Please help...military moving to South Florida (Miami, Hialeah: HOA, house)

[AnnRyan]

Ashley, internet searches are great, but seeing properties with your own eyes is another thing entirely. It will NOT be easy to find a good 4 bedroom under $350K. And by good, I don't mean stylish, I mean a house that can be financed without issue.

Are you trying to use a VA loan? That will make things harder. Very few of them are done here, like under 500 per year between Broward and Dade counties. (I've closed 2, which means I'm one of the top agents for such things around here).

Don't assume a charter is automatically better than the public schools. CHECK ratings on sites like Greatschools.org. Charters are frequently perceived as better, but the truth is that on average, they perform nearly identical to regular public schools.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by Ashleyw704

We are from NC and I do realize the traffic is worse and the home prices are a lot higher. We do not speak spanish. It sounds like North of Hileah would definetly be better for us. I have searched and found nice 4 bedroom homes in our range. Do any of you know about the charter schools in that area? I know that being military we can enroll the kids immediately. Are they really better than the public schools?

Did you search on Zillow? Zillow is highly inaccurate, chances are that the house is no longer for sale.

[BNBR]

Zillow can be inaccurate but "highly inaccurate" it is not. My last house, which was a dream house when we bought it, was on Zillow BEFORE the MLS. There is a very good chance we wouldn't have found it fast enough via MLS to get it. The houses go immediately after listing in that neighborhood. So don't discount zillow, at all. If you find a house you like, have your agent call.

Charter v. Public - I think you'll generally find this trivial. If the area you are moving to has good public schools, you won't find the charter any better. I wouldn't look at it as a comparison like you would private v. public where private is expected to be a more quality experience. With charter schools, you will want to look at the individual school ratings and compare to what your local public school is, treat it just like any other public school.

Since you are not a Spanish speaking person, I would definitely avoid living in Miami/South Miami. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the area, but it might be a massive culture shock. It's a "different country" in the sense that it's almost entirely Spanish speaking. 95%+. Advertisements/Billboards are in Spanish, etc. Everywhere you go people will start off in Spanish. You may not like that, most non-Spanish speakers don't want to be there. You will almost certainly want to be in Broward. Even west Broward is very Spanish speaking but it's a comfortable mix, and I like the little bit of diversity, personally.

Feel free to post up a couple of links to the homes you are considering for some insight on those specific neighborhoods and schools.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by BNBR

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Since you are not a Spanish speaking person, I would definitely avoid living in Miami/South Miami. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the area, but it might be a massive culture shock. It's a "different country" in the sense that it's almost entirely Spanish speaking. 95%+.advertisements/Billboards are in Spanish, etc. Everywhere you go people will start off in Spanish.

You know how you replied "you can't be serious" to someone who wrote about Pembroke Pines? Well, that's exactly how I feel about your post about Miami/South Miami. Your comments are completely ridiculous and demonstrate that you know next to nothing about the area.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

You know how you replied "you can't be serious" to someone who wrote about Pembroke Pines? Well, that's exactly how I feel about your post about Miami/South Miami. Your comments are completely ridiculous and demonstrate that you know next to nothing about the area.

Lol. Right. Which is why the schools in Homestead hover around 5% non-hispanic white. And the Census has Homestead as 15% non-hispanic white. Which is right inline with Miami in general being 15% non-hispanic white. The census also shows English speaking as a minority language. And it only gets MORE Spanish speaking as you get closer to her husbands work in Hialeah.

This is all easily verifiable data. But yeah, no idea...... It's not as if my wife works in Doral and, of course, I don't spend any time in the area, including Homestead......

I clearly asked if she was comfortable living in an area that will be almost exclusively Spanish speaking, which these areas are. Are you seriously denying that? Do you think everyone just lied on the census and put "Spanish as primary language" and selected "white hispanic" for giggles?

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by BNBR

Since you are not a Spanish speaking person, I would definitely avoid living in Miami/South Miami. I'm not sure how familiar you are with the area, but it might be a massive culture shock. It's a "different country" in the sense that it's almost entirely Spanish speaking. 95%+. Advertisements/Billboards are in Spanish, etc. Everywhere you go people will start off in Spanish. You may not like that, most non-Spanish speakers don't want to be there. You will almost certainly want to be in Broward. Even west Broward is very Spanish speaking but it's a comfortable mix, and I

Originally Posted by BNBR

Lol. Right. Which is why the schools in Homestead hover around 5% non-hispanic white. And the Census has Homestead as 15% non-hispanic white. Which is right inline with Miami in general being 15% non-hispanic white. The census also shows English speaking as a minority language. And it only gets MORE Spanish speaking as you get closer to her husbands work in Hialeah.

This is all easily verifiable data. But yeah, no idea...... It's not as if my wife works in Doral and, of course, I don't spend any time in the area, including Homestead......

I clearly asked if she was comfortable living in an area that will be almost exclusively Spanish speaking, which these areas are. Are you seriously denying that? Do you think everyone just lied on the census and put "Spanish as primary language" and selected "white hispanic" for giggles?

Homestead? Look at your post again and look at my response. You specifically stated "Miami/South Miami" and that is what I responded to. I haven't been to Homestead in 30 years and have no idea what it's like. However, as for "Miami/South Miami," I stand by my comments that your description is completely ridiculous. Hell, I just spent all yesterday afternoon walking the length of Calle Ocho in Little Havana and your comments don't even hold true for that very hispanic section of Miami.

I always get a kick out of Broward County residents who think that they know more about living in Miami than Miamians themselves.

[tinytrump]

How about Davie/ Weston/ Doral/ Miami lakes--- Hialeah is not on the other coast for pete's sake-

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

Homestead? Look at your post again and look at my response. You specifically stated "Miami/South Miami" and that is what I responded to. I haven't been to Homestead in 30 years and have no idea what it's like. However, as for "Miami/South Miami," I stand by my comments that your description is completely ridiculous. Hell, I just spent all yesterday afternoon walking the length of Calle Ocho in Little Havana and your comments don't even hold true for that very hispanic section of Miami.

I always get a kick out of Broward County residents who think that they know more about living in Miami than Miamians themselves.

I guess you should have followed the thread from the beginning so that you could grasp proper context. You know, like when the OP said "we are looking at Pembroke Pines or Homestead" ...

Little Havana doesn't fit my description? Lol. You mean the area that is served by Shenandoah and the schools are 98% hispanic, literally..... They don't speak mostly Spanish there? Really?

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by BNBR

I guess you should have followed the thread from the beginning so that you could grasp proper context. You know, like when the OP said "we are looking at Pembroke Pines or Homestead" ...

I was responding to you, not the OP. The OP mentioned Homestead, you then generalized it to (and I quote you once again since you seem to keep overlooking this fact) "Miami/South Miami." What part of that difference don't you understand?

Originally Posted by BNBR

Little Havana doesn't fit my description? Lol. You mean the area that is served by Shenandoah and the schools are 98% hispanic, literally..... They don't speak mostly Spanish there? Really?

No, it doesn't fit your description. This isn't about people who can and do speak Spanish amongst themselves. Go back and read what you wrote again. You said that 95% of the advertisements/billboards are in Spanish. That is false. You said that everywhere you go, people will start off by talking to you in Spanish. Again, that is demonstrably false.

And once again, since you keep wanting to forget you wrote it, you generalized that false description for all of Miami/South Miami.

You really haven't got a clue as to what you're talking about when it comes to living in Miami. Just stick to advising the OP and others about what it's like to live in suburban Broward County.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

I was responding to you, not the OP. The OP mentioned Homestead, you then generalized it to (and I quote you once again since you seem to keep overlooking this fact) "Miami/South Miami." What part of that difference don't you understand?



No, it doesn't fit your description. This isn't about people who can and do speak Spanish amongst themselves. Go back and read what you wrote again. You said that 95% of the advertisements/billboards are in Spanish. That is false. You said that everywhere you go, people will start off by talking to you in Spanish. Again, that is demonstrably false.

And once again, since you keep wanting to forget you wrote it, you generalized that false description for all of Miami/South Miami.

You really haven't got a clue as to what you're talking about when it comes to living in Miami. Just stick to advising the OP and others about what it's like to live in suburban Broward County.

You are just running with that "Miami/South Miami" quote as if it means anything more than what I'm saying it means. She was asking about Homestead, and Majami suggested Hialeah as well. Thus, Miami/South Miami. Literally and technically? Maybe not. It's meaningless and hardly proving some point that you are trying to make by getting overly technical about my comments.

It's not as if I haven't lived in Miami or anything, or worked there, or do business and visit often..... you may not agree with what I'm saying, but I most certainly "have a clue" as to Miami.

If you are not Spanish speaking and working in Doral/Hialeah, there is a good chance you would prefer west Broward due to it's proximity to I75 and more diverse community. Which has boat loads of people who commute into Miami every day and back. THAT is the point. It still stands, regardless of you looking for technicalities to try and prove yourself right. As my wife works in Doral with an international workforce, meaning, new people constantly moving here for work, this is a common discussion with the new people who visit. Almost everyone, even Spanish speakers, seem to prefer west Broward.