Moving to Florida from DC (Jacksonville, Miami: real estate, HOA fees, homeowners insurance)
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With my current position, I'm fortunate enough to live anywhere where we have a location on the East Coast. I've grown tired of the DC metro and its high real estate prices, so I'm seeking a new adventure else where. My father is retiring and relocating to Florida, he hasn't picked a location and is waiting to see where I settle in. I've been to Florida many times for work and enjoy it every time I'm there. Of our locations in Florida, I can move to the following:
If you're looking for a new adventure I'd pick Miami or Ft. Laudy because South FL is just a such a different experience than anywhere else. But you won't be getting much relief from the housing prices, a nice home in a nice area in SFL is not much cheaper than DC Metro. Also if partying is not your thing, you may want to consider elsewhere. SFL is all about the nightlife and VERY image based.
Of course I would also recommend my home of Orlando. It's a great area with young up and coming vibe and it's very reasonably priced when it comes to housing. Although we're not on the coast we're close enough that you can enjoy all that FL has to offer from the beaches, to the theme parks, to our natural areas, to the more rural areas of North Central FL. Being centrally located, you can make a weekend trip to any part of the state. Great weather and with a world class airport like MCO, you can take flights anywhere usually cheaper than other airports.
With my current position, I'm fortunate enough to live anywhere where we have a location on the East Coast. I've grown tired of the DC metro and its high real estate prices, so I'm seeking a new adventure else where. My father is retiring and relocating to Florida, he hasn't picked a location and is waiting to see where I settle in. I've been to Florida many times for work and enjoy it every time I'm there. Of our locations in Florida, I can move to the following:
Any feedback you can give me is greatly appreciated.
-Peter
I used to live in DC as well and if you're tired of the traffic/congestion as well as a fairly high cost of living would eliminate South Florida (Miami, Ft Lauderdale and Miramar) right off the bat. Traffic there has reached Northeast US levels in my opinion. I'm a fan of the coastal areas, which to me offer the lifestyle of Florida versus the interior areas (Orlando for instance) which can be replicated pretty much all over the Southeast as it's largely all about suburban sprawl and new construction, minus the coastal elements. I think the Tampa/St Petersburg area could be a good fit as it offers a blend of the new/historic, offers a wide range of things to do that aren't kiddy-touristy-theme park oriented and is near the beaches. Jacksonville offers up a lot in my opinion too, with some very cool neighborhoods (San Marcos, Riverside/Avondale) and of course the coastal living without the massive congestion/sprawl. Of all your choices I think you could find it the most intriguing and worth a look anyway.
What is your lifestyle and criteria now for a place to live other than lack of high real estate prices?
I have lived all over Tampa area and traveled most of Florida for vacations. I love ft lauderdale area best for vacation but not to live, Too much traffic, like atlanta. I presently live in Lakeland due to low taxes, car insurance and no traffic. But I plan on moving to Riverview area. I love the Brandon area for shopping but like less traffic I will live 10 mins on outskirts. Riverview Big Bend area is developing nicely. Less than 1 hour to beautiful Bradenton beaches, Several communities still have no CDDs and low 35 month hoa fees. We are tired of the driving 35 mins to Brandon or Tampa. We are 62, like some nice restaurants and shopping nearby. Homes are selling shortsell for less than 100,000 for 5 yr old 2000sq ft homes. Good time to buy shortsale.
It seems that many folks from the DC area share your sentiments. I would recommend the Tampa area. I live in Riverview and am from the DC area and I love it. I love it because it is a stark contrast from DC. It has MUCH cheaper real estate, MUCH less traffic and congestion and is simply beautiful. If you want to see a big difference from DC's cost of living, the only cities on your list left to consider would be Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville. Best of luck to you.
Also moved to Orlando from D.C. about 5+ years ago to start our family. Took our jobs with us. No regrets. Interesting that Orlando is your only non-coastal pick, so wondering what makes you put it in with the others? If I was going to live anywhere else in FL besides Orlando (which we're contemplating) I would pick Jupiter or Ft. Lauderdale. I would not go south of Ft. L. Of course, it all depends on what kind of "scene" you're looking for. Coastal areas will always be a little more exciting and interesting. Orlando is good for families and lower cost of living, but pretty boring otherwise (unless you're into theme parks).
I have lived in Maryland, and am From Florida....I definitely would go with the Tampa/St Pete area. Not nearly as expensive as South Florida, and better the beaches are better.
I lived in Fairfax for awhile, and evaluated the pros and cons of several cities here. And picked a triangle of Lake Mary, Altamonte, or Longwood. We didn't want anything north of Orlando because it does get pretty cold in the winter. There was a little bit of culture shock in some respects which is in reverse on visiting trips to northernVA. There is also pretty much everything here, all the stores are close, like Costco, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Target, Lowes, and there are lots of choices of places to eat too. It's easy to get around and when people complain about how awful the traffic is getting, I think about the DC area - it's nothing like up there, not yet.
We like being in central Florida because from here we can go almost anywhere. It takes about an hour to get to Daytona, about an hour and a half to get to the Gulf side, about 5 hours to Miami and on down to the Keys. I like having that variety with lots of possibility for day trips. The best thing about living here is that we have the choice to live vertically and climb stairs, or horizontally with everything on one level. I like one level. It's not that great of a deal to have your own pool.
It is going to be a challenge to get homeowners insurance if you buy your place. I tried to get mine transferred and they almost denied me because of sinkhole possibility. I said they had more problems with sinkholes in Springfield, VA that we do here.
Jacksonville Beach is a nice town and I also like Orange Park, but of all of them I still like the Orlando area the best.
If you can keep your DC salary and move to the florida then florida isnt bad at all..as low salaries are the biggest drawback of florida
I would say look into Palm beach county area.....coastal feel......Only a 2 hours drive to orlando and 1 hour to miami.
Palm beach county also has a lot of nice houses for cheap on the northwest side
wellington or royal palm beach are nice areas u can go all the way up to jupiter or as far south as fort lauderdale and find good areas.
South florida is just different from the rest of florida.
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