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A friend and I are looking to move to the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood area some time in July. Here are the facts so far.
We are college educated. I've worked at an e-commerce company for a year, and he has been teaching. I have a B.S. and he has a Master's degree in teaching. We want to do this right, but we both realize that it is a major risk coming down here.
1) What is the housing market and apartment market like. Is $1,000 a month for a 2 bedroom out of the question in the suburbs?
1B) We want to live close to Ft. Lauderdale, but in an area that isn't expensive. We also don't really want to live in a bad area. Ideally I'm looking for a 30 minute drive to the beach or the casino (in optimal traffic of course and not counting parking etc). Is this a pipe dream?
2) What steps should we take before moving down?
3) How is the job market? Ideally we'll want to have jobs before we come down, but I could wait tables and play poker at the casino for money until I figured out what I really want to do.
A friend and I are looking to move to the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood area some time in July. Here are the facts so far.
We are college educated. I've worked at an e-commerce company for a year, and he has been teaching. I have a B.S. and he has a Master's degree in teaching. We want to do this right, but we both realize that it is a major risk coming down here.
1) What is the housing market and apartment market like. Is $1,000 a month for a 2 bedroom out of the question in the suburbs?
1B) We want to live close to Ft. Lauderdale, but in an area that isn't expensive. We also don't really want to live in a bad area. Ideally I'm looking for a 30 minute drive to the beach or the casino (in optimal traffic of course and not counting parking etc). Is this a pipe dream?
2) What steps should we take before moving down?
3) How is the job market? Ideally we'll want to have jobs before we come down, but I could wait tables and play poker at the casino for money until I figured out what I really want to do.
What other questions should I be asking?
I don't think moving anywhere in South Florida without having a job lined up before you move is a wise idea. In this depressed economy, even finding a job waiting tables or delivering pizza could be more difficult that you might think. I recently heard a friend say that he was going to just deliver pizzas for some extra cash, but none of the pizza places were even hiring. Playing poker to pay your bills also doesn't sound like a good economic plan.
You should check out prices on apartments online before you come down, possibly make some phone calls, too. At least you won't be unpleasantly surprised. Low rental prices and high crime areas go hand-in-hand, so you get what you pay for, generally speaking, although you might be better off looking in an area where university students find housing. Those areas are usually cheaper and friendlier.
By all means, go to the area and look around, get prices, and talk to potential employers. I would never make a move to another city/state, then hope I could pay my bills once I arrived. I've moved around a lot, but I always had a job in the location where I was going before I moved. You'll save yourself a lot of misery if you plan ahead instead of just forging ahead. Don't let your enthusiasm overcome your common sense.
A friend and I are looking to move to the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood area some time in July. Here are the facts so far.
We are college educated. I've worked at an e-commerce company for a year, and he has been teaching. I have a B.S. and he has a Master's degree in teaching. We want to do this right, but we both realize that it is a major risk coming down here.
1) What is the housing market and apartment market like. Is $1,000 a month for a 2 bedroom out of the question in the suburbs?
1B) We want to live close to Ft. Lauderdale, but in an area that isn't expensive. We also don't really want to live in a bad area. Ideally I'm looking for a 30 minute drive to the beach or the casino (in optimal traffic of course and not counting parking etc). Is this a pipe dream?
2) What steps should we take before moving down?
3) How is the job market? Ideally we'll want to have jobs before we come down, but I could wait tables and play poker at the casino for money until I figured out what I really want to do.
What other questions should I be asking?
The job market is atrocious. Get a nursing degree and you'll get a job in FL. I don't know about the teaching market.
The good news is you can get a 2 BR for 1000.00 in "good" neighborhoods downtown and in the suburbs.
Go to realtor dot com and put zip code 33321 Tamarac for suburbs. That gives you a 30 minute commute more or less depending on your destination and not guaranteed in rush hour. There's always alot of traffic.
You can get cute small single houses there, and condos as cheap as about 800.00 or less. Same thing downtown on the condos for rent. Tamarac used to be alot of older people and several sections are 55 + but these days thats a BIG PLUS. Since 2005 they've been taken over by renters and deteriorated into deferred maintenance and houses built for 2 with 8 people with kids living in them. But for a rental it's still a good area and you can overlook that stuff for awhile.
I'd go downtown if possible why move to Florida to live in a suburb if you don't have to.
You have to watch renting though there are tons of foreclosures, even though in a foreclosure you probably don't have to move out.
Bay Colony Club has 2/2/ condos owned privately in the 800.00 s and it's in town on water. North end at 65th. Port Royale Apts are there but they are small and high for the money imo. Don't go any further North, that's Pompano and undesirable for you. When I say water I mean canals off the Intracoastal and the Intracoastal there is narrow like a canal nothing great but it's water. Just don't expect big expansive ocean views when I say water. LOL
Also Lauderdale by the Sea is a good town EAST of FLL (feels like part of FLL) and east is always good since it means ocean. It's a decent village type deal with rentals but they want more money because of the ocean factor and seasonality. But you can do 1000.00 there especially in summer, off season.
There are other "suburbs" south west but I'm not familiar. Besides Tamarac, there's Coral Springs bordering Tamarac on the North that's nice but it's probably a longer commute. People seem to love Weston far west of downtown but I never looked into it because it's so far out.
Besides the obvious job situation you need to get here and drive around and make a list of priorities and trade offs. Unfortunately if you don't have a job as a home base you can't "guess" where to live and still make your 30 minutes commute goal. You can easily eat up 30 minutes going from South FLL to North FLL going only part of the way in traffic.
The job's going to determine where you live unless you give that commute goal up. It's an issue in FLL since you can sit at one intersection for quite awhile in lunch time traffic. Last friday I was at a light on Federal (a main drag) ....4 cars away but there was a shopping center driveway 2 cars ahead and the person let the shopping center people out through two lights in a row while we all sat there. LOL
Last edited by runswithscissors; 04-07-2009 at 07:14 AM..
Thanks for the replies so far. This is definitely a scary decision, if we end up making it. An important thing is that we are both young and single and out of debt. We don't have much to worry about and are still in "college" mode where living cheaply isn't the worst thing in the world.
I know that I won't move down there without a job lined up.
Before you do anything, are you currently employed with that job? Or did you get laid off? Because if you currently have a job that you are earning income at you should not resign until you find a new job. If moving to Fort Lauderdale is your dream, be patient enough to find a job before you move down. Moving to South FL without a job is like Bill Gates getting married without a pre-nump. Its insanity. Unless you are sitting on some huge pile of cash, your money will run out quickly here. That said, the job market is very tough down here especially in the education field. There is a hiring freeze in the department of education and they are laying people off. This is a terrible time to get a job as a teacher down here. As far as delivering pizzas, you'd better have a huge pile of cash to sit on like I said before.
Now on apartments, did you mean $1000 total or per person? Because there is a huge difference. For $1000 each ($2000 total) you have plenty of options. You could live right in downtown Fort Lauderdale in a luxury condo building for that price. If you meant $1000 total, or $500 each, then you are screwed. Then you'd be living in the ghetto. Downtown and the beach are going to be the most expensive areas. If you'd rather live further away from the action and save some money, look in areas like Sunrise, Plantation, and Davie. They are within a 30 minute commute from downtown Fort Lauderdale and the beaches. The traffic isn't terrible in Broward County outside of some congestion during rush hours. Just don't live way out west in Weston, Pembroke Pines, or Coral Springs. You'll regret that.
Before you do anything, are you currently employed with that job? Or did you get laid off? Because if you currently have a job that you are earning income at you should not resign until you find a new job. If moving to Fort Lauderdale is your dream, be patient enough to find a job before you move down. Moving to South FL without a job is like Bill Gates getting married without a pre-nump. Its insanity. Unless you are sitting on some huge pile of cash, your money will run out quickly here. That said, the job market is very tough down here especially in the education field. There is a hiring freeze in the department of education and they are laying people off. This is a terrible time to get a job as a teacher down here. As far as delivering pizzas, you'd better have a huge pile of cash to sit on like I said before.
Now on apartments, did you mean $1000 total or per person? Because there is a huge difference. For $1000 each ($2000 total) you have plenty of options. You could live right in downtown Fort Lauderdale in a luxury condo building for that price. If you meant $1000 total, or $500 each, then you are screwed. Then you'd be living in the ghetto. Downtown and the beach are going to be the most expensive areas. If you'd rather live further away from the action and save some money, look in areas like Sunrise, Plantation, and Davie. They are within a 30 minute commute from downtown Fort Lauderdale and the beaches. The traffic isn't terrible in Broward County outside of some congestion during rush hours. Just don't live way out west in Weston, Pembroke Pines, or Coral Springs. You'll regret that.
The op already said they won't move here without jobs.Sorry, but I don't know where you're getting your information about everything at 1000.00 being ghetto.
Have you looked? I have, since November 2007 up until last Friday. And I'm a picky demanding person. I flew down several times when spending alot more, up to 1600.00....only to be disappointed by seeing a duplex with a mattress on the porch next door LOL.
And although renting in FLL is perhaps the most annoying, scam ridden, frustrating limited choice exercise a person can go through....you are mistaken and there ARE 2BR rentals for 1000.00 and even 850. I wouldn't say they're in abundance but there are several even on realtor dot com in decent areas.
Bay Colony Club for one. While it may not be a luxury condo on the ocean, there's nothing "wrong" or "ghetto" about that area especially for someone who says they're young and used to living like recent college students. Same with Tamarac. Would I buy there? NO. Same thing in Wilton Manors, Victoria Park... not traditionally referred to as "ghetto". But plenty of people live there and think it's nice especially Wilton Manors attracting a niche.
While I think moving to FLL is sort of a doomed exercise for anyone who doesn't have a specific reason or experience here, the OP asked is it a pipe dream....I say no, it's not a pipe dream. Albeit that any job you think you have is in jeopardy no matter who you are (if it's not in healthcare lol)
Didn't you write way back last summer that you were willing to trade off crime, traffic etc to bring a youthful demographic to the area and were glad you moved here? (paraphrasing)....why not the OP, too, then?
If their standards are higher than their income, they'll quickly find out after a couple of trips here. The REAL problem IMO, is finding a rental that isn't a trash property trying to be offloaded by a lazy realtor or unscrupulous homeowner. Not that the properties don't exist. Also FLL is a very confusing place and a stranger has to really depend on others to figure out the area. Florida overall, in fact. You can be on a "great" street but you better drive 3 blocks over to see the dumpy ones before you lay your money down.
Huh? You obviously didn't understand my previous post. Is the OP talking $1000 per person? Or total? A 2 bedroom in the Bay Colony Club or comparable places is going to be close to $2000 TOTAL for a 2 bedroom apartment. That means $1000 per person for rent. He can live in a luxury building in downtown for not much more money. When I made the comment about "ghetto" I was assuming he meant $1000 total for a 2 bedroom apt meaning each roommate pays $500 each. He's not going to find any place decent for that price anywhere near the beach or downtown. Before you rip somebody apart you should re-read the post thoroughly.
Also, it is true that I made those postings that you mentioned and I'm surprised you remembered. But it wasn't last summer. It was much more recently. I've only been on this site for less than 6 months.
Huh? You obviously didn't understand my previous post. Is the OP talking $1000 per person? Or total? A 2 bedroom in the Bay Colony Club or comparable places is going to be close to $2000 TOTAL for a 2 bedroom apartment. That means $1000 per person for rent. He can live in a luxury building in downtown for not much more money. When I made the comment about "ghetto" I was assuming he meant $1000 total for a 2 bedroom apt meaning each roommate pays $500 each. He's not going to find any place decent for that price anywhere near the beach or downtown. Before you rip somebody apart you should re-read the post thoroughly.
Also, it is true that I made those postings that you mentioned and I'm surprised you remembered. But it wasn't last summer. It was much more recently. I've only been on this site for less than 6 months.
I live in a 1.5 apartment (1 bedroom plus a den, 836 sqft total) that costs about $900 (allowing two pets as a huge plus!) and apparently my community is NOT a getto. It is a nice suburban gated community overlooking a former golf course, clean, safe, and well-managed. It is 20 minutes' commute to downtown Ft. Lauderdale and 10 minutes (4-5 miles) to the beach. It is diverse but most of the people are very friendly.
By the way, there are two casinoes in the 10 minutes driving distance from where I live!
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