OT Does any one on actually live

We looked in to transferring to the Dr. Phillips area of Orlando. Everything was nice enough. The one common denominator was that virtually everyone we spoke to or dealt with office to office never went to any of the parks.
 
Florida girl here, absolutely! We moved up north 5 years ago to be near DH's family, but we're eyeing retirement property in Florida. There are some aspects we like about the Midwest, but we won't stay here.

I grew up in Florida -- well, from 2nd grade on. The schools were fine, my college (UF) was great. Yes, you have to deal with the heat....but up here, it's the snow and ice! I had a pool growing up and just lived in that thing! It was the best.

I told my DH that I will not be 65 and shoveling snow, so to factor that in to his long-term planning.
 
I currently live in the county with the highest property tax rate, at $24.47 per $1,000 of property value. My parents live in another county that borders mine and for a similar size house and piece of land, pay less than 1/3 what I pay.

Which counties are these? Do you know of others that are high or low for property tax? Thanks
 
I think that we live in the same town if memory serves me. I'm interested that you homeschool...I think about it from time to time, but so far our school is working out for us. There are so many choices here that it's tough to pick a school. If we are in the same town, I can say that our town school wasn't an option for us. It's academically decent, but the school itself is physically:scared1: to me anyways.

The high property taxes thing has me scratching my head. Where did you live before? Property taxes here aren't high to us anyways. What we pay in 1 year on our big house with a pool is what my sister pays in 6 months on her tiny townhouse elsewhere. We're in the incorporated section and pay taxes to the town too and they're still way cheaper than we were paying on our tiny house in an icky town in MA. Homeowners is higher than I'd like, but it's not horribly unreasonable even with wind added in.

Doesn't Gleason have a pond? That would explain the gator I guess. I think I'll stick to Ryckman or Paradise...gators don't like the river or the ocean:rotfl:

I know you had mentioned a move, but didn't know, of course, if that took you away from this town. We had no issues with the local school (IE), but we just wanted to spend more time together as a family. We are in our 3rd year homeschooling, and have really enjoyed it.

Yes, Gleason has a pond, and we are there quite a bit. As far as I know, he has never bothered anyone. I haven't seen him in awhile, so he may have been relocated.

I currently live in the county with the highest property tax rate, at $24.47 per $1,000 of property value. My parents live in another county that borders mine and for a similar size house and piece of land, pay less than 1/3 what I pay.

About the property tax, I guess it is all perspective. Where we were in Louisiana, property taxes were much lower, so they seem high to me here. I'm sure I would feel differently if I had come from a state that had higher taxes. KWIM?
 

I know you had mentioned a move, but didn't know, of course, if that took you away from this town. We had no issues with the local school (IE), but we just wanted to spend more time together as a family. We are in our 3rd year homeschooling, and have really enjoyed it.

Yes, Gleason has a pond, and we are there quite a bit. As far as I know, he has never bothered anyone. I haven't seen him in awhile, so he may have been relocated.



About the property tax, I guess it is all perspective. Where we were in Louisiana, property taxes were much lower, so they seem high to me here. I'm sure I would feel differently if I had come from a state that had higher taxes. KWIM?

Nope, we're still here! We had considered a move to MB for Gemini but we just couldn't leave town...we love it too much! It's just so "us". We're in the incorporated section now, and I'm surprised at how much we like it! I was worried about the neighborhood beach here being too busy but it's not bad so far.

I've considered homeschooling off-and-on...will probably consider it much more if I see my children getting buried in homework. There is just no excuse for that at young ages. If they can't cover it in school (plus maybe 30 minutes at home) then I'll homeschool and get it all done during the day. My oldest needs a VERY early bedtime due to her sensory disorder and we have 2+ hours a day of PT and OT homework to do. I can't pile school homework on top of that and have her to bed early enough so I might end up forced to homeschool at some point. Do you belong to a homeschooling group around here (assuming that there is one?).

It's all in what you're used to when it comes to whether you see property taxes here as cheap or expensive I guess! When the bill comes DH and I are always like "can you believe it?!" in a GOOD way, LOL!! Even the taxes on the new house are fine, and I'm pretty sure that we're paying the old owner's rate for this year...hopefully the homestead will be based upon what we paid or close to it.
 
Which counties are these? Do you know of others that are high or low for property tax? Thanks

I know that Alachua and Volusia counties are the top 2 in the state for property taxes. Can't tell you which are lowest.
 
We live in Indian River County, about 15 mins from the Vero DVC.

We have seasonal Disney Passes and SW passes.

I have no idea how our school districts rank, as we have no children, although it does seem to make up a high amount of our taxes (when you get that yearly breakdown list showing where all of the money is going). Prop taxes and insurance rates really went up there for a few years, but in the last year it is starting to come back down.

This area, southeastern central FL, seems still fairly depressed economy wise. The job market seems slow, and lots and lots of homes on the market/foreclosures. Thankfully SO and I are both with very established employers and although my company (not his) has suffered some cut backs and downsizing, neither of us are fearful for our jobs.

I am NOT a FL fan, and would like to live elsewhere. I can't stand the humidity, and would like to enjoy a seasonal change. We do have some family through out FL, but no one in our immediate area. Eventually I am sure we will move.

Another myth debunked...despite the proximity, we never "go to the beach" (I personally am not a fan of this coastline area). For whatever reason so many work/personal associates who are not from FL seem to think that as Floridians our lives must revolve around this? :rolleyes:
 
Another myth debunked...despite the proximity, we never "go to the beach" (I personally am not a fan of this coastline area). For whatever reason so many work/personal associates who are not from FL seem to think that as Floridians our lives must revolve around this? :rolleyes:

That is so funny - and true for us too! In the 2 years we lived there (10 mins from Indialantic Beach), I don't think we went to the beach more than 5-6 times and a few of those were with out of town relatives. We weren't beach people and living near one didn't really make us beach people!
 
I can't remember the last time I went to a beach. Maybe 2 years ago for my friend's bachelorette party?
 
Another myth debunked...despite the proximity, we never "go to the beach" (I personally am not a fan of this coastline area). For whatever reason so many work/personal associates who are not from FL seem to think that as Floridians our lives must revolve around this? :rolleyes:

Really? I live a block from the beach and I go all the time...sometimes just to drink my coffee there:rotfl: In my town people's lives do seem to revolve around going to the beach:rotfl: I haven't been in a few days, though, since I took my toddler there earlier this week and proceeded to freeze half to death while she decided to dig in the sand for 30 minutes.

Why aren't you a fan of this coastline area? I like the beaches in Vero even better than our beaches in Brevard. Vero seems to have less buried coquina which is nice.
 
We are actually considering moving to Florida soon! We tried to once...then we found out I was pregnant & decided to stay close to camily. Now the kids are a bit older (4 & 5) & we're thinking about moving again. I am fairly certain that I can transfer with my job. Chances are we will end up in Ft. Myers, Ft. Lauderdale or Jacksonville.
 
Used to live in Clay County and loved the schools. That's where we'll probably head back to when our time in Hawaii is done! We really love FL, love the whole beach/coastal lifestyle.

Clay county is one county inland, so the hurricane thing isn't too bad. It's southwest of Jax. St John's County is great and is known for great schools. St Augustine is the cutest city!

It's all about 2 hrs north of the Mouse. :)

We live in St. Johns County!

Check out some of the schools in NW St Johns county. I live there and I LOVE it. Schools are really good. I don't know how good compared to yours, but we moved to this area because of the schools. There is full time gifted. Great neighborhood for kids. Small town feel, but most work in Jacksonville. Most people love this area.

Hello, neighbor! We live in JCB. Our kids go to Nease!!!

Way OT, but how do you find out if a school in your area has full-time gifted? I think that our neighborhood school just does pull-out one day a week for gifted. I'd love to find a full-time gifted program but wouldn't know how to go about looking.

I really don't know other than calling the school or maybe the school board. I just know that ours does because I have friends with kids in this program. Now not all schools in our area have it, but if your child tests into the gifted program you can drive your kids to these schools. All of our are really fairly close together, so it isn't a real haul for anyone.



ON the other hand I do have to say that you may want to think long about a full time gifted program. All of our gifted kids pretty much stay together, they really never get to know other kids. They tend to isolate themselves and have a problem with other kids sometimes. I know that some of my friends have pulled their kids out for this reason. They weren't getting enough of the social aspect of school and learning to meet new people. OTOH, in our schools most of those kids that were pulled out go to our designated laptop grogram, this is where my kids are and were. They get a little something more than the regular class with laptop time, they all actually purchase a laptop. Yes shock for most people my DD had her own laptop from age 6. She is now 12 and never lost or damaged it in anyway, (sorry OT a bit) Anyway, maybe call the school and see what they offer.

JCB has Neighborhood schools! Love that! The kids are never far away from home. So many kids walk or ride bikes to school. That's the time of day I avoid driving around here!:rotfl: Traffic!
The classes are from what I remember, smaller. Plus, the kids tend to stay together in the same class every year. The schools here are good. They are the highest rated in the state!


DH graduates from vo-tech next October. He is being certified in HVAC/refrigeration, and hopefully can get a job quickly. Who in FL doesn't need their A/C fixed? LOL. We really love the Gainesville area, and the area north of Orlando. I will have to check out NW St. John's County. Thanks!!

I need a good AC repairman! Send him my way....
 
We moved here a year and a half ago. The economy isn't great. but there are things to like. We live just a few minutes from the entrance to Disney World and have gotten three horses since moving here. My daughter wants to take advantage of all the rodeos here and start barrel racing her horse. We often think about moving back to Virginia Beach, but we hate the cold weather.

We have been looking at houses in Davenport north of I4. How is that area? Is there a good high school? Thanks
 
My property taxes seem cheap enough...$850 on $150k house. (ranch)...and homeowners ran $650 thru USAA.
 
We live in St. Johns County!



Hello, neighbor! We live in JCB. Our kids go to Nease!!!





JCB has Neighborhood schools! Love that! The kids are never far away from home. So many kids walk or ride bikes to school. That's the time of day I avoid driving around here!:rotfl: Traffic!
The classes are from what I remember, smaller. Plus, the kids tend to stay together in the same class every year. The schools here are good. They are the highest rated in the state!




I need a good AC repairman! Send him my way....

Never mind, I see now that you were responding to my post. I should know better than to reply to anything before my 2nd cup of coffee. Silly me. lol
 
Why aren't you a fan of this coastline area? I like the beaches in Vero even better than our beaches in Brevard. Vero seems to have less buried coquina which is nice.

I don't really like the idea of not seeing through the water. I prefer the clearer waters of the keys/carib/med/etc. I just hate not knowing if I am going to step on something under the water. A silly fear I know...but there it is.

My best friend and her husband live/work in Melbourne and about the closest to the beach up there I ever get is we occasionally jog the causeway from the park at Front St. down to the beach and back. I do have to say that I LOVE to see the dolphins in the river.
 
We live in southern Indiana. My hubby was manager for a small family owned electronics retail business. His main source of income was commission and we saw it steadily decline over the last few years. We've always loved Florida but never dreamed of moving there. Our daughter is a senior in high school and loves Disney as much as I do. She always said she'd love to go to college at the University of Central Florida. I woke up in the middle of the night and got to thinking, why not? Hubby applied and was hired into the managment training program at hhgregg in Jacksonville this past July. He accepted and moved ahead to Jacksonville. I stayed here to sell the house and let our daughter finish her senior year. She was accpeted to UCF and since hubby will have been a Florida resident for a full year before she starts next fall, she will qualify for in-state tuition. We already sold our home (yay and sold it for 75% more than we paid for it) and I'm just waiting for her to graduate in the spring. Hubby may very well be placed in a store in the Orlando area, so all fingers are crossed. I can't wait to move there! I never dreamed I'd be doing this last year. You only live once, though. :)
 
We live in southern Indiana. My hubby was manager for a small family owned electronics retail business. His main source of income was commission and we saw it steadily decline over the last few years. We've always loved Florida but never dreamed of moving there. Our daughter is a senioir in high school and loves Disney as much as I do. She always said she'd love to go to college at the University of Central Florida. I woke up in the middle of the night and got to thinking, why not? Hubby applied and was hired into the managment training program at hhgregg in Jacksonville this past July. He accepted and moved ahead to Jacksonville. I stayed here to sell the house and let our daughter finish her senior year. She was accpeted to UCF and since hubby will have been a Florida resident for a full year before she starts next fall, she will qualify for in-state tuition. We already sold our home (yay and sold it for 75% more than we paid for it) and I'm just waiting for her to graduate in the spring. Hubby may very well be placed in a store in the Orlando area, so all fingers are crossed. I can't wait to move there! I never dreamed I'd be doing this last year. You only live once, though. :)

That's a great post! I wish you lots and lots of luck! Smiles sent your way......:woohoo:
 















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