Should we move to Florida from CT?

[DanceRC28]

DH and I have been considering moving to the Orlando area on and off for a few years. We've now come to the point where we saying to ourselves what is holding us back? We're 25 & 26 with no kids and we figure what better time than now to do it. Currently we live in Connecticut- both of us have been born and raised here and are sick and tired of it! The outside perception of CT is that it is a ritzy state, but believe me there are just as many families struggling to get by here as there are anywhere else and here you have the outrageous cost of living. For the cost of the condo we own here, I can find a single family home in the Orlando area in a gated community. That's not even considering the $6k we pay in property taxes and $1k for our cars and the state income taxes we pay. I know people complain about the low paying jobs in Florida, but the job market here isn't great either. I have a bachelor's degree and some master's credits and am bringing in under 30k/yr. DH also has a college degree and is making better money than I- about 45k/yr- but because he works in the mortgage industry has an uncertain future. I would love to hear some honest feedback from people who live in the area and/or have moved from the area. Any info to help us in our journey would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Virgo10]

I lived my whole live (50+ years) in Massachusetts. We moved to central Florida in 2004 and my only regret is that I didn't do it years ago.

It's quite a change! Both the husband and I were sure it was what we wanted but I'd be lying if I said I NEVER miss MA. However I don't miss it enough to move back there.

Research, research, research! Many of the towns here have their own websites and that will give you some idea of what it's like to live in them. Once you've narrowed the places you want to live, try asking people on this board about them. There are many Floridians who post here.

You'll want to live close to where you work. Traffic in some parts of the state is ridiculous! Even if you don't have kids yet, eventually you may so schools might be important. Do you want to be near all the action and the problems that come with it or would a small town be better for you? Do you want to buy a house right away or rent first just to make sure this is what you really want? Have you been down here in the summer so you really understand how hot it can get? These are all things to consider.

When we started to look, I drew a circle 30 miles out from Disney World and checked out every town in that radius. I feel we got very lucky by finding the perfect house in a small town that was 26 miles away. Auburndale is close to two bigger towns, Winter Haven and Lakeland, but far enough away so that going to the store doesn't turn into an all day event because of the traffic.

Best of luck. It's quite an adventure moving from the northeast to the deep south but I'm glad every day that we did it!

 

[kerrynic78]

My DH and I moved from CT to Orlando about 3 years ago. He was 25, I was 26 and we had no kids at the time. He was offered a job down here making much, much more than his job in CT so we jumped at the opportunity.

We found a great community that we fell in love with and built a house. For what we paid there was nothing even close to comparable that we could have bought or built in CT. I was born and raised in CT and there are times when I really miss it, but we knew that it was just too expensive for us (although FL isn't exactly cheap either anymore!)

There are many pros and cons to moving down here but for us it was a very positive move and we are enjoying our life down here. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[EthansMom]

We live in CT. We've lived in a lot of states and CT has one of the highes costs of living!

DH and I often talk about moving south some day far in the future. We wouldn't move to FL, though, since it's a bit too crowded for us. We'd probably look at North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. I went on a business trip to Savannah, Georgia once and loved, loved, loved it!

I'm just saying that there are many nice places to live in the south that are within striking distance of WDW. You may want to plan a road trip-style vacation and check out a few different places before you get hard core into planning a move. But moving to a lower-cost area might be a great plan for a young couple like yourselves!

My advice: check out different locations (safety, cost of living, job availability, etc..) and then try to get new jobs (at least one of you should get a job first) BEFORE selling your current home and moving.

Good Luck!

 

[DMickey28]

If you can get jobs making similar money I think it's worth a shot.

DH and I moved from MA to Indiana, then IL and now we live in S. Florida. We moved when we were 25 and 28. We basically figured we had nothing to lose!

We have thought about moving up to Orlando from S. Florida but it's not in the cards right now. However I did research some rentals in the area and you can rent a 3bedroom 2bath house for $1100/month in many towns around Orlando (Clermont & Davenport are two I looked at). Then you can look around and figure out where you want to live.

I say go for it. What do you have to lose? Can you rent our condo maybe so you don't lose the equity in that in case you decide to go back to CT?

 

[JimB.]

If you are considering moving JUST to be close to WDW, then I'd say no.

If you are considering it for career reasons & a warmer future in winter, then by all means.

Check out www.myflorida.com. It is the "official" State website. It has tons of information regarding demographics, income levels, industry, employment, etc., etc. for every county in the state.

If you want to stay reasonably close to WDW, then anything within a 2 hr drive out should make you happy. That would be a belt across the entire central portion of the state, from St Augustine at the north end down to (probably) Vero Beach/ Ft. Pierce to the south. It's a BIG area with lots of diversity and opportunities.

Just an aside, I love WDW, but I do not like the AREA at all. I can't comment about the area to the west/southwest, but the Orlando area itself is a traffic nightmare. If I were to consider relocating to be close to WDW, I would probably look to the west, just to be on the same side of Orlando as WDW is.

Good Luck!!

 

[GeorgeG]

We moved here from New York almost two and a half years ago and wish we had done it sooner. My daughter lives in Naugatuck so I know your area. You will really like Florida, but Orlando probably won't be much better, perhaps worse, than Waterbury. I agree with the others who say you should look in the surrounding areas. Once you've been in Florida even a short time and go back to Connecticut to visit you'll find yourselves anxious to get back to Florida.

Keep in mind to avoid having to use Route 4 to get to work and other places. With some new highways and roads, only the tourists use Rt. 4 to get to WDW.

 

[CottontailCurl]

We moved here from New York almost two and a half years ago and wish we had done it sooner.

Hey there, how's your grandson's trip-planning going? Was he able to get some help from the Shades of Green?

Also wanted to tell you that we pass through the Villages when we drive to Disney on the back roads and think it looks like a great place to live.

 

[DanceRC28]

Thanks to everyone for all of the great advice! Disney is not the only reason we are looking to move down south, but it is a huge plus for us. I just love Florida, to us it feels like home when we are there and we dread flying back to CT. I know it gets hot there, but I think it would be a worthy sacrifice not have to deal with the snow/ice/sleet, etc that we have here. Also, I would definitely buy a home with central air and a pool I know the home prices in Florida have risen, but so have the home prices in CT. Right now we own a condo for 180k and down there we could own a nice, single-family home for about the same or a little bit more. I do like the idea of a yard- doesn't have to be huge, I know that doesn't usually happen down there- but somewhat of a yard. As others have said, I don't want to reach out my window and be able to wash my neighbors windows I have heard that the area around Clermont is nice, any thoughts from people in the area???? Celebration sounds beautiful, but I highly doubt we could ever afford it. A friend also told me to consider Lake Mary and I noticed it was ranked #4 best places to live in the US, anyone from that area? As someone mentioned, schools are not a priority right now but they would be in a few years as we are planning children in the near future. Unfortunately we would not be able to rent our condo here as the condo association prevents it, but that is a good suggestion. Thanks again for the info guys!

 

[ctinct]

That's not even considering the $6k we pay in property taxes and $1k for our cars and the state income taxes we pay.

Yeah, and your taxes are due to go up, right? I work in Waterbury and we were discussing this just the other day. My co-workers with smaller houses are paying a few thousand more in taxes than I do in the next town over.


Off-topic- Sorry. Hey, George G. I also live in Naugatuck and am the proud mother of a former Marine. (Because we all know there are no EX-Marines.) I gather your daughter and I would be near the same age. Her name wouldn't start with a "K", would it?

 

[lesroi]

We live in the Clermont area. We are originally from the midwest (St. Louis) and moved to Florida after we spent some time living in the Tahoe area. As I am a Realtor, we had a lot of time and the ability to look at many areas before deciding on Clermont. We rented a vacation house in Davenport when we first got here, tried out Kissimmee, and fell in love with Clermont. It was the closest thing to Missouri that we found here. There are hills and not a lot of traffic. You can definitely get a house here in your price range, but you need to be aware that there are some communities here that allow short-term rentals. I have to tell you though, that with the prices coming down, you could also get a condo in Celebration if you were so inclined. No yard, though, and Celebration isn't for everyone!

Our taxes and homeowner's insurance aren't that bad, the weather is great, we are right in the middle of the state with access to both coasts, and less than 25 miles from Disney. The only issue you might flind with Clermont is that it does take about 45 minutes to get into downtown Orlando from here during rush hour, so take that into consideration job-wise.

We sure don't regret moving. I love it here! (Doesn't hurt that it is almost 80 degrees today!)

Tracy

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

We moved from MA to FL a few years ago. It was the best move we've ever made and we're here to stay! While the cost of living here has gone up, it is still CHEAP compared to MA/CT. With no state income tax, cheap car insurance compared to MA/CT ($600 total every 6 months for both SUVs), no gas/oil bill anymore, lower electric bills than we had in MA, cheaper food costs, much cheaper housing costs, much cheaper property taxes (mine were $3200 this year on a 4bdr/2 bath house and this past week an amendment just passed to bring them DOWN even more across the state of FL!), etc., this is a bargain.

If you can get comperable salaries down here in your industries (ours was exactly equal, plus the bonus of no income tax!), I say go for it! Do explore other areas than Orlando, though. We live 1.5 hours from Orlando on the coast, and we love it. Orlando is really busy for our tastes. It's like any other big city IMHO. There are other great areas in FL (Melbourne, St. Augustine, Vero Beach, Tampa/Clearwater, etc.) Why not apply for jobs all over and see if you like it where you can land a job? All of these areas are driving distance to Disney.

Schools absolutely DO matter for resale, though. Don't make the mistake of buying in an undesireable school district because the house is cheaper. You may not have kids yet, but if you go to sell the house, you can count on some of your buyers having kids and caring about schools. Even before we had children, we always bought into the best school system we could afford (both in MA and in FL). It has always helped our resale tremendously.

 

[palmtreegirl]

Take a trip down here just to check out different areas, there all so diverse. That way you can really get a feel for life in Florida beyond Disney.

 

[taylor1293]

Like someone else said, come down and check out all the areas to get a better feel for living down here .

180 K won't buy much for a single family home down here. Definitely not one with a pool. Also, salaries are lower down here for most fields, so keep that in mind.

I can't compare FL to MA. However, we moved from Illinois and our car insurance went WAY up. Home Owners insurance is much higher here and property taxes slightly lower (than in IL).

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Thanks to everyone for all of the great advice! Disney is not the only reason we are looking to move down south, but it is a huge plus for us. I just love Florida, to us it feels like home when we are there and we dread flying back to CT. I know it gets hot there, but I think it would be a worthy sacrifice not have to deal with the snow/ice/sleet, etc that we have here. Also, I would definitely buy a home with central air and a pool I know the home prices in Florida have risen, but so have the home prices in CT. Right now we own a condo for 180k and down there we could own a nice, single-family home for about the same or a little bit more. I do like the idea of a yard- doesn't have to be huge, I know that doesn't usually happen down there- but somewhat of a yard. As others have said, I don't want to reach out my window and be able to wash my neighbors windows I have heard that the area around Clermont is nice, any thoughts from people in the area???? Celebration sounds beautiful, but I highly doubt we could ever afford it. A friend also told me to consider Lake Mary and I noticed it was ranked #4 best places to live in the US, anyone from that area? As someone mentioned, schools are not a priority right now but they would be in a few years as we are planning children in the near future. Unfortunately we would not be able to rent our condo here as the condo association prevents it, but that is a good suggestion. Thanks again for the info guys!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Like someone else said, come down and check out all the areas to get a better feel for living down here .

180 K won't buy much for a single family home down here. Definitely not one with a pool. Also, salaries are lower down here for most fields, so keep that in mind.

I can't compare FL to MA. However, we moved from Illinois and our car insurance went WAY up. Home Owners insurance is much higher here and property taxes slightly lower (than in IL).

Good luck with whatever you decide!

It depends on the area of FL. There are so many forclosures/short sales in our area right now that you could get a 3/2 with a pool for around $200K if you shopped around hard enough and made enough lowball offers. A lot of sellers are desperate here! Our neighbors down the street bought their newly renovated 4/2 pool home recently for $225K. The seller made them a great deal because he just wanted to unload it. It was an unsuccessful flip.

 

[lesroi]

It depends on the area of FL. There are so many forclosures/short sales in our area right now that you could get a 3/2 with a pool for around $200K if you shopped around hard enough and made enough lowball offers. A lot of sellers are desperate here! Our neighbors down the street bought their newly renovated 4/2 pool home recently for $225K. The seller made them a great deal because he just wanted to unload it. It was an unsuccessful flip.

I agree! The house 2 doors down from us went into foreclosure and what WAS a $380,000 home is now pending sale at $219k. Granted, the new owners will have to do a little sprucing up, because it has been empty for so long, but look at their savings. Not great for those who paid more (like the immediate neighbors) but wonderful for someone who is a bargain hunter. Plus, you really don't have to look that hard. Most of them are on the MLS.

So, unless you are a real estate professional, I would hesitate to tell someone that they "can't" get a pool home in Florida for close to or under $180k... There are foreclosures and bank-owned properties even in the very nicest of neighborhoods.

Tracy

 

[taylor1293]

I totally agree that it depends on the area! And if you can get a foreclosure, that is great too. If the buyer is flexible and is willing to live farther out or in neighborhoods that aren't as well kept, they may be able to get a pool home for $180,000.

My neighborhood in Tampa, (nice, middle class, safe, A schools) 2 years ago were selling 1800 sq feet w/pool for $280,000 +, now they are down to about $220,000. But that is still $40,000 away from $180,000. Nothing with a pool has sold for that low in this area. Orlando may be different though.

It depends on the area of FL. There are so many forclosures/short sales in our area right now that you could get a 3/2 with a pool for around $200K if you shopped around hard enough and made enough lowball offers. A lot of sellers are desperate here! Our neighbors down the street bought their newly renovated 4/2 pool home recently for $225K. The seller made them a great deal because he just wanted to unload it. It was an unsuccessful flip.

 

[DMickey28]

Like someone else said, come down and check out all the areas to get a better feel for living down here .

180 K won't buy much for a single family home down here. Definitely not one with a pool. Also, salaries are lower down here for most fields, so keep that in mind.

I can't compare FL to MA. However, we moved from Illinois and our car insurance went WAY up. Home Owners insurance is much higher here and property taxes slightly lower (than in IL).

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Our car insurance went WAY up down here from IL as well. I think coming from CT it may also go up. MA and FL are PIP states so they tend to be higher in general. We are in S. Florida though and the rates are higher this far south in general.

 

[taylor1293]

Were you as shocked as we were?! What made it worse was that we moved to Orlando first, got the insurance shock. Then we moved over to Tampa where it shot up again. Argh! I can only imagine how high it is in South Florida.

Our car insurance went WAY up down here from IL as well. I think coming from CT it may also go up. MA and FL are PIP states so they tend to be higher in general. We are in S. Florida though and the rates are higher this far south in general.

 

[kimluvswdw]

I am headed to Florida myself after I get rid of some bills and wait for the housing market to come back. I don't want to sell the house yet.