started doing his own thing in software consulting and we realized that we could live anywhere we wanted. The housing prices in NJ just went through the roof and last winter we realized that spring would be our shot to get the most for our house. We were shocked at what we were able to get!! And so we moved down here, bought a house in our target area within a week (that we love!!) and are getting settled in. So far we love it!!

 

[JimB.]

I'm posting this from DisneyQuest. Any other questions??

And no, Florida is not paradise. But the tax burden, RELATIVE to many other states is VERY low. No income tax, sales tax is 6-7%. My property tax rate is less than 18 mils, with the 1st $25K of appraised value untaxed.

It's hot & humid, through about mid November. But I only had SEVEN nights of freezing weather all year, & I live in the north part of the state.

Regardless of location, you are not more than 90 minutes from the beach.

Infinite recreation opportunites. One of the best State Park systems in the nation.

Lots of traffic in the middle. I would NOT live near Orlando.

Florida is STILL a bargain, but I fear not for much longer.

That being said, nowhere I'd rather be than right here. right now.

 

[Pin Wizard]

It's always been like this, just different numbers now. My husband and I married in 1988, moved to FL 1/89 because "we couldn't afford to buy a home in NJ." We bought in FL. Eight years ago I sold that home and bought another. Just sold that one for MORE than DOUBLE what I paid for it! Not too shabby for owning it just 8 years.

I agree...homeowner's insurance got ridiculous after Hurricane Andrew. I never did get out of the JUA, and we weren't hit by it!

 

[ChristmasElf]

I guess I will also weigh in on this subject! We have lived in Orlando since 1996 after living in several different states in the US.
By far, Florida has been our best living experience yet! No state income tax, property taxes and costs much lower, and even though there is a lot of comments made on the school systems here, it really is not that bad. Schools are good and bad all over the US, you just have to do your research.
My brother had to transfer up to New York a couple of years ago.
He had a son that was a Sr. in High school at that time. When they arrived in NY, the school there wanted him to take the "Regents" exams that is required in NY state in order to graduate.
He studies for a couple weeks, went in and took the exams (keep in mind, he didn't take the classes, just the exam) and passed all 3 with grades in the 90s.
Meanwhile there were kids that had gone to high school all 4 years in NY that were failing these state mandated exams!!!!

New Yorks answer? They would just drop the passing grade to a 55 instead of 65 because so many of their own were failing!!
Meanwhile the kid from the Florida "bad awful" school came in and got 90s!!!

His family is now hoping to transfer back down here as they hate the cold weather and the general attitude of the people around them.

As far as the poster who couldn't put up with all the tourists. There are plenty of places that the tourists don't go to.

Sand Lake down near Apopka Vineland Publix very rarely has any tourists that shop in there.
Hunters Creek with the occasional exception of SuperTarget has mostly locals in there shopping as well.
And in Windermere, most of the area near Colonial from John Young all the way through WinterGarden into Clermont is not affected by the tourists either.
There are MANY places to shop in this strip of road I might point out. 2 SuperTargets, several Publix's,SuperWalmarts, Sams, restaurants etc. etc.

And what roads are you talking about? The Turnpike is one of the smoothest rides I've been on. With the exceptions of the occasional road needing to be widened, (OBT was a nightmare traffic wise for a few years!!)the roads here are great.

It would take an act of congress for me to ever leave. The great thing is, my kids have lived all over the country from Boston to LA,
Albuquerque, Dallas,Michigan, and now Florida. They have seen first hand nothing else is better in their eyes and will never move out of this glorious state either!!!

 

[Talking Hands]

Only a very few on the coast of Florida are not in JUA since Andrew. It is almost impossible to write a homeowners policy with anything but JUA. Insurance skyrocketed after Andrew for several reasons including the fact that insurers were not charging sufficient to cover losses in case of a major hurricane like Andrew. Many companies either went bankrupt or have pulled out of the state when it comes to homeowners insurance.
Right now many people have to buy 3 separate policies (windstorm, flood and liability/fire) Yes insurance can be a pain in Florida especially if you are on the coast.

 

[Poohbear123]

Our Property is worth about 170,000.......and we paid 72,000 for it in 1987!

 

[legs22]

Originally posted by Poohbear123
Our Property is worth about 170,000.......and we paid 72,000 for it in 1987!

That is just like me. Same year, same amt., same increase. I thought for a minute that I posted your post.

 

[legs22]

What does JUA stand for?

 

[Talking Hands]

Joint Underwriters Association

It is the insurance you get through the state when no other companies will insure you. In Florida it is now called Citizen's

 

[legs22]

Thanks. I had heard of Citizens and that was the only place you could get a new policy. I don't think State Farm is writing any new policies in FL.

 

[Feralpeg]

There is obviously a huge difference in insurance and property tax between the coastal areas and the interior areas of Florida. I guess you really pay for that view of the ocean. Being close to Disney was not the reason that I picked the Orlando area for our move. It's great, but we certainly don't go every day. It's very nice to be able to run over there whenever we want, but we don't go every week. We tend to go to Downtown Disney more often than the parks. I didn't want to live on the coast because I didn't want to have to worry about hurricanes. I can't imagine living on the beach and worrying every year that my home might be destroyed. I also did research on insurance and the cost of homes along the coast. Too much for me. I managed to buy a very nice home in Windermere. Yes, there are many homes much more expensive in Windermere than mine, but that looks like a good thing to me. I would imagine it will make my home worth more in the future. So far, we've not run into very many tourists at all (other than at Downtown Disney or the parks). The traffic is bad on I-4, but I try to avoid that as much as possible. I haven't been here very long, but so far I've seen nothing that tells me I made a bad decision moving here.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I don't have an oceanview or a riverview. I live on the mainland. But I guess it's close enough, a few miles won't make a difference to a Hurricane.

 

[Virgo10]

Originally posted by Poohbear123
Our Property is worth about 170,000.......and we paid 72,000 for it in 1987!

We bought here in Massachusetts in 1997. We have a 7 room house with about 1/3 acre of land. The house cost 90k at that time. Currently homes in our area that aren't as big as our's are going for $250k! It's insanity.

Roberta