Thinking about moving to FL

[greeneyedchick]

I will say that although our insurance is higher, we are still saving a lot more since moving to Florida. We moved from NJ (near NYC) where we paying over $24,000/ year in property taxes. Taxes down here for an expensive gated golf club community is $9000. INnsurance is $1000-$2000 more than NJ but still a net benefit, plus our income tax savings.

If you live away from the coasts, hurricanes are not much of an issue. We suffered through 2 bad, costly hurricanes in NJ. We've been in the central florida area for 4 years and have never even lost power during a hurricane. NJ was much worse, hurricane-wise. As for the heat, FL is comparable to NJ in the summer. Nov-Feb is wonderful and temperate! The rest of the time is crazy hot, too, but I look at it as our winter. We go from a house with AC to a car with AC. You won't see me walking around Disney or jogging in the park in the heat. We traded going from our heated house in NJ to our heated car and shoveling snow in the winter. Overall, I still feel like I spend more time outdoors here than in NJ. Another bonus is that we get almost an extra hour of sunlight than the north. I love that it doesn't get dark as 4pm in the winter like it did in the northeast. I am originally from Philly and agree that the northeasterners tend to be on the east coast and the mid-westerners on the west coast. Florida is a huge state and you need to do your research. I absolutely love where I live in Florida, but there are so many places I have visited here that I would hate. My parents moved to Tampa when I was in high school and I was miserable there. I still hate visiting Tampa. It's a totally different vibe. You need to find the right space for you.

 

[Travel60]

Mid to South Florida is deadly hot in the summer. Don't buy there unless you have stayed a few weeks in July/August. St. Augustine better. North Carolina even better.

 

[Christine]

Florida was/is one of my options for retirement due to the tax relief on income. However, this whole homeowners insurance thing is scaring me and sounds like maybe any savings I get there, I could lose on that. My parents live in The Villages half the year so I guess I could just ask them (and I will) but I have a friend who lives just outside of Pensacola (retired). He told me that his homeowners insurance cancelled on him abruptly. They've had no claims and nothing seemed to prompt it. He is at least able to obtain it through the state but, of course, will be getting his 15 year old roof replaced first as a condition. Which he would have done had that been a reason for his other insurance cancelling. Now reading through here, he's looking at possibly $12,000 a year for this? WOW. Is that standard?

I'm in the midatlantic. I pay $1700 per year for homeowner's insurance and just under $6,000 a year on property taxes (I live right outside a major city so it's not like I'm in the sticks). But yes, my income is taxed as would my retirement be. This thread has been an eye opener concerning Florida for sure.

 

[White Cat]

Interesting to read others opinions, especially those in Fl for not very long. If the whole state is open to you I would be checking out the Sarasota area. No way would I move to St Augustine. Or Lk Mary. The traffic there is awful. For central Fl without a doubt I would be looking at Winter Park. The traffic is no worse than other locations. Lots of old trees, lakes and canals. The downtown is nice.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Well, we lived in Orlando from 2004-2007. We moved there for my husband's work....a start-up with two other people, one of whom lived in Orlando...and she thought it best for collaborative reasons. In the end, it wasn't necessary, but the start up was sold in early 2007 and we moved back to NJ later in the same year. In the end it was definitely worth it for us financially....and my husband ended up going to work for the company that they sold the start up to...and stayed with that company until 2018.

Some things we learned....

-We were indeed Disney fans when we moved to Florida....owned DVC and everything. However, living just 15 minutes from the parks changed "the magic" for us. Visiting for a day, evening...whatever the case may be is not the same. The immersive feel of Disney was gone for us. We have only been back once, in 2010 for a larger family trip....and that's it. We sold our DVC when we moved back to NJ. If you're a Disney "super fan", I can see the advantage of wanting to be near the parks, but if you're like many of us...a fan of "Disney vacations"....being near the parks isn't necessary.

-We didn't have an income during those years as my husband was busy at work on that start-up and took equity in lieu of a salary, so we didn't see the state income tax side windfall....but on the whole, we found everything else to even out with respect to NJ. Our property taxes were half of what we were paying in NJ at the time, but the home we bought was 40% of the selling price of that NJ home. Car insurance and homeowners was much higher, particularly homeowners. We were dropped once by our homeowners insurance company during that time....never filed a claim, and when we were able to even find an insurer, it was double. We moved there in 2004, a very bad hurricane year and so if you have a year like that....a zillion roofs across Florida need to be replaced and the insurance companies inevitably pull out.

-Yes, we have hot summers in the northeast, but we occasionally get a reprieve with lower humidity. The heat in Central Florida from really May-September is incredibly hot. You will be indoors in the summer. The home we owned in Florida actually had a good-sized pool with a cooling system. Without it, the pool would have been useless in the summer, and most of those smaller "splash pools".....are effectively bathtubs for at least half of the year.

-The "big money" made on a move to Florida used to be that you could get a nice home for much less than the home you sold in the Northeast. That was definitely still in play when we moved. We sold our 5 bed 3,500 sq ft home for 900K in the northeast and bought a 5 bed 2,500 home for 375K in a gated golf community. That "trade" is no longer a thing it seems. Certainly not to that degree anyway, especially since the pandemic. That same home that we bought in Orlando is now valued at 722K, and there's no way in the world I'd pay that much for that home. No way.

-The weather is great for sure from November-March....that's when you'll be outside.

 

[_19disnA]

I agree you should visit the places you are planning to live before deciding. Anywhere in the Southeastern part of the country will have warmer weather then where you are now. Another consideration is the travel cost/logistics if you need to travel long distances to visit relatives after you move and will you fly/drive to do that?

Someplace you like to go on vacation isn't necessarily the most desirable place to live full-time.

 

[Brett Wyman]

OP are you more conservative in your political views(DO NOTA answer this out loud). It's just something that anyone moving to Florida should consider as a positive OR minus depending on their own beliefs. It's a VERY conservative leaning state at the moment, and will most likely stay this way based on demographics for the foreseeable.

Let's leave this post as it is please so we don't start any arguments. This was purely informational for someone moving from out of state.

I was born in Ocala. Lived a bit in Orlando for my preschool years. Did all of elementary and middle school back in Ocala. Then did high school in a small town called Perry. Lived in Tallahassee for 7 years during college and shortly after. Been in Atlanta since 2002 but still have tons of Florida family.

If I were to ever move back I'd move to the area south of Tampa/St Pete, Sarasota area.

 

[snappy]

We have contracted to build in northwest Florida in the panhandle about 7 miles from the gulf. We are building a 1 story with accessible features for the future, in a development that will have great amenities and will include yard and landscaping maintenance as well as exterior painting covered by HOA dues. Having lived in southeast Louisiana most of my life and having had to evacuate for hurricanes, living in south Florida was not attractive. I like to have multiple routes of egress when a storm threatens. There are some very nice areas on the southeast coast of the state but we decided against it.

 

[izzy]

We have contracted to build in northwest Florida in the panhandle about 7 miles from the gulf. We are building a 1 story with accessible features for the future, in a development that will have great amenities and will include yard and landscaping maintenance as well as exterior painting covered by HOA dues. Having lived in southeast Louisiana most of my life and having had to evacuate for hurricanes, living in south Florida was not attractive. I like to have multiple routes of egress when a storm threatens. There are some very nice areas on the southeast coast of the state but we decided against it.

That sounds like a lovely area. Would you mind sharing the name of the development? I would like to retire in Florida, but like you want to have options to get out if a bad hurricane is headed my way.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Florida was/is one of my options for retirement due to the tax relief on income. However, this whole homeowners insurance thing is scaring me and sounds like maybe any savings I get there, I could lose on that. My parents live in The Villages half the year so I guess I could just ask them (and I will) but I have a friend who lives just outside of Pensacola (retired). He told me that his homeowners insurance cancelled on him abruptly. They've had no claims and nothing seemed to prompt it. He is at least able to obtain it through the state but, of course, will be getting his 15 year old roof replaced first as a condition. Which he would have done had that been a reason for his other insurance cancelling. Now reading through here, he's looking at possibly $12,000 a year for this? WOW. Is that standard?

I'm in the midatlantic. I pay $1700 per year for homeowner's insurance and just under $6,000 a year on property taxes (I live right outside a major city so it's not like I'm in the sticks). But yes, my income is taxed as would my retirement be. This thread has been an eye opener concerning Florida for sure.

To clarify, the $12,000 is because I don't have a new roof (mine is 40 years old) and I have a big house (5000+ square fee). My parents have a newer roof and the pay $3,800. Insurance companies are dropping customers because the carrier is leaving the state.

 

[greeneyedchick]

OP are you more conservative in your political views(DO NOTA answer this out loud). It's just something that anyone moving to Florida should consider as a positive OR minus depending on their own beliefs. It's a VERY conservative leaning state at the moment, and will most likely stay this way based on demographics for the foreseeable.

Let's leave this post as it is please so we don't start any arguments. This was purely informational for someone moving from out of state.

I was born in Ocala. Lived a bit in Orlando for my preschool years. Did all of elementary and middle school back in Ocala. Then did high school in a small town called Perry. Lived in Tallahassee for 7 years during college and shortly after. Been in Atlanta since 2002 but still have tons of Florida family.

If I were to ever move back I'd move to the area south of Tampa/St Pete, Sarasota area.

For the area around me, Orlando and Tampa are left-leaning. Lake Mary and Sanford (outside of Orlando are about 50-50). More rural areas of the state tend to be more conservative.

 

[shh]

OP are you more conservative in your political views(DO NOTA answer this out loud). It's just something that anyone moving to Florida should consider as a positive OR minus depending on their own beliefs. It's a VERY conservative leaning state at the moment, and will most likely stay this way based on demographics for the foreseeable.

Except for Southeast Florida - which is definitely bluer. It's like 2 different states. (good or bad, depending upon your preference.)

 

[Christine]

To clarify, the $12,000 is because I don't have a new roof (mine is 40 years old) and I have a big house (5000+ square fee). My parents have a newer roof and the pay $3,800. Insurance companies are dropping customers because the carrier is leaving the state.

Yes, I think that's what my friend told me--the insurance company was just pulling up and not insuring in Florida anymore.

 

[permavac]

We started planning to find our retirement locale a few years ago. We knew we wanted east coast and close to a beach. We initially thought Delaware and looked there, thinking we could winter in Orlando, but the more we discussed it the more we realized that we would not make good snowbirds. So, we switched gears to looking for one permanent place.

We thought we would take some time during annual vacations to check out all the areas in Florida that met our criteria. Then came Covid and my husband switched to work from home and while we were down in Florida checking on a relative, we stayed in Daytona Beach and fell in love with the area. The housing prices relative to beach location were the most inexpensive we have ever seen. We spent a few months looking last year and ended up getting the perfect place for us just in time as the prices around here have gone up $100K to $150K more right after we bought.

I don't know figures for Orange County (which is west of us) but our car insurance is $750 a year for a 2017 vehicle and that's cheaper than where we were. Our home insurance is currently less than $2,000 per year but I expect it will probably go up. We have newer windows, doors, and roof and our agent said that that makes a big difference in pricing. We opted for a smaller house for lower utility bills.

I was a little worried about the summers but we just went through our first one here and it wasn't that bad. Your a/c is important and we were grateful to find a really good HVAC company when ours frittered out in July. While our area is about 10 degrees cooler than Orlando it still was really hot from mid to late June to right now but it has been cooling down a bit.

We take long walks on the beach and there are tons of activities around that we haven't had time to take advantage of. Traffic is pretty non-existent where we live unless there is a big event in town. We were here when it was bike week and that was loud. Spring break isn't really an issue because, unless you live right on the main strip off of International Speedway where the hotels are condensed, the coast is so long that in the other areas you don't really notice it. Nascar only has a few events that cause traffic problems but we don't really live near there. Port Orange is the next town over and they have more traffic near I-95 but, interestingly enough, there is a lot of undeveloped land around 95 that is only just now being built out and you can still find some large acreage parcels with tons of trees in subdivisions around there. We love living in Florida and prefer the heat to the cold. We lived in Michigan for several years and we see the Florida summer as the same as Michigan winters - you just have to plan accordingly. Our one neighbor is our new good friend.

Disney is a 1.5 hour drive and we go there often and love that we finally were able to buy those discounted Florida resident passes! We actually just bought another DVC contract because we love staying at the resorts for just a night or two and it feels like we've been there for weeks. We've also done plenty of day trips but you have to time it right because I-4 gets a lot of terrible traffic, coming and going; unless you've been in DC traffic and then you won't think it's so bad...

We haven't experienced a real threat of a hurricane yet but our relative who lives in the area hasn't yet had any damage to their home in Port Orange and they've been here since 2004. Our house is closer to the beach so definitely more in harm's way but we are zen about what will happen. If you live at the beach, hurricanes are a possibility. For us this was an opportunity of a lifetime to be near the beach and we can afford to spend a few nights at a hotel if we need to evacuate every now and then. We can see the Cape Canaveral launches from our backyard



Good luck with your search!
Terri

 

[_19disnA]

The political 'leanings' of most places tends to vary by county. Unless you are heavily involved in local politics, I doubt that really matters as a consideration for where to move and really wouldn't have any impact on your day-to-day life. Of all the various states where I have lived, I had NO idea how my friends/neighbors/co-workers felt about various political issues and it was never really anything we ever talked about.

Being aware of the cost/availability of home owner's insurance is far more relevant to consider in deciding where to live. If you live someplace that is considered within a known flood plane and/or the associated cost of insurance IS something to be aware of. If you live in areas subject to hurricanes, your home can be destroyed by one major storm. A snow storm in the northern part of the country can cause some travel issues/power outages/etc., but isn't going to destroy your home or have any major impact on the cost of insurance.

 

[Stratman50th]

We do get winter. I think I had the heat on in January for a total of ten days. Not consecutive though. Then it was over.
Oh, I did have the snow plow ready to go in case I got surprised...

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Other areas to consider: the Southwest, Carolinas, Texas, etc.

 

[RivShore]

Hi dvcgirl, just wanted to give our recent experience with moving from NJ (northern shore) to 15 minutes from WDW. Been here a year now and so far we love it but everyone is different...

However, living just 15 minutes from the parks changed "the magic" for us. Visiting for a day, evening...whatever the case may be is not the same. The immersive feel of Disney was gone for us.

We have not felt this way at all. Maybe because we always had a rental car on our visits so we were never fully enclosed in the bubble?
We love being able to run over for dinner any night we feel like it, even if it's just QS or F&W booths. And though things have been too busy for us since the move, we can't wait to do some spur of the moment nights at DVC at WDW or Vero.

Our property taxes were half of what we were paying in NJ at the time, but the home we bought was 40% of the selling price of that NJ home.

We moved after the big Covid FL price increases and we still cut our property taxes in half. That probably speaks more to the high NJ tax increases since you were here.

Car insurance and homeowners was much higher, particularly homeowners.

Still true but based on where your coming from, it might be different. Still net out to significant savings for us when looking at all taxes and insurances combined.

Yes, we have hot summers in the northeast, but we occasionally get a reprieve with lower humidity. The heat in Central Florida from really May-September is incredibly hot. You will be indoors in the summer. The home we owned in Florida actually had a good-sized pool with a cooling system. Without it, the pool would have been useless in the summer, and most of those smaller "splash pools".....are effectively bathtubs for at least half of the year.

We have acclimated well to the heat, but we always preferred dealing with the heat to the cold and snow of the NE. This year, the heat did not really ramp up until the later summer and even then it has not stopped us from going out. We actually went thru a little dry spell this summer where the humidity dropped drastically...thought we moved to AZ for a while there, the dry heat was a pleasant change.

We have a medium size pool and have not run into the need to cool it. I think the hottest it has gotten is 86-88 degrees but when the air temp is 98, it feels cool enough. And with near daily afternoon and evening rains, it keeps the temp from ever getting too high (for us anyway). What water temps were you seeing that you actually needed a cooling system?

-The "big money" made on a move to Florida used to be that you could get a nice home for much less than the home you sold in the Northeast. That was definitely still in play when we moved. We sold our 5 bed 3,500 sq ft home for 900K in the northeast and bought a 5 bed 2,500 home for 375K in a gated golf community. That "trade" is no longer a thing it seems. Certainly not to that degree anyway, especially since the pandemic. That same home that we bought in Orlando is now valued at 722K, and there's no way in the world I'd pay that much for that home. No way.

That is all relative, we paid more than we wanted to in FL but also got more than we ever expected selling our NJ house.

-The weather is great for sure from November-March....that's when you'll be outside.

I don't think shorts and flip flops in Dec and Jan will ever get old but then we were really really sick of winters!

 

[RivShore]

Just want to throw this out there, and it only applies to now. This could change in a few months. If you are going to rent, be prepared to pay top dollar. I'm talking Disney prices! My daughter and her BF have been living with us since May and they are having a terrible time locating something in their price range to rent. They aren't looking for some amazing property fit for a movie star, just something in a safe neighborhood that's reasonable. Hopefully we'll start to see demand go down so they can find a place they can afford (and get out of my house!).

FYI, there's a ton of apartments being built in the Horizon West area. I would think once all that supply comes on-line, rents will have to drop. Good luck giving them the boot..opps I mean aren't you going to miss your DD?

 

[RivShore]

As much as I love historic homes, the comments that were posted by Greeneyedchick about roofs needing to be fairly new, and the increasing difficulty in getting affordable homeowners insurance confirms a lot of what I have been reading as well. I would likely try to stick to an existing home built within the last 10 years.

I would go as new as possible, they are constantly updating building codes and your insurance will take that into account.

I am wondering why the auto rates are so high though? Obviously, I’ve seen the way people drive around Orlando, including in the non-tourist areas but I still find it hard to believe that there are really that many more accidents than we would have here with our weather. I only have 1 car and it’s now 9 years old, and since I work from home I put on maybe 5K a year now. Are there a lot of auto thefts?

I think the rates are directly related to the number of billboards for lawyers enticing you to sue for any and all accidents, big and small. I mean they literately sound like you can win the lottery - i.e. "Better Call Saul got me $880k for my accident, you should call him too!". In NJ, our auto rates stabilized and actually dropped once lawsuit limits were put in place. Boy do we need that in FL.