Moving from CT to FL - ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREAT!! (Orlando: rentals, insurance)

[melnjosh18]

Hi all! I currently live in Hebron, CT and am seriously considering moving to the Melbourne/Palm Bay area of FL this July. I am attending school online to become an Ultrasound Tech and just found out that there are no clinical sites in CT but there are 7 in FL. So to make a long story short we've always wanted to live in FL and are thinking of relocating this summer. It would be myself, my Fiance, our 5 year old son, and our pitbull.

I have a million concerns and am trying to do research as much as I can but I figured reviews from actual residents would be much more helpful. I'm going to list all of my concerns/questions and even if you could only answer one it would be helpful!

FYI- My Fiance is going to be transferring his international laborers union card to Orlando, FL so we need to be in somewhat close proximity to Orlando.

We reviewed the public schools on neighborhood.com which rates each public school system out of 100. (The school our son currently attends is a 95 out of 100). We found that the Melbourne/Palm Bay area had schools which were rated at a 80 out of 100. There weren't many FL schools that were rated well, are FL schools as bad as this site is making them out to be? I'm guessing due to the overwhelming amount of retirees there isn't many which support funding the public school system.

Are the bugs as bad as people are telling me?

What does the electricity bill average per month?

I currently make 13.50 per hr as a supervisor in a front office position. I know wages are generally less in FL.. does anyone have a round about amount of how much I could make in a similar office position in FL?

My Fiance is a member of LIUNA (Laborers International Union of North America) and is a construction laborer currently making 25.00 per hr. Does anyone know what the going union rate for LIUNA members are in Orlando?

Are the Melbourne/Palm Bay areas more city like or rural? Reminder I come from a small town in CT

Are there any other towns that you would reccommend which have good schools and a good community which are within an hour to hour and half commute of the Orlando area?

Is it really cheaper to live in FL? Obviously the cost of living is cheaper and the wages are cheaper so does it just all even out in the end or is it really cheaper?

Can anyone suggest a realtor company which we could work with to find homes to rent? My Fiance will be going down for a week in June to try to sign a lease before we go down in July.

Any other advice which anyone can offer especially if you have moved from New England to FL would be greatly appreciated!

[warm11]

Melbourne , Fl is about a hour / hour and a half away from Orlando. Do you want to be that far away?

[workingclasshero]

how are the schools, specificly the special ed programs

[melnjosh18]

Originally Posted by warm11

Melbourne , Fl is about a hour / hour and a half away from Orlando. Do you want to be that far away?

My Fiance is willing to commute around an hour... the union is located out of Orlando but not all jobs will be right in Orlando they could be in surrounding areas. Do you have any advice regarding towns in surrounding areas? Our top priority is a good school and community for our son.

Thanks!

[melnjosh18]

We have got a lot of info we didn't have before, we didn't get a lot of responses so I'm thinking my original post was a little too overwhelming.

The biggest question we have now is where to move to? We have found a lot of nice single family houses for good prices in Palm Bay, we are starting to wonder if this is a nice area or not (because there are sooo many homes for rent)? We are leaning torwards either Palm Bay or Titusville, due to it's close proximity to Orlando. If anyone has any input of which is nicer for children or at least what areas in those towns would be our best bet we would appreciate it. Thank you all for the input!

[FoxworthFamily]

There is a reason why homes are lower priced in this two cites. Try Viera. Nice place for families.

[melnjosh18]

ok thank you foxworth we will look into the viera area.

[workingclasshero]

1. can anyone tell me how the schools are in the area, especially in the special education realm

how would you compare them to other areas of the state... or to other states (such as NY, or NC)

2. what is the major religion in the area (we have lived in areas of NY (mostly Catholic or jewish) and also in NC (mostly baptist)...and are they 'overbearing'???

3 how are utility costs??

4. how are the property taxes??

5. what are the ameneties for children (libraries, parks, zoo, aquaiium, beach, theater, drama classes, etc)????





anyone??

[Biggsbasement]

Originally Posted by melnjosh18

Hi all! I currently live in Hebron, CT and am seriously considering moving to the Melbourne/Palm Bay area of FL this July. I am attending school online to become an Ultrasound Tech and just found out that there are no clinical sites in CT but there are 7 in FL. So to make a long story short we've always wanted to live in FL and are thinking of relocating this summer. It would be myself, my Fiance, our 5 year old son, and our pitbull.

I have a million concerns and am trying to do research as much as I can but I figured reviews from actual residents would be much more helpful. I'm going to list all of my concerns/questions and even if you could only answer one it would be helpful!

FYI- My Fiance is going to be transferring his international laborers union card to Orlando, FL so we need to be in somewhat close proximity to Orlando.

We reviewed the public schools on neighborhood.com which rates each public school system out of 100. (The school our son currently attends is a 95 out of 100). We found that the Melbourne/Palm Bay area had schools which were rated at a 80 out of 100. There weren't many FL schools that were rated well, are FL schools as bad as this site is making them out to be? I'm guessing due to the overwhelming amount of retirees there isn't many which support funding the public school system.

Are the bugs as bad as people are telling me?

What does the electricity bill average per month?

I currently make 13.50 per hr as a supervisor in a front office position. I know wages are generally less in FL.. does anyone have a round about amount of how much I could make in a similar office position in FL?

My Fiance is a member of LIUNA (Laborers International Union of North America) and is a construction laborer currently making 25.00 per hr. Does anyone know what the going union rate for LIUNA members are in Orlando?

Are the Melbourne/Palm Bay areas more city like or rural? Reminder I come from a small town in CT

Are there any other towns that you would reccommend which have good schools and a good community which are within an hour to hour and half commute of the Orlando area?

Is it really cheaper to live in FL? Obviously the cost of living is cheaper and the wages are cheaper so does it just all even out in the end or is it really cheaper?

Can anyone suggest a realtor company which we could work with to find homes to rent? My Fiance will be going down for a week in June to try to sign a lease before we go down in July.

Any other advice which anyone can offer especially if you have moved from New England to FL would be greatly appreciated!

I know a good realtor in the Brevard area....Tammy Kiser Kiser Realty in Titusville but does all of Brevard county they also handle rentals so they have alot of info on those as well. It is cheaper to live here somewhat but it kinda averages out... ( I lived / Live in NJ now but just moved back here after being there for 14 years this time and 2 before You don't need as much clothing down there...food is a little cheaper....utlities other then water were cheaper water higher specially in Titusville they are higher then other areas in Brevard. I worked as a office manager and I'm an insurance agent and made over 14.00 per hour (when I first started years before I made over 10.00) Laborers / union and skilled trades make less though...my husband does cabinets and counters and he would make 20plus here where there is was only like 15.00...sometimes less....he actually made more doing assembly for a home center and made more money then at his trade so go figure.... I know Pt St John has a decent school system and Applo school in Titusville is decent as well and they are closer to orlando and cheaper too (although I personally think the Viera area is nicer ) just my opinion. Palm Bay generally has a higher crime rate (not every area but it does seem to make the "news alot" Melbourne and Palm bay are more small city.....not like philly or new york but I can't compare cause I don't know what your area is like but it is somewhat laid back no real cultural things or anything like that a few movie theathers is about it LOL Titusville/ Pt St John / Cocoa are bout 25-45 minutes to Orlando but they are definitly small town and roll up the side walks bout 7-8 pm at night LOL

We rented a 1880 sg ft house electric (most costly ) ran lowest 80 dollars / highest 260.00 Then we bought our home several years later and till we moved 1498 sg ft and it ran bout the same highest ever had was 287.00 We had two frigs (one really old one) and a spa running on that and a 1973 air conditioner....when we replaced it it did drop bout 40.00 per month)
I can tell you being from up north originally...we used our heat ....maybe ten times all the time we lived there even though it can get cool in the winter...it was nothing in my house for me cause I like it cold but we keep our heat here at 62-65 in winter anyway....there we kept the air at 70-72 in summer When I did put heat on it was just in am to take chill out then it was fine rarely did my house even in winter ever get below 60 even if it was 30 outside which was rare..
Now for the bad news.....mosequitos should be the state bird and they have bout 120 kind of designer roachs LOL (which my husband can tell you I have a HUGH phobia about) I will and have eymptied a whole can of bug spray on one bug...so I did invest in a bug service but rather then getting it down monthly I got the quartly and if there was a problem in between they come out for free .....but it worked well once in awhile a bug was dumb enough to come in but not often. If you have pets you definitly need to flea and tick them...we got a tick infestation which was horrible from going camping but we finally 3 months later got it taken care of! at least lyme's is not a big concern here like it is up North though

If you think of anything else just ask!!

[melnjosh18]

Thank you for all of the information, it helps a lot. We have found out about the rate of pay for the both of us, we also found a great website for rentals, its just the whether or not the realtor is willing to work with us while i go down for a week to get everything situated ( finding a place ). If the realtor doesnt seem to work to well with us then we will deffinetly look into your friend.