[Need_affordable_home]

He is right, Florida salaries tend to be low, sometimes half of what you can get elsewhere. I have a feeling the origional poster was assuming their salaries would be equal in Florida and houses cheap. They are in for a reality supprise. I suggest they rent for a year, this is the better option than buying a house they cant afford and ending up forclosed.

[FLPL75]

shannon
former jersey girl here
I would recommend taking a week or 10 days and come on down
start in Jacksonville(thats where we live) and check out our city the southside is 15 mins from the beach and the clubs at the beach. also ins and taxes are cheaper in the northeast part of the state
then check out Daytona then Orlando. If you spend a couple days in each area driving around and also checking out the night life you will get a better understanding of the areas.
Believe me you will not be happy if you end up in an area that is a little more "country" than you are expecting.
Everytime I hear someone say you have to make over $100k to live here I keep wanting to check my address to see if somehow we were picked up in the middle of the night and moved we are in a house that is worth $350k drive nice cars a few years old but nice and never have to worry if we can afford to go out or not I am a SAHM to our dogs and my volunteer work and *gasp* my husband makes less than $80k a year
you can get a nice house in this area well within in your target range we are about 2 1/2 hours from disney.
Karla

[Shannon986]

Whats Deland like? Any new neighborhoods or night life?

[hiknapster]

I don't think you would consider Deland to actually have nightlife. I think Orlando would probably be a better fit.

By the way, I moved from Orlando due to personal reasons. I would move back now but it is no longer affordable.

[hiknapster]

Hi, Mariana!

Please shut off the caps lock. It makes it seem like you are yelling at us. I'm sure you are excited but caps usually signifies that you are angry!



Do you mean Windermere as in the exclusive enclave of Tiger Woods and other celebrities and other really, really, really rich people?

[Kezzer67]

If you are young & like the bar scene consider East Orlando. East Orlando is more pricey being near UCF and the larger corporate companies, HP, Lockheed, SAIC, Siemans etc.
You can get a great 3/2 for $280K in Cypress Springs area. Puts you close to Waterford Lakes for shopping / bars / cinema etc.
Direct route to Cocoa in 45 minutes, airport in 20 mins & Disney in 40 minutes.
Not a huge fan of North area, Winter Springs is ok, Mount Dora is changing but not really what you are looking for.

[Christian11]

Out of curiosity....since FL is becoming Southern California (and we are begining to see signs of that with skyrocketing crime, high home prices, absurd insurance costs, massive traffic jams and road rage, wages that are not keeping up with cost of living), then why stay or move here?

If you are moving or staying here for the "nice weather", yeah, you will enjoy it from Early-Dec to Mid-April. Dec - April is WONDERFUL in Central FL, but the rest of the year sucks. The rest of the year is 90 - 100 degrees every day. Don't believe me, as around. If you are from like Phoenix or south Texas, yeah, FL weather will feel like home, except it is humid as heck.

Humidity is usually no less than 90% almost every day, so you sweat like an animal. It starts off at 75 degrees around 7:30am and it goes up to the sky from there. Usually the highs are in the 90s, but with the humidity (heat index) is around 101... I have seen it go up to 110 degrees! Nights are not too bad... except the humidity keeps the temp on the upper 80s and low 90's. Oh, don't forget the rain from May - Sept, which is twice a day (usually from 10am - 11am and from 3pm-4pm). That will get annoying too... folks drive at 5 MPH when it rains... you will love it.

Interstate 4 (I-4) will be your best friend! You will spend lots and lots of time stuck in traffic. Oh and if you get hit by one of our thousands of illegal aliens with no license, no insurance, they will bolt on you, so make sure you get the guy's plate #, if you can. My wife works Personal Injury and it happens all the time. Too often... Americans are dumb and refuse to force the government to enforce Immigration laws. Corporations will love the "guest worker" amnesty. So will the illegals, who steal people's identity, rip-off welfare and overuse our public services. Not to mention the heinous crimes the illegal commit. Anyways...

I know, you say "I prefer that than to deal with the crazy heat than snow 3 months of the year". We will see about that when you begin complaining about the heat every single day and night, sweating and getting angry at people on the streets cause of the heat. Think Orlando hit #3 of America's angriest cities for no reason?

http://www.travel-rants.com/2006/08/...ty-in-america/

Believe it not, but Orlando has been voted the US angriest city by Men’s Health Magazine – it’s interesting that four of the top 10 cities are all in Florida, and here’s you, thinking that Florida was full of jolly Disney characters and thrilling theme parks! Oh, the illegal aliens are great too. Nobody speaks English and they sell crack near public schools. It is lovely.

Good luck moving down here suckers... I mean FOLKS!! I hope you will all enjoy it. I am out of FL March 2007! 10 years in Orlando is long enough, I am tired of it. Had a house, sold a house, rented an apt, worked, gone to Disney (twice), gone to the beach a few times... time 2 go! Thank God we are moving!

Do some serious research and see what the Florida reality is like. Homes are expensive, so is insurance, property taxes, rent is outrageous. Wages are not keeping up with the cost of living. If you think it is the sugar-coated Disney and International Drive dream is the reality in Central Florida, you will wake up on day to regret it.

If you like all this crap, Florida, here you come and here I leave! WHOOOOHOOOO!

Chris

[hiknapster]

We use to say that there are four seasons in Florida...snowbird season (you just have to experience this, half of the couple is happy to be there, the other half is angry, very angry. did I say angry? , fire season (the whole state threatens to burn down), dry and really hot (this is May, my personal favorite, there is no respite) and rainy season (really hot, but then it rains and makes it even hotter, if you can believe it).

Good luck moving elsewhere. I think the whole country is going to c****.

If you don't buy the seasons deal, read the "bugs" thread. Hilarious, but sadly, true.

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by myfask

shannon
former jersey girl here
I would recommend taking a week or 10 days and come on down
start in Jacksonville(thats where we live) and check out our city the southside is 15 mins from the beach and the clubs at the beach. also ins and taxes are cheaper in the northeast part of the state
then check out Daytona then Orlando. If you spend a couple days in each area driving around and also checking out the night life you will get a better understanding of the areas.
Believe me you will not be happy if you end up in an area that is a little more "country" than you are expecting.
Everytime I hear someone say you have to make over $100k to live here I keep wanting to check my address to see if somehow we were picked up in the middle of the night and moved we are in a house that is worth $350k drive nice cars a few years old but nice and never have to worry if we can afford to go out or not I am a SAHM to our dogs and my volunteer work and *gasp* my husband makes less than $80k a year
you can get a nice house in this area well within in your target range we are about 2 1/2 hours from disney.
Karla

Did you have a very large downpayment to help? Whats your combined household income? Was your mortgage a fixed 30 year? You really need $150k+ household income to afford a $350k house without being housepoor and living paycheck to paycheck. I did the math and if I made $70k a year, I wouldnt comfortably be able to afford a house more than $175k.

[FLPL75]

n.a.h.
When I bought my first house 8 years ago in Ponte Vedra I piad $77k and was making $23k a years . sold it 5 years ago for double and put 20% down on this house. We did not pay $350k but that is what it is worth now.
We did a 25 yr fixed with a great 5.25 rate. our ins is $937 a year.
The new house we are building our mortgage payment will be $1515 without escrow based on a $246k mortgage.
Karla