Brits pulling out of Orlando market

[lee]

Hi Guys,

Just to let you know that even if you have US citizen family members it's still a long drawn out process getting a green card.

My brother is a US citizen by birth and all my family have lived in the US but it is taking me 12 years to get my green card.

Fortunately my wait should be up next year and I can get on with my life.

On a brighter note I have just sold my house in England prior to the US style real estate crash that's heading our way.

Lee

[Magnulus]

Brits seem to like Florida. Maybe because alot of them like vacationing in a country that speaks English. Wait a few years and that might change, they don't call it Puertolando for nothing.

Personally, I don't see the big attraction of Brits moving to Florida, having lived in the UK as a young teen it was a nice place to live, I guess alot of people think the grass is always greener. I also think alot of them underestimate all the hidden costs Americans have to deal with, like the extremely high cost of healthcare here, the fact you almost have to own a car that costs thousands of dollars in depriciation and fuel every year. But, we live in big houses so I guess that balances out in their minds.

Most of the Brits and Ausies I see in Orlando seem like OK people, though the neighbor that is Scottish and has an American wife, is a bit of a dick and an idiot (so I guess that would make him crass, maybe a better term?). He's still OK, just not a class act. There's another woman that I see alot working in a clothing store and she has an obvious Bristol accent (or somewhere from southwestern England), and I've met a few people that were obviously Australian.

[tonrob]

Originally Posted by Nirvana-Guy

The London embassy is basically giving the Brits are a hard time because other embassies (in US un-friendly countries) have complained the Brits were getting "Special treatment" and threatened some kind of a lawsuit/complaint and the US had to get tough on the Brits too.

Also, some Brits have developed scams to get a Green Card "the easy way" and fraud always causes security concerns. The good people get blamed for the evil deeds of the bad.

OMG - that's terrible!

How did you find out about this?

[cfIfan]

Well as a Brit living in Orlando i would have to say in my experience my Clients coming over from the UK havent dropped at all, although i know there has been a drop in overseas investors. I would say that the Brits that you see over here are hardworking people and i for one am proud to say they are my fellow countrymen. Also for many Brits, considering the strength of the pound and it has pretty much always been very strong against the Dollar, Brits as investors dont make huge sums of money on investment properties here. You will notice alot of Brits buy in short term rental areas, and this is because they love to vacation and spend time here. By buying in short term rental zones, they have the flexibility to come out pretty much whenever they want, because they could buy much nicer homes at good prices in other non short term rental zones, but dont have the flexibility to come out when they want because obviously they want the properties to pretty much pay for themselves so they need to rent them out.

As for these companies that deal with Visa's in the UK, im sorry to say it but there are so many scam artists its hard to find the genuine ones. I advise my clients to run from all of them and only deal with a cerified attorney specializing in immigration and who is based here in the USA. I have an attorney and she is amazing and whenever i have anyone who is interested in moving here i tell them to go and have a chat with her to see if its viable for their situation, because if you go to these companies in the UK ive heard of them taking your money and leaving you high and dry.

Alot of American's dont realize how much money is pumped into the economy particularly in Orlando from not only Brits but overseas investors. I hope for their sake all the investors never leave, because if they did you would be shocked at what you would be left with.

[Dinks]

Hi

I dont know much about how much money brits pump into Florida all I can tell you from a brit point of view is that I always feel comfortable when Im on holiday and that's how I wanna feel. Ive so far, in almost 10yrs of visiting never had anyone be anything but polite and very helpful.

I will agree that visiting for two weeks is very different to living in an area on a day to day basis. I live in London and we're hoping to move elsewhere in the next 18mths. I dont necessarily mean Fl but def. outside London. What I like about Fl is you do seem to get more for your money and there seems to be a more outdoors lifestyle. I dont personally feel that London is value for money and the weather isnt fantastic. If you're looking for an outdoors life style (in terms of weather) I dont think that London would be No.1 on anyone's list

There is good and bad about any place and a lot of the time the grass does seem greener although it aint necessarily so! For me personally as a visitor, Florida is the best holiday I've ever had.

[marypoppins]

Originally Posted by Dinks

What I like about Fl is you do seem to get more for your money

Maybe so, when you're spending pounds changed into dollars. But when you're earning dollars it's a whole different ball game.

[Magnulus]

Originally Posted by Dinks

Hi
. What I like about Fl is you do seem to get more for your money and there seems to be a more outdoors lifestyle. I dont personally feel that London is value for money and the weather isnt fantastic. If you're looking for an outdoors life style (in terms of weather) I dont think that London would be No.1 on anyone's list

London has good weather if you don't like alot of heat. Florida would be a poor choice if you cannot tolerate relatively high heat indexes and humidity in the summer. It gets extremely hot here, your body has to adjust to the heat gradually. In the summer you cannot really go outdoors for an extended period of time unless you focus on hydration and adequate intake of electrolytes. My dad has blood pressure problems and would suffer from faintness and weakness in the heat- he literally looked and felt sick and pale, his doctor actually told him to eat more salt- something that any other cardiologist in another part of the country would probably think is a joke.

Now, the money thing only goes far in Orlando if you have pounds converted to dollars. If you actually lived here and were dependent on earning dollars, you might not find living here so cheap.