[faithfulFrank]

Thinking about it more, (not to beat a dead horse), I suppose my realtor was a bit bullying..........but I guess it is like the pain of childbirth, (I'm told)....once you have the new house and start enjoying it, you forget about the bumps in the road getting there.............

This whole subject with taxes, HOI's, etc is interesting. Up north here, we complain about our high taxes, (double what I pay down there), but our homeowners insurance is just boring......

Frank D.

[SKB]

Originally Posted by pianogal

Perhaps, but I tend to disagree. I love TN and the Carolinas and DH and I have talked of retiring there...BUT would we like it once we get there? I don't know...I remember moving from Tampa to Georgia in the 80's. At first the slow paced, relaxed attitude was nice, but after a few weeks we were bored silly. Going to a restaurant (the the choices were VERY limited) and going to a movie were about it for a night out.

Yesterday, DH and I watched a huge Turkey Hen followed by her 4 chicks peck in the woods from our pool deck. The night before we sat out and heard the calls of wild hogs coming from the woods. We swam and relaxed. Then went to dinner at Hemingways, a first class restaurant at the Grand Cypress Resort. Just after we were seated at our table - we watched the shuttle go off through the huge windows that surround the restaurant. After enjoying an amazing dinner of Tropical drinks and steaks We strolled through the gorgeous tropical gardens and trails around the waterfalls and the grotto pool that weaves in and out and seems to go forever as the Fireworks Show from Disney played in the background. We then drove down the street to Pleasure Island with 2 comedy clubs and 4 or 5 music/dance clubs - a $20 pass gives entrance to all.

Last weekend we had a similar day except we ate downtown and finished the evening at SAKS Comedy Club.

Next weekend we plan to go to the Gaylord Palms Resort. It is amazing! It's 4 1/2 acre roof soars over its Best of Florida Live experience where it recreates 4 Florida areas -

The Everglades with gators and 150,000 gallons of water that support the tropical fish

The Keys with its own 6:30 pm happy hour/party

St. Augustine (complete with a recreation of the Fort Castillo de San Marcos. a museum display with treasures from the Atocha and a recreated Fountain of Youth with dancing waterfalls and fountains

The beach with 2 tons of sand sculptures all surrounded by tropical gardens and scenic waterways.

Then we can have dinner at one of their 3 world class restaurants and top it off at their Jammin' Duel Piano Bar.


Today I am going shopping at Mall of Millenia and the Florida Mall. If I don't find what I'm looking for there, I have 4 other malls within a 20-30 minute drive. I've been known to go to 4 different malls to assemble one outfit! LOL

Thinking about all this - realizing how spoiled we are and comparing it to what it would be like in a small town - even a small city that doesn't have all the entertainment, the variety of restaurants, the shopping, etc. is making us think hard about our decision to move from Florida when we retire.

It sounded like the most amazing day! I hope we have amazing days like that when we move to WPB in Sept.

[Jammie]

:

Originally Posted by Sage113

Well, I live here in central Florida and I like it for the most part. I bought my house on a canal to 2 lakes, have a boat in the backyard all for $94k 4 years ago. I got excited when my house was suddenly worth $250k but, hey, I live here. I'm not moving yet.

The part I hate the most is when that spike hit, after the 2005 hurricane season, my property taxes shot up $300 per month!!! To add to the misery, my insurance company (whom I've been with since 1976) increased my premium AND my deductible AND told me they would continue to insure my home as long as I lived in it. If I move to anywhere else in Florida, their outta here. Wonderful. I can sure guess those "adjustments" won't come back down anytime in the near future as Barry just started off the 2007 hurricane season last week. I'm hoping the new homestead exemption will help but I doubt it. You can bet I'm gonna go protest my property taxes the next time they send me one of those notices for an increase.

I'm technically retired but decided to start a business to increase my fixed income buying and selling mobile homes in the St. Pete area. What a mistake! As soon as I had a few, the hurricanes started. Can't get insurance on a vacant mobile home and couldn't sell it because people were scared off by the rising insurance prices if they lived in it, not to mention the hurricanes. Then, the big-shot developers started buying mobile home parks on the water for outlandish prices to build spec condos. Home owners, some of which had invested $100k in their mobile home just turned the titles in to the office and walked. No one would touch a mobile home because they worried about the park being bought out and losing their home. Well, it took me 8-10 months to sell those homes for what I paid for them and I had to suck up the lot rent on all of them. The down-turned housing market hurt more people than most realize.

Actually, it seems that the horrific upswing in the market hurt people more then the readjustment period right now. It was mainly the big developers and only a few locals who made the money when the market was booming. Now a lot of people are suffering for it with astronomical insurance and tax bills and mortgages that are out of this world.

[wacahootaman]

So what are WE going to do about this? What can we do?

I donno.

Jessie Jackson and his rent a mob have a lot of power with small numbers by simply being in peoples faces.

If a thousand angry taxpayers stormed the legislature and engaged in civil disobedience I bet that would get their attention.

Probably the best that will happen though is a constitutional admendment for the taxpayer in the 2008 election but that will be difficult to get on the ballot.

I think the long term solution is to start a third party for local and state elections that I would call The Property Rights Party.

The PROPERTY RIGHTS PARTY. Yeah, It has a nice ring to it!

TAX REVOLT! TAX REVOLT!

Throw the bums out!

[tallrick]

This is what I have been complaining about for years now. If you moved to cash in on the boom, you ended up losing. The trick was to buy and flip properties other than your home. A declining market is best for those who stay put. Sell, then move into a cheaper home. The speculators were like sharks and barracudas eating up the foolhardy buyers. There are still people who fall for that "real estate never goes down" nonsense. Most of us locals just got hurt. Unless you cash out and leave Florida, you gain nothing. To me, the lower the property value the better.

[SKB]

Originally Posted by tallrick

This is what I have been complaining about for years now. If you moved to cash in on the boom, you ended up losing. The trick was to buy and flip properties other than your home. A declining market is best for those who stay put. Sell, then move into a cheaper home. The speculators were like sharks and barracudas eating up the foolhardy buyers. There are still people who fall for that "real estate never goes down" nonsense. Most of us locals just got hurt. Unless you cash out and leave Florida, you gain nothing. To me, the lower the property value the better.

Another voice of wisdom and reason.

[Margel]

Pianogal,
I loved your post. Your home and life in Florida sounds wonderful. I know there are many things "wrong" with Florida, and I know my family and I are taking a chance relocating from Philadelphia since many of the posts absolutely terrify me....but I have done my homework and investigated my area (Odessa), and I really like where I have bought. We did the finances to see what we could afford and took into consideration taxes and homeowners insurance and still we find that we are getting a lot for our money....especially compared to Philadelphia. Still, so many seem unhappy about so many different things. That is why I really enjoyed your post because it tells me that if you are prepared for what lies ahead, if you are looking for a home rather than a quick paying investment, and if you are looking for the positives instead of wallowing in the negatives, then Florida may not be the armpit of the nation as so many make it out to be.
As for Frank....I appreciate your posts too, since you are new and give your honest first impressions. It all comes down to whether your glass is half empty or half full. I am not expecting perfection, but I am hoping to at least give it a open-minded try.

[info please]

Margel, I'm from Phiadelphia myself. lived right off 2nd & South Street my daughter has a home in New Hope .But at this time lives in Italy. We been in Windermere Fl for 12 YRS has a wonderful life down here. But we are buying a home up in Georgia in Aug. I ready for a little cooler weather.
I'm sure you can make a good life down here. Hope you find Fl as wonderful a place to live a I have. good luck.

[pianogal]

Originally Posted by SKB

It sounded like the most amazing day! I hope we have amazing days like that when we move to WPB in Sept.

I gripe and complain about the high taxes and insurance as much as the next one - mostly because I recently moved and lost my SOH and my insurance tripled due to the 04 hurricane season, but there is so much to enjoy and appreciate about living in Florida....I hope you find you enjoy it as well!

[pianogal]

Margel said:
It all comes down to whether your glass is half empty or half full. I am not expecting perfection, but I am hoping to at least give it a open-minded try.[/QUOTE]

Well said....no place is perfect. Florida used to be almost perfect, now we are dealing with high taxes, insurance and growing pains, but there are still many good reasons to live here. Especially if you can enjoy the beach, pool, springs, Disney, etc.