Would You Florida People Recommend FT.Lauderdale a nice place to retire? (Fort Lauderdale: sales)

[Fred Sanford.]

I'm 37 Years-old and i'm looking into my future and for a nice place to retire when i get older and i'm already looking into condos and Broward County and Naples, Florida are 2 places i'm looking into for places to retire in.

So i would like to get some feedback on the areas down there.

[ruski]

Naples may be better

[hurricaneMan1992]

If you've got $700k for a waterfront/oceanfront condo and enough to spare for a yacht, it would be a great place. Otherwise, there are better parts of Florida to retire to.

[Nolefan34]

It depends on if you're from the Northeast or the Midwest.

Fort Lauderale = Northeast.
Naples = Midwest.

Naples is WAY more laid back, quiet, and the population is much smaller. There is zero traffic in Naples.

Fort Lauderdale is more medium-pace, some hustle/bustle, congested roads, more traffic, more crime, etc. But it still has some beautiful areas.

[Tonyftlaud]

I wouldnt reccomend investing in SFlorida now for your retirement.The condo market is in very bad shape here.The maintaince fees are increasing , taxes are going up , insurrance was approved a 30% raire over the next 3 years with 3 new bills on the floor to approve 30% more increases each. With what you will pay in tax,insurance,and maintainace over the next 13-19 years you could buy a place cash when you retire.Many retirees are leaving the south florida area as the cost of living has risen so much.Another thing to consider with the condo market here is that many people are just walking away from units they overpaid for and the remaining unit owners must pay their maintainance which is placing a burden on some and causing them to walk away from their units.

[nb1968]

Exactly. I got OUT of S Florida (Broward) before I turned 37, and am never going back.
Do you want a congested urban area that is expensive and everybody is Rude??
well,
If you live in Brooklyn or Long Island, then you might love it.

[michael near Athens]

Originally Posted by nb1968

Exactly. I got OUT of S Florida (Broward) before I turned 37, and am never going back.
Do you want a congested urban area that is expensive and everybody is Rude??
well,
If you live in Brooklyn or Long Island, then you might love it.

You must realize how bad the heat is, you cannot play golf between noon and 4 pm because of the heat, if you want to stay in A/C 8 months out of the year then So. Florida is for you. I moved away from So. Fl after 60 yrs
because the crime on the east coast is unbearable. West coast is hotter because there is no breeze. Find another place.

[Nolefan34]

Tony-

You don't invest based on the current situation. You invest for the future. South FL has more potential than other parts of FL because there are more jobs here and a larger population. The area is very depressed right now, but has more room to rebound than other areas.

[overhere]

It all depends on what you're looking for. We moved here from upstate NY about 7 years ago and we love it. Per capita crime is statistically no worse than where we came from, the weather is beautiful and Ft. Lauderdale is very central to all that south FL has to offer. Go further west to be less congested however. The summers are hot and long but I'd rather have that than snow, ice and bitter cold for similar lengths of time. Cost of living is more in some ways but a lot less in other ways (income tax, property tax, sales tax, travel costs, etc). We think our quality of life has improved exponentially!