Thinking of moving from Tampa, Fl to Huntsville, AL or closeby (Madison: renting, insurance)

[Mighty Hd]

I hope some folks can offer some advice.

My wife and I have been thinking of moving out of Florida for some time. We live in a small town between Tampa and Orlando. I grew up here, and spent a lot of our first few years of marriage working 80+hrs a week so my wife could finish college. Now that that's over with, I'm back to 40 hours and have had some time to "venture out of Florida"

This past 4th of July weekend was my second (yes 2nd) time out of Florida in my lifetime. We made it to North GA, and I fell in love. North GA is just not for me in more ways than one. There is no work for me up there for us to put it simply.

In our neighborhood, older homes well taken care of in a nice area --- the older folks on one end of the street are sadly passing away. Well you guessed it, companies are buying these homes and renting them out to Section 13 minorities. Our crime here has gone from 0% in the years that I've been here, to an unbelievable amount. Cars broken into, homes targeted, etc. It's only going to get worse from this point I believe.

We got lucky in 2001 just before the boom. A guy getting a divorce wanted to "unload the house fast". We bought it for the payoff of the mortgage from this guy and got a hell of a deal. We put about 30k into it and am still in for under 100k, in a 350-400k neighborhood. I'm sure with the above mentioned problem, the value will begin to drop soon.

To sum it up, I think we are going to move -- I don't want a raise a family around this BS. Plus taxes, home/auto insurance have gone through the ROOF.

While browsing areas, Huntsville, Al was suggested to me. I did a bit of quick research on realtor.com and a census site. It looks to be a decent town with a good economy.


How is the crime, demographics, etc ? What areas do I need to avoid?


I'm looking to get a 3 bed / 2 bath 2+/car garage minimum with at least an acre of more of land to keep new neighbors spread out a bit.


I deeply appreciate any reply or suggestions. Please feel free to PM me for any "special" concerns on where to avoid

[Keeper]

I moved up here from Tampa in 05 after living there for 30 years. Since you didn't say where you live now I can't compare it to a city here. I live in Arab a small town outside of H'ville. It is a great place for families as the schools are some of the best in the state. You can find houses with land in the 200K - 250K range. It all depends on the age of the house. You can get an older home in Arab with 1/2 acre or more for 100K and up depending on the house. Property tax and homeowners ins are very LOW.. There is a state income tax but if you figure what you are paying in FL for homeowners alone it doesn't even come close to what you are probably paying mow. You can PM me if you have a specific question.

We need a little more info.. are you going to be working in H'ville? If you are working in H'ville how long of a drive do you want everyday. Are schools a concern? What about malls, stores, and movie theaters. Wet or dry city/county?

Here on city-data you can check stats on different cities.
city-data.com/city/alabama.hmtl. You can get an idea of the size of the town, crime and some even have pictures of their town.

[Mighty Hd]

Sorry. I live in Lakeland.


I'm looking on Valley MLS and have expanded my search to Madison. Several homes have really caught my eye. Specifically North East Madison with about two acres of land.

The schools are:
Walnut Grove
Meridianville
Hazel Green

Metes and bounds sub division.

Any opinions on these?

[Mighty Hd]

Well homeowners..wow

180k in coverage which is still way too low, is $1800 /year.
Taxes are $1300 this year, expected to go to $1800 next.
I was looking online at several homes in Madison. 2 acres of land, nice home for around 225ish. Very good and has me dying to get up there to look around.

Yes I'll be working ....I have a thread related that I just created.
I don't mind about a 30-45min interstate drive to/from work. As I mentioned I live in Lakeland and drive to Tampa every day for work. Thankfully I have a work truck so they pay all fuel costs. I'd like to be about 30-40min ride of malls, etc....close to a home depot, grocery, etc.

BUT I'm still wanting a rual deal with land. If we move, I want to be spread out a bit.

Originally Posted by Keeper

I moved up here from Tampa in 05 after living there for 30 years. Since you didn't say where you live now I can't compare it to a city here. I live in Arab a small town outside of H'ville. It is a great place for families as the schools are some of the best in the state. You can find houses with land in the 200K - 250K range. It all depends on the age of the house. You can get an older home in Arab with 1/2 acre or more for 100K and up depending on the house. Property tax and homeowners ins are very LOW.. There is a state income tax but if you figure what you are paying in FL for homeowners alone it doesn't even come close to what you are probably paying mow. You can PM me if you have a specific question.

We need a little more info.. are you going to be working in H'ville? If you are working in H'ville how long of a drive do you want everyday. Are schools a concern? What about malls, stores, and movie theaters. Wet or dry city/county?

Here on city-data you can check stats on different cities.
city-data.com/city/alabama.hmtl. You can get an idea of the size of the town, crime and some even have pictures of their town.

[VMH2507]

It sounds like it is NW Madison County, not City of Madison since high school is Hazel Green. I believe Metes and Bounds means that it is not in a subdivision or city but is in unincorporated area.

[Keeper]

Metes and Bounds is a survey system. I live in the city of Arab but the property is described on MLS as metes and bounds not the subdivision.
Metes and bounds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Mighty Hd]

I've read a lot of negative things regarding the weather in madison. Big threat of tornado's, etc.

Any opinions from madison folks?

[HSVmom]

There's been some recent discussion of tornadoes in Huntsville/ Madison. Yes, there are several warnings each year, but a touch down with significant damage is rare. I used to worry about them, but not so much any more. When we retire and build our last home, I will be sure to have a storm shelter and will use weather-shield windows, mainly because we'll be more likely to be at home when severe weather strikes. One good thing about a tornado is that its damage is not widespread, so help can arrive and be effective far more quickly than in a major hurricane situation.

Otherwise, the weather is not bad. It's hotter than I'd like, but so is over half the country. At least there aren't major ice storms or blizzards in the winter!

[Mighty Hd]

This is turning out to be a good thread.

I'm expanding my search a bit further north to New Market. This seems to be a very desirable area, and within driving distance of nearly everything.

I'm just a bit concerned living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant.