[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Red3311

Am I missing something here? All day on this board people brag about the COL and how much cheaper housing is, yet the median home price is ranked 12/50 on trulia? Is there a more reliable source to backup the "low COL" argument?

The short answer is no, because Florida is no longer "cheap". Other Sunbelt states like Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama are more current examples. Housing is just one component of Cost of Living and while certain areas of the state can be bargains, one has to still contend with insurance costs (home, auto and flood in some cases) as well as cooling costs, food costs, gas costs and taxes (sales and property) all of which can be (and are in many instances) higher here than in many other states.

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by Red3311

Am I missing something here? All day on this board people brag about the COL and how much cheaper housing is, yet the median home price is ranked 12/50 on trulia? Is there a more reliable source to backup the "low COL" argument?

US Home Prices and USA Heat Map - Trulia Real Estate Search - Trulia.com

It depends on the city. Naples is usually top 5 most expensive town in Fl. At the height of the boom it was one of the most expensive in the country. Rental prices even now in a depressed economy rival parts of New England but pay is still $8 an hour. Good luck finding a decent place to live under $1,100 and good luck affording it on pay here. A lot of homes here are WAY over priced (height of the boom the had predicted something like 500% over priced). I find the COL argument ridiculous I find it's not much cheaper to live here than other parts. The only cheaper thing would be home taxes here vs say the NE.

[Spring Hillian]

Just showing the differences in prices. Looking at the ocean is not, in my opinion, a million dollar view. I'd rather have the 91 acres instead of 1600sqft.

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

Why are you comparing a condo with a million dollar view to a house in rural Florida?

[LordHomunculus]

For the median selling price, Florida is ranked lower. I believe that the listing price is just that, a listing price. Median selling price will show how many properties may have been actually SOLD for.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

The short answer is no, because Florida is no longer "cheap". Other Sunbelt states like Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama are more current examples. Housing is just one component of Cost of Living and while certain areas of the state can be bargains, one has to still contend with insurance costs (home, auto and flood in some cases) as well as cooling costs, food costs, gas costs and taxes (sales and property) all of which can be (and are in many instances) higher here than in many other states.

I know for a fact FL wins on many of those, esp when you consider location. FL is more politically "purple" with larger metropolitan areas compared to places like Alabama and SC. That's the tradeoff of living here.

TX has great income tax (0%) and low gas prices (secondary to its proximity to refineries, currently <$3/gallon). You also have great metro areas like Austin and SA to live in. The downside with TX is the sales and property taxes.

Again, there are tradeoffs everywhere, and in no way does FL somehow offer less than other places when considering those tradeoffs IMO.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

I know for a fact FL wins on many of those, esp when you consider location. FL is more politically "purple" with larger metropolitan areas compared to places like Alabama and SC. That's the tradeoff of living here.

TX has great income tax (0%) and low gas prices (secondary to its proximity to refineries, currently <$3/gallon). You also have great metro areas like Austin and SA to live in. The downside with TX is the sales and property taxes.

Again, there are tradeoffs everywhere, and in no way does FL somehow offer less than other places when considering those tradeoffs IMO.

I agree, though by and large it's a wash between most areas in the South in terms of what's cheaper overall.....which was the point. Being politically "Purple" is also a deciding factor for many to move here over what's seen as politically "backwater" in other states.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Does the median sales price include condos?????? I'm guessing it does. Probably why Hawaii comes up cheaper than Miami in the median sales price.

It's even worse than the home prices would indicate, because many of those median priced homes are older and come with very, very high insurance premiums and high repair bills. Also, Florida ranks #37 in median household income, which is around $50k (wikipedia). Finally, consider that the median Florida home has much less square footage and is likely is a much more sketchy area than the median home, say, in Iowa.

[Mike1306]

Florida is ranked around 20th the last time I looked at census data. When you take into consideration many of the 30 or so states that are lower, some of which are close to Florida, and then factor in their location, wages, taxes, etc. then Florida does have a lower COL to many places.

Taking data of an unreliable website like Trulia and saying Trulia says this, then asking people to back up the low COL argument is ridiculous. Figure out around where you want to be, then look at how much your job would pay there compared to where you currently are, calculate housing, taxes and insurance and go from there.
You are going to live in an area much smaller than the size of a state, saying housing prices in NY are high if you are going to live in Dutchess County does not give any kind of fair representation.

[devrie]

COL can be really relative when you consider what you want or need for a family. It is my experience that lower costs homes are rather rural or in suburban areas where driving to almost anywhere is going to cost a lot of money. It's like a catch-22--decent homes near industry or even within a short drive from parks, libraries and general family activities cost more than the average. If you don't mind owning several vehicles and paying the high gas prices to get just about anywhere, you can find a nice home with low property taxes and low sell cost pretty easily.

[Red3311]

Originally Posted by Mike1306

Florida is ranked around 20th the last time I looked at census data. When you take into consideration many of the 30 or so states that are lower, some of which are close to Florida, and then factor in their location, wages, taxes, etc. then Florida does have a lower COL to many places.

Taking data of an unreliable website like Trulia and saying Trulia says this, then asking people to back up the low COL argument is ridiculous. Figure out around where you want to be, then look at how much your job would pay there compared to where you currently are, calculate housing, taxes and insurance and go from there.
You are going to live in an area much smaller than the size of a state, saying housing prices in NY are high if you are going to live in Dutchess County does not give any kind of fair representation.

Hmm I posed a question with source and yet you are telling me the source is unreliable, but fail to offer a better alternative...