[Akeno_TSi]

Hey guys, my family and I are thinking about moving to Florida in a year or two. We're just tired of the awful Northeast weather. Tired of the long cold winters, tired of snow, tired of the short summers. But we mostly want to move away from the bitter cold for health reasons. Working outside in the bitter cold temperatures for half the year is hard on the body.

We've always wanted to move toward the South, we vacation in Orlando, every other summer and while we think its awesome, we probably wouldn't wanna live there specifically mostly because of all the tourism. We wanna live closer to the parks, but not too close.

We do have family that lives in St. Petersburg, who might be willing to room and board us for a few weeks till we get situated, but theres 3 of us, possibly 4 coming down so its hard to say.

What are some good affordable and safe areas to look for homes in? The family we have down there lives in St. Petersburg, but they're also in a higher income bracket than we are, so we can't really base it off that.

What areas are prone to hurricanes, flooding, and even tornados?

Any helpful advise is appreciated it, thanks.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Akeno_TSi

Hey guys, my family and I are thinking about moving to Florida in a year or two. We're just tired of the awful Northeast weather. Tired of the long cold winters, tired of snow, tired of the short summers. But we mostly want to move away from the bitter cold for health reasons. Working outside in the bitter cold temperatures for half the year is hard on the body.

We've always wanted to move toward the South, we vacation in Orlando, every other summer and while we think its awesome, we probably wouldn't wanna live there specifically mostly because of all the tourism. We wanna live closer to the parks, but not too close.

We do have family that lives in St. Petersburg, who might be willing to room and board us for a few weeks till we get situated, but theres 3 of us, possibly 4 coming down so its hard to say.

What are some good affordable and safe areas to look for homes in? The family we have down there lives in St. Petersburg, but they're also in a higher income bracket than we are, so we can't really base it off that.

What areas are prone to hurricanes, flooding, and even tornados?

Any helpful advise is appreciated it, thanks.

What is your income, where do you work, how old are you and where do you want to live?

[Fredesch]

Everywhere in Florida can be hit by hurricanes. The last few years hurricanes have broken patterns and go wherever. Look at federal flood zone maps to see areas more prone to flooding. Every county has these map online and floodzone are an overlay on the real estate app. The strip between Tampa and Orlando is lightning alley.

Most people move where they find work regardless of hurricane, tornado or lightning risk.

[Akeno_TSi]

Originally Posted by expatCA

What is your income, where do you work, how old are you and where do you want to live?

Between the 3 of us we make an income of approximately 90k a year. I work at local car dealership in the parts department. My brother also works at local car dealer, and my dad owns a snack route that he would have to sell to make the jump. As much as I don't want to I'm sure my brother and I could find jobs at a local dealership. My dad would probably be looking to buy another snack route (if thats a thing down there). I'd even look into doing that if I could afford a down payment and money for a route truck.


Do you know anything about Sebring in Highland County? Its it a good area or a bad area?

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Akeno_TSi

Between the 3 of us we make an income of approximately 90k a year. I work at local car dealership in the parts department. My brother also works at local car dealer, and my dad owns a snack route that he would have to sell to make the jump. As much as I don't want to I'm sure my brother and I could find jobs at a local dealership. My dad would probably be looking to buy another snack route (if thats a thing down there). I'd even look into doing that if I could afford a down payment and money for a route truck.


Do you know anything about Sebring in Highland County? Its it a good area or a bad area?

Some info here that may help. It is away from major areas but not too far. Basically in the center of the State below Orlando and a bit rural.



//www.city-data.com/city/Sebring-Florida.html


The whole page has a lot of information on Sebring.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Akeno_TSi

We've always wanted to move toward the South, we vacation in Orlando, every other summer and while we think its awesome, we probably wouldn't wanna live there specifically mostly because of all the tourism. We wanna live closer to the parks, but not too close.

We do have family that lives in St. Petersburg, who might be willing to room and board us for a few weeks till we get situated, but there's 3 of us, possibly 4 coming down so its hard to say.

If you want proximity to the theme parks in Orlando but wanting to be out of the tourist areas, and in a less expensive rental market I would suggest Lakeland, which is halfway between Orlando and Tampa about an hour from the theme parks. It's also just a bit over an hour to the relatives in St Petersburg. Lakeland is large enough and growing quickly (unlike Sebring) and as a result will provide some good options for employment for each of you, and is no where nearly as isolated.

https://view.joomag.com/guide-to-lak...32059790?short

[Psychoma]

As was mentioned any part of FL, or Texas to Maine for that matter, can be hit by a hurricane. You do have days to see them coming though and insurance can cover you. There are areas of FL that see them more often on average than other parts though. Average number of years eye/center of storm comes within 58 miles of certain areas of the coast (keep in mind that's an 'average') along with strike(eye/center hitting) density by coastal county (and other hurricane info) can be found here: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/#returns

If you're going to be living near the coast or a coastal connected waterway then you'll want to view the official storm surge (like a higher high tide coming in with a storm) map here (be sure to change the hurricane category tabs at the top of the page, remember that only 3 Cat 5's have ever been known to hit the US, these are considered 'near worse-case scenario' for each category, surge is typically highest on the NE corner of a landfalling hurricane and less from that point elsewhere, each actual storm can be different from one another and final actual surge height is dependent on many factors including storm movement speed, angle of approach, timing with low/high tide, shape/features of coast line, etc): https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Ma...935fad&entry=1

After Andrew in 1992 (last Cat5 to hit the US) building codes started to change with post/pre Andrew homes or older homes that have been upgraded for storm protection can affect your insurance rates as well.