[mbiondo]

What about Naples FL? I am not going to tell you the houses are cheap, but it is a great community, safe, and family oriented.

Thank God, we have been OK w/ the hurricanes,watch out for insurance policies, if you have one in NJ , see if they could transfer it to your new house.

See removed

[FormerJerseyGirl]

Hey Nancy Lynne,
Great you are considering the big move. I moved to Fla 30 years ago and it was the best thing I could've done. My family still all live in NJ. But, I live the life that they are all trying to RETIRE to!

[cut]

I've lived in Tallahassee and Gainesville, but I know so many people who are moving OUT OF South Florida! Getting too crowded, they say.

BTW, we raised 4 kids in this house, and we lived a block or two from the rec center, supermarket, restaurants and 1-hour drive to either coast. This IS NOT hurricane territory, so insurance is less. The pace of life is slower--probably the BIGGEST Transition you'll have! Good Luck.

[Rebecca in Tampa]

[quote=kalanaj;78440]

Be prepared, unlike NJ there IS tax on food and clothing down here,


We don't pay tax on food. Only fast food.. is that what you mean? At the grocery store the food is not taxed.

Good luck in your move though! Your child will love to get out year round! The first summer is MISERABLE though, but you really get used to it. Really check out the schools. Florida has horrible schools, so be sure to check that in the area you are moving.

You will meet MANY from that are down here. As for areas to move...... I think there is some beautiful cities south of tampa (sarasota, naples, etc) However the pricing is expensive, you may want to check port charlotte, punta gorda, That area is still affordable.

[findmyflhome]

Hi Nancy, I too use to live in NJ and now live in FL. I have been in Spring Hill now since 2000, at first it was culture shock but now I love it. The first thing you will notice here is that when strangers ask how are you, they really mean it, they are not after anything. They use to tell me I had a NJ attitude, I would respond with what are you talking about.

The atmospher here is very relaxed and the people are great, perhaps at times a little too friendly. The area I live in is a growing community with lots of schools and beaches near-by.

If you want more information, I am also a realtor take a look at my website at [moderator cut] to view what you can get here for the money, it is still very resonable.

For area information, I recently started a blog at [moderator cut] fee free to sign up and post your comments or questions.

Good Luck...Liz

[bamboosmom]

[quote=Rebecca in Tampa;82643]

Originally Posted by kalanaj

Be prepared, unlike NJ there IS tax on food and clothing down here,


We don't pay tax on food. Only fast food.. is that what you mean? At the grocery store the food is not taxed.

Good luck in your move though! Your child will love to get out year round! The first summer is MISERABLE though, but you really get used to it. Really check out the schools. Florida has horrible schools, so be sure to check that in the area you are moving.

You will meet MANY from that are down here. As for areas to move...... I think there is some beautiful cities south of tampa (sarasota, naples, etc) However the pricing is expensive, you may want to check port charlotte, punta gorda, That area is still affordable.

Compared to Sarasota, Lee or Collier Counties, Charlotte County will give you more home for the money and probably more property also.

[pioneer8]

Originally Posted by Nancy Lynne

I really enjoy reading the posts on this forum. I have learned alot about FL and where to lpossibly live...or not to live...etc. I want to thank everyone who took the time to respond to my original post about ...where to go from here.

I just wanted to share a different perspective...and would love to hear your feedback... Times are tough, I think, for most all of us, financially these days, except for the very wealthy it seems. Somehow I don't think a person with a ton money would find their way to a site like this...because they can just buy whatever they want, where they want it, etc. I have read alot of negative comments about Florida, and I just hope that we can really help one another here by being as honest as we can with whatever our personal experience has been.

So........let me share with you why a 40 something, single parent of a 10 year old boy, is going to pick up her NJ roots and move on down!....

NJ has the wealthiest population in the US. NJ also has the highest property taxes, the highest car insurance, the dirtiest air, the dirtiest water, the highest rate of breast cancer, the highest density of population per square foot. It does not have, as NY does, an intra state mass transit system. Everything goes to Newark and NYC. NJ USED to be home to many high tech companies -- most of which have all gone out of business, left town, or sold out....including AT&T, Lucent, Bell Labs, etc.

I am a product of the high tech melt down and have been laid off more times than I care to remember. Unless you work in NY (financial) or pharmaceutical or healthcare...there just aren't jobs. There is so much massive wealth here, from the Wall Street crowd....you would just have to see it to believe it.

PROPERTY TAXES: I had already been paying....are you ready????? $14,000 a year for my property taxes --- I am in a 2700 square foot home ---and this year we were reassessed.....and in one fell swoop.....my taxes have increased to $21,000!!!!!! So yes.....except for the "rich and famous"...NJerseyans are moving out of state in record numbers. You see, it doesn't matter if you make a profit on the house that you sell here....if you still can't buy anything with it. There are more houses on the market than I've ever ever seen....and nothing is moving! Right now, we can't give our homes away. And yes, our sales tax was just increased to 7%. Now - get this! My neighbor just moved (yesterday) to Charleston, SC....they too, just got taxed out.....and NJ has a 1% realty transfer fee ....so they sold their house for 1.7M and had to pay $17,000 to get the hell out of here. In addition, the person who bought their house, has to pay a 1% million dollar house fee, so an additional $17,000 is automatically added onto the cost of the house.......THEREFORE, THE STATE OF NJ GOT NEARLY $40,000 JUST BECAUSE A HOUSE WAS SOLD IN THIS STATE!

YIKES!

Excellent and informative post. I hope nobody takes offense to this. I like Florida, I really do. In some ways, I love the state. I just wonder why you have chosen the sunshine state as your (and your son's) destination? I have a little tribe of children here... we left FL almost a year ago (around Tampa area... Clearwater...) mostly because it was getting so very expensive. We are getting so much more home and everything for our money in TX. Honestly, we do pretty good... we are not rich by any stretch of the immagination.. and yet, we feel like our money is worth so much more simply by leaving Florida. Of course, I do not know the entire state, but I was there for my whole life and still have much family still residing there. I have some single sisters raising kids and it is very difficult for them. Manageable, but difficult. I know that there are cheaper places to live in many other places in this beautiful country of ours (and not as far as Texas), so just inquiring as to why Florida? Hope you don't feel I am prying.

[Joesebastian]

sebastian is so corrupt, Im from new york and i must say that the corruption here would blow ny or jersey corruption away. this small town has a policy of working with the state attorney to remove people from there community via bogus charges. and if you go to trial and prove your innocence they will throw ou in jail for contempt of court even thoughno contempt has been commited stay away from sebastian your kids will thank you for it . should you decide to move here please be advised that your right will be violated and your life will be miserable with the city politicians . even if you are here and dont get involved with local gov you will be pulled over at some point the schools have alot of corruptiona as well theytook the best superintendant the world could have asked for and removed him because he was honest and rightious. reconsider sebastian move to fellsmere or micco or grant sebastian is a cesspool of liars in office .. good luck

[bale002]

In spite of the run-up in real state buy prices and insurance rates in Florida, it is still inexpensive compared to the major northeastern regions and maybe other areas such as Chicago.

It is true that many long-time and/or relatively low-income Floridians feel they must leave, or actually must leave, the state to lower-cost states relative to Florida in the southeast, ranging from NC to TN to TX, even some further afield.

Now, whether Florida is more desirable than Texas is a matter of personal needs and preferences.

As for food prices, as I have mentioned on other threads, look for local produce stands: yes, there is still local agriculture in Florida and it is worth supporting! No, I am not in the local produce business, it is just common sense.

[MrTudo]

It's unbelievable what y'all in NJ put up with. Cmon down and enjoy Fla.

[FloridaAnn]

Inland Fl. and N. Fl. will be less expensive, but if you can afford it, the Vero Beach, Sebastian, and St. Augustine areas great. Property ins. is thru the roof (and some areas unavailable) due to the recent bout of hurricaines. For many living on fixed incomes or set salaries, the monthly rise in the mortgage payments puts them in financial trouble. Be sure to get up to date estimate of ins. costs before you buy. Anything near coast is going to be high.