Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 12-23-2006, 07:56 PM
 
Location: So. Dak.
13,495 posts, read 37,384,632 times
Reputation: 15205

Advertisements

Just to refresh your memories~we're a middle aged couple from So. Dak who have spent our entire lives here. We no longer have any family left except for my brother and his family in Fla. My husband will be semi-retiring in about another year and we hope to move down there. We still don't have a place picked out yet. Here's the situation. I realize there are a lot of service jobs down there and that is what I would be looking for. The problem seems to be that in the smaller towns, the jobs are part time or even if they're full time, they don't offer benefits. I don't really care about having all benefits, but definitely need something that offers group health insurance. Some of the employment I've checked on is temp to hire or doesn't offer health insurance until one year of employment is completed. So, my first question is this

1. If I need a job that offers group health care, do we have to live in a bigger city? If not, what smaller towns have jobs with benefits. Could someone give me a list of towns that we'd be looking for?


I have a good job record and good references and have been with my present employer for over ten years now. I would be open to a lot of things such as convenience store clerk, motel front desk, factory, motel cleaning, cleaning company, etc. I have a good attendance record and am always prompt. I'm looking for something that isn't physically tasking because I'd like it to be something I'm physically capable of doing as I age. I don't really care to get a job and five years later have to start looking for something easier to do.

This leads to my second question. We would be interested in either renting an apartment at first or buying a small condo. Someone listed the counties that you're only able to insure through Citizens and I can't find the post.

2. Could someone tell me in which counties you are able to get regular home insurance?

We were hoping to be down there at Christmas, but it didn't work out for my husband to get enough time off from work to make the trip. So we're not checking to see if we can be down there the end of January.

Please give me some suggestions.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-24-2006, 05:28 AM
 
1 posts, read 2,597 times
Reputation: 10
Default Port Charlotte

I think you should look at Port Charlotte, Florida. The weather is beautiful. Not near as congested as a lot of towns. It has moderate housing and close to Fort Myers and Sarasota (right inbetween the two within a half our drive). It has a large mall and a lot of little strip malls are going up.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2006, 08:20 AM
 
Location: So. Dak.
13,495 posts, read 37,384,632 times
Reputation: 15205
Thank you for the suggestion. I'll check it out right now. It's nice that you suggested a place that isn't congested with traffic because we're not used to that. Any more suggestions would be appreciated.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2006, 08:28 AM
 
2,141 posts, read 6,895,354 times
Reputation: 595
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyDog View Post
I think you should look at Port Charlotte, Florida. The weather is beautiful. Not near as congested as a lot of towns. It has moderate housing and close to Fort Myers and Sarasota (right inbetween the two within a half our drive). It has a large mall and a lot of little strip malls are going up.
The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. “New home construction, the linchpin of this North Port’s spending plans, has slowed to a comparative standstill and even optimists say these doldrums are far from over. The massive drop in home building, which started in April, has left everyone from City Hall staffers to spec home buyers scrambling to adjust.”

“Impact fees, used to pay for capital projects such as road widenings and new parks, account for $28 million of this year’s budget. To collect that much money would take about 3,900 houses and 50 large commercial projects. The city is nowhere near that pace so far, being on track to issue about 1,000 home permits this budget year.”

“‘Whether we did (cut) enough or not remains to be seen,’ said City Manager Steven Crowell.”

“The real estate downturn has been a disappointment beyond City Hall. Rich Deeds, who lives in Pennsylvania, jumped into the North Port spec housing market right before this year’s precipitous drop. Now he’s sitting on two new houses in the city.”

“He tried to sell one on eBay this month but didn’t get a single bid. Now he’s spending $4,500 on Florida mortgages every month. ‘I expected a leveling out,’ he said. ‘I didn’t expect it to take a plunge.’”

Will taxes go up and the home prices drop ? over 1000 jobs were cut this month and more are on the way. The prices in Charlotte County may drop alot. optimists are mostly investers who seem to be in denial from what I have seen.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2006, 08:39 AM
 
Location: So. Dak.
13,495 posts, read 37,384,632 times
Reputation: 15205
Firemed, so are you also thinking that Port Charlotte would be a good place? It does look like it'd be a buyer's market there. Do you have any other suggestions?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2006, 08:45 AM
 
2,141 posts, read 6,895,354 times
Reputation: 595
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jammie View Post
Firemed, so are you also thinking that Port Charlotte would be a good place? It does look like it'd be a buyer's market there. Do you have any other suggestions?
It might be I dont think alot of the investers can hold on. 54.000 a year pay out is alot on a long shot. The only bad thing might be the job market. The shadow market has definitely affected the rental market. Whereas a year and a half ago the market was really tight, now you find an abundance of rental property. I think its too early to tell at this point. but if you rent you can learn the area and the market and not be stuck. the down point is moving.

Last edited by firemed; 12-24-2006 at 09:08 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2006, 10:31 AM
 
66 posts, read 281,992 times
Reputation: 40
I think you might try working in a local bank. I work as a teller and get full health benefits (I'm in NJ but it's worth checking out).

It's a pretty easy job and I will be doing this or customer service in banking until I retire in about 12 to 13 years.

We're going to retire in Englewood, FL.

Good luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2006, 02:09 PM
 
Location: Tampa Bay
598 posts, read 2,264,861 times
Reputation: 213
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jammie View Post

I would be open to a lot of things such as convenience store clerk, motel front desk, factory, motel cleaning, cleaning company, etc...

I'm looking for something that isn't physically tasking...

You can take factory, motel cleaning, cleaning company off of your list. Been there, done that, told them where to stick their shirt! lmao All three are very physical and bosses down here work you big time for that $6.00/hr!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-27-2006, 04:47 AM
 
42 posts, read 122,433 times
Reputation: 53
you might want to check out Pasco County FL. It's a great area, and Morton Plant/Mease is hiring. There are lots of jobs available in this area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-27-2006, 06:09 AM
 
495 posts, read 2,325,066 times
Reputation: 378
Check out Keystone Heights. It is a safe, friendly, conservative small town between Jacksonville and Gainesville with very little crime. It is in the safest part of Florida for hurricanes although the locals would probably like to see one pass close to bring some rain as the local lakes are drying up. Make sure if you buy any 'lakefront" property, you see it first. What may be a lake on the map may now actually be a prarie with a small lake in the middle of it and your 'waterfront" property may have the water hundreds of yards away.

Real Estate is cheap compared to the rest of Florida though and prices are comming down with the market falling like it is everywhere. Renting for a year is a good idea. Prices will be even lower in a year I bet. Although I dont think there are many apts or condos there. Rentals would probably have to be in a home or MH.

Not sure about the job situation as a lot of folks commute to either Gaineesville or Jax. Largest employers are the county gov and the local utilities, Clay Electric..

Last edited by wacahootaman; 12-27-2006 at 06:23 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:25 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top