zella
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Post by zella on Aug 7, 2018 7:36:46 GMT
We've been looking at houses in Florida for months, and it looks to me like the best two areas for us are either the greater Tampa area, or the greater Orlando area. By which I mean about 2 hours or so outside of either place. That's where we've been able to find the most homes that fit our budget and are what we want.
I did also find some homes on the east coast in the Delray Beach area.
What areas would you recommend and where should we avoid?
I need good healthcare, and honestly Florida seems to be okay in that regard. We're 3 adults, so schools don't matter (though our DD might end up going to college; she's currently doing online college). We don't care about the hurricanes and the humidity. Though the gators scare the bejeesus out of me! We just love sunshine and we want decent winter weather. We love beaches and the ocean, and while we're minutes from both here in the Pacific NW, the beaches are rocky and the water is WAY too cold for swimming, even in summer. That's why we're looking at Florida. Also DD and I do better in warmer weather, both mentally and physically.
We are currently starting to meet with realtors and a developer so we can sell our house. We've lived in the PNW for 14 years, which is as long as I've lived anywhere and I am ready for something completely different!
We are also open possibly to Georgia or South Carolina, but we've never been either place. We were in Orlando for a week in December, and honestly we all liked it.
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Post by christine58 on Aug 7, 2018 10:44:07 GMT
I have two friends on the west coast...both in and/or near Spring Hill. One lives there year round, the other owns a home and is there from time to time. They both love it there.
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Post by kristi521 on Aug 7, 2018 12:22:20 GMT
I am a MI girl, so take it for what it is worth. I would avoid Orlando at all costs. I think it is a lot of fun to go there for Disney, or vacation in general, but I would not want to live there. It is way too congested.
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carhoch
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Post by carhoch on Aug 7, 2018 13:34:45 GMT
You say you don’t care about hurricane so I presume you have never been through one ,Because usually people who has experience with them do care it’s not a dealbreaker because if it was nobody would live in Florida but you need to take it in consideration.
Hurricane outside of being dangerous are a Huge pain ,they are expensive ,If you buy a house with a yard it’s an in enormous amount of work to put it all back together.
The only way I would agree to live in Florida is if I could afford a hurricane proof house and a generator that cover the whole house.
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schizo319
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Post by schizo319 on Aug 7, 2018 13:42:53 GMT
I have friends in the Jacksonville area. It's about 3 hours from Tampa and 4 hours from Orlando. They found a lovely home about 15 minutes from the beach for less than 200K (short sale about 7 years ago). There's a Mayo clinic in Jacksonville, so I'm assuming that healthcare is pretty good there. It's also about an hour from Savannah, GA (which is one of my favorite cities in the US). Personally, I'd have zero interest in living in FL (I hate the heat), but if I had to, Jacksonville is where I would choose.
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amom23
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Post by amom23 on Aug 7, 2018 13:48:07 GMT
DH and I have vacationed several times in the West Palm Beach area and just love it. As a Midwesterner everyone we know has gravitated to the west coast of FL which is why DH and I probably enjoy the diversity of the east coast side LOL.
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Post by buddysmom on Aug 7, 2018 13:58:25 GMT
I've lived in FL for 40 years. Lived in three areas, Tampa, Orlando and Boca (one town south of Delray).
Delray would be the most expensive area, Tampa and Orlando have similar costs of living and if you are in Seattle it is MUCH cheaper.
There are state universities in all three areas; FAU in Boca (I went there); UCF in Orlando and USF in Tampa.
UCF is considered a better school--and it's huge.
If you are a FL resident (I think it takes a year to establish residency) the schools are likely much cheaper than what you are used to.
Yeah, it's hot and humid but we "thumb our noses" at the rest of the country in the winter when they are freezing and it's nice here!
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LeaP
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Post by LeaP on Aug 7, 2018 14:12:54 GMT
You say you don’t care about hurricane so I presume you have never been through one ,Because usually people who has experience with them do care it’s not a dealbreaker because if it was nobody would live in Florida but you need to take it in consideration. Hurricane outside of being dangerous are a Huge pain ,they are expensive ,If you buy a house with a yard it’s an in enormous amount of work to put it all back together. The only way I would agree to live in Florida is if I could afford a hurricane proof house and a generator that cover the whole house. I went through Hurricane Andrew and it was awful. I lived in Kendall just north of Homestead. In Florida, houseplants become trees and many of them have shallow root systems and blow over in storms. Good luck with your house hunt and keep an emergency kit and plan handy. |
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Post by mimi3566 on Aug 7, 2018 14:58:33 GMT
I've lived in the Orlando area for over 30 years and have seen so much growth it's crazy. The traffic is out of control and I really am over the heat and humidity.
If I had known then, what I know now, I would look at the panhandle of Florida...Navarre comes to mind. It's affordable, close to the beach, FSU and has just enough cold weather to appreciate the changes in the season without being too cold for too long or too hot for too long and it's easier to leave in the event of hurricane evacuation being that it's part of the mainland more so than on the peninsula with only 2 main highways leading out.
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 7, 2018 15:04:08 GMT
If you have never been to Florida in the summer, I would suggest that you plan a trip there in the next month. It’s hot and humid and no one wants to be outdoors. Of course, that’s how a lot of people feel about winters elsewhere! But that soul sucking humidity goes on for months and Florida in August is much different than Florida in December.
Assume there are gators in any body of water. And snakes everywhere. It’s a critter paradise!
With medical issues, I’d recommend that you live within 30 minutes of a major medical center. As you know, doctor appts can take over your life. Don’t add 2 hours of travel on to that! Consider a condo or community where yard maintenance is taken care of for you.
Good luck on your search!
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Post by Linda on Aug 7, 2018 15:11:05 GMT
I'm further north in Florida than where you are looking and about as far from the beach as you can get and still be in Florida, lol.
My niece lives in Tampa - and we've visited and gone to the beaches there. The water is nice but the beaches (at least the ones we visited) didn't have the sandy shores and surf that I'm familiar with from Atlantic beaches - they were very shell-y and protected.
DD18 is headed to UCF in Orlando in two weeks - Orlando is a traffic and tourist nightmare. Beaches are at least an hour away (more with traffic).
Hurricanes are something to take into account - and the closer to the coast you are, the more of an impact. In my area rain (flooding) is usually more of an issue than wind - we had devastating flooding from a tropical storm some years ago in my community.
Good luck deciding.
By the way - medical wise - UF has a top-ranked medical school (Gainesville). UCF (Orlando) has a new medical school (2006). I'm not familiar with USF (Tampa)'s program
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naby64
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Post by naby64 on Aug 7, 2018 15:48:21 GMT
My DH is from Tampa and all of his family still live there or in a community east called Brandon. We lived there for 5 yrs after getting married.
I can only repeat what everyone else has said. HUMIDITY!! So thick the moment you walk out the door in the morning to go to work, you feel like you need to shower again. I live in the humid south. It still just doesn't compare to FL. It is it's own beast.
DO NOT live in Orlando area. You would not believe the crowds, traffic issues, costs of living. Hello, vacation destination of the world.(that may be pushing it, but close).
My SIL has a house on Anna Maria Island, south of St. Petersburg. The bluest-green water ever and the beaches are sandy. We are so spoiled to that area, we won't go anywhere else now.
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Post by walkerdill on Aug 7, 2018 17:08:19 GMT
I live in Spring Hill (Near Weeki Wachee Mermaids). It is 45 mins North of Tampa and 1 1/2 hrs. from Orlando. The location is fantastic. The problem is that everyone has found the area and it's getting very built up and a lot more crime. You can easily commute to Tampa for work or whatever so its making it a desirable place. I personally would not move here at this point. If I were looking for an area not far from Tampa & Orlando I would look into Inverness, Homosassa & Crystal River area's. They haven't gotten so built up like this area.
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bethany102399
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Post by bethany102399 on Aug 7, 2018 17:35:38 GMT
DO NOT live in Orlando area. You would not believe the crowds, traffic issues, costs of living. Hello, vacation destination of the world.(that may be pushing it, but close). You guys are scaring me for our trip to Orlando next summer. The IL's live in Atlanta and I joke that there is a certain perimeter around their house that I will drive when we're down there and that's IT. My continual response when DH makes noises about moving down there is no way with the traffic. Is it worse than downtown ATL? |
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Post by buddysmom on Aug 7, 2018 18:01:08 GMT
DO NOT live in Orlando area. You would not believe the crowds, traffic issues, costs of living. Hello, vacation destination of the world.(that may be pushing it, but close). You guys are scaring me for our trip to Orlando next summer. The IL's live in Atlanta and I joke that there is a certain perimeter around their house that I will drive when we're down there and that's IT. My continual response when DH makes noises about moving down there is no way with the traffic. Is it worse than downtown ATL? My experience with Atlanta traffic is that the lanes always end! I just have to keep moving over to the left as you head into downtown on the interstate. As for the traffic in Orlando, they are doing the "I-4 Ultimate" redo. It's supposed to be finished around 2021 but in the meantime it's about 30 miles of craziness. The traffic patterns keep changing from week to week. Add to it that there are many tourists who don't know the area (and even with the locals) it is pretty crazy. But it's supposed to be better after it is all finished--but i think part of it will be a toll road. That's another thing--not where I live in the suburbs--but going to the airport and toward downtown (except of I-4) are toll roads which is another expense. |
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craftymom101
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Post by craftymom101 on Aug 7, 2018 18:34:35 GMT
We live in South Brevard county. We are about 70 miles from Orlando. Yes, the humidity is insane. The traffic here isn't too bad. Home prices have gone up a ton in the 7 years I've lived here, but still much less than the PNW. I grew up in the PNW and lived there for 25 years.  November - March are absolutely beautiful. Average temps in February are 72 degrees. Politically, it's a very different climate than the PNW. Be prepared for that. I like the area a lot and my kids go to a fantastic charter school. |
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Post by Pahina722 on Aug 7, 2018 19:08:20 GMT
The best beaches are in the Panhandle. I would never consider living in Orlando which feels more like a huge tourist destination than a home. DS goes to UCF and loves it, but doesn’t love Orlando, even though he likes heat far more than I do. It’s hot, humid, doesn’t have a real Florida feel. If you want that area, Tampa, New Port Richey, etc are much better choices. I love St. Pete, but it’s EXPENSIVE!
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zella
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Post by zella on Aug 7, 2018 20:49:43 GMT
You say you don’t care about hurricane so I presume you have never been through one ,Because usually people who has experience with them do care it’s not a dealbreaker because if it was nobody would live in Florida but you need to take it in consideration. Hurricane outside of being dangerous are a Huge pain ,they are expensive ,If you buy a house with a yard it’s an in enormous amount of work to put it all back together. The only way I would agree to live in Florida is if I could afford a hurricane proof house and a generator that cover the whole house. That is more what I meant. It's not a dealbreaker. If there's a hurricane coming I'll be leaving the state well ahead of it. And we are planning on a house with a very small yard. Just enough room for the doggies to do their business. I do NOT want to live in tornado country, because those can come with little to no warning, even now with the excellent storm tracking and forecasting we have. But hurricanes you have plenty of warning. And yes, we'll be looking for a hurricane proof house. |
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zella
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Post by zella on Aug 7, 2018 20:52:03 GMT
I have friends in the Jacksonville area. It's about 3 hours from Tampa and 4 hours from Orlando. They found a lovely home about 15 minutes from the beach for less than 200K (short sale about 7 years ago). There's a Mayo clinic in Jacksonville, so I'm assuming that healthcare is pretty good there. It's also about an hour from Savannah, GA (which is one of my favorite cities in the US). Personally, I'd have zero interest in living in FL (I hate the heat), but if I had to, Jacksonville is where I would choose. Thanks for that info. I've looked at Jacksonville too. And Savannah. It's beautiful. We should have the ability to move if we need to. We're hoping to get lucky and find our forever home right away, but it's a crap shoot when you're moving somewhere you're not familiar with. |
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freebird
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Post by freebird on Aug 7, 2018 20:53:51 GMT
We are house shopping in Cape Coral. One thing about living over near disney/universal is that all your relatives will use you for a hotel! One of the advantages of Cape Coral is it's too far away to do that. LOL
Plus it's right across the bridge from Sanibel. We love it there.
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zella
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Post by zella on Aug 7, 2018 20:55:46 GMT
If you have never been to Florida in the summer, I would suggest that you plan a trip there in the next month. It’s hot and humid and no one wants to be outdoors. Of course, that’s how a lot of people feel about winters elsewhere! But that soul sucking humidity goes on for months and Florida in August is much different than Florida in December. Assume there are gators in any body of water. And snakes everywhere. It’s a critter paradise! With medical issues, I’d recommend that you live within 30 minutes of a major medical center. As you know, doctor appts can take over your life. Don’t add 2 hours of travel on to that! Consider a condo or community where yard maintenance is taken care of for you. Good luck on your search! While I know it's different because of the humidity, I've spent many summers in Tucson, so the heat doesn't worry me. Also I hardly leave the house. I don't mind going grocery shopping at night. It currently takes me 2 hours to get to the hospital a lot of the time even though it's only 10 miles away, because of the stupid ferries. But you are right, I'd like to be closer than 2 hours. But I also know we can't afford to live close in to some of the cities. |
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Post by Linda on Aug 7, 2018 20:58:56 GMT
While I know it's different because of the humidity, I've spent many summers in Tucson, so the heat doesn't worry me I lived in Tucson for 4 years, I've been in Florida for 20 years now - it's a COMPLETELY different heat. I managed just fine without A/C in Tucson...mine runs almost year-round here. The humidity saps every iota of energy out of you. I'll take AZ at 115 over Florida at 85 any day. |
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Post by Linda on Aug 7, 2018 21:00:18 GMT
I do NOT want to live in tornado country, Florida gets tornadoes also - just something to be aware of. |
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zella
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Post by zella on Aug 7, 2018 21:02:34 GMT
We are house shopping in Cape Coral. One thing about living over near disney/universal is that all your relatives will use you for a hotel! One of the advantages of Cape Coral is it's too far away to do that. LOL Plus it's right across the bridge from Sanibel. We love it there. We've looked at Cape Coral; it's beautiful! We could end up being neighbors. I wonder if I'd recognize you if I saw you at the grocery store? I think I might. Too funny! We don't have relatives who'd visit. Literally. I only have a mother who would never stay with me and a brother who I don't even know if he's alive. I can't imagine I'll ever see him again. Hubby has two daughters in Canada (who are well off and don't come to see us), a mom in Canada who can't travel at all, and a sister he can't stand. I have a few other cousins and such in England, but not a one who'd want or need to stay with us. I'm not sure if that's good or sad. Glad to see I'm not the only one wanting to live in Florida; a lot of people are very negative about it. Not here, specifically, but in general. |
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zella
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Post by zella on Aug 7, 2018 21:05:01 GMT
I live in Spring Hill (Near Weeki Wachee Mermaids). It is 45 mins North of Tampa and 1 1/2 hrs. from Orlando. The location is fantastic. The problem is that everyone has found the area and it's getting very built up and a lot more crime. You can easily commute to Tampa for work or whatever so its making it a desirable place. I personally would not move here at this point. If I were looking for an area not far from Tampa & Orlando I would look into Inverness, Homosassa & Crystal River area's. They haven't gotten so built up like this area. Thank you: that's exactly the kind of info I need. That mermaid place freaks me out. How they have to go down a narrow tube to get into the tank, and then they breathe through tubes. Have you been there? Hubby will be working from home, so no need to travel for work. |
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zella
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Post by zella on Aug 7, 2018 21:06:45 GMT
I've lived in the Orlando area for over 30 years and have seen so much growth it's crazy. The traffic is out of control and I really am over the heat and humidity. If I had known then, what I know now, I would look at the panhandle of Florida...Navarre comes to mind. It's affordable, close to the beach, FSU and has just enough cold weather to appreciate the changes in the season without being too cold for too long or too hot for too long and it's easier to leave in the event of hurricane evacuation being that it's part of the mainland more so than on the peninsula with only 2 main highways leading out. Thank you. More good info. There are some beautiful beaches up there. I haven't looked at Navarre, so I'll definitely do that. I also appreciate the info about evacuation. That makes a lot of sense. |
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freebird
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Post by freebird on Aug 7, 2018 21:39:55 GMT
We are house shopping in Cape Coral. One thing about living over near disney/universal is that all your relatives will use you for a hotel! One of the advantages of Cape Coral is it's too far away to do that. LOL Plus it's right across the bridge from Sanibel. We love it there. We've looked at Cape Coral; it's beautiful! We could end up being neighbors. I wonder if I'd recognize you if I saw you at the grocery store? I think I might. Too funny! We don't have relatives who'd visit. Literally. I only have a mother who would never stay with me and a brother who I don't even know if he's alive. I can't imagine I'll ever see him again. Hubby has two daughters in Canada (who are well off and don't come to see us), a mom in Canada who can't travel at all, and a sister he can't stand. I have a few other cousins and such in England, but not a one who'd want or need to stay with us. I'm not sure if that's good or sad. Glad to see I'm not the only one wanting to live in Florida; a lot of people are very negative about it. Not here, specifically, but in general.
If we make it to the same area we'll have to meet up! You might be surprised at all the new "friends" you make when they find out you live in Orlando.
Heck, buy a house with a couple extra bedrooms and rent them out!
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georgiapea
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Post by georgiapea on Aug 7, 2018 22:09:08 GMT
Zella, there are 2 Facebook groups I belong to that are very helpful. People join to get help, then stay to help others. The groups are Moving to Florida and Taking the Florida Plunge. Both have well vetted real estate agents and those agents are the only ones allowed to offer their assistance.
A place I went to recently, not down in the main part of the state, was Miramar Beach in the Panhandle. Too toney for our poor selves but super beautiful with a large hospital.
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Montannie
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Post by Montannie on Aug 7, 2018 22:12:08 GMT
My niece lived in the Ocala area for a while. I have no idea about cost of living there, but it's in the middle of horse country and is beautiful!
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Post by MichyM on Aug 7, 2018 22:19:42 GMT
If you have never been to Florida in the summer, I would suggest that you plan a trip there in the next month. It’s hot and humid and no one wants to be outdoors. Of course, that’s how a lot of people feel about winters elsewhere! But that soul sucking humidity goes on for months and Florida in August is much different than Florida in December. Assume there are gators in any body of water. And snakes everywhere. It’s a critter paradise! With medical issues, I’d recommend that you live within 30 minutes of a major medical center. As you know, doctor appts can take over your life. Don’t add 2 hours of travel on to that! Consider a condo or community where yard maintenance is taken care of for you. Good luck on your search! While I know it's different because of the humidity, I've spent many summers in Tucson, so the heat doesn't worry me. Also I hardly leave the house. I don't mind going grocery shopping at night. It currently takes me 2 hours to get to the hospital a lot of the time even though it's only 10 miles away, because of the stupid ferries. But you are right, I'd like to be closer than 2 hours. But I also know we can't afford to live close in to some of the cities. I've spent time in AZ in the summer. I've spent time in FL, and SC in the summer. They are completely and utterly different things. Truly. There is absolutely NO comparison. If you have never spent time in the southeast during summer months, I'll second/third the recommendation to do so! |
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