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Thread summary:

Young singles relocating: affordable mortgage, active nightlife, medical bills, entertainment options

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Old 04-02-2007, 02:02 PM
 
291 posts, read 1,110,039 times
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My husband and I are in our late 20s/early 30s and we've been considering a move from NJ to Florida for about 2 years now. We're looking for a "younger" area, preferably near the beach within 20-30 minutes. I have a couple of questions if anyone would be so kind as to offer some advice. We do not have jobs or family in Florida. We prefer the Southeast Coast. We love South Beach, but are well-aware that the average person can not afford to live there, but we like that sort of a place, with an active, walkable, downtown, lots of entertainment options and a fairly active nightlife. Also, we definitely need to be in an area with a good job market. I work as an Executive/HR Assistant, my husband works in the casino industry, but has restaurant experience. I've been reading the posts on the Florida forum long enough to know that Florida has some major problems, particularly with affordability and cost of living vs. salaries. What we need to do now is establish whether those problems are smaller or larger than those that we're facing up here in NJ and consider this along with what we feel we might gain in terms of the type of lifestyle we want. What would be helpful to us in making the decision whether or not to come to Florida is... how much would you estimate a working couple with no children yet, but the intention of having them would need to make annually to support an average lifestyle? By average I mean that we'd rent initially, but we'd eventually want to purchase a home, probably a small 3/2 home since it would be our first home purchase. We don't need to be in an exclusive, gated community. We do not need to have all the top of the line amenities and upgrades in the home. It can be in an area where the homes may be older or need some cosmetic work, but will still be a good investment. All we really insist on is that it's an area where you can safely get out, ride a bike, walk the dog, barbecue in the back yard without fear, even in early evening and it's close enough to entertainment and jobs not to make for a dreadful commute each time you need to get out in the car.

Basically the main 2 questions are:

1) what areas do you recommend for a couple like us; and
2) what do you think would be the minimum income we'd need to make as a couple to be comfortable?

Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks!
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Old 04-02-2007, 06:04 PM
 
Location: arrlando, flarida
2,227 posts, read 8,187,132 times
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port st lucie, or martin co.? i would guess more than 80k combined would be comfortable... maybe less? i know psl is a lot more reasonably priced compared to other areas of s fla.
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Old 04-02-2007, 06:24 PM
 
Location: Chattanooga
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My advice: forget South Beach (unless you've recently been...you have no idea how overwhelming it is) "fairly active nightlife" it is not. It's over the top and then some....

Perhaps you should check out Sunrise in Broward County. 20-25 minutes to Ft Lauderdale beach (non-rush hour), and close to Seminole Hard Rock casino (now legal in Broward County ) There are jobs to be had in HR in this area, and you can buy a 3/2 house with about 1500 sq feet in an older mixed neighborhood for about 300k now. How do I know this...because that's where we live!

A mortgage on said property would be about $2300 per month so you two should earn at least $85k between both of you. Probably a bit more so you don't stretch yourself to thin.
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Old 04-02-2007, 06:43 PM
 
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Thanks for this information. Actually, we were just in South Beach this past November. Although we are really a bit more into getting out for dinner, maybe a cocktail, listening to some music and people watching as opposed to the "club scene", we don't really find the nightlife there to be over the top, but maybe that's because we are in Atlantic City and as our slogan here goes, we're "Always Turned On". What I really meant by a "fairly active nightlife" is that although we don't need to be in South Beach and don't really believe that's realistic anyway, we would like to be somewhere where there is an active nightlife should we choose to partake.

All other suggestions are welcome and will be appreciated!
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Old 04-02-2007, 07:23 PM
 
Location: Fort Lauderdale
423 posts, read 1,636,246 times
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I would personally suggest Delray Beach/Boynton Beach... While Delray is has more older demographics, you can still be on the east side where you find more youngesters. At the same time I like Boynton Beach because it is newer, more mixed and more affordable. Either way, you would still be very close to Delray downtown which is nice... it is not very 'clubby' like South Beach but has nice restaurants, bars, places with live bend etc. Boca Raton is also going to be very close and is very hip and classy.

You are also going to be very central and can still commute to Fort Lauderdale or norhtern parts of Palm Beach (if and when needed).
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Old 04-02-2007, 07:43 PM
 
Location: Vero Beach, Fl
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Tridad was right on. There are so many other factors to consider as well. Car insurance is lower in Broward county than in Miami Dade and you are onlyl a stone's throw from South Beach.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!!
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Old 04-03-2007, 11:47 AM
 
Location: Port St. Lucie and Okeechobee, FL
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Port St. Lucie will be good once you start a family. It's really geared towards TBall and Little League, soccer, school meetings, church activities, family play at the bach or boating, etc. etc. I don't think there's much of an active "scene" for young singles or childless couples. My daughter has 3 kids and this is her type of community. My son is 36 years old and single, and lives in Boynton Beach because it's reasonably priced yet near the activities in Boca, DelRay and elsewhere.
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Old 04-03-2007, 06:43 PM
 
291 posts, read 1,110,039 times
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Thanks for your posts. Do others feel that an income of at least $85K between the two of us would be doable? Or do you believe you'd need more or perhaps less?

Also, all other suggestions are certainly welcome. I'd love to hear about some other areas, too!
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Old 04-03-2007, 07:26 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LHBR702 View Post
Thanks for your posts. Do others feel that an income of at least $85K between the two of us would be doable? Or do you believe you'd need more or perhaps less?

Also, all other suggestions are certainly welcome. I'd love to hear about some other areas, too!
I think that just depends on how much you put towards a house, unless you are just renting.

Everything is relative to a down payment/rent. I think 85k is good if you aren't in any debt, have your cars paid off, and can least put down 20% on a median sized home. However, if you are in debt, have a car payment and other student loans...you may want to sit down with a financial advisor. If you have per say one small car loan, no kids, 20% down - it still sounds doable. I would always say make sure you have at least three months put away for an occasion where you need to find another job, have to take a leave of absence from work. This way your not stressed.

If you want kids, plan on making a lot of money. It costs a lot of money to have kids these days. I remember reading an article that said, kids will likely cost you more than the price of a median sized home. Which is true. Just think how much medical bills cost if a kid gets sick and needs to go to the hospital. I know a family of four, and their insurance is 1K a month. Your going to at least need an extra 1k for property taxes and insurance. It all adds up, and that's not even for the mortgage payment. Sometimes you can luck out and get good medical insurance at an employer, but I have heard too many horror stories of those that went bankrupt even with insurance. What happened is either the employer backed out of the medical insurance after the person was injured or the person just got sick and couldn't keep up with the payments. I just don't trust employers. I would get my own medical insurance to be on the safe side. They have been known to let people go right after a family member get's sick.
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Old 04-03-2007, 07:47 PM
 
Location: Lots of sun and palm trees with occasional hurricane :)
8,293 posts, read 16,114,595 times
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Two people, nice neighborhood/surroundings/lifestyle. No debts. 85K should be more than enough. It all depends on how frugal or superfluous you are but if you budget yourself and don't go spending without rhyme or reason, less can do fairly well too.
Big difference if you rent or buy a place though. 85K will still let you live fairly comfortably but you never know when your HOI is going to go up $4,000 in one year, or your association dues/assessments, or the landlord will up the rent $500 a month because his expenses went up.

Figure what you need now and how you use your funds and see how much more or less effort it would take to change something.
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