[cate]

I've recently moved here from the north for health reasons and am so saddened by what I see happening!!!

Building is out of control. The prices on homes are so inflated the average person can't afford one.

The greed is so sickening. Many of the contractors don't seem to care what they are doing. Slam them up and sell, sell, sell.

The litter on the road is horrible. Doesn't anyone care.

This is paradise..........

[macguy]

Originally Posted by cate

I've recently moved here from the north for health reasons and am so saddened by what I see happening!!!

Building is out of control. The prices on homes are so inflated the average person can't afford one.

The greed is so sickening. Many of the contractors don't seem to care what they are doing. Slam them up and sell, sell, sell.

The litter on the road is horrible. Doesn't anyone care.

This is paradise..........

Where are you living?

[sheilaramos]

Cate, I have to agree with you. Thats why my family and I are heading North. Its funny you mentioned "The litter on the road is horrible. Doesn't anyone care", my mom was visiting me the other day from South Carolina and she mentioned the same exact thing. When my father moved us here 27 years ago he was bragging how clean the roads and neighborhoods were.

The prices of homes outrageous, not to mention the fact that the City increases your property taxes every year so that makes it worse.

So basically if you own a home you are forced to stay in it unless you are millionaire.

Good luck to you, but were getting out.

[mrs1885]

Cate is in Lehigh and I know exactly what she means. There are still some nice smaller areas of Florida. My grandmother is in Chiefland outside of Gainesville. It's very rural and quiet, but even there things are getting kinda nuts. And the pay is pretty much minimum wage.

I grew up on Marco Island, just south of Naples and Fort Myers. It was the most spectacular place in the world to grow up. Back then there were only a couple hundred families and everyone knew everyone. We didn't lock doors, we went to the grocery store barefoot with our dogs, we drove our cars right onto the beach, the kids had free rein of the island beaches over the summer. It was just the absolute best. I had dreams of raising my kids there and giving them what I had enjoyed. No such luck.

The house I am renting now I moved into 3 and a half years ago. It was for sale for $95,000. I thought he was out of his mind! A year and a half later we were in a position to buy and contacted him. He wanted $225,000. There was no way as we were buried in debt. We finally decided last winter to go ahead and buy because our rent had gone from 875 to 1495 a month in 3 years and was still climbing. The mortgage would have been cheaper. Now the value of the house was over 300k and climbing and he wouldn't even think of selling it. Keep in mind this house is on a tiny 75 foot wide lot and barely over 1000 square feet total. It's out of control.

Coincidentally - check out the Tennessee forums! Nearly every other one is from people looking to move there from Florida. We happen to be one of them. We found 15 acres in rural east Tennessee (Pikeville) for $23,000. It's just outside of Chattanooga and the most wonderful little place. The people are so friendly and care about where they live. Family comes first. After what the last several years here have been like, Tennessee is heaven.

[sleeper]

It's true that Fla. is growing too fast, & costs are rising too quickly as well.
But for home-owners they have a "Homestead exemption" to knock the taxes down some.
Anyway, I've been in Fla. 1/2 my life. Just over 25 years. Came down for a vacation & didn't leave.
Was initially in PB county, till it got too crazy there. Moved to PSL & have loved it !! Friends could never find it on a map. Till recently !!

Now it's a hot-spot to live.. Much more reasonable to live & buy housing than Palm Bch county & nicer !!!

[Milabs]

Cate that is the very reason we left the Cape Coral area 5 yrs ago. I moved to Cape Coral in 1976..it was a nice sleepy friendly town that has exploded into what it is today. It m akes me sad when we go back to visit family...the crime rate has soared the influx of ppl has soared the prices of houses have soared and the funny thing is these out of state buyers think they are getting a deal!! I've seen cheaply built Value Builder homes go for over 250K...they aren't worth 100K but some moron is willing to pay that price.


And yes the place is filthy...trash and litter everywhere..and it does seem like no one cares. It never ever used to be like that. EVER.

[d4l]

where is the place you are living at.

[helix139]

my wife and i came to florida (tampa) 4 years ago and thank god bought a house then, but we were driving in pinellas county and were sitting at a red light (always sitting in traffic) when this young girl rolls down the window and drops a grocery bag out the window! i couldn't believe that and still can't!

[BizeeMind]

I'll probably get grief over this, but I have to say it...Florida is not the paradise it once was in part due to [1] tourist who are only visiting so they don't care(about litter,etc) [2] too many people moving here that push to make it like "it was back home" [3] transplants/ immigrants with no roots or history that take pride in it [4] greedy politicians & developers. Though not necessarally in that order.

[jackie8689]

I am just browsing through here, reading and I already have the wheels in motion to move to FLA, in the hopes of a better life. Just very disheartening not to find some positive things still out there.
Like you, from where I come from, over time, it's become overbuilt, overpriced, rude and so much more. I relocated to a state that I thought would prove better, WRONG. So this is relocation, take 2!
I am so sad to read that life doesn't appear better here at. Now I am afraid of making another mistake, but I cannot take the winters anymore and want to move, primarily for the weather.

BTW, I don't think, as an out of state person relocating to the area, that the price of the houses are "such a deal" at all. The thing is that market sets the price and if people are willing to pay, that's what they go for. My question is, what do these people do for a living to afford it? I missed that boat, apparently.

Ok, people, make me feel better. Isn't there anything positive about the state, you feel is still good?

I am looking at the Fort Myers area, incidently, if anyone has any insider info on this area, would be appreciated, muchly