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and hurricane (homeowners) insurance....i don't know if this is norm, but i know a couple who pay $9k a year.
my friend's condo it would be something like $6k for "contents", it's already in his HOA for his building but that's just structural. If anything happened, it's be responsible for any "finishing" (so, the building's coverage would cover rebuilding, running electrical and plumbing, etc., but he'd have to "build" the entire inside of the condo). he decided to "self insure" and just puts aside the $6k himself. it's a high cost, and i completely forgot about it. but MiamiLIFE didn't. lol
my friend's condo it would be something like $6k for "contents", it's already in his HOA for his building but that's just structural. If anything happened, it's be responsible for any "finishing" (so, the building's coverage would cover rebuilding, running electrical and plumbing, etc., but he'd have to "build" the entire inside of the condo). he decided to "self insure" and just puts aside the $6k himself. it's a high cost, and i completely forgot about it. but MiamiLIFE didn't. lol
The move would be a potential job move. Location slightly north of Miami downtown. I am trying to understand how does a 9/10 district in FL compare to 9/10 district in NJ when looking at greatschools.org. Am I not comparing apples with apples? I guess I would need to dig deeper into statistics, which I was hoping wouldn't be necessary. I pinpointed Weston as well. How about Cooper City, Coral Springs?
We are not afraid of the weather. We are aware of the Spanish language being very common down there.
Coral Springs is a good community. They have very good schools so lots of families flock to that community. The commute to Miami will be brutal from Coral Springs. Cooper City, Miramar, Pembroke Pines are all fine communities. Nothing overly special about them. Commodity places that could be "anywhere USA". For me I like communities with a little more character. But, at the end of the day nothing terribly wrong with Cooper City. CS won't work as commute on I-95 to Miami. Your quality of life will drop dramatically. I also can't see coming from Westfield NJ to Cooper City and being happy. Westfield is so charming and walkable. Cooper City is flat, undistinctive, cookie cutter homes and townhomes tightly grouped together.
If you can afford Coral Gables or Aventura those would be good locations to commute to Miami, better access to the beach and to restaurants and "fun things to do". Too bad you didn't look into the move four years ago. You could've purchased a three bed condo in a high-rise overlooking Biscayne Bay and the Brickell Ave (water and city view-breathtaking) for $600k+.
If you were into urban living, I would look into moving down to Brickell. Soooo much going on there now.
Having moved several times since my kids were of school age, one of the criteria I found helpful in comparing schools was the number & type of AP classes offered by the high school (HS). A HS worthy of a 9 or 10 rating should offer more AP classes than your son or daughter can actually take i.e., AP courses in Calculus, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, US & World History, English, Spanish, Computer Science, Economics, Government, etc.
My older son recently graduated with 11 or 12 AP classes under his belt. My younger son (a senior to be) will top that number by the time he graduates. At a strong HS, a kid taking 10-12 AP classes over 4 years is nothing all that special -- many students at such schools graduate with 10 or more. (One recent grad in our district took 20 AP exams prior to graduation. I think the AP people offer only about 22 or 23 exams -- that's one hard working kid.)
If you are only seeing 3 or fewer AP courses in the catalog, then the school and/or the entire school district is not really a 9 or 10. It may not be a bad school, just not an elite one as a 9 or 10 rating might suggest. Just my $0.02.
Another good metric is the average ACT/SAT score.
I'm sure there are some schools in FL that will look good on these criteria and some in NJ that will not look so good, but what matters are the specific ones you are considering in FL relative to your current school district in NJ. The better schools in NJ are hard to beat. It's possible, but it's not easy. Good luck!
Though we consider northern NJ home, especially since we just bought our house here, I always need to keep an open mind to a relocation offer from my employer; I report directly into Miami.
When I go down there for meetings, I make it a point to check out some recommended neighborhoods. Some I’ve seen and liked are Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Cutler, Coral Gables. They seem nice. Home prices are comparable (I think), property taxes low, BUT the hurricane insurance and auto insurance rates seem much higher, as others have pointed out.
Even if you live in a nicer area, all my colleagues seem to put their kids through private schooling at least for high school.
The move would be a potential job move. Location slightly north of Miami downtown. I am trying to understand how does a 9/10 district in FL compare to 9/10 district in NJ when looking at greatschools.org. Am I not comparing apples with apples? I guess I would need to dig deeper into statistics, which I was hoping wouldn't be necessary. I pinpointed Weston as well. How about Cooper City, Coral Springs?
We are not afraid of the weather. We are aware of the Spanish language being very common down there.
Cooper City is good, great on the high school level. I would stick to Weston though. Meanwhile Coral Springs is okay, but Parkland just north is much better, and could be affordable.
Anyone familiar with the schools down there as compared to the better NJ school districts? Please compare your experiences when it comes to daily activities, schools, and community feel. I am aware of the weather differences. Just really need help to hear from someone from NJ who lived down there with kids. Would you move down there if you could?
It shocks me to see the house prices in the Miami area with school districts 9 or a 10 on greatschools.org. Most houses start at 600K, if not higher. Here in NJ, one can still buy a house for 400K in a great school district. Wonder what the reality is like down there.
Looking for lots of comments from you all. Thanks!
I live in Westfield, married, starting a family, and have a 3/2 I purchased for around $400k. I also have plenty of friends and family all over Florida. My folks have a place in Miami. As much as I love NJ, if I found a job paying my salary I would leave for Florida in an instance ... however, it would be Central Florida, not South Florida. As much as I love visiting South Florida, I simply don't feel it's as good a place to raise a family as Central Florida (Orlando, Tampa). First off, it's insanely expensive and unless you're in a certain school district (Coral Gables, Aventura, etc.), you're going to have to shell out for private school. There's also a ton of traffic and tourists (particularly in Miami). Now, you will get the beaches and better weather (yes, I'll take the extra month of summer over our brutal winter), but you're not going to see any savings. In fact, you may even lose money. You're also likely going to be leaving family, friends, pulling the kids out of school, etc. If that's the case, then I don't think it's worth it.
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