[nynjgirl]

Does any one have any advice on where to move in Florida? I am living in NJ I have 3 kids (elementary school age). The property taxes in NJ are killing us my husband just lost his job and financially it makes sense to sell and move on.
My husband was told Port Charlotte was nice. I spoke to one of my friends from Florida and she told me to look in Port ST Lucie. My main concerns are good schools and reasonable property taxes and employment. My husband is in the brokerage/banking business and would need to find a job.
I am planning a trip down in 2 weeks and I am not even sure where to go. Does anyone have any ideas/info on Port Charlotte vs Port ST. Lucie? I can go anywhere in Florida as long as there is employment.
Any advice would be appreciated!!

[RobGar]

I've visited both places. Both are nice, but I prefer Port Saint Lucie. There's a planned community called St. Lucie West that is very pretty and well kept. I also visited a new community called Traditions that's just as nice as St. Lucie West. I found that the schools are better than average in St. Lucie West. However, according to a knowleageble source (PSOldtimer in this same forum) you might need to travel to West Palm Beach for employment and the communute would be about an hour drive.

[ravenclaw]

If property taxes are a big burden in NJ, ( I know the tri-state tax situation well), be careful with the same in Florida. Its probably the biggest economic/political issue confronting the state as the Governor and Legislature are trying to come up with a fix to control skyrocketing real estate taxes. A bit too complicated to explain here, but basically Florida is hurting under a two-tier property tax system as homeowners who have purchased years ago at taxed much lower than new owners, so two homes sitting side by side and are mostly the same in size, features, etc. will pay vastly different taxes, with the new owner paying as much as 50% more. The offset for new working residents is that Florida has no state income tax on wages etc. If I remember correctly, read somewhere that a good rule of thumb is to figure that your property taxes in Florida will be roughly, (depending on county, school taxes),
1.5% of the home purchase price, ie. 400K home = $6,000 per year.
Perhaps a Floridian on this forum can confirm this number.
Also, home insurance rates have increased substantially over the last few years and from what I read, many homeowners are getting dropped and/or hit with triple increases in premiums.
Good Luck!

[doggiebus]

I can't talk about other counties but Miami-Dade and Broward are 2% of the sale cost of the house. I think the rest of the state is the same, but not 100% sure. So a 400k home subtract homestead exception (if you qualify 25k) property taxes would be $7,500.
$8,000 if you don't qualify for homestead excemption.

The Miami Hearld just did a front page story about it last Sunday, April 15.

[memoriesbre]

If you think Florida is going to bring you financial freedom and low taxes, forget about it. Port Charlotte isn't all that great either. I lived there for 7 years and we are now back in the Northeast. We are orginally from NY and NJ and decided to move back up. The people aren't all thatgreat either if they know you are from NJ or NY. They blame us for all the problems all the time. The people are mostly old also. You will regret it and start to miss your families back north. Don't do it. The lifestyle down there isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Port Charlotte is overcrowded now and over priced. There isn't much to do for the kids either. Stay put in NJ.

[Floridabound09]

Florida has far more to offer then NJ, even with all the negatives, anything in Florida is better then anything in NJ.

Resd the positives and negatives and seperate who is posting all the negatives, seems those who had trouble with Florida and are no longer living there still have the time to bash it when they are no longer in Florida.
I often wondered why people who did not do well or like it in Florida always have the time to spend on the Florida threads.. uhhhhmmmmmm

Believe me I fly in to NJ and visit a couple businesses there monthly, DW did wholesale shows in Edision for many years and personally feel this is the rudest most aggressive group of people I have ever had the displeasure of speaking and dealing with.

Florida beats the hell out of NJ anyday.

[firemed]

Originally Posted by Floridabound09

Florida has far more to offer then NJ, even with all the negatives, anything in Florida is better then anything in NJ.

Resd the positives and negatives and seperate who is posting all the negatives, seems those who had trouble with Florida and are no longer living there still have the time to bash it when they are no longer in Florida.
I often wondered why people who did not do well or like it in Florida always have the time to spend on the Florida threads.. uhhhhmmmmmm

Believe me I fly in to NJ and visit a couple businesses there monthly, DW did wholesale shows in Edision for many years and personally feel this is the rudest most aggressive group of people I have ever had the displeasure of speaking and dealing with.

Florida beats the hell out of NJ anyday.

Floridabound09 how long have you lived in Florida? I personally would like to know what area of Florida you live in. I have been to NJ and landed in what I would call the armpit of the state. It smelled bad and was a **** hole IMO. But some of the areas in the country are very nice. I don't live in NJ or ever lived there. Outside of a few trips to the state for a week at a time I just don't think I'm qualified to do an analysis of the state. But Florida I can tell you about based on experience. Some will be negative and some positive but its real.

[firemed]

Originally Posted by nynjgirl

Does any one have any advice on where to move in Florida? I am living in NJ I have 3 kids (elementary school age). The property taxes in NJ are killing us my husband just lost his job and financially it makes sense to sell and move on.
My husband was told Port Charlotte was nice. I spoke to one of my friends from Florida and she told me to look in Port ST Lucie. My main concerns are good schools and reasonable property taxes and employment. My husband is in the brokerage/banking business and would need to find a job.
I am planning a trip down in 2 weeks and I am not even sure where to go. Does anyone have any ideas/info on Port Charlotte vs Port ST. Lucie? I can go anywhere in Florida as long as there is employment.
Any advice would be appreciated!!

The job market here is very bad for brokerage/banking business. Taxes are not as bad as NJ but we will have to see what this new tax bill will do. I would say check it out first. Port Charlotte you would have to drive to get a good job. PSL is a growing area but the jobs are slow also. Alot of people are out of work right now and things don't look very good in the short term, You may want to check into North Florida. Sorry

Business: Construction woes: Workers try to hang on

[Debi1957]

"If you think Florida is going to bring you financial freedom and low taxes, forget about it. Port Charlotte isn't all that great either. I lived there for 7 years and we are now back in the Northeast. We are orginally from NY and NJ and decided to move back up. The people aren't all thatgreat either if they know you are from NJ or NY. They blame us for all the problems all the time. The people are mostly old also. You will regret it and start to miss your families back north. Don't do it. The lifestyle down there isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Port Charlotte is overcrowded now and over priced. There isn't much to do for the kids either. Stay put in NJ."

I have to agree with this for a number of reasons. The people that can't wait to move here, have never lived here long term. I have been here all my life, for the most part. It use to be nice, but everything that memoriesbre said is pretty right on. Look around further north, MA, NH area. I think you will find taxes a bit lower, from my research, and the school system is much better and I think your husband will have much better luck with work. I do have friends who live in NJ and their taxes are extremely high, but I don't think you are going to be doing yourself any favor coming here. Our property taxes are very high also and education isnt. Good luck to all you try to accomplish. If you still want to come south...check out Georgia, as they have beautiful seasons and the taxes are much less. I am not sure about schools and work opportunities though.

[GR82BAGATOR]

People from New Jersey seem to love North/North Central Florida so I would check out Ocala, Gainesville, Tallahassee and surrounding areas.