[Jewels36]

May,

The hurricane preparations is one of those things I haven't even given a thought to yet. Of course, I will have to shortly after we move because we should be moving to the area during the peak of hurricane season.

With 5 children, I am sure your daughter made the right choice to relocate to GA. Taxes, insurance and general cost of living are probably cheaper and will make it easier for her to afford to care for her family. GA is a very nice place and I am sure they will be happy there. There are a lot of really nice places to raise a family in GA.

Are you considering relocating to be near your daughter and grand children?

[lulu]

You are still lucky having Liberty Mutual, wish we did. Sounds like the Southern cancer has not crept up. As you are in Broward county it's a whole different ball game. I'm in Dade County & unfortunately we don't have any choices - only the state ins. & we don't like that choice. This year they wanted about $10,000 & I hear they are going up again... So, I gave my ballpark figures for what's coming for us. I don't condone going without home insurance if one has options - when I write about the nightmare in S.FL and what we are doing it's only a personal decision & yes it is risky, but it's a gamble we are taking. Other counties might still be able to shop around. If you feel it's too much maybe ask for a higher deductible or consider maybe doing without insuring the inside contents of your home. Try to negotiate with your own company first & then try others if you still can.

Good luck shopping...

[cltsig]

For those considering moving up north or relocating down here, think of the insurance equation this way.

Up north, your state income tax rate is X and you'll pay city/etc. taxes sometimes on top of that. In Indiana where I used to live, I believe it was 3% plus local rates. In North Carolina the top state rate is 8.25% and it doesn't take much income to hit that top rate, plus you'll pay city taxes on top of that in some cases. In FL, there is no state income tax or local taxes. Since I've moved here, I've never filled out a state income tax form! If you trade state income tax for insurance, it might not be so bad.

Example: If you make $100k/year (not that everyone does, but it's a round number), you'll pay $3k-9k in taxes up north every year on top of your homeowners insurance. In FL, you pay no state income tax but your insurance is higher. I've seen rates everywhere from $1500-$10k, but I'm sure the $10k person has a $1m house. On average it's probably $2k-$4k/year for an average house in FL - yes, I know, some are higher, but I'm estimating here. Compare that to state/local taxes plus whatever is paid for homeowners insurance up north, and the trade off isn't so bad. The more money you make, the better that equation becomes.

One other thing to consider is that property taxes in FL are capped at some % or the inflation rate, whichever is less, but no more than 3% per year (I believe that's how this works). There's also a $25k homestead exemption. Once you buy, your property taxes don't increase with the value of your home but are capped each year. Up north, whatever you're assessed is what you pay, no caps (at least what I'm familiar with).

[may]

Jewels36 - Much as I would love to be close to our family in Ga, I don't think it will work out for us. We need to move to a state which has a 'high risk pool' for people who are uninsurable. My husband has cancer and CHF and, until we qualify for Medicare (7 yrs) we will need to find a state which offers a high risk pool. There are only a few states that DON'T have a high risk pool, so who knows....maybe by the time he retires at age 62 GA will have a high risk pool. Right now we're looking into South Carolina. Our daughter and family live in a very rural area of GA, farms all around. It was the first time I had ever seen cotton growing. Looks like a bunch of Q-tips!! BUT the area is a little too remote for us. We need to be close to medical facilities, shopping and restaurants. She has to drive for almost 1 hr to get to a large town.

[Jewels36]

SC, especially around Charleston, will probably be most like Florida. You will probably enjoy that area most since you really like Florida, just not the cost. Of course, you will still have to contend with hurricanes.

KY has a high risk pool. We thought we were going to have to insure our daughter under it (for Lupus) but we managed to get the insurance company to take her. Louisville has a lot of good doctors and hospitals. I am not sure about cancer treatment facilities though, you'd have to check on that.

The type of area your daughter is in is right up my ally. Areas like that are wonderful for kids. My daughter really enjoys playing outside all day with out a care. We used to live on 6 acres. She really liked that. We had over 30 ducks that she took care of and raised. She even had to nurse some that were born weakly. She learned to groom, train and ride horses. She built a tree house, etc. She had so much fun doing this type of stuff. She rarely watches tv and never plays video games. She is an outdoor girl.

I really worry about our next move to Tampa. It will be a big change for her.

[may]

Jewels36,

Right now we live on the Gulfcoast of FL so we're always on the lookout for storms, and we would prefer to live inland if we're going to move. Right now we're looking into the Simpsonville area of SC. It seems to have everything we're looking for. We're planning a vacation there in Oct to check it out. I've already read several SC threads on Simpsonville/Greenville area and it sounds great.

Our daughter got a 2600 sq ft brick home on 3 acres of land in GA. She already has a small farm planted. The kids are having a ball. They also have chickens and ducks!

[LauraerieL]

Originally Posted by cltsig

For those considering moving up north or relocating down here, think of the insurance equation this way.

Up north, your state income tax rate is X and you'll pay city/etc. taxes sometimes on top of that. In Indiana where I used to live, I believe it was 3% plus local rates. In North Carolina the top state rate is 8.25% and it doesn't take much income to hit that top rate, plus you'll pay city taxes on top of that in some cases. In FL, there is no state income tax or local taxes. Since I've moved here, I've never filled out a state income tax form! If you trade state income tax for insurance, it might not be so bad.

Example: If you make $100k/year (not that everyone does, but it's a round number), you'll pay $3k-9k in taxes up north every year on top of your homeowners insurance. In FL, you pay no state income tax but your insurance is higher. I've seen rates everywhere from $1500-$10k, but I'm sure the $10k person has a $1m house. On average it's probably $2k-$4k/year for an average house in FL - yes, I know, some are higher, but I'm estimating here. Compare that to state/local taxes plus whatever is paid for homeowners insurance up north, and the trade off isn't so bad. The more money you make, the better that equation becomes.

One other thing to consider is that property taxes in FL are capped at some % or the inflation rate, whichever is less, but no more than 3% per year (I believe that's how this works). There's also a $25k homestead exemption. Once you buy, your property taxes don't increase with the value of your home but are capped each year. Up north, whatever you're assessed is what you pay, no caps (at least what I'm familiar with).

~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have lived in Florida AND North Carolina, as well as a few other states and I can say this info above is sooooo TRUE. North Carolina taxes are very high. They tax everything, including a YEARLY tax paid on your car (hundreds of dollars for an average valued car) and that is in addition to license plate/tag and inspection fees (not just for moving your car into the state, rather its a yearly fee).
State, sales and property taxes are huge.
...And you can't really feel it until you live it.
Florida has less taxes and that is worth a lot. So, you just pay more in other areas...

[Jewels36]

I live in KY and we do have state income tax. I have to say that our property taxes, insurance and general cost of living are SO low that even with the state income tax it is cheaper thatn living in Florida (at least in the area I live, can't speak for all areas). We seem to get a lot more house for our money here too. Properties are really starting to go up here but not like Florida and other similar places.

[lulu]

Hmmm...Somebody in my neigborhood, that lived further up in the nation, can't remember who it was (?) told me the same thing. That Florida with all it's no-state tax incentives, 3% caps, etc. still came out higher in the long run.

[bimmertl]

There is a big difference between perception and reality. You need to check all the available cost of living data on the internet. US Census Bureau is some help but they have so much data on so many things it takes a while to figure out what the heck to look at. The attached link looked a little easier to navigate and gives overall cost of living (COLA) between different cities.

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