[sheilaramos]

We left in July - we moved to rock hill south carolina. Its beautiful here. It is definetly different from South Florida - but we just couldnt afford to live there anymore. Our taxes and insurance had gone up to over $675.00 per month and our power bills were over $600.00 per month (FPL said this was because of gas prices).

We were in South Florida last week (work related) and we hated it - we couldnt wait to get back. Dont get me wrong - south carolina is not like south florida - but its peaceful here. Not much traffic, the property taxes are low, the cost of insurance on our 2300+ sq foot home is under $1100.00 per year. We wish we had made the move years ago instead of putting it off.

[daedalo]

Even last year.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...home-headlines

[Muggy]

My wife and I haven't decided to leave yet, bet we aren't making any long term commitments (like buying a house) because of many of the reasons listed on this thread.

[dig02]

It's so sad that this is going on in our beautiful state.
I teach here in S. Florida and 15 teachers left my school last year and 2 more will be leaving in December. There is an epidemic going on. The schools are beginning to feel it now; they are under enrolled and having to "let go" or reassign teachers to other positions. For every adult who leaves our state, they take 2 - 3 kids with them. And other states are aggressively recruiting our teachers, police officers, and fire righters right out from under our noses; they know what's going on here in Florida!
I moved back home to Florida so I can be close to my sister and her family and now I have to move away and leave my loved ones behind.
I'm hoping for a miracle but don't think it's going to happen so we're packing our bags.
I hope you and your family the best, I know exactly how dissapointed you feel.

[NYLATINQT]

What the heck is happening to America? Everybody is trying to do the state hop song & dance in hopes of finding affordability. It seems like everywhere has gotten too expensive for the average middle class family. I moved from NY to Florida to GA. How many times do we have to relocate just to survive? I think it's ridiculous and not to get political, but something has to give. What happened to the American dream?

[BigJimSlade]

Well, Florida will pay the price. If all the smart rich/middel class people leave for another state, then all that will be left in the state are people who cater to the tourism industry, criminals, child molesters and people who never learned English. I guess Florida will have to decide.

[bale002]

It woke up to global competition.

No country can be special forever. After two hundred and twenty-five years or so, some social realities that are common to all countries throughout history have taken root also in the US. This development is permanent and the golden days of the US middle class (and western Europe too) are over. Period.

Just observe, for example, that two billion Chinese and Indians want the same level of material life as some 700 million north Americans and Europeans, so of course prices are going up, everywhere.

But it's a rolling process and one can try to slip through the cracks, so to speak, by retreating to the hinterland, places like Tennessee, for example, and this is a good thing while it lasts. And there is plenty of land in mid-America so it may last for a while yet, maybe two or three generations, if energy supplies hold up.

But if one wants to be "in the thick of it", and now, which to a large extent means the main coastal regions of the US, one needs either a huge income or a very creative and flexible plan on a better-than-average income.

Otherwise, the medium-term future is serfdom for most people (in the long run we are all dead).

I don't mean to be harsh, but that is reality as far as I can perceive it.

[TATA]

My husband & I just rec'd notice of non-renewal of policy as well. We have to date paid less than $2,000.00 anually for our Homeowners. The quotes we now have rec'd are over $3,000.00 anually. We are seniors and on limited income_I might add_was fine til we rec'd this notice!! I have always believed when all else fails (don't wait til then) that a petion for our rights is definitely in order. We live approximately a mile away from a sound and our home has withstood storms & time with no claims. My husband has lived here fourty years 7 still no claims made. We were told because our home is a 1960's home is the reason. Our home is brick veneer, new roof, electrical heating and air. My Dad(deceased) was an architect & and developer & I assure you_he would rather live in my home than some I have seen built as of late. I was also told that I didn't want to hear what it would cost me to up-grade_if you will_to make this go away.

[bale002]

Some have written that local power in Florida is in the hands of developers, insurers, and utility companies.

I have read, on another forum, that insurance rates in Florida are being designed to encourage (or force?) people to acquire homes built after 1996 and especially in the past five years or so even though in reality they are probably less hurricane-resistant than, for example, the houses built in the 1960s that you describe.

Florida needs two to four years with a combination of no hurricanes and a soft real estate market for insurance rates and house prices to come back into line with fundamentals.

I hope you find a way to hold on (maybe risk going self-insured for a couple of years) but there is no guarantee of the happy outcome outlined above.

[MrTudo]

We were in South Florida last week (work related) and we hated it - we couldnt wait to get back. Dont get me wrong - south carolina is not like south florida - but its peaceful here. Not much traffic, the property taxes are low, the cost of insurance on our 2300+ sq foot home is under $1100.00 per year. We wish we had made the move years ago instead of putting it off.[/quote]


Yeah it's tough down here. Only 1100 bucks for insurance eh? How much is the state income tax?