Any cities/neighborhoods a good fit for us? (Orlando, Cape Coral: sales, apartment)

[FrugalMother]

Hi ... we want to purchase a home in FL as soon as our youngest graduates from college. A little about us ... we are both in our 50’s, Caucasian, European decent, raised Catholic, don’t speak any foreign languages. Hubby born & raised in suburbs of New York City; after college moved to Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. Wife born & raised in Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. We reside in Loudoun County, VA (a DC suburb) where the 2012 median household income was about $119K. Our home is currently worth about $600K/equity about $300K.

Our must haves /wants ...
Hubby in sales & will continue as a consultant & willl travel often -- would like to be within 30 miles of an International Airport. Wife lost job of 12 years; won't look for employment in FL.
Would like to live in a gated community / 55+ community okay / no condominium/apartment style living.
Willing to pay HOA dues -- don’t want to pay CDD dues.
Politically -- county that leans to left/center/OR slightly to right (based on 2012 Presidential election, rules out St John’s/Indian River/Martin/Escambia/Collier Counties).
Don’t want to live in a county ranked in the top 5 for sinkholes (rules out Pasco/Hernando/Hillsborough/Pinellas Counties).
Don’t want to live in a city ranked high for hurricanes (does this rule out ALL of Palm Beach County -- Boca Raton #10).
Would prefer public water & sewer -- never had a home with well water or septic.
Want to be close to beaches -- what’s close in FL -- within 10 miles, 15 miles, 20 miles??
Wife loves to lounge/walk on beach & hubby is a water person.
We don’t boat or play tennis (but could learn) & hubby plays golfs.
Low crime is always a plus & we won't need schools/colleges.

Obviously living in vs visiting a city is different, but sometimes you get a "feel" for the area. We've vacationed in Ft. Myers Beach & visited ... Cape Coral/not sure, Port Charlotte & Punta Gorda/too far from either airport/beach. Visited Naples/might be too "right" leaning for us. Attended wedding in Daytona Beach/Flagler/Palm Coast -- didn't like the "feel" of those cities. Vacationed in ... Sunny Isles/torn about the area, Orlando/not near beach & Key West/too far to Int'l Airport.

Is our must-have list too detailed? Any cities / neighborhoods a good fit? THANKS for reading my LONG post!!

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by FrugalMother

Our must haves /wants ...

Don’t want to live in a city ranked high for hurricanes (does this rule out ALL of Palm Beach County -- Boca Raton #10).

Want to be close to beaches -- what’s close in FL -- within 10 miles, 15 miles, 20 miles??

Wife loves to lounge/walk on beach & hubby is a water person.

I would not suggest anyplace in Florida based on your needs and wants which are pure contradictions.

Maybe California, but I am not sure how Earthquakes, Mudslides, Wildfires and the Tsunami risk weigh on your want list?

[wireyourworld]

All of florida is a hurricane zone.

I consider 15 miles to be close enough to a beach. Its traffic you have to consider. Gated communities that are houses not condos are closer to the turnpike then 95 for the most part. Have you looked at jupiter?9

[FrugalMother]

THX 1138 -- I'm not sure how you feel my wants/needs are contradictions!? My list was just a way for people who live in FL to steer me in the right direction. Maybe I'm reading the hurricane website "wrong", but some cities in FL are ranked higher than others for hurricanes ... frequency vs. severity. We get hurricanes in the VA/MD/DC area; but not like FL. And, we had an earthquake in the VA/MD/DC area but not like they experience in CA.

wireyourworld -- Thanks ... someone mentioned Jupiter/Jupiter Country Club as a good place to look.

[mayorhaggar]

Honestly pretty much anywhere within several hundred miles of the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic are at risk of hurricanes, from the southern tip of Texas all the way up to Maine.

Hurricanes are 99% of the time not that big a deal. If you really want to live in Florida and are looking at PBC, then I think somewhere upscale-ish like Wellington would be good--it's inland so it's not as much at risk of hurricanes, it's about 20 to 30 minutes from the beach, it's like 15 to 20 minutes from PBI airport, etc.

There are many hurricanes each year but very few ever hit a specific area...I grew up in Florida, moved out of state at 21, and I've never been through a single one. So that's 21 years of not getting hit by a hurricane. My folks in Wellington got hit by two in 2004, that was pretty bad though. (I was in California by then)

[FrugalMother]

mayorhaggar ... thanks for the reply. When you don't live in an area, you have to rely on the statistics you gather 1st, then talk to people who have lived in the area 2nd to get the "real" facts. Being concerned about hurricanes was just one of many items on my list; which I will re-prioritize as time goes on.

[mcleanexec]

I have two rental properties in WPB and live primarily in Northern Va. Your list is too detailed to expect someone on a forum to analyze and respond to.

Get a realtor.

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by FrugalMother

THX 1138 -- I'm not sure how you feel my wants/needs are contradictions!? My list was just a way for people who live in FL to steer me in the right direction. Maybe I'm reading the hurricane website "wrong", but some cities in FL are ranked higher than others for hurricanes ... frequency vs. severity. We get hurricanes in the VA/MD/DC area; but not like FL. And, we had an earthquake in the VA/MD/DC area but not like they experience in CA.

wireyourworld -- Thanks ... someone mentioned Jupiter/Jupiter Country Club as a good place to look.

Hurricanes are a part of life here, we got lucky for years they escaped us, even after Andrew in 1992, South Florida remained unscathed, there was a few close calls, Hurricane Floyd in 1999, came up to the coast and made a turn at the last moment, which would have been a devastating storm.

We got lucky for a few more years then in 2004, we had back to back hurricanes, then the following year we had another which did a lot of damage. Other parts of Florida got hit the same year, Charley and etc..

We have been lucky since, but one is only fooling themselves to think your statistically better off in one place vs another. It's like in California, the big one is coming and it's not a question of if, but when. Do people flee and panic...nope. That's how you live life here, you prepare and that's one thing with Hurricanes the science is that good they can do a good job of predicting a storm's path and this gives you time to decide to ride it out or leave.

That being said, if you choose to live near the water, then you can figure in the storm surge as something that might be devoid in some inland areas. Wind is wind and what does the most damage, you can't escape that when the wind field is big as what it was in some of the past storms. That's why homeowners insurance is so insane here.

If I said to you that I desire to live in the NoVa area but don't like snowstorms.....can you tell me a place I can move that is % wise less of a chance to get hit by a Noreaster but at the same time I like to ski, how would you answer that? (Keep in mind I am originally from the Northeast).

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Honestly pretty much anywhere within several hundred miles of the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic are at risk of hurricanes, from the southern tip of Texas all the way up to Maine.

Hurricanes are 99% of the time not that big a deal. If you really want to live in Florida and are looking at PBC, then I think somewhere upscale-ish like Wellington would be good--it's inland so it's not as much at risk of hurricanes, it's about 20 to 30 minutes from the beach, it's like 15 to 20 minutes from PBI airport, etc.

There are many hurricanes each year but very few ever hit a specific area...I grew up in Florida, moved out of state at 21, and I've never been through a single one. So that's 21 years of not getting hit by a hurricane. My folks in Wellington got hit by two in 2004, that was pretty bad though. (I was in California by then)

We got hit by 3 Hurricanes in Welly World since you left, I rode them all out and did not leave. Would do it again too, but not a Cat 4 or 5 that would be nuts. I have some good video footage, also nothing better than having no power, no phone, cable tv or internet..or a/c for a week, eating peanut butter and jelly and dry food most of the time and cooking off of sternos or a gas grill. The gas situation and stop light issues were not fun though.

Makes start gazing so much better though, it also really made people wise up that we are all fragile beings that can be wiped off the face of the earth in an instant...too bad once everything was back to normal that the majority forgot about it and went back to their careless, self-absorbed narcissistic ways......

2004

Hurricane Frances
Hurricane Jeanne

2005

Hurricane Wilma

[Mollym313]

Originally Posted by FrugalMother

THX 1138 -- I'm not sure how you feel my wants/needs are contradictions!? My list was just a way for people who live in FL to steer me in the right direction. Maybe I'm reading the hurricane website "wrong", but some cities in FL are ranked higher than others for hurricanes ... frequency vs. severity. We get hurricanes in the VA/MD/DC area; but not like FL. And, we had an earthquake in the VA/MD/DC area but not like they experience in CA.

wireyourworld -- Thanks ... someone mentioned Jupiter/Jupiter Country Club as a good place to look.

I am not a Floridian but I do undertand your questions. You want to make the best, educated guess possible. I have been looking into the Port St. lucie area...mainly because, so far it has ranked high on safety and affordability for a single parent. Your research would make sense. If you've never been in a hurricane (severe) then you gotta do your best to get good information.

I think it is a trade off....I went through Joplin, MO EF 5 tornado and I will tell you...I am terrified everytime we have a bad thunderstorm. I'm willing to trade tornadoes (with little to no warning) to Hurricanes. GOOD LUCK ON YOUR SEARCH. I'd be interested to know what you decide.