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Me and fiance are looking to relocate to Florida, presently we are looking into Broward County. We currently own a home here in Queens, NY and we are looking to purchase a home for around 150K in Florida. Our goal is to pay our new mortgage in Florida off our rent roll in NY.
We are moving out of NY for a multitude of reasons the number one being congestion followed closely by cost of living and high taxes. I see that many Floridians are complaining about the costs in Florida but comparitively speaking they are cheap. We pay close to 4k a year to insure our car here plus we pay Federal tax + state tax+ city tax, when in Florida you only pay federal tax, which is a huge savings in itself. Not to mention our sales tax is close to 9 percent. I understand that the job market is poor but we are fortunate enough to be able to survive off our rent roll till we can secure employment. My main question is Florida congested? I figure it is by the tourist areas but what about Fort Lauderale. I absolutely despise waiting on a hour and a half line in Walmart and I hate waiting in hours of traffic even more. I just want to be able to get in my car and go. Is this possible. Right now I can never get out of NYC unless I leave at 6 am or else we sit in 3 hours of traffic just to get to New Jersey its insane.
Well, I moved down to Florida from Astoria, Queens myself. I currently live in Pembroke Pines which is in Broward. Yes, the cost of living is less than NY but I do think the salary is lower as well. Also, I'm not sure whether both your fiance and yourself have a car but you will each need one. Insurance will be lower so long as you both have good driving records. My wife and I pay a total of about $1900 a year for both our vehicles. There is a lot of congestion but probably not as much as NY. There is also a lot of traffic but again not as much as NY. I work in Brickell (Downtown Miami) Takes me about an hour to get there so it is not too bad. We have a WalMart here in Pines and the lines are generally not very long. lol May wait about 10-15 minutes on a very heavily packed day.
As for the houses, you pay for what you get in most cases. My wife and I were lucky to get a home in the mid-100K range. I haven't heard of any other house sold for that low. Granted it is not a huge home but definitely better than a condo or Townhome. There are homes that may be 150K> but make sure you inquire about the area.
Me and fiance are looking to relocate to Florida, presently we are looking into Broward County. We currently own a home here in Queens, NY and we are looking to purchase a home for around 150K in Florida. Our goal is to pay our new mortgage in Florida off our rent roll in NY.
We are moving out of NY for a multitude of reasons the number one being congestion followed closely by cost of living and high taxes. I see that many Floridians are complaining about the costs in Florida but comparitively speaking they are cheap. We pay close to 4k a year to insure our car here plus we pay Federal tax + state tax+ city tax, when in Florida you only pay federal tax, which is a huge savings in itself. Not to mention our sales tax is close to 9 percent. I understand that the job market is poor but we are fortunate enough to be able to survive off our rent roll till we can secure employment. My main question is Florida congested? I figure it is by the tourist areas but what about Fort Lauderale. I absolutely despise waiting on a hour and a half line in Walmart and I hate waiting in hours of traffic even more. I just want to be able to get in my car and go. Is this possible. Right now I can never get out of NYC unless I leave at 6 am or else we sit in 3 hours of traffic just to get to New Jersey its insane.
Hey - I live in Queens too - where abouts are you? Anyway - um - FOOD is cheaper in SFL but not really anything else - I meand I didn't price florida insurance but to transfer the plates - ouch - I am not moving for cheaper - I am moving for quality of life - I loved the PP area - it was as close to queens as any of the cities I have been in - in SFL - as far as diversity and convenience to shopping - that being said it isn't steinway, 82nd, main, myrtle or any of those major streets that are all walkable - when you think SFL - don't think walkable in any sense that you would think walkable in NY - you would just be lying to yourself LOL - unless of course you lived in south beach or las olas or West Palm - but then you don't have any big box stores, bj's, costco, walmart, target. PP has EVERYTHING, litteraly. However, you may be looking for quiet and if you have kids, great schools - I like PP schools, but Florida schools seem to be below par, according to most. I have applied for charters (wish me luck on that one). I am not sure what you make salary wise here, but unless you are transferring over there with your salary, you will almost certainly make about 20K less in SFL. I don't know why that is honestly. Now, if money isn't an issue than you should move tomorrow LOL. I personally love the weather, but it isn't for everyone. This is how I separate it...
Winter - cold - cool - warm
Spring - cool/warm - warm/hot - hot
Summer - hot/hotter - my skin is melting off my bones it is so damn hot out here
Fall - hottter/hot - hot/warm - warm cool
I get a chill at 60 so, I am a bit biased - I wanted to crawl in a hole and just sleep this whole winter here and why is winter again today, but anyway. You and I both know what it feels like at 95 in a train statin in the middle of a ny summer too - GROSS - I'll take florida heat - thank you very much!
What else...can't think of anything right now. come back with some questions, I'm happy to help, I have done so much homework my mind is tired now LOL. Good luck!
The thing about PP that I said bein like queens - those are some of the very reasons that people hate that area - conjestion and lots of people from other areas coming to shop - I think of that as convenience, others think of it as something they want to deal with only sometimes. I don't think either is wrong. Conjestion is relative. It took me 15 minutes to get through 3 lights this morning, so that is all what you think of it.
Nicole..we are from NYC as well but never owned there we did own and live in NJ for 10 years...we have been down in south fl now almost a year, we love it....The cost of living however is a bit less but your car insurance wont be alot of savings, Food depending what u spend in NY i do know shoprite in NJ was much cheaper than florida....property taxes u might save a bit again depending on what the value on the house is...but pls know that traffic is bad here as well and other than our beautiful weather, great people, beautiful things to do...you arent going to see a dramatic change...Salaries are less and that too depends on what one does for a living..the biggest difference is no State Tax...
Nicole - I agree with swimmom - her and I see eye to eye on lots. We both shot straight from the hip. There will be many that tell you that you will encounter the rudest people on the planet - I have yet to have that experience - in fact it is quite the opposite for me, that being said - I don't think everyone will be great, but you get what you give off in most cases. Sometimes people are just jerks - but that is anywhere.
Notice what she said about it not being much cheaper. It is somewhat cheaper - like I found a 1600 square foot townhome 3 bed 2/5 bath for 1600 in PP where here in NY that is non existent, but a 3/2 in bayside would be about 1900. So it is less, but not by much. I can tell you for a fact that food is cheaper in Florida, but fruits don't seem to be - I don't know why, since they grow the fruit there LOL.
Hi, Can you please elaborate on the traffic? It cant be close NYC and the outer boroughs Green>Red>Green>Red (don't block the box!), Alot of the time only 1 car if that gets through a green light. Countless no standing, no parking, fire hydrants, full blocks you can't park on for no reason. The rippling effects of alternate side of the street parking which leads to 2x the traffic and double parked cars on 2 lane main avenues, potholes that you can get stuck in. Every expressway is a parking lot, jones beach in the summer? better get ready to roll 40ish exits at a crisp 6mph slamming on your brakes every 2min because there is a slight curve in the road ahead. You finally see it opening up and floor it to 60 only to slam on your brakes agian because it's time to wait in exit traffic now. Unless like me you have adapted to nyc life and make sure your out of the house by 5am.
Hi, Can you please elaborate on the traffic? It cant be close NYC and the outer boroughs Green>Red>Green>Red (don't block the box!), Alot of the time only 1 car if that gets through a green light. Countless no standing, no parking, fire hydrants, full blocks you can't park on for no reason. The rippling effects of alternate side of the street parking which leads to 2x the traffic and double parked cars on 2 lane main avenues, potholes that you can get stuck in. Every expressway is a parking lot, jones beach in the summer? better get ready to roll 40ish exits at a crisp 6mph slamming on your brakes every 2min because there is a slight curve in the road ahead. You finally see it opening up and floor it to 60 only to slam on your brakes agian because it's time to wait in exit traffic now. Unless like me you have adapted to nyc life and make sure your out of the house by 5am.
I'm with you MrCloudz - when I was there a few weeks ago - I did not experience anything close to what you are describing and what I go through every day! BQE - WTF is up with that man - Belt - traffic into brooklyn at 1 in the morn damn. I don't want to say there is no traffic there since I don't liver there though. I just don't see it as the same as LIE or Grand Central, I certainly am open to being wrong about that, but my experience when I was there during the week was a good one. You know what else was crazy to me - there was no traffic in Miami passed the rush hour time and barely any people walking around. I thought that was crazy - looked like manhattan in Vanilla Sky LOL. I'm still game though!
Hi, Can you please elaborate on the traffic? It cant be close NYC and the outer boroughs Green>Red>Green>Red (don't block the box!), Alot of the time only 1 car if that gets through a green light. Countless no standing, no parking, fire hydrants, full blocks you can't park on for no reason. The rippling effects of alternate side of the street parking which leads to 2x the traffic and double parked cars on 2 lane main avenues, potholes that you can get stuck in. Every expressway is a parking lot, jones beach in the summer? better get ready to roll 40ish exits at a crisp 6mph slamming on your brakes every 2min because there is a slight curve in the road ahead. You finally see it opening up and floor it to 60 only to slam on your brakes agian because it's time to wait in exit traffic now. Unless like me you have adapted to nyc life and make sure your out of the house by 5am.
I can tell you on I95 YOU WILL be locking your brakes...the traffic is unreal yes I used drive in manhattan as dh and I are from brooklyn...my dh commutes miami most of the time and I can tell you boy does he have stories how many times he has almost been killed......that I must say is the worst we found about florida are the drivers, but most people know this when they move here...lol
95 can get as bad as the belt parkway going to LI...people turn from left lanes and such...my dh leaves at 6:15 in the morning its not so bad until get closer but all and all coming home isnt too pretty....
I can tell you on I95 YOU WILL be locking your brakes...the traffic is unreal yes I used drive in manhattan as dh and I are from brooklyn...my dh commutes miami most of the time and I can tell you boy does he have stories how many times he has almost been killed......that I must say is the worst we found about florida are the drivers, but most people know this when they move here...lol
95 can get as bad as the belt parkway going to LI...people turn from left lanes and such...my dh leaves at 6:15 in the morning its not so bad until get closer but all and all coming home isnt too pretty....
I don't think the belt to LI is so bad it is the Belt to Brooklyn I hate - Drivers are bad, I'm used to that it is the traffic there is for no reason - I sat in 1.5 hours of traffic to go home from Canarsie the other day I left brooklyn at 8 and got home at 9:30 F*&$ - I wanted to kill someone!
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