Relocating and Living off a Teacher's Salary (Miami, Homestead: to rent, high crime)

[Carioca Da Gema]

Hey guys, hopefully you guys and your expertise can help me out here. I've graduated college as a social studies teacher and have my master's and educational specialist degrees in School Counseling. I have some experience working in different schools, but have been teaching in Brasil for the last 3 years. I'm thinking about relocating back to the states, and perhaps my native Washington, D.C., however, I don't think my Brasilian wife will do well with the cold. So, I was looking in the south florida/Miami area as a possible relocation site due to its warm weather and high Brasilian population. But, I saw that educators with a Master's/Ed.S. in the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale areas only start off around 43k, as opposed to the 54k in the DC metro area. My question is;

1) Is it possible to sustain a decent quality of life in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale with that type of salary?

2) How are the public schools? Will being fluent in Portuguese be a plus when applying?

3) What are some affordable areas to live which aren't too dangerous?

Thanks guys for your advice!

[miamiworshipper]

After checking many RE websites,I concluded that the cheapest non-ghetto area to rent or buy is Homestead. By far ,the most affordable.
It is a different municipality & at a distance from central Miami,but $1500 gives u a palatial SFH ,with garden & pool...
Unfortunately,Miami realtors do not have a single website,so u have to search ..
A good one is www.miamiwaterfrontproperties.com...

[xS☺B☺s]

Well first, the teaching industry in the USA is in the pot. Not a lot of jobs anywhere. Second, if you want to work in a real scary school system, Miami is certainly a good place to start looking. Third, Homestead is bad advice - scratch that. Portuguese will help a lot if you can easily segue to Espanol. However, it is possible there may be some significant prejudice against Brazilians.

Best advice, stay in Brazil. Your economy is growing while ours is tanking.

[Carioca Da Gema]

thanks guys...I'll look into Homestead, I've been living/working in the favelas of Rio, I'm sure it can't be THAT bad...I thought about staying in Brasil, at least until the economy back home gets a little stronger, however, living in Brasil is VERY expensive, and unfortunately they don't pay their educators very well.

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by Carioca Da Gema

thanks guys...I'll look into Homestead, I've been living/working in the favelas of Rio, I'm sure it can't be THAT bad...I thought about staying in Brasil, at least until the economy back home gets a little stronger, however, living in Brasil is VERY expensive, and unfortunately they don't pay their educators very well.

You're gonna look into Homestead? You better reread my advice. Boy are you making a mistake. Homestead is a very dangerous place. Better off in the favelas!

[Bjorn_Ironside32]

Originally Posted by Carioca Da Gema

thanks guys...I'll look into Homestead, I've been living/working in the favelas of Rio, I'm sure it can't be THAT bad...I thought about staying in Brasil, at least until the economy back home gets a little stronger, however, living in Brasil is VERY expensive, and unfortunately they don't pay their educators very well.

Yea in 10-15 years.

[Chelito23]

Working in Homestead is different than living in Homestead. Just because you worked in a favela doesn't mean you would live there...do you catch my drift? Homestead is cheap for a reason. Ontop of that, there is minimal Brazilian population in that part of the county. It is in an isolated corner, far from everything and you have to take the expensive turnpike to get anywhere. As if the tanking home values and high crime weren't enough, there is a nuclear power plant in your backyard, there are no beaches in or easily accessible to Homestead and there are very few jobs in the area unless you get hired in a school there.

To answer the original question, yes you can survive on a teacher's salary in Miami. You just won't live as comfortably as you would in a different city. You will have to be careful with expenses, make money stretch and hopefully be a two income family. You will have to lower your expectation and come to realize that your income bracket doesn't place you in the traditional middle class and you will most likely be living in an area where people are more transient, there is a lack of community and cleanliness, lack of friendliness, higher crime, grittier, etc. But yes, you can certainly get by and be OK, just understand that you won't live as comfortable as you would if you teach in a private American school abroad.

I think Miami could be a good choice for someone like you and your wife. I wish you luck and recommend you visit first to make sure you know what you are getting into and to see if it is even worth it just for warm weather and a dispersed Brazilian population. Good luck and just save yourself the trouble and write Homestead off.

[Carioca Da Gema]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Working in Homestead is different than living in Homestead. Just because you worked in a favela doesn't mean you would live there...do you catch my drift? Homestead is cheap for a reason. Ontop of that, there is minimal Brazilian population in that part of the county. It is in an isolated corner, far from everything and you have to take the expensive turnpike to get anywhere. As if the tanking home values and high crime weren't enough, there is a nuclear power plant in your backyard, there are no beaches in or easily accessible to Homestead and there are very few jobs in the area unless you get hired in a school there.

To answer the original question, yes you can survive on a teacher's salary in Miami. You just won't live as comfortably as you would in a different city. You will have to be careful with expenses, make money stretch and hopefully be a two income family. You will have to lower your expectation and come to realize that your income bracket doesn't place you in the traditional middle class and you will most likely be living in an area where people are more transient, there is a lack of community and cleanliness, lack of friendliness, higher crime, grittier, etc. But yes, you can certainly get by and be OK, just understand that you won't live as comfortable as you would if you teach in a private American school abroad.

I think Miami could be a good choice for someone like you and your wife. I wish you luck and recommend you visit first to make sure you know what you are getting into and to see if it is even worth it just for warm weather and a dispersed Brazilian population. Good luck and just save yourself the trouble and write Homestead off.

Cool, thanks for the advice and encouragement. We'll definitely have to visit first, I've only been to Florida once for a conference, and we weren't even in South Florida. We're really in the very very early stages but you've helped a lot. Thanks!

[miamiworshipper]

That nukie plant was one of Mias best kept secrets,until it was exposed (to me) in an...episode of CSI Miami...
Guys,if that nukie has a grave accident,not only Homestead but the whole Miami-Dade county wil be like Chernobyl...
So,I guess it is an either/or situation. Either it works well & we benefit from Homestead cheap prices or it ...explodes & we run to ...Georgia...
BTW,who was the genius with that fine idea to built a nukie in the most fertile land & one of the most touristic places in USA ..?

[roadtrip75]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Working in Homestead is different than living in Homestead. Just because you worked in a favela doesn't mean you would live there...do you catch my drift?

OP said he lived in a favela.