FLORIDA & ASTHMA

[we3disneygo]

Hi Just giving a friendly wave also from central IL..........my dd11 also has asthma ! we just try to deal with it as much as possible.....have you ever checked out...www.local6.com ? my dad lives down there and it does get cold. good luck.

 

[froglady]

Both of my children have allergy/exercise induced Asthma. DD's allergies almost completely disappear when she's in PA, and start up the day after she arrives home. DS hasn't had any sort of asthma attack in over 5 years, which isn't all that uncommon in children. He's more or less "outgrown" it. That's why I wasn't thrilled when their pediatricians labelled them "asthmatics."

BTW, DD hasn't needed any treatment since freshman year in HS. (She's a college senior.)

Florida is a hot, humid place, so there will always be potential for mold problems. Pay special attention to your central heat and air. I remove, clean, and/or replace the register covers twice yearly as they get pretty yucky otherwise. I replace the air exchange filters monthly, and have a service contract.

I have tile and hardwood floors with only a couple of area rugs (either washable or small enough to be dry cleaned) so that also cuts down on dust and allergens.

 

[ducklite]

one more thing I forgot to ask about
areas to avoid for like violence, gangs, etc and good areas to look into

There are good and bad areas in any major metropolitan area. Florida is a very big state. It would help first if you had an idea of WHERE in Florida you'd like to move to.

Anne

 

[mikesmom97]

thanks floridafam for all of your info!
so glad to hear you son is doing well!

We were looking kinda at central Fla

also would like to know reasons not to move
how high are real estate taxes
car/house insurance

thanks to everyone for letting me pick your brains today!!!

 

[floridafam]

We pay less here for property taxes than we did in East Lansing. We paid almost $3,000 up there. We have a bigger house down here that cost us more than the one up there and the taxes are still less. I'm sure that could change soon.

We pay about the same for homeowner's insurance. We were able to get a policy written right after 2 hurricanes blew through here last year. We snatched up a house that didn't have any damage. If we sold today, we could sell for almost 50% more than what we bought for. Again, that could change soon.

We haven't had any mold problems so far. Honestly, I was more concerned about mold in our basement in Michigan.

We picked an area that still has a small town feel to it. We have a Main street complete with parades, etc. I really like it here.

DH couldn't be happier. We both cringed last night when we talke to my parents and they said it was so cold and snowing. I never want to feel that skin burning wind chill on my face again!

When we bought the house, our DD asked if we could pain the living room the same color as the one up North. We went to Sherwin Williams and picked out the same color paint. It really made her happy.

We live under a mile from the ocean. It's nice to get up and know that in five minutes you can be at the ocean. It's very calming. I wish we would have purchased land down here years ago.

We found a realtor shortly after we moved down and a mortgage broker. We put an offer in right away as soon as we found what we wanted. We even paid 3 months rent to get out of our lease at our apartment. We hated doing it but we weren't going to let the house go to the many people who were in line behind us.

You just have to ask around and find out who is good and who isn't.

 

[mikesmom97]

Right back at you we3disneygo!!!!

I really do love where we live if it wasn't for the cold

 

[mikesmom97]

wow florida fam
sounds like you made out great
did you get much damage from the hurricane?

we were at cocoa beach in oct 05 after disney - we liked it there

do most homeowners in fla carry flood ins?

we have it right now because we have a little ditch in our backyard- go figure

 

[Aidensmom]

wow florida fam
sounds like you made out great
did you get much damage from the hurricane?

we were at cocoa beach in oct 05 after disney - we liked it there

do most homeowners in fla carry flood ins?

we have it right now because we have a little ditch in our backyard- go figure

Where you find a house determines if you need flood insurance. You really won't know if you need it until you determine the exact home you want.

 

[ducklite]

thanks floridafam for all of your info!
so glad to hear you son is doing well!

We were looking kinda at central Fla

also would like to know reasons not to move
how high are real estate taxes
car/house insurance

thanks to everyone for letting me pick your brains today!!!

I just got my tax bill...$10,000. I kid you not. Florida has a weird way to calculate taxes. My homeowners is pretty much on par with what it would be anywhere. Car insurance is MUCH lower than it was in NJ.

Housing prices are through the roof but beginning to level. Hard to find a decent three BR 2 BA home in the 2400 sq ft range in good condition for under $300,000 these days, but it can be done if you want to live further away from downtown.

It's HOT HOT HOT in teh summer, just beastly. But the rest of teh year is nice.

My advice is to come down and NOT stay at WDW, and rent a car and just drive around the major areas of the greater Orlando area--Hunter's Creek, Lake Mary/Altamonte Springs, Apopka, Clermont, Davenport, Celebration, Sanford, Deland, Polk City, Leesburg, Dr. Phillips, Windemere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee (there are others--many, many others) and see how you like the areas.

Next put out feelers about employment down here. Find jobs and then come down and find housing. If you aren't really familiar with the area, I'd suggest renting for a year to make sure you'll be happy with the area you choose.

Without knowing where you'll be working, it will be hard to find the right place to work. Rush hour around here can be a bear, and if you're going to work in Lake Mary you might not want to live in Davenport.

Anne

 

[mickeyfan2]

I have asthma and extreme temps and humidity can cause a problem for me. The hot/humid summers in Fl will cause me to have an asthma attack.

 

[ducklite]

wow florida fam
sounds like you made out great
did you get much damage from the hurricane?

we were at cocoa beach in oct 05 after disney - we liked it there

do most homeowners in fla carry flood ins?

we have it right now because we have a little ditch in our backyard- go figure

We don't carry it, we are 240 feet above sea level and it would be literally impossible for us to flood unless the rest of the state looked like the set of "Water World".

Anne

 

[mikesmom97]

hey ducklite - do you live in a mansion?!??!
I am not being smart but $10,000!!!!
I would pay that here in 7 years!!

 

[ducklite]

hey ducklite - do you live in a mansion?!??!
I am not being smart but $10,000!!!!
I would pay that here in 7 years!!

Hardly. I've got 2960 sf of living space, plus a lanai and a three car garage. That's how much taxes have risen. They do a weird thing here, once you declare your home as a permanent residence they cap your property taxes to raise no more than 3% per year. The problem is that they assess on full market value, and until you homestead, you get nailed, and they make up for some people paying very little in taxes by nailing newcomers.

The advantage is no state income tax, but I took a 50%+ cut in pay when I moved here, so it doesn't come close to making up for it. The good thing is that DH is a legal resident of Florida, but still gets paid NJ wages because he telecommutes half the month from here, and works up there half the month.

Anne

 

[CathrynRose]

thanks for the info on the schools
that would be one of the major choices when it would determine where we would go - are there any private schools that are non-religious ( not that I am against that but not the main focus of school)
I know we are really considering the move - 1 - to help DS's asthma and 2 - we extremely do not like the cold.
is the 30 - 50 degrees is that constant or just like night temps? in dec - mar

Search my past posts - I'm not a big fan of Florida -OTHER THEN WDW...

We lived there for 18 months and I couldnt be more thrilled to be home.

 

[mikesmom97]

what do you mean by homestead???

 

[ahutton]

It is an exemption you file with the tax office that limits or reduces the value they base your taxes on.

Example that is not accurate dollar wise but illustrates the theory:

If there is a $20,000 Homestead Expemption and you fill out the form and submit it to the tax office, your $200,000 home is taxed as if it was $180,000.

 

[mikesmom97]

huh? How do you determine the exemption?

 

[froglady]

It is an exemption you file with the tax office that limits or reduces the value they base your taxes on.

Example that is not accurate dollar wise but illustrates the theory:

If there is a $20,000 Homestead Expemption and you fill out the form and submit it to the tax office, your $200,000 home is taxed as if it was $180,000.

It's actually $25,000, but otherwise correct. You file initially, in person, in January at your county tax assesors office. Then refile yearly by mail.

Your property tax varies from county to county, as does "fair market value" vs assessed value. When we first purchased our house as newcomers 23 years ago, it seemed unfair to us, also. Now that our property fair market value is 5-6 times what we paid, we're glad the cap on our assesed value is in place. We own property in another county that does NOT have a cap, and even though the fair market value is 1/5 of our main house, we're paying twice as much in taxes.