[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

I thought it would be fantastic information for those of us who have dreams and hopes of moving to Florida someday to know how others became successful in moving to Florida.

If you have moved to Florida and it was a successful move please share your experiences and advise on how others can also become successful as you have been.

Information such as where you came from, year moved to Florida, where you are living in Florida, most important choices you made, research you did, things not to do, things to look for etc.

Any input would be greatly appreciate by many people.

Remember, this is about people who have moved to Florida and have been successful at making the move.

You have had to do a lot of things right to be successful so please share it with us.

Thank you!

Sunny Days

[lionesschanel]

Hi! I'm planning on moving to the Panhandle area/Miramar beach is what looks most appealing to me. Where are you planning on moving? Best of luck!

[gypsystar]

We moved to Miami in 2000 and it was a very successful move. I sent a resume for an editorial position at a magazine prior to moving and had an interview the day after I moved; I was hired right away. Of course, this was 10 years ago and the job situation in FL is probably much different now. We moved back and forth from Los Angeles to FL a few times in the past few years, and each time has been successful in that we found housing right away. The only problem is that we were spoiled by L.A. and can't find any city that compares to it in FL. As much as we love FL, we decided to settle in L.A. for good. I once saw FL as THE place to live, but I now find much of it too rural for my taste. I find even the larger cities, such as Orlando and Miami, to be lacking in comparison.

We have moved many times and all moves except for one have been successful. If you want something bad enough, you can do it. The most important thing is to have housing secured prior to the move - we didn't have that the one time we failed and ended up living in an extended stay hotel which drained our finances.

[Swimmom32]

Originally from NYC then 5.5 yrs in Colorado, back to NY then NJ..It was time for us to leave the North, as we choose to move to Charlotte NC...We lived there for 2 years...We moved to Boca in June 2009.... where dh had lost his job with a major bank in NC....Our goal 11 years ago was to move to South florida, however it just wasnt in the cards for us at that time...My dh and I had decided we had an opportunity in 09 to get down here since he knew months before his position was being eliminated so he had plenty of time to find something here as it was time for us to start over....I am very thankful that my dh has/had a ton of Connections and we knew it would just be a matter of time...We were very fortunate that our move was successful, as our family is very happy to be right where we want to be...Our children are thriving in their schools, love having some family here and we have met the greatest people that we have ever met in a long time.....We love our area we chose, We Moved from West Boca to Central Boca recently, as my landlord was going to sell the house and we had the opportunity to move to this location....My son is in the HS he originally wanted to go to, he has friends from West Boca HS where he attended who also moved here and now attend the same HS as my son, and he is extremely happy...he now attends Spanish River HS...

My daughter, well she found a few girls from swimming that attend her elem school and she is happier here than she was in her current school so all is good here

People need to make the best of their situations, It took us a long time to find happiness somewhere and for us we dont need a ton of people to make us happy...as long as we have each other and the kids life is good....No regrets moving to NC and No regrets moving here....although we prefer living in florida

[Shoegal1075]

I hope I have as much success Berry - things look very bright for your family's future!

[Ken E]

I beleive anyone can move to Florida and be successful if you take your time and do a lot of homework before you make the move.We moved down almost 9 years ago from N.H. with no jobs and were working within a couple weeks. We both are self employed now with successful businesses. I know things were a lot different up until just a few years ago but i beleive that if you live within your means and dont go crazy and like the poster said above, you want it bad enough, you'll do alright. We also saw Florida as the ''place to live'' at one time but have also decieded to move back to N.H. as i also beleive i am spoiled and can find no comparison here. There are very many success story's here. All ya gotta do is want it bad enough.

[Sheepie2000]

Much of our story doesn't sound successful, but if you're persistent, you can be successful.

We moved here from Ohio in summer of 2008. My dh spent 2 years looking/waiting for the right job. We focused on the triangle area formed by Orlando, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville. He had a few leads fall through, but finally he got a job here in Palm Coast, and that's exactly where we wanted to be. I talked to my boss and was allowed to work from home.

We packed up our house into 2 large PODS which were then transported and stored in Daytona. We rented a fully furnished house. Surely it would only be for a few months until we bought a house. Miraculously, the house in Ohio sold quickly. Not so miraculously the owners of the house we were renting wanted to come back to it after a couple months (maybe to strip it since we found out it was on the verge of forclosure) and we had less than 30 days to move out.

We were waiting for a response to an offer on a short sale. The owners agreed to let us rent it until the sale closed. We spent months living in an empty house with our things still in storage, only to have the short sale fall through. We were able to stay there a number more months while we waited on another short sale (about the only kind of sale here).

Finally we closed on our house in Sept 2009 and had our belongings delivered from PODS.

From our decision to move here, it took 3.5 years to get settled. Well, we're still painting and getting settled even now. I scoffed at people who said to rent first. I didn't want to move twice and have my ds changed schools if we bought in another district, but in the end it would have made this whole thing much easier. We never expected the real estate situation to be such a mess or so time consuming.

Now that we finally have our own home, we couldn't be happier.

Just remember what my mother always says, "Nothing ever happens the way you expect in Florida." Remembering that line got me through a lot!

[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

Originally Posted by Sheepie2000

Much of our story doesn't sound successful, but if you're persistent, you can be successful.

We moved here from Ohio in summer of 2008. My dh spent 2 years looking/waiting for the right job. We focused on the triangle area formed by Orlando, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville. He had a few leads fall through, but finally he got a job here in Palm Coast, and that's exactly where we wanted to be. I talked to my boss and was allowed to work from home.

We packed up our house into 2 large PODS which were then transported and stored in Daytona. We rented a fully furnished house. Surely it would only be for a few months until we bought a house. Miraculously, the house in Ohio sold quickly. Not so miraculously the owners of the house we were renting wanted to come back to it after a couple months (maybe to strip it since we found out it was on the verge of forclosure) and we had less than 30 days to move out.

We were waiting for a response to an offer on a short sale. The owners agreed to let us rent it until the sale closed. We spent months living in an empty house with our things still in storage, only to have the short sale fall through. We were able to stay there a number more months while we waited on another short sale (about the only kind of sale here).

Finally we closed on our house in Sept 2009 and had our belongings delivered from PODS.

From our decision to move here, it took 3.5 years to get settled. Well, we're still painting and getting settled even now. I scoffed at people who said to rent first. I didn't want to move twice and have my ds changed schools if we bought in another district, but in the end it would have made this whole thing much easier. We never expected the real estate situation to be such a mess or so time consuming.

Now that we finally have our own home, we couldn't be happier.

Just remember what my mother always says, "Nothing ever happens the way you expect in Florida." Remembering that line got me through a lot!

Thank you for sharing your SUCCESS story.

Thank you for passing along information that may help others also.

Since you are happy and staying in Florida I consider that a success story that is what this thread is all about.

[Shoegal1075]

See this is my point you initially say living here was a success and then you are kind of going against that. The state of the economy is dim everywhere including the NE. I think people should ask themselves if they would dislike Florida if this never happened. I mean I would be super pissed no matter where I lived if I owned a home that was no longer worth half what I bought it for. But here is the deal that is the chance you take when buying a home. Do you think that you would be happier if you were upside down in the North?

I mean if all your family is up north, I could see how easy it might be to blame everything on geography. Makes it that much easier to go home.

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by Ken E

There's a awful lot of people staying in Florida because they owe more than twice on their homes than there worth. Thats far from a success story.

this is happening all over the country...my friends are stuck in NJ and I have friends in Charlotte also stuck...because they lost a ton of money its not just florida..and alot of people are stuck where ever they are..on the opposite note, I can tell you there are people dh knows that have moved from florida and are so trying to get back after realizing the grass wasnt greener on the other side...

Sunny asked about Success Stories, I dont think that if one is stuck that it would make for a good success story anyhow...