Native Floridians returning to FL (Jacksonville, Tampa: real estate, condos, houses)

[megwuf]

My husband and I both grew up in FL, Sebring and Hobe Sound, respectively. We have been out of state for 5 years because of jobs but are looking to move back in about a year. We are looking into the northeast coast area, from Amelia Island to about Coco. We have 2 weeks to do a search in June and are getting overwhelmed at where to start. Suggestions please!!!
Here are our particulars:
-we have young children so school systems are important.
-we would like to be as close to the beach as possible
-we would like to live in an area where the beach is natural looking (no high rises). I know where I grew up in Martin County, there are building ordinances to 4 stories max and a lot of the coastal area is protected...anyone know of similar areas in FL?
-we are both in the medical profession so being near a hospital is important.
-we would like to stay in NE FL b/c 1. it is closer to family and 2. it wont take all day to get to the fl ga border like a lot of other places in FL (as a side note though, anyone know of any coastal beach areas -not swamp- north of Tampa but not in the panhandle on the west coast?)

I would love some suggestions on good family towns, preferably on the small side (not interested in being in Jax), with natural beaches, no high rises, and good homes under 300K...LOL! Not asking much, huh?

Any help is greatly appreciated! THANKS!

[JBtwinz]

Amelia Island fits a lot of your needs. It has a tremendous buyers market right now and development along the coast of the island has been mostly residential, although just north and south of the Ritz Carlton there is a stretch of condos that are high rises.

[PokerPlayer1]

St. Augustine pretty much fits all your criteria.

[Robyn55]

Good grief - give yourself more than 2 weeks before making a move like this. Most important thing is jobs (no jobs - no move is my opinion). What areas of the medical profession do you work in/ Robyn

[wacktool]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

Good grief - give yourself more than 2 weeks before making a move like this. Most important thing is jobs (no jobs - no move is my opinion). What areas of the medical profession do you work in/ Robyn

Im with you Robyn, I find it hard to move to place without having job or prospect lined up first (well unless you got bank). My thoughts are to contact a realtor here in the jax area and tell them what you are interested in. They can help narrow down the areas and provide you with listings so then you can focus on interesting locations with the very little time you have here.

[nboeck]

Obviously, these are educated people who already possess 300K to throw down on a house, and I'm pretty sure I read in other posts that the only thing generating jobs constantly in Jax area IS the medical industry. One could be a MD and perhaps the other a PAC or RN; regardless, I'm sure they know what they're doing since clearly they not "stupid people".

Although, for me two weeks seems extremely hasty, maybe even "impulsive"...especially considering if there's no job that one needs to show up for within two weeks, so I don't understand the "rush" either, but that's merely my own opinion (I couldn't do it). Buying a "home" is a huge decision but perhaps they move often anyways, and don't really get attached to the houses themselves per se??...

Good Luck to you, and this forum is very informative for all of us wanting to re-locate, regardless of our time-tables...mine is a year, the total opposite of this young medical family but I'm sure they have their reasons.

[nboeck]

OH, they only coming here for two weeks to search but aren't moving for a year...not hasty at all. I'm sure they'll have jobs set w/in a year...call that real estate agent and enjoy those two weeks in June visiting the area.

I hope the lead on Amelia Island pans out for you guys. The school system in Jax from what I've been reading in these posts don't sound too good anywhere, unfortunately. I'm glad that's not an issue for me, because that issue alone could be/should be a deal breaker...but I don't know if the Island has it's own school system or what.

Personally, I feel it's our obligation to provide all US children with super educations, people just need to be willing to pay for it and stop being selfish (look, my kids are grown but I'm still willing to pay more taxes for better schools unlike others). It's important for our society as a whole to be concerned about future generations, since when we're 80, they'll be making the laws...just something to think about.

[Robyn55]

Amelia Island is in Nassau County (one county north of Duval). It's a pretty small county in terms of population - only about 70,000 people. Here's a link to some info about the schools:

http://schools.jacksonville.com/scho...?action=search

I was surprised that Fernandina Beach High School was a "C" school last year (although many other schools in the county have better ratings). Robyn

[gardenpearl]

How is the medical care in the Jacksonville area? I'm considering moving from CT and am open to anywhere in Florida. Since I'm 56 and single, I've decided to make good medical care in the immediate area a priority. I don't want to drive an hour for it.

[ferret111]

There really aren't many beaches north of Tampa on the West Coast. You have a few microscopic beach hamlets near Perry, but they're on the other side of a giant swamp.