[Roxiedmb2]

Originally Posted by olddaddy

This is mostly going to be negative, so if that offends you, you may want to stop reading now. I have lived in Florida all my life, so has my wife. Our house is a small, but nicely restored original Florida Cracker house in the center of the state, away from the coasts. Our homeowners insurance has quadrupled since the hurricanes a few years ago. Our mortgage has doubled since the homeowners is included in the payment. We are becoming too poor to own the home we spent 10 years restoring. We've had no claims, and no hurricanes this season, but halfway through the policy term they are increasing our rates again! The Insurance Commisioner is impotent in the face of the Insurance Industry and we are being sqeezed out of our home. Money we were paying on our mortgage to shorten the time to pay it off now goes to insurance. We pay four to five times more than we did for less coverage than we had. Anyone moving to Florida may want to consider this state wide situation. Sadly for us it's time to leave Florida. Our house will be on the market by years end and our dreams will be very different in the future.

The taxes are out of control as well!!! I'm ready to move our too.

[Mrs.Bewitched]

That's just it. You and others posting here CAN afford to live in Florida, but you're not willing to buy or rent a condo. You can afford it, you're just not willing to do what it takes. No single guy needs a 3 bedroom condo or a house, a studio/efficiency will do just fine. And plenty of kids grow up in condos/townhomes and they come out just fine. There's a 16 year old kid who lives in my hi-rise condo, he's well adjusted, plays on his school's football team, has friends over a lot, it ain't killing him not having a yard to mow for his parents.

It amazes me how someone would move clear out of state just to have a yard to mow. What good is it having the yard when it's cloudy + chilly half the year and you can't go out and use it?[/quote]

I don't understand this "...you're not willing to do what it takes." What it takes? My husband works 6 days a week-50 some hours. I work 5 days a week, and as I am sure people know, teachers put in more time than the actual classroom time. I think we're doing "what it takes" to become a condo owner.
Sorry, but some people's dreams are different than others. I didn't grow up as a little girl dreaming of being a "condo owner". That is fine for some and maybe it is some other peoples' goals and dreams, but not mine. I want a single house where if I want to decorate it, I can however I choose, and not worry about some association saying that I went against thier rules. I don't want a cookie cutter house where I can't tell whose house is whose, unless I am looking at the address. And yes, I do want a yard. I don't know anyone who would want a yard "just to mow". Um yes, can I please have that house with a yard because I have a fetish for mowing, and that is what I really really really want that yard for! I want a yard so that my dog can run around. I want a yard so that my children can run around. So that my children can throw a football, so that they can throw a baseball, so that I can have a family get together and place out tables and chairs, so that I might possibly put in a pool one day.
And why couldn't I use it in chilly weather? I remember playing in leaves. I remember running and building snow forts and throwing snowballs. I remember making snowmen. I can still let my dog out.

I would move "clear out of state" to have a nice size house, and yes with a yard, where I can decorate/paint it as I will, in a nice school system in a nice neighborhood, and get this house for....anywhere for $100K to $160K. Can I find a house for $160K here in Florida...sure, I am sure I could. Would it be the same size as the others I could get? Maybe the size of 2 of thier rooms. Would it have insurance as cheap as the others? Not a chance. Would it have taxes as cheap as the others? Not a chance. Am I guaranteed a good school system? Maybe, but I have looked and there aren't a whole lot of that in Florida.
Yes, I will take a little snow (let's not get dramatic, I will not live in blizzard zone), and I will uproot the children, to aquire that dream of mine that I have had since I was a little girl of 9. That nice yellow house with the green shutters and door, with trees in the yard that I grew flowers around the base, and a fenced in yard, with laughing children running through it. That is the dream that my husband and I are doing what it takes to obtain, but it is not obtainable for a price that won't make us housepoor, in Florida.

[s01]

Get your dream and run with it!
Hard to do that in Florida....unless you hit the lottery..then of course there are taxes....but you can always afford at least a couple of years in a nice home on the earnings of a winning lottery ticket

[pixiewytch]

Wait a minute, I just want to make sure that posters here aren't actually suggesting that moving into a condo is an affordable option? The last time I checked living in a condo is considered more like luxury living than anything else. I can tell you off the top of my head that the condo units going up around here are in the 200K and up range. That doesn't sound all that practical or affordable for most families so how could one even suggest that Floridians are unwilling to lower their standards to live in a condo? Most of them can't afford a condo! I'm sure the 200K units are the 1 br's and if you have children and need additional br's, you are looking at 300K and up.

[Ellen Shelly]

It's true insurance rates have gone up but my insurance rates have gone up only about $200. Some of the good things in Florida: no state income tax, low property taxes compared to many areas with a "Save Our Homes" clause that states if you remain in your home and you are entitled to the homestead exemption your taxes can go up by no more than 3%. I live in Jacksonville and there are many months where I do not have to heat or cool my home. One disadvantage is the school system. I'm 75 years old but would be willing to pay more in taxes if it would go to our schools.

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by scamutz

Incorrect. There are many other companies writing in Pasco County. Not in West Pasco/New Port Richey area...(sinkholes)...but I know of at least three that are writing in the Wesley Chapel/East Pasco area.

I have called at least 12 agents and when i get my zip code put into the machine, i get told i only can have citizens. this is wesley chapel, i also was told, there was a sink hole one mile from where i live. i haven't seen it?

[gta3expert1989]

I feel very different about this. I wasn't born in Florida of course, but I was partly raised here, and also in Connecticut. I recently moved back because I missed it that much. I can't ever imagine myself living in any other state. The best memories of my life so far are in Florida. Just my two cents in

[simpledale]

Read your post about insurances.
I am sorry for you and your family.
I am looking to move to Florida Central to be near family. Maybe I will get a inexpensive mobile after reading your posting?

Dale

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by s01

Get your dream and run with it!
Hard to do that in Florida....unless you hit the lottery..then of course there are taxes....but you can always afford at least a couple of years in a nice home on the earnings of a winning lottery ticket

Even if I won the lottery, I am out of Florida. It just isnt worth it when I can get a better house for cheaper elsewhere. Even Texas is a much better deal and the location and weather are similar to Florida. Yes theres higher property taxes but the insurance is much less! I may get a mansion in WV or OH with tons of land if I won the lottery!

Originally Posted by mrshvo

I don't understand this "...you're not willing to do what it takes." What it takes? My husband works 6 days a week-50 some hours. I work 5 days a week, and as I am sure people know, teachers put in more time than the actual classroom time. I think we're doing "what it takes" to become a condo owner.
Sorry, but some people's dreams are different than others. (cut quote)

I totally agree! So many people are leaving Florida the population is going way down. All those houses will sit vacent and prices are dropping by a third.

Originally Posted by pixiewytch

Wait a minute, I just want to make sure that posters here aren't actually suggesting that moving into a condo is an affordable option? The last time I checked living in a condo is considered more like luxury living than anything else. I can tell you off the top of my head that the condo units going up around here are in the 200K and up range. That doesn't sound all that practical or affordable for most families so how could one even suggest that Floridians are unwilling to lower their standards to live in a condo? Most of them can't afford a condo! I'm sure the 200K units are the 1 br's and if you have children and need additional br's, you are looking at 300K and up.

The cheapest condo ive seen was $95k for a tiny broken down one in a questionable neighboorhood. Decent 1 bedroom condos here are $150k, 2 bedrooms will set me back $200k and 3 bedrooms around $250k. You dont get any land either and less privacy than a detached house that I can have for $50k in OH. Of course im leaving Florida!

[contracheck]

Originally Posted by olddaddy

This is mostly going to be negative, so if that offends you, you may want to stop reading now. I have lived in Florida all my life, so has my wife. Our house is a small, but nicely restored original Florida Cracker house in the center of the state, away from the coasts. Our homeowners insurance has quadrupled since the hurricanes a few years ago. Our mortgage has doubled since the homeowners is included in the payment. We are becoming too poor to own the home we spent 10 years restoring. We've had no claims, and no hurricanes this season, but halfway through the policy term they are increasing our rates again! The Insurance Commisioner is impotent in the face of the Insurance Industry and we are being sqeezed out of our home. Money we were paying on our mortgage to shorten the time to pay it off now goes to insurance. We pay four to five times more than we did for less coverage than we had. Anyone moving to Florida may want to consider this state wide situation. Sadly for us it's time to leave Florida. Our house will be on the market by years end and our dreams will be very different in the future.

I am truly horrified to read what you have posted here ... you are basically being FORCED out of your home and state ... how outrageous is that ????? I am so very sorry that you and your dear wife must leave behind what is of so much value to you in more then one ways .... I understand it well because I had to leave Sarasota in September of 2005 after 8 years of living there ... worked hard to make my condo nice and didnt want to leave it either ... but I was unable to secure employment and my home equity loan I had gotten to keep alive had dried up ..... I had no choice but to sell and move on ..... but please allow me to pass on what I read in the bible that comforted me after I had already left Florida: "those who give up their life will gain a better one in place for it" ..... this might be a signal from God for you ... follow the call faithfully ... something better is waiting for you elsewhere ... only believe and it will be so ... I will keep you in my prayers and wish you all the best for a new and better future .... my heart goes out to you .. take care !!!!!!!!!!!!