[lindalu]

THis is so true, Florida is becoming a place for the rich, I work part time at a store that caters to the rich. We have been so busy with baby boomers with alot of money buying things for their homes and I make such a small amount of money .I have to work nights because I have a toddler who is sick. My customers will tell me about ther million dollar mansions so what do they care about the cost? But what about us working class people? We can't even afford our home anymore. Taxes are increasing and our insurance was canceled. We were put on state insurance. It is supposed to go up for us in Feb. Our home owners association has gone up $50 a month in three years. Electricity has been so high becasue of gas prices. We are being squeezed out. I have lived in Southwest Fl for 28 yrs. In the past five yrs it has changed big time. We will be like Miaimi before you know it.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by mrshvo

That's just it. You and others posting here CAN afford to live in Florida, but you're not willing to buy or rent a condo. You can afford it, you're just not willing to do what it takes. No single guy needs a 3 bedroom condo or a house, a studio/efficiency will do just fine. And plenty of kids grow up in condos/townhomes and they come out just fine. There's a 16 year old kid who lives in my hi-rise condo, he's well adjusted, plays on his school's football team, has friends over a lot, it ain't killing him not having a yard to mow for his parents.

It amazes me how someone would move clear out of state just to have a yard to mow. What good is it having the yard when it's cloudy + chilly half the year and you can't go out and use it?

I don't understand this "...you're not willing to do what it takes." What it takes? My husband works 6 days a week-50 some hours. I work 5 days a week, and as I am sure people know, teachers put in more time than the actual classroom time. I think we're doing "what it takes" to become a condo owner.
Sorry, but some people's dreams are different than others. I didn't grow up as a little girl dreaming of being a "condo owner". That is fine for some and maybe it is some other peoples' goals and dreams, but not mine. I want a single house where if I want to decorate it, I can however I choose, and not worry about some association saying that I went against thier rules. I don't want a cookie cutter house where I can't tell whose house is whose, unless I am looking at the address. And yes, I do want a yard. I don't know anyone who would want a yard "just to mow". Um yes, can I please have that house with a yard because I have a fetish for mowing, and that is what I really really really want that yard for! I want a yard so that my dog can run around. I want a yard so that my children can run around. So that my children can throw a football, so that they can throw a baseball, so that I can have a family get together and place out tables and chairs, so that I might possibly put in a pool one day.
And why couldn't I use it in chilly weather? I remember playing in leaves. I remember running and building snow forts and throwing snowballs. I remember making snowmen. I can still let my dog out.

I would move "clear out of state" to have a nice size house, and yes with a yard, where I can decorate/paint it as I will, in a nice school system in a nice neighborhood, and get this house for....anywhere for $100K to $160K. Can I find a house for $160K here in Florida...sure, I am sure I could. Would it be the same size as the others I could get? Maybe the size of 2 of thier rooms. Would it have insurance as cheap as the others? Not a chance. Would it have taxes as cheap as the others? Not a chance. Am I guaranteed a good school system? Maybe, but I have looked and there aren't a whole lot of that in Florida.
Yes, I will take a little snow (let's not get dramatic, I will not live in blizzard zone), and I will uproot the children, to aquire that dream of mine that I have had since I was a little girl of 9. That nice yellow house with the green shutters and door, with trees in the yard that I grew flowers around the base, and a fenced in yard, with laughing children running through it. That is the dream that my husband and I are doing what it takes to obtain, but it is not obtainable for a price that won't make us housepoor, in Florida.[/quote]

Your dream isn't the same as mine. I couldn't care less about having the home to keep up, grass to mow, snow to shovel, etc. But you know what, if that's YOUR dream and that of your family, you should definitely be looking at a more affordable area to live. Life is too short to be stuck in a situation that you don't like. Believe me, I'm so torn about this, too. I absolutely HATE winter in the area I live in, but there is SO much I like about it.

[summergal]

I personally wouldn't consider a condo a great option, especially for young folks.

We did the condo living thing for nearly 20 years because we couldn't afford a house. Although it was pretty inexpensive at the time to buy our condo, we found it to be a money pit! It seemed every time you just finished paying some "special assessment", yet another one was approved. It was tough as 20 year olds with not much income to be able to manage these sudden huge bills! On top of that, it was very stressful living there with no privacy, constant noise, noplace to entertain without our guests being hassled, always some silly threat from the assoc. (we saw you had a towel hanging over your chair on your patio... no clothes drying allowed! or we saw you doing mechanic work on your car, that's against the rules.... ummm, it was fix-a-flat for my flat tire that happened overnight). All this ended up making us basically never going outside or having anyone over from the headaches of it, so our condo was really more like being in prison. We worked our butts off to save enough to get into a house with a yard because we just couldn't deal with it anymore and be able to entertain. Our place is a tiny, fixer-upper 50's bungalow with a huge yard... all we can afford (and VERY LUCKY to have found it!). We would have definately bought a trailer with property out of state if we hadn't lucked out here!!

There's no way we could get into another house or condo with the prices and insurance/taxes how they are now! The idea that "you're not willing to do what it takes" I don't understand either. With the increases the past 2 years, my DH is working 2 jobs and I'm working full-time as well as going to school part-time just to stay afloat and try to improve our chances for the future. A second job is on the horizon for me as well.

We haven't moved out of FLA yet because of elderly parents living here, but we may be forced out soon...

I truly feel for those being forced out who love being here. That's just heartbreaking, especially for those with a lifetime of family memories here.

[summergal]

Originally Posted by lindalu

THis is so true, Florida is becoming a place for the rich, I work part time at a store that caters to the rich. We have been so busy with baby boomers with alot of money buying things for their homes and I make such a small amount of money .I have to work nights because I have a toddler who is sick. My customers will tell me about ther million dollar mansions so what do they care about the cost? But what about us working class people? We can't even afford our home anymore. Taxes are increasing and our insurance was canceled. We were put on state insurance. It is supposed to go up for us in Feb. Our home owners association has gone up $50 a month in three years. Electricity has been so high becasue of gas prices. We are being squeezed out. I have lived in Southwest Fl for 28 yrs. In the past five yrs it has changed big time. We will be like Miaimi before you know it.

I know what you are saying...
My work puts me around Doctors all day. When you mention this crisis to them they for the most part are oblivious to it all. They will say "Oh yeah I think my insurance went up a bit" or "Hmm, really? I didn't notice"...

Hardly the reaction the rest of us have! What really scares me is I have a suspicion that not much will really be done to help us. Maybe the state would rather have us replaced by the rich? Hope I'm wrong!

[House4Sale]

see what happens after the election. Hopefully these politicians will deliver on their pre-election promises. I know, and my name is Tinkerbell...or Cinderella or...

[lindalu]

Summergal- we are in a serious situation that I do not think DR.s understand I recently went to a Dr I had not been to in about three years. He had a new office . It was so nice that I was shocked. He used to have an office near Edsion mall now it was so upscale, I wanted to die. THe cars being driven around town are so expensive, it has become crazy. My brother is a teacher and sister in law a nurse. THey want to leave too because they can't make it here. THey barely have enought to feed their kids. Now mind you we bought our homes before the big real estate boom we had recently. I also think alot of northerners who had pricey homes sold theirs and came here. So they were happy, homes here were cheap to them. THey drove up the prices and ruined it for the rest of us. Also in the news they want to make housing for the regular people-firefighters, nurses teachers....why should we give up our AMerican dream to live in a box just to help the rich????? No wonder we all want to get out....

[tylerdurden]

Wow,

This forum just confirms what I have believed to be happening all along and that I am not alone in this about FL. Soon it will be just rich and poor living here. I totally agree with you lindalu about the investors here. If you had a house before the big boom you are ok, if not you are pretty much out of luck. That is why I am looking elsewhere. Why stay in this when there are places with better pay and lower cost of living? After living in the panhandle my whole life, I am pretty sure that I am not sticking around in FL to raise a family. It just doesn't make sense.

[UF_john]

Jamie, don't feel bad and don't listen to the out-of-date people hating on you. I am getting out because I am going through the exact same thing. There are no decent paying jobs here for graduates. I know of 3 people from UF who graduated and are working for under $10/hr with 4 year degrees. Other UF grads are leaving the state. I'm sure this is true for FSU and UM too. You don't go to school for four years to work at The Wing House or Hooters. The wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living and it's getting worse. If you don't have some kind of small business here, are involved in construction (building homes), or are an employed doctor/lawyer, it's probably best to move on. I am moving in a few weeks and I am so happy I am almost jumping around. Believe me, I am going to miss the sunshine, but other than that, I've had enough. Do yourself a favor and don't let this failing state break your spirit and go live somewhere else. Just because things are wrong here don't get the impression that it's like that everywhere because it's not. I hope the best for you and anyone else in similar positions. Good luck.

[tylerdurden]

Well the sad thing is uf_john, I have been out of college a few years and have a pretty decent job and so does my wife. If I were to stay and buy a half way decent house though most of my salary would be going to the mortage and I am not about to do that just to live in FL. Prices are way too unrealistic. Call me stubborn but I am also not about to pay someone 100k more for a house that they just bought a year ago. FL can keep that crap and I will move on. Too many people looking to just get rich quick off of real estate are destroying our housing market. It hasn't been regular people paying this stupid amount, for the most part it has been investors, and now they are starting to see that middle class people here are just not going to pay that.

You just have to decide how much of this to take and if you think that you deserve better then look around and make it happen somewhere else.

[Edvard]

Also, a lot of that money comes from Europe and the Persian Gulf.
Where I live, I'm pratcically the only full-time US resident homeowner. Many of the homeowners in NP/ Punta Gorda etc own whole blocks. They don't work in Fla, and most are retired altogether.