Visiting/Moving to Fort Lauderdale (Miami, Tampa: fit in, short sale, foreclosures)

[Jbrunn]

Hello all-
I know that this question has been posed several times on the forum but I am going to ask again because everyone is different in their needs and likes. My husband and I (mid to late 20s) are looking at relocating for my career. I am an RN in Springfield, MO and I am wanting to live in a nice area with things to do and a Level 1 Trauma Center, Broward Medical.

Springfield is a pretty boring and ugly city. We have lived here our whole lives and want something new and exciting to hopefully build our careers and start a family.

With that being said, we are going to be visiting for a day (I know not very long but we are driving in from our stay in Tampa). Is there anything, anywhere we must do or check out while we are there to get a feel for the city?

Also, best places to start when relocating. No more than 30 min commute to the hospital and we want to rent a house $1500-$2000. Any area suggestions. I have seen places like Penbroke Pines and Miramar on rentals.com. Sorry if I spelled those wrong.

Thank you

Oh and I have read a lot of negative things about living in Fort Lauderdale. Is it better to live in outlying communities? Does anyone love living there or is it a better place to visit? Compared to Tampa?

[Nolefan34]

JBrun>

Fort Lauderdale is a great place for young people. A lot of the negative people are middle-aged or older people who either A) lost their jobs due to the economy and forclosed on their homes, B) don't like how crowded it got down here during the 80's and 90's, or C) are just malcontents who will be unhappy no matter where they live. The cost of living here is very high relative to most of the U.S., so that is another negative factor plus the crime is worse than average here. Also, the driver's are very aggressive and we have the most expensive car insurance in the country.

I am also in my 20's and it is a great place to live if you already have a good job lined up. There's a lot to do here, and the beaches here are great. The selection of restaurants and entertainment down here beats out Tampa and the rest of FL in terms of choices and things to do. Plus you've got Miami and South Beach a short 30 minute drive away which makes for a good weekend trip occasionally.

Where to live: There are many places, but I would probably stay east because you'll be closer to the beach and to entertainment. I'm guessing you don't have kids, so schools (better in western suburbs) should not be a factor at this point in time for you. Here are some places I'd recommend:

1. Las Olas is a great place to live right in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It mostly consists of luxury condos, but on dual incomes the rents are very affordable right now. You can walk places and there are many bars, restaurants, nightclubs, etc in Las Olas. It is the central entertainment district in Fort Lauderdale.

2. Fort Lauderdale Beach and Lauderdale-By-The-Seas are two nice areas on the water where you can rent a house or beach condo, again very affordable right now on a dual income.

3. Hollywood (East)/Hallandale Beach- a lot of entertainment and located in between Fort lauderdale and Miami. Just know that the population is heavily Hispanic there, and the area is very congested/crowded. There is an over-abundance of nice modern beach condo's on Hollywood Beach and the prices are down right now. I would stay east and avoid west Hollywood.

4. If you want more of a suburbia environment that is quieter, check out Plantation which is located due west of Fort Lauderdale. It is more of a traditional FL suburb community, but has a generally younger population than other areas. There is also lots of shopping in the area and you can easily get to the beach or downtown by taking 595 east about 8 miles.

Coral Springs, Weston, Sunrise, Davie, Cooper City, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and Coconut Creek are other options, but are farther commutes to/from Fort Lauderdale. You will have traffic to contend with in the mornings too.

You would not be as happy living in Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Coral Springs, or Weston in my opinion since they are too far west and out of the way. Also, Miramar tends to be mostly either Hispanic or Black. I'm not racist at all, I'm just pointing that out since that may be a deciding factor for some people. Margate, Tamarac, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach tend to have older populations, although there are pockets of younger people in Pompano.

You will want to avoid the northwest section of Fort Lauderdale around W. Broward Blvd, Sunrise Blvd, and Oakland Park Blvd, as most areas are poor, run-down, crime-ridden, and consist of section-8 housing. Also avoid Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, North Lauderdale, much of western Pompano Beach, West Hollywood, and most of Miramar.

A general rule of thumb in Broward County is to live either East of US1 or west of FL's Turnpike. Most of the area in between is run-down, crime-ridden, and ghetto.

As for things to do while you're visiting for one night, check out Fort Lauderdale Beach during the daytime. Take a walk along A1A near BeachPlace on Fort Lauderdale Beach. There is the famous Elbo Room bar where you can get a drink, and there are other restaurants and shopping. At night, check out Las Olas. There are 2 sections of Las Olas, the old and the new one. The old one is artsy and has many higher-end restaurants. Even if you don't spend a penny, you can park your car and walk along Las Olas Blvd which is a great walking area. The newer section gets very lively on Friday and Saturday nights as there are many bars and nightclubs in the section called "Riverfront". Lots of younger people in their 20's go out there on weekends. Very few of the bars charge cover, so you can go bar-hopping without spending much.

[FrustratedChineseDrywall]

Wow, that was an incredibly good overview of Fort Lauderdale!

I would just disagree with a few minor things.... I don't think that the cost of living is so high anymore with the economy. I do know that the rents are a little higher only because of so many foreclosures in the area - those people have to move somewhere.

So, if you have the funds, it may actually be more beneficial to buy a small condo somewhere.... preferably on the eastern side of the intracoastal if you can find it. You can be assured that anything nearby the beach will do well later on in terms of resale value. If you or your husband are in any way handy, you can probably get a bit of a fixer upper for a really good price... or even a short sale and make it an investment you live in for a while!

If you live east, you will probably not deal with much traffic... remember that most people live out west (because it's cheaper) but then you deal with the traffic into Downtown each morning which is NOT fun in the least! If you are looking west, I do recommend Coconut Creek. It is a very nice community - just avoid any of the new developments as they may have Chinese Drywall (that's a personal story of mine if you're interested I can tell you or you can Google it and find out for yourself). It's a big problem down here - so just be careful where you end up even if you rent. I know of several people that are renters who are having to deal with it now.

Otherwise, you should be fine. I love Fort Lauderdale and Broward in general! I can't wait to move back! :-)

[Nolefan34]

Frustratedwithchinesedrywall>

Nice screen name, lol. I agree with you that the cost of living has fallen somewhat the past 2 years because of real-estate. But other expenses such as car insurance, health insurance, food, and gas have gone up substantially. So overall, the cost of living probably isn't much less than it was before the so-called "recession" started 2 years ago. But you are correct that home-prices and rents have dropped substantially, by 40-50% in some instances over what they were. If you can afford to buy, now is a great time with all of the short-sales going on. Also, you made a great point that anything on the beach or intracoastal is sure to go up in value over time.

[rkumar3]

Great advices from previous posters... Life is beautiful in the sunny paradise. You will fit in just fine and won't miss MO much (unless you have a lot of family there).