[jambo101]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

It's not 7-9 months. The hot humid months are May-Sep. That's 5 months. October is awesome and so is April and all months between. This past May was very nice weather, not too humid or hot for much of May.

I was there for the entire month of March this year and the last week of which temps were in the high 80's with more humidity than i'm comfortable with.
I'd also add October to that hot weather time period and the first half of November can exhibit summer like temps and humidity.
My opinion is that those who dont fare well with heat are generally going to have a rough time of it from April to November.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Agreed. In fact, this year the nice, less humid weather lasted until mid-June. Honestly, for the past 3 years or so the Florida weather has been pretty awesome.

Agreed. Thanks to the weather changes of the past few years it's actually been as hot (if not hotter) in the Northeast US over July and August with miserable humidity. I moved here from Philadelphia and my Mom had been living in central Florida and I know firsthand as well as through forecast comparisons that Philly was worse off than Orlando over the meat of the summer (July-August). The past two years Philly had a higher average temperature for July than Orlando.

[alfbroker]

Originally Posted by daytonadewd

I'm not seeing much backup to support recommended areas as "safe" in posts.

I'm amazed with how people confuse how "nice" a neighborhood or area may appear to be or a "nice" small town or a rural area that's somehow "safe." But is it?

And a non-descript, blighted or minority area must be "unsafe." But is it?

Making such assumptions in FL will make you a fool!

Use the following tool for local Crime Reports to map crime (and types of crimes) in an area. Look up your neighborhood first, then compare it to areas you are finding for real estate searches to see if you have a good fit:
http://www.crimereports.com/

The other thing that's strange in FL is that you can go from a great area to a very bad one in just a few blocks (and not be able to tell just by looking at it).

You'd be amazed of what the facts show, instead of basing such things on just appearances!

Great post and useful link, but people make decisions on both facts and their own perceptions. If it looks safe and the facts back it up, you have a winner. If they look at an area and it doesn't look safe to them, they are unlikely to move there regardless of what the facts show.

[alfbroker]

Originally Posted by jambo101

I was there for the entire month of March this year and the last week of which temps were in the high 80's with more humidity than i'm comfortable with.
I'd also add October to that hot weather time period and the first half of November can exhibit summer like temps and humidity.
My opinion is that those who dont fare well with heat are generally going to have a rough time of it from April to November.

True. Those that think they only have to tough out 3 months of summer in FL are in for a shock. Nobody from up north knows how they will handle 7-9 months of humidity every year until they go through it. Renting before buying to make sure you can handle the heat and the other surprises living in FL has, might be a good idea. Unless you're sure you're are getting such a great deal on a buy that you can sell and at least break even, if you find FL isn't for you long term.