[Sunny-Days90]

Originally Posted by DanBev

We have been here 20 years from CT,except for 2000-2001.returned to Ct and decided to return to Florida.Our family all seniors live in Ct.At this point in life cannot afford Ct,very regressive state for taxes and liability for heat and utilities.We would go back if we could afford it,might move back and arrange for living with daughter.Right now Florida cannot be beat for COL,taxes $0,insurance $500,tags $35 & electric $100 avg.,have well & septic also auto ins full coverage $285 for 6 months.These are our fixed expenses,Ct taxes etc at least $4000 plus.So heat.humidity & bugs o'k.We live in North Florida.

Yea, a person with some facts!!!

Cheaper to live in Florida.

So this person left Florida and returned. So they actually left like the OP wanted to hear and they moved back. Why?

CHEAPER COST OF LIVING !

Guess this poster just blew the reason for this thread out of the water.

[Sunny-Days90]

Originally Posted by dmccauley

I believe you have to compare apples to apples, and apply it to your own situation. For instance where I came from in NJ compared to here in Sarasota Florida.
[SIZE=2]NJ home assessed $300K property taxes
1.418/100 $4,254
includes street cleaning, garbage p/c
fire services and first aid.
Total $4,254
Home owners Insurance $ 987.00

Florida assessed value $300k
12.5588/1000 $3,767
HOA: street cleaning,garbage p/u $600.00
Total $4,267
Home Owners $3,200
[/SIZE]

What town in NJ, so we can compare apples to apples. Sarasota is expensive and for you to compare we need to know and compare the exact town you are using the info from.

[Sunny-Days90]

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

I was just perusing some lists on city-data

Top 101 larger cities with the highest real estate tax percentages.

Florida has no cities on the list

Top 101 cities with the highest average humidity

The first Florida city is Jacksonville in 59th place and a total of 12 on the list. That means 89 cities in other states are on the list, 58 with a higher average humidity than anyplace in Florida

lolololo

Nah, couldn't be. Must be those stats on that there city data are false. They must be all made up.



You know certain people would be thinking that right away.

[markhunt]

Originally Posted by DanBev

We have been here 20 years from CT,except for 2000-2001.returned to Ct and decided to return to Florida.Our family all seniors live in Ct.At this point in life cannot afford Ct,very regressive state for taxes and liability for heat and utilities.We would go back if we could afford it,might move back and arrange for living with daughter.Right now Florida cannot be beat for COL,taxes $0,insurance $500,tags $35 & electric $100 avg.,have well & septic also auto ins full coverage $285 for 6 months.These are our fixed expenses,Ct taxes etc at least $4000 plus.So heat.humidity & bugs o'k.We live in North Florida.

Originally Posted by Sunny-Days90

Yea, a person with some facts!!!

Cheaper to live in Florida.

So this person left Florida and returned. So they actually left like the OP wanted to hear and they moved back. Why?

CHEAPER COST OF LIVING !

Guess this poster just blew the reason for this thread out of the water.

Originally Posted by DanBev

We would like to move back to CT.,senior citizens fixed income,can't do it,taxes to high value of home to high.Home prices were jacked up for not much more reason than greed from 2000-2006.A 900 sq ft home worth $170,000???We are somewhat caught up in same situation here in north Florida with taxes and insurance.My protection is state law which caps taxable appreciation at 3 percent,ie my home at $125,000 can only be pushed up 3 percent.It is taxed at $70,000,been here 20 years why these figures,this $70,000 will go up 3 percent.My taxes $600.On the other side of the coin,a home purchased now at $150,000 generally will have taxes of $2800-$3300.State law will kick in to this figure,very poor taxation.We are trying to sell,our family is in CT,most since the 1920's.We would have to double up.

Sounds like they WANT to be back in CT, but say it's a bottom line of economics for them as to why they can't.

Reading these 2 posts from him\her\them, I wonder the age, if there are children involved, and if so, were the children raised here in FL or CT?

I wouldn't argue the fact the Florida is historically known to be a vacation spot and retiree state.

For some people, it's not always about economics, or at least that is not the sole driving factor.

In some cases, the savings for a family here in Florida with property taxes, home heating oil, etc... will disappear when having to send their children to private school here in FL, or the cost of HOI, HOA, etc...

I think it all comes down to where someone is coming from in life at the time, and what their priorities are.

[Florida15]

Moved to Florida with job in 1988. Left in 2003 and have been wanting to move back ever since 2004. Miss it terribly! Visit every chance we get,but not the same as living there full time.

[Pooring Footers]

Originally Posted by Sunny-Days90

lolololo

Nah, couldn't be. Must be those stats on that there city data are false. They must be all made up.



You know certain people would be thinking that right away.

The places in Washington are probably due to all the rain. There is no way that places like Washigton (among many others) feel more humid (uncomfortable) than FL. I know we are talking about humidity, but when I think of humidity, I think uncomfortable. And I know in the summers especially, FL is the most uncomfortable place (overall) to be in the US, with the exception of maybe a few coastal TX towns.

So yes, maybe there are towns in Washington with more humidity (as a percentage), but I can guarantee you go to Washington in the summer and go to FL in the summer, and one is going to feel a lot more oppressive.

That to me is what matters, how it feels.

[dmccauley]

Originally Posted by Sunny-Days90

Yea, a person with some facts!!!

Cheaper to live in Florida.

So this person left Florida and returned. So they actually left like the OP wanted to hear and they moved back. Why?

CHEAPER COST OF LIVING !

Guess this poster just blew the reason for this thread out of the water.

And your contribution to this thread is ?????? It was a genuine question being asked and I did not intend it to be an I hate florida thread. I have gone back and forth with the love it/hate it scenerios. So I was curious how much time people gave themself to adjust before they decided to move. I have no problem with hearing they returned.

[dmccauley]

Originally Posted by Sunny-Days90

What town in NJ, so we can compare apples to apples. Sarasota is expensive and for you to compare we need to know and compare the exact town you are using the info from.

I'll humor you and answer your question even though your question is ridiculous. The town is Rumson, NJ. I'll also answer why its ridiculous to save you time. The information I posted pertained to my own personal situation. I compared where I use to live and where I live now. My point was to suggest people do the same instead of generalizing.

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by Sunny-Days90

Cheaper to live in Florida.

If you move to the middle of nowhere Florida that may be true, but you will also be forced to accept very low wages in those areas. Compare the cost of living of some places in Ohio to the Miami, Tampa, and Orlando metros and you will see that is not always true.

[ngrome]

I moved down to FL because of lower cost of living over 10 years ago. I was able to get a house that's barely 1500 sq ft with a screened in pool for $91K twelve years ago. I'm hoping I pull enough equity when the housing market gets healthier to pay off my home up north when we sell our FL home, at least that was the plan until the market turned sour. I know that sounds awfully ambitious, but at least I will be able to pay off a good chunk or hopefully salvage some equity unless property values continue to take a nose dive, but a risk we were willing to take. My house in FL is currently appraised at $180K, and so is the house I bought up north, around $180K (at the peak of the market it was worth $235K), but I paid $150K for the house up north just a few weeks ago.

What I'm saying is, I left the north because back then as a new parent on a single income (stay at home wife at the time), it was hard to get by with the mortgage that we had, even on a modest home up north around $130K at the time, that was our personal situation. We were fortunate to get a modest but more inexpensive home here, for that, I am grateful to have lived in FL, and because of that, we stayed living within our means and thankfully may be able to weather the storm in this housing market.

But at the same time, because of the low housing market these days, my wife and I said we may not be able to afford a house like we did up north like this again, and therefore we pulled the trigger and went for it and bought a house up there a few weeks ago. Because of certain blessings, we now have two houses and only one mortgage. Just have to pay for the maintenance and we are currently sacrificing by decreasing our retirement contributions to keep up with the expenses of owning two homes, i.e., we're putting our money into our properties for now, since it doesn't seem to be growing in our mutual funds anyways these days, and in some cases, disappearing.

Why all this background info? Well, it was originally cheaper to live in FL, but only in terms of property taxes and depending on when you actually bought your home. Even now, the homes here and the property taxes are comparable to those up north, plus association fees run rampant amongst recently established neighborhoods compared to established neighborhoods up north (zero HOA fees). Even the groceries are more expensive down here in certain cases (check the fruit and vegetable prices, and milk, etc.). So, now that the cost of living has been comparable to up north.

Some who are arguing that the cost of living and housing expenses are much less, how long ago did you buy your home and settle down here? Would you pay the market price for your home today as you did years ago when you originally bought your home, or would you buy an upgraded home knowing this? So the question is not only when you bought, but as DJ mentioned, where you bought. So if you're going to compare apples-to-apples, then be sure to compare the time when those apples ripened too, and what store you got them from.

So yes, I agree with DJ, it is not always true that it is cheaper to live in FL. My wife attests to that, she does all the bills and there's real no difference at this present day (years ago, yes, it may have been different), which was part of our decision to decide to move back from whence we came.