Teacher moving from New York to Florida (Tampa, Indian Shores: apartment, to rent)

[otaey1]

I currently teach in Brooklyn, New York and want to relocate to Florida. The pay is decent. I make 46,000 as a second year special education teacher pursuing my masters. Yet, the cost of living in NYC is extremely expensive. For example, an average one bedroom apartment is 1200 and houses start at 350,000. After taxes i bring home 1100. At the moment half of my income goes to rent. What are some of the pros and cons of teaching and living in florida. I read on another forum that insurance was high. Is this car, house or medical insurance? I don't mind teaching in the ghetto, because i teach there now, but I don't want to live there. Can i purchase a decent house for 150,000 or will this be in the ghetto? I am a city girl and would like to live in an urban area, no country please. As a teacher are there opportunities to make xtra money doing after school programs or saturday school? I want to get the most bang for my buck and enjoy warm climate at the same time. For anyone who wants to know the cost of living in comparison to teacher salary in Detroit, Michigan ( its my home) is great if you can stand the cold. You can purchase a nice house for under 100,000 and taxes are reasonable.

[Keeper]

HOI is expensive in FL due to the major insurance companies pulling out of the state.

I would recommend you rent for the first year to get to know the area. You can get a 1 bedroom for less than $1000.00 a month in a good area.

Teacher's pay I will leave for others, only to say they are not paid nearly enough. With a masters you would receive more than someone with a BS.

[MortonR]

As an employee of the school district in Tampa, now the 8th largest in the nation, I would discourage you from coming down here. A second year ESE teacher here will make about $38,000 annually, and the cost of living being what it is, you'll be clearing less that you currently are.

At present nearly all positions are frozen, and probably will remain that way for some time due to the significant cut in state funding from the property tax relief. The only positions that are currently available are Title 1 or less than desirable ones in low performing schools.

Your earnings potential is significantly higher, even with the cost of living, in New York. You'll work another 6-8 years before you see $46k/year as a teacher here. And that even includes a bump once you get your M.A.

You're not going to find anything decent for $150k that would be in a livable area. Add to that the cost of insurance (car, home and health) and you're probably going to be paying out more here than in NYC.

There are no real opportunities in the schools to make additional monies unless you are a department head, NBCT mentor, or become qualified to do training, all of which are things that existing staff do and are tough for new employees to get in to.

The school system is rife with politics and favoritism, so being an outsider is a big strike against you.

I hate to sound so negative, but between the school system and it's lousy pay and the horrendous increase in the cost of living down here over the last 5-6 years, you're better off staying where you are.

RM

[LianeSells]

I disagree. I am a Realtor and with the state of the market what it is, you can find a lot that's decent and not in the ghetto for $150K. And I would think insurance would be way less than in NYC.

[Keeper]

I think the other thing to look at are the taxes you pay in NYC and NY state. That alone can make up for some of the salary. You can get a 1 bedroom in a nice area for less than $900.00 a month. You will need a car as there is no public transportation to speak of in Tpa.
I would recommend you rent at first until you see if Tpa is the place for you.

Isn't there some type of teacher's home buying help? I remember something from a few years back.

Good Luck

[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by otaey1

I currently teach in Brooklyn, New York and want to relocate to Florida. The pay is decent. I make 46,000 as a second year special education teacher pursuing my masters. Yet, the cost of living in NYC is extremely expensive. For example, an average one bedroom apartment is 1200 and houses start at 350,000. After taxes i bring home 1100. At the moment half of my income goes to rent. What are some of the pros and cons of teaching and living in florida. I read on another forum that insurance was high. Is this car, house or medical insurance? I don't mind teaching in the ghetto, because i teach there now, but I don't want to live there. Can i purchase a decent house for 150,000 or will this be in the ghetto? I am a city girl and would like to live in an urban area, no country please. As a teacher are there opportunities to make xtra money doing after school programs or saturday school? I want to get the most bang for my buck and enjoy warm climate at the same time. For anyone who wants to know the cost of living in comparison to teacher salary in Detroit, Michigan ( its my home) is great if you can stand the cold. You can purchase a nice house for under 100,000 and taxes are reasonable.

She is a first year teacher in the Bronx. Her fiancee is a 3rd year teacher in Queens. You salary and take home pay is LOW for a 2nd year teacher.

She also just rented a one bedroom apartment in Queens at SUBSTANTIALLY less than the rent you quoted.

My car insurance doubled moving from NY to Florida. That is with taking my under 25 daughter off the policy. I have had no accidents, no tickets, nothing in 25 years of driving.

[spainbrit]

It's not a cheap option to live in FL anymore.
You can rent more than a 1 bedroom for around $1100 - I actually rent out my own beach location two bedroom large townhome (and it's not a dump) in Indian Shores for $1100 a month plus utils. You wont have tax to pay if you rent, and just personal insurance for your own belongings, so it is definitely the way to go until you know where you are going and indeed if you are staying.

There is also the possibility of private school employment, but this is not my field of expertise, so maybe others can fill you in on the benefits/fallbacks of private over public.

You should look at pinellas, pasco and hillsborough schools as they are all different I'm sure. If you are older and want a more urban lifestyle I would recommend St Petersburg, it has lots of culture and nightlife, with a city feel, but its a lovely situation, with the bay right there and the best downtown feel that you will get in the area. When you are used to walking to restaurants, movies, galleries and markets you will find that florida doesn't really offer so much of that, it's all spread out, but St Pete goes some way towards that.

[Rachael84]

How do you make 46,000 and take home 1100? I'm hockeymom's daughter and I'm a first year teacher in NYC (the Bronx). I'm making the starting salary of 43,300 and I take home around 1200 and I'm making a few thousand less.

I think it would be a big mistake to move. We have the strongest teacher's union in the world here in the city. Yeah, it's a bit corrupt, but at least they have our backs and we get excellent salaries and benefits.

I'm renting my own 1 bedrooom apartment in Astoria, Queens for $750. There are good deals out there. You can easily find a roommate for $650 in western Queens with a good sized bedroom. I've looked into them when I was lookign for a place.

Florida salaries are much much lower, and the cost of living is just a tad lower than here. So in the end, you end up struggling more in Florida.

[TheCaptain]

Also be aware, it isn't just insurance that's high, it's the property taxes. Property taxes have gone through the roof here in Florida, and many find they can no longer afford to live where they've been for over a decade. If you're set on moving here, I would suggest renting a place for 6 mo's to a year before making the decision to own.

[Spongedaddy]

I would do research and be careful about the overwhelming amount of negative people here. There is truth in what they say, but it is greatly exaggerated.

For example take this tidbit:

"Also, because about half of property taxes go to fund education, some people without children in school object to paying. New Jersey has the highest property taxes, followed by New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island. The lowest five, in order: Louisiana, Alabama, West Virginia, Mississippi and Arkansas. For a state-by-state comparison of property taxes in 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available, click here." (The best and worst states for taxes - MSN Money)

Anyone who tells you that the NY city area is cheaper than FL is either very biased or trying to sell you something.

or how about this:
"What is no surprise is that in 2006 New Jersey ranked number one among the 50 states in the median property taxes paid by homeowners. (The median is the point where half of the homeowners pay more and half pay less.) But, what is surprising is how far ahead of the rest of the country we are. New Jersey's median property tax of $5,773 was nearly 40 percent higher than second-ranking New Hampshire ($4,136), nearly 43 percent above than third-ranking Connecticut ($4,049), nearly 75 percent more than fourth-ranking New York ($3,301), and almost 81 percent higher than fifth-ranking Massachusetts ($3,195)! Clearly, we will not be toppled from our top-ranking perch anytime soon." (Surprise, surprise: new property tax rankings - NJVoices: James Hughes and Joseph Seneca)