[Spring Hillian]

Originally Posted by The b8nk

Thought florida had a low COL compared to the "north"? LOL

Do you have any idea what an apartment rents for in Brooklyn, The Bronx or Queens? Forget about Manhattan.

[Spring Hillian]

They probably would be (are) in the same or worse situation now.

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Yep, there is another on the Tampa boards now, wants to move down from Virginia. Young couple 20 and 21, not married with a 2yr old, no mention of jobs.

Just want a lower COL and warm weather.

What could possibly go wrong?

Yet very few posters ever mention reality.

It's actually scary when they mention bringing children down and have no jobs lined up, and limited funds.

[Spring Hillian]

If you are in a hole where you are might as well change holes. Life wont be any worse for them here. If they have nothing going for them there why not "pursue your dreams". Life is short. Geographic Location is only important if you dont like where you are.

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Agree, it also doesn't help that there are several posters on here who encourage people like that.

An example, one young woman has two posts going on the Tampa board, her boyfriend is currently out or work but can do construction, lawn care, pool cleaning(you get the idea).

She works as a front desk/receptionist at some health club.

So neither one has a skill set that thousands of others looking for service industry jobs don't already have, who are already in FL and looking for work.

They have little to no savings, yet the responses they get don't address reality, instead you get "pursue your dreams" nonsense.

It's really amazing.

Not that anyone should base a decision from comments on CD, but if you try and point out reality, well that's not a good thing.

[Spring Hillian]

Originally Posted by Sweetbottoms

My rent went up $300+ in a year and a half.. We had to end up finding a private renter .. Our final rent before we found this place was upwards of $1250. We've lived in the same complex since 08 and our rent was $925 .. Not a single upgrade or change was made to my place in that time. Average apts in NAples are around $1200 and homes upwards of $2400. We have not recieved a pay raise or COL adjustment in any of this time. My husband works for the gov't. We did however get a 3% increase in our insurace. So technically we took a 3% cut and they implemented thy govt workers had to pay into their retirement so that was another paycut... So raised rent and two paycuts.. Good luck to any families looking to move here who aren't making over $70,000-$80,000 a year. They ll be hurting .

How much do you think rents are running up north? In Brooklyn $1,250 might get you a studio in a ghetto area. Everyone is not making 70-80k up there and that is bad news because COL is so high.
Gas is currently running 3.90 a gallon.

What we are experiencing here is the same thing being experienced in most of the country. We are not out of recession quite yet. There are still a lot of high unemployment rates scattered all over the country, prices for everything keep increasing while wages havent moved much in several years. Those who can say the live in poverty is increasing every day.

[Spring Hillian]

Originally Posted by annerk

And then it's all "Florida's" fault when they don't end up in a 6000 s/f home with a sports car in the garage on their desk clerk/lawn care paychecks.

I would say that most people relocating are looking for better but not the extreme. They realize they are going down the tubes where they are due to unemployment, high COL. They need relief. Just as those who migrated from the South decades ago to the North the reverse is in play. The north has people out priced. There are more people without college degrees and proven track records, skills, knowledge.
They are the majority.

Things will continue to slide downwards as time goes on.

[Sweetbottoms]

Originally Posted by Spring Hillian

How much do you think rents are running up north? In Brooklyn $1,250 might get you a studio in a ghetto area. Everyone is not making 70-80k up there and that is bad news because COL is so high.
Gas is currently running 3.90 a gallon.

What we are experiencing here is the same thing being experienced in most of the country. We are not out of recession quite yet. There are still a lot of high unemployment rates scattered all over the country, prices for everything keep increasing while wages havent moved much in several years. Those who can say the live in poverty is increasing every day.

Well considering those are places connected to a MAJOR city and Naples is more than 2 hours from ANY city and has more golf courses than gas stations ID say their rent is more on par for what is available aroun you vs here. I'm aware of what rent costs up north, I look every day preparing for when we can finally leave. I like to keep up with rates in some states we have out on our list... All are similar or cheaper with a city in under an hour away..

Thankfully I have no desire to go back to the Bronx. Or the state of NY for that matter .. I already checked living there off my list..

[annerk]

Originally Posted by Spring Hillian

Do you have any idea what an apartment rents for in Brooklyn, The Bronx or Queens? Forget about Manhattan.

Rent controlled places can be quite affordable. I have friends in a pre-war in the east 80's (near Gracie Mansion) who pay $1800 a month for a 2BR/1B with a working fireplace in a doorman building and a partial river view. They make three times in NYC what they would doing a comparable job in Florida, so their COL is actually lower than it would be in Florida.

[TriMT7]

Construction of rentals has not kept up with demand, at all. In downtown West Palm Beach I used to rent a large 2 bedroom condo for $1500/month. In 5 years the cost for the same unit approaches 1900/month.

In that time, there has been very little new rental inventory, as investors got skittish to build. There are some projects in the pipeline, but that's a couple years out, at best.

It's again cheaper to buy in most instances.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by Spring Hillian

If you are in a hole where you are might as well change holes. Life wont be any worse for them here. If they have nothing going for them there why not "pursue your dreams". Life is short. Geographic Location is only important if you dont like where you are.

Not when you go from a hole where you have a job to hole where you don't have a job.

And you certainly don't do it when you have minor children that you need to support.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by Spring Hillian

If you are in a hole where you are might as well change holes. Life wont be any worse for them here. If they have nothing going for them there why not "pursue your dreams". Life is short. Geographic Location is only important if you dont like where you are.

Except far too many don't bother to have the foresight to realize that their problems will follow them to the new place. They come thinking they will start fresh--but fresh from what? People with no job skills and savings will be no better--and after you factor in the cost of moving--possibly much worse off than if they either stay where they are, or move someplace based on availability of work and inexpensive housing instead of sunshine.