Palatka

[bowlingmanager]

Thank you so much for your assistance. I will look towards the areas that you have both listed. One other question, I have never had to deal with a hurricane and was wondering how often St. Augustine and Clay county experience these?

[apanda]

The Northeast area of Florida tends to simply get mild to heavier winds and rain when a hurricane comes around. This is because of our geographic location and the current in the Atlantic.

[joninclay]

Originally Posted by bowlingmanager

Thank you so much for your assistance. I will look towards the areas that you have both listed. One other question, I have never had to deal with a hurricane and was wondering how often St. Augustine and Clay county experience these?

About once every 30-40 years. I'm half-joking, half-serious.

In 2005, we had a tropical storm and a Category 1 hurricane hit the Jax area for a couple of days. Not that many people evacuated, and the subdivision I lived in didn't even lose power (though most everyone else did for anywhere from 1 - 7 days). Prior to that, Hurricane Floyd flirted with the coast in 1999, but never hit us. Prior to that was...late 1960's, if I'm not mistaken.

In other words, we don't see tropical cyclones very often. Clay is more landlocked, so in the event that a tropical storm/hurricane did hit this area, Clay would likely fare better than would St. Augustine or Jacksonville.

[noland123]

It was Dora in 1964 ,this hurricane I believe was a cat 2 at around 125 MPH and St. Augustine was in the eye of the storm with Jacksonville feeling the outer band quite substantially as it tore up the beach wall and collapsed houses along Jax Beach.


I believe Jacksonville is in an advantageous area as the State juts in the farther you go north from South Florida, which means the hurricane would hit landfall before it hit Jacksonville,therefore weakening the hurricane,or it just gets pushed eastwardly into the Atlantic as Hurricane Floyd did in 1999.


If it comes from the Gulf side that means it has to come over land therefore weakening the wind force(Tropical Storm) substantially,one would see a lot of rain, but wind damage would be minimal. I would not want to live in a trailer park because even a tropical storm can be devastating to a mobile home.

[jaxbeachrat]

Hi,

My father left me a house in East Palatka on a 1/2 acre, (it has a small mortgage lfeft on it), and we're thinking of moving there. We currently live in Jacksonville Beach just a few blocks from the water (I know I'm crazy). But we're one of the ones that made a bad refi loan and need to sell our beach house. My question is this...my husband has an upholstery business and works mostly with interior designers in the Ponte Vedra area, if we don't need to make much money in Palatka how hard will it be to get some upholstery work there? We'll probably need less than 2,000. a month there to live comfortably. I have sold my art on ebay Moderator cut: edit and can continue to do that there. I also work in a clerical position in the medical field. I don't want to commute too far for work. I know Palatka is a small, sleepy town and I'm going to have major culture shock. Schools are not an issue, but I want to feel safe there. The house is in the Rivercrest area off Kane Ave off of HWY 17. We've been there many times to work on the house but have never stayed there overnight.

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by jaxbeachrat

Hi,

My father left me a house in East Palatka on a 1/2 acre, (it has a small mortgage lfeft on it), and we're thinking of moving there. We currently live in Jacksonville Beach just a few blocks from the water (I know I'm crazy). But we're one of the ones that made a bad refi loan and need to sell our beach house. My question is this...my husband has an upholstery business and works mostly with interior designers in the Ponte Vedra area, if we don't need to make much money in Palatka how hard will it be to get some upholstery work there? We'll probably need less than 2,000. a month there to live comfortably. I have sold my art on ebay Moderator cut: edit and can continue to do that there. I also work in a clerical position in the medical field. I don't want to commute too far for work. I know Palatka is a small, sleepy town and I'm going to have major culture shock. Schools are not an issue, but I want to feel safe there. The house is in the Rivercrest area off Kane Ave off of HWY 17. We've been there many times to work on the house but have never stayed there overnight.

would selling the palatka house to help finance the beach house make sense for you? I don't think that you'll find the same level of sophistication or financials in palatka to support the business

[jaxbeachrat]

We've had it up for sale and no offers yet, no has even looked. It has been rented out but I'm having to evict the people for non-payment of rent. I can't afford two payments anymore, it's just way too much so we thought we'd be able to sell our beach home easier and move out there and hopefully have less stress. If we get enough for our we can pay the Palatka house off and only need money for food, utilities, etc. Cars are paid for.

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by jaxbeachrat

We've had it up for sale and no offers yet, no has even looked. It has been rented out but I'm having to evict the people for non-payment of rent. I can't afford two payments anymore, it's just way too much so we thought we'd be able to sell our beach home easier and move out there and hopefully have less stress. If we get enough for our we can pay the Palatka house off and only need money for food, utilities, etc. Cars are paid for.

the fact that you can't sell it should be sending a signal, it may not be the bes place to live

[riveree]

I agree with Apvbguy, Palatka is a world away from where you are now.

Palatka is a pretty poor area. You might have to travel quite a distance to find customers for your business.

Maybe as a temporary stop it would work (sell the beach house), but you could end up getting stuck there, and there just aren't many opportunities in that town (cute town in some ways, but a depressed area).

I can see selling the beach house, it sounds like a good idea from what you describe, but I don't know that you have to go all the way to Palatka to find a more affordable way of life. Selling both houses and moving to a more modest home in Jacksonville might do the trick, and you can keep your upholstery business going as it is. Uprooting everything - including the business - might shake things up too much .

[SlickP]

Originally Posted by riveree

I can see selling the beach house, it sounds like a good idea from what you describe, but I don't know that you have to go all the way to Palatka to find a more affordable way of life. Selling both houses and moving to a more modest home in Jacksonville might do the trick, and you can keep your upholstery business going as it is. Uprooting everything - including the business - might shake things up too much .

I agree, sell the beach house and continue to try and sell the house in Palatka or rent it out. You could buy a cheaper home in Jax or just rent until your finances are better. If you move to Palatka, you will just add more stress to your life.