[ISLANDSLLC]

For anyone looking to move here, I think Naples is a great place to raise a family...successfully and safely.

The schools are musically inclined and very sports orientated. Lots of school spirit.

If you live near your work you can escape most of the high season traffic with your short commute. Everything is within 10 minutes.
We have restaurants galore and good weather.

If you buy low and sell high you can profit from our Naples market. It's a slower pace here than our northern states combined with a mid western temperament.

Walking along the beach is such a pleasure. What a great resource! What a great place to call.......HOME.

Judith

[Littlered]

Do you know anything about their police department? We are thinking of moving to Florida from Ohio but my husband needs to find a job as a police officer.

[Tarastomsgirl]

Exactly how long have you lived in Naples Island? You failed to mention that buying a house "low" in Naples requires you to shell out $300,000 + dollars for a hole in the ground roach house.

I can tell you about the sheriffs office Littlered. My husband worked for them. They lost 20 officers last July when they couldn't get paid enough to live in Naples. The goverment lost tons of workers also. Then they held a career fair back in Dec of 06. 20 people showed up. The started shelling out $3000 sign on bonus to anyone who could get hired. Most took it, found out how much it costs to live in naples and turned it down . My husband got a job as an officer up in NH getting paid Double what he did in Naples, and the cost of living is 3 times less. The sheriffs office doesn't pay time and half for holidays or overtime down here because they said that there is no such thing as a holiday as a police officer.. Now not only does he get time and a half, on Christmas and thanksgiving he gets to clock in and come back home till he gets a call. So choose wisely and do your homework

[deckardc]

Originally Posted by Tarastomsgirl

Exactly how long have you lived in Naples Island? You failed to mention that buying a house "low" in Naples requires you to shell out $300,000 + dollars for a hole in the ground roach house.

I suspect she's a realtor, her user ID is a bit of a giveaway. Realtors have to pass out the Kool-aid right now, their livelihood depends on convincing people that "now is the time to buy". Buy low, sell high...in Naples... that's funny! Naples has already seen about a 20% price decline and it hasn't reached bottom. I guess if you buy now, you could wait a decade or so to sell high. Economists have long declared Naples the most overvalued market in the country and Citibank has recently announced they will no longer do 100% financing in Collier Co. because of the risk of severe price declines.

[ISLANDSLLC]

Hi Littlered. Our Chamber of Commerce number in Naples Florida is 239-262-6141. They should be full of helpful information and phone numbers for you to get started. I am originally from Ohio too.
Good luck,
Judith

[HockeyMom72]

Naples housing is way over the top. For what you will get here for the same price, a Naples house would fit inside the house we used to own on LI. Plus that is not counting we had almost 2/3 of an acre in NY. Yeah, the taxes were high, but if you factor in all these other costs here, it comes to about the same. One house we looked at last year was listed for $450,000. It just sold for $299,000. Don't hold your breath hanging on to it going back up in the $400,000's. It was NOT WORTH IT. We call homes that size up in NY BUNGALOWS.

Besides, what are the school rankings by state? Last I checked Florida, was somewhere around the 36th state ranking.

[LiveLoveLaugh]

I want to add my $.02 Let's forget about buying low and selling high....that is how we got into the mess we are currently in. Naples was a beautiful city till 'they paved paradise and put up a parking lot' Sadly, same thing happened in So Fl. Fl has MANY wonderful things to offer (cheap RE isn't 1 of them) There is the ocean, the gulf, the weather, you can come home from a day at work and go for a swim all year round. You don't have to deal w/ public transportation (a convertible is GREAT) btw...lol...there isn't much public transportation. I've lived in So Fl for 23 years and worked in Naples for 10. Truthfully, I didn't hear anyone complain about Fl till the housing market took a downturn...it is definitly not for everyone but it is paradise for many. JMO!

[V20]

Originally Posted by Tarastomsgirl

Exactly how long have you lived in Naples Island? You failed to mention that buying a house "low" in Naples requires you to shell out $300,000 + dollars for a hole in the ground roach house.

I can tell you about the sheriffs office Littlered. My husband worked for them. They lost 20 officers last July when they couldn't get paid enough to live in Naples. The goverment lost tons of workers also. Then they held a career fair back in Dec of 06. 20 people showed up. The started shelling out $3000 sign on bonus to anyone who could get hired. Most took it, found out how much it costs to live in naples and turned it down . My husband got a job as an officer up in NH getting paid Double what he did in Naples, and the cost of living is 3 times less. The sheriffs office doesn't pay time and half for holidays or overtime down here because they said that there is no such thing as a holiday as a police officer.. Now not only does he get time and a half, on Christmas and thanksgiving he gets to clock in and come back home till he gets a call. So choose wisely and do your homework

First let me commend your police officer husband. It is an honorable job wherever it is done.

My take of New Hampshire, however, is not as positive. Having lived in NH for ten years (both the seacoast and the lakes region) I found it to be a nightmare. When I finally obtained employment that allowed me to move back to Massachusetts I felt like kissing the ground (granted time has watered down my joy somewhat).

Regarding New Hampshire, most of the towns in the seacoast area are old factory mill towns that don't even have a square foot that isn't an eyesore. Property tax is very high, pay is very low and most people are just plain mean.

The lakes region has some scenically beautiful areas. But, you just need to go two houses away from the lake front houses to see how widespread and rampant poverty is. People are still using out houses. The winters are long and absolutely severe.

Massachusetts is mostly a dump, however due to our liberal welfare system, most people are living a much higher standard of life than our NH neighbors.

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by ISLANDSLLC

For anyone looking to move here, I think Naples is a great place to raise a family...successfully and safely.

The schools are musically inclined and very sports orientated. Lots of school spirit.

If you live near your work you can escape most of the high season traffic with your short commute. Everything is within 10 minutes.
We have restaurants galore and good weather.

If you buy low and sell high you can profit from our Naples market. It's a slower pace here than our northern states combined with a mid western temperament.

Walking along the beach is such a pleasure. What a great resource! What a great place to call.......HOME.

Judith

That's the thing, where to work? Professional jobs, most especially high tech work is basically non-existant in Naples. With exception to Arthrex off of Creekside Blvd, there isn't much there. Hellerman Tyton is closing down for good, and there are a plethora of service jobs that pay crappy wages. Naples is a nice place to live if you don't have to work.

[pinoy]

Here's a stumper what's the cost of living in Naples?