Relocating from Minnesota to Melbourne (Miami, Tampa: to rent, houses, neighborhoods)

[PacketHauler]

Hello,

My family and I currently reside in Minnesota, but the opportunity has recently arose where I could relocate to a different location within our company. My wife grew up in Orlando, and has commented that she's wanted to move back to Florida for some time now.

We had a choice between Tampa, Jax, Miami, and Melbourne, and Melbourne. The Melbourne area was the most appealing to us, and it's only 1 hour away from our time share in Vero that we go to every year.

We have 2 young children, a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Schools are important, and we'd be looking at 4 BR houses, with a budget between $200-240k.

What areas should we be looking at, and what areas should we completely avoid? My office would be located just north of 518 off of N Wickham Road. Being reasonably close would be nice, but not a must.

Also the annual trip to our time share is happening soon so we will be able to come up to the area to check it out and look at some houses.

[chopchop0]

It is less than an hour from Vero to downtown Melbourne FYI.

Brevard county has excellent schools. Look at Melbourne, and beachside areas like indian harbor/satellite etc

[PacketHauler]

Originally Posted by chopchop0

It is less than an hour from Vero to downtown Melbourne FYI.

Brevard county has excellent schools. Look at Melbourne, and beachside areas like indian harbor/satellite etc

Well, that will make vacation trip planning a lot easier.

The time share has been in my wife's family for years, which we inherited. I'm sure some of the novelty of traveling there every year will wear off living so close, but still a vacation nonetheless. She grew up in the Orlando area and that was their vacation time before school started.

I'll start poking around housing in the beachside areas. That would be definitely a nice to have, within walking/biking distance of the beach, but not a must-have.

[ExIslander]

The beachside is nice, but you might struggle to find a good 4BR in the low $200s. Worth trying, though. West Melbourne is fairly close to your work and has good school zones, and would give you more housing options in that price range.

[TestEngr]

Most people either opt for beachside or near I-95 for convenience of travel. Kind of up to you what you want on that. I once lived beachside but not in Brevard, I find beachside in Brevard hard to get places. Other places in FL easier to get from beachside to say I-95, but Pineda causeway is way to do it here if you wanted to live near the beach. Melbourne high is ok I suppose, not sure on eau gallie high, or the ones on beachside. I would look at the high schools if I had students even if they are not in HS, thus let that say something. But I would look at travel times and neighborhoods. Good luck.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by ExIslander

The beachside is nice, but you might struggle to find a good 4BR in the low $200s. Worth trying, though. West Melbourne is fairly close to your work and has good school zones, and would give you more housing options in that price range.

yes budget for that size will be better for WM.

[PacketHauler]

All good stuff to know, thank you to everyone who has responded so far.

Looking further into it, we're thinking of renting for a year to get a better feel for the area. Our budget would increase to the mid-200's for a house when we look to buy, and I would imagine that opens up more housing options?

[ExIslander]

Originally Posted by PacketHauler

Looking further into it, we're thinking of renting for a year to get a better feel for the area.

That's a really good idea, one you can still get away with since the kids are little. You'll be much more comfortable making that decision when you know your way around and you've seen all the neighborhoods.

Of course, you might have a house-love-at-first-sight moment during your time-share trip.

[PacketHauler]

Originally Posted by ExIslander

Of course, you might have a house-love-at-first-sight moment during your time-share trip.

We've thought about that too. However, I don't think we'll have to worry about it too much as it makes more sense financially for us to rent for a year to save up money for a down payment.

Our 4 year-old has already commented that our new 'beach house' has to have a pool. I have to plan my route carefully to show him that not all houses have pools near the beach. Gotta love toddler logic.

[clnewman]

With a 4-yo, having access to a pool (yours or community) will help save your sanity during the dog days. You may not want to trek to the beach on a hot/humid one, but a trip to the pool is easy-peasy.