Potential Relocation to Miami: Miami v. Baltimore (Coral Gables, South Beach: real estate, sublease)

[heydade]

Ditto...stay east. MiamiBlue is 100% correct. Doral would be a nightmare to get to and from.

Downtown Dadeland is also very beautiful and trendy. In fact, if I were in your shoes, I would definitely do Downtown Dadeland. Practically all the highrises there are brand new...very upscale and nice stuff and I think you will find something that matches your budget. Not only that, but you can WALK to the metro-rail....hop on and get off the UM university stop. No driving required to get to and from work.

Plus you have dadeland mall right across from downtown dadeland with all it's very trendy restaurants and shops.

Metropolis One at Dadeland - Luxury Kendall Condos at Metropolis


You should be able to negotiate a very good rental price because of the foreclosure crisis affecting south Florida. It hit HARD in downtown dadeland...75% of the people that bought did so out of pure speculation in the hopes the could flip and make a profit. Now they are stuck with them.

Which leads me to the next point....whever you decide to rent in Miami, MAKE SURE to ask the owner if the house is in foreclosure or going to be. MAKE SURE that they have it in their contract that if they kick you out because the place foreclosed, that you get your deposits back and that at least 2 months warning is issued to you. Believe me, many MANY people are foreclosing left and right.

good luck

[twiggers]

Good point about the foreclosure stuff!!! We were originally going to look at apartments because we don't want to worry about yardwork...but a duplex or condo would be nice too!

Is it standard for renting in Miami area to pay first, last, deposit? In Cali we were only paying first & deposit. We haven't rented for so many years LOL

[kevinkagy]

Try Miami, it sounds like it be different and you'll only be here 2 years, I think it'd be a nice change. I'd look into the area around Coral Gables, although Coral Gables is pricey. If you will be working for medical school, I'd assume you'll be spending a lot of time working in the Civic Center so you could look into Downtown, you can find some good deals there. Best of luck!

[TannerMan]

Just live in any of the reas recomended already but try to live as close as ossible to a metro-rail station. That way you can just take the train right to the campus.

[tagylyn]

Go with Miami!
On a personal note, I live in Baltimore (5 yrs now) and my husband and I are trying to get out. And we live in a historic neighborhood in the city with no bars. We are trying to relocate to the Tampa area in Florida. I have family all across Florida. I was born and raised here in Maryland and it is not the state it used to be. Not alot of snow here but the winters are grey and ugly. And your husband being a semi driver will absolutely hate the traffic around here. The only time you will not have alot of traffic on the major highways are between 2 and 3 am. I know all cities have traffic but in MD alot of people don't know how to drive, after all all you have to do is drive around a parking lot and you'll get your license. And everyday on the news (literally) somebody else has been shot. Sorry for all the negativity for Baltimore, it is - it can be- a beautiful city. But my vote is for Miami.

[kevinkagy]

Originally Posted by TannerMan

Just live in any of the reas recomended already but try to live as close as ossible to a metro-rail station. That way you can just take the train right to the campus.

I second this. Definitely find a place close to a Metrorail station so you can avoid having a car and/or having to drive places.

[miamiblue]

Originally Posted by twiggers

Good point about the foreclosure stuff!!! We were originally going to look at apartments because we don't want to worry about yardwork...but a duplex or condo would be nice too!

Is it standard for renting in Miami area to pay first, last, deposit? In Cali we were only paying first & deposit. We haven't rented for so many years LOL

Yes, first last and security is pretty much the gold standard in Miami. I was actually shocked when I moved away from Miami that all I needed was first and security. First, last and security can be a lot of money to pay up front depending on what your rent is.

Originally Posted by tagylyn

Go with Miami!
On a personal note, I live in Baltimore (5 yrs now) and my husband and I are trying to get out. And we live in a historic neighborhood in the city with no bars. We are trying to relocate to the Tampa area in Florida. I have family all across Florida. I was born and raised here in Maryland and it is not the state it used to be. Not alot of snow here but the winters are grey and ugly. And your husband being a semi driver will absolutely hate the traffic around here. The only time you will not have alot of traffic on the major highways are between 2 and 3 am. I know all cities have traffic but in MD alot of people don't know how to drive, after all all you have to do is drive around a parking lot and you'll get your license. And everyday on the news (literally) somebody else has been shot. Sorry for all the negativity for Baltimore, it is - it can be- a beautiful city. But my vote is for Miami.

Not to make light of the issues you mentioned about Baltimore, but the same things can pretty much be said about Miami except the weather. I was born and raised in Miami and also say that FL isn't the state it used to be (are any of them, for that matter?). My mom was, too, and she says the same thing. Nostalgia is great, isn't it?

Traffic is pretty congested, and people drive kinda crazy, at all hours of the day, every day of the week in the Miami area as well. I flew home on a Sunday night at 10pm once and ended up sitting on 836 for an hour just to go one mile to get off at the next exit and take Red Rd home. There is never-ending construction on major roads such as the Palmetto and 836 because they can't build new lanes fast enough to keep up with the increasing traffic. And believe it or not, all I had to do to get my license in Miami was - you said it - drive around a parking lot! Add in many recent immigrants, some of whom have never owned a car much less driven one, and you have quite interesting and often dangerous traffic situations!

I think those things can be said about many major cities, so really, those aspects should be a draw for the OP in this case. She seems to have a pretty good idea of what to expect from a major metro area, and I think her deciding factor should be which post-doc program is going to be best for her, everything else should be secondary.

[doggiebus]

2. Is $1200 for a 2/2 even reasonable? Where will we end up with that kind of rent? $1200 is doable for a 1/1 closer to UM probably. My sister rents her 1/1.5 + Den for $1,400 or $1,500 I can remember in West Kendall.

3. Is hurricane insurance offered for apartments/rental insurance? I think you just need to get renters insurance.

5. What is the weather really like? How bad can it really be in the summer? Put it this way, in 2007 we had 68 days in the 90s, 245 days in the 80s, 45 days in the 70s and 6 days in the 60s. So we pretty much have summer almost year round now. So if you like the 90s and 80s and humidity for most of the year then you will love it. But if you like to get outside and be comfortable, Miami isn't that place anymore.

8. We survived in California on about 40K year with about 40K in debt payments + car payment + child support. We'll now have about 40K with 70K debt payments (student loans) and no other payments. Can it really be done or am I crazy to think we can realistically survive? Don't think its possible for you to live in a nice safe area with that salary and all those obligations. The only way you could do it would be to live in a rougher part of town that has a cheaper rent.

[itlchick]

I can post more later - but I've lived in both cities.

Here's the long and short of it - Miami is fun but corrupt and unorganized. It's hard to make friends. There is an active nightlife. I think it has things going for it, but it's impractical and hard to save. Not a great place to raise children. Coral Gables is probably your best bet.

Baltimore - not glamorous. The people you will interact w/ will be very educated, somewhat competitive. Hopkins is a world-renowned institution. Just having that name on your vita will open doors. There is tons to do around here. There are suburbs that are very nice to live in. It's easier to meet friends, and I think the quality of life is much better. But no, you won't be hanging w/ Cameron Diaz on South Beach.

DM if you want more details!

[twiggers]

Thank you all so much for all of the information! Just to clarify: Hubby is not a truck driver, but rather he sells truck parts for the trucking industry. Also, we need a 2 bedroom because my brother-in-law lives with us and will be paying 1/2 the rent. Right now in IN we pay about $1400 total mortgage for our house (including insurane & property taxes) so we'd really like to stay below that amount (we'd cringe paying rent that is higher than our current mortgage). Right now we live fine because we both have an income (100K total), but there is no guarantee that hubby will be able to make near this amount in Miami.

I was looking at Baltimore prices, and it is a bit cheaper for rent than Miami (many properties ranging from $900-1500 for a 2 bedroom). So I'm not really sure that I'd be saving that much money. Yes, JH would look great on my resume...but the field I am in isn't medicine (it's psychology), so it wouldn't make that big of an impact on my vita.

UGH, this is seriously such a huge decision to make, and I am so tossed up. Both cities have issues with crime & traffic. Both have weather issues (Baltimore is cold and yucky; Miami is hot and yucky). Both have higher rents, with Baltimore being a tad bit cheaper.

People tend to give the bad side of things....anything good?