new york or Orlando fl_??? (Florida: real estate market, apartment, renter)

[georgiboy740]

am 26 lived on long island all my life, two years ago i moved down to orlando because i wanted a change. like a week before i was ready to move back to new york . i met my beautifull girlfriend who am with now. i wanted to move back to new york because i was so use to the money here in new york .

i stayed about 2 months more after meeting my girl until we both decided to move back to ny'
she's originally from the bronx and lived in florida about 5 years . we continued paying the rent in florida while living in new york . she did'nt wanna lose her apartment because her fam are always visiting orlando.not to mention the rent is only 450$ monthly in a decent area on landstar blvd.with 4 bedrooms and three full bathrooms .. pool,gym,mcdonalds and gas station across the street.

so here's the situation ; she moved back to florida in august to keep up with the apartment . since then she is been working at a job that pays her 12 an hour 6 hours a day .and has been looking for another job . that fits her more
she has a hospitality/management degree and realstate license and other certificates .she is 29 fluent in english and spanish and very profesional but has not been able to get anything else.
as for myself i do prety good here in new york . but we need to decide where to build a steady living . she tells me to go to florida i tell her to come to new york . theres pros and cons ; new york pays more and more expensive to live but the rent in orlando is so cheap in a nice apartment . i just know as for me i wont get the same pay as i do here in new york . i know we could make it in orlando its just that it would take a while before we get the money that we are use to geting in new york
we both did the math in living expenses and money earned mothly here
compared to florida and came up with almost two thousand more every month that we will have to spend ontop of all the bills being payed here in new york compared to peanuts of like 5 to 600$ spending money with all bills payed in orlando .. we been apart 3 months and cant go on like this anymore
IS EITHER LONG ISLAND OR ORLANDO FL,

[NooYowkur81]

Well your on here to get opinions. So I'll give you mine, but you should ultimately reflect as much as possible and make your own decision that you feel comfortable with. I would say stay here if you were single and did not have a potential lifemate, but in your case Orlando is the more logical choice. If you are serious about this girl, and want to marry her, have kids the whole shibang, Orlando is just so much more affordable.

If your girl keeps at it, even in Orlando's relatively weak job market she should be able to find a pretty decent job with the skill set you said she has.

I sympathize because you have quite the conundrum there. By yourselves, she would do better in Florida, and you would do better in the NYC area.

Personally I'm not a big fan of LI, all LI had going for it is pretty much gone these days in my book. If the argument was Westchester (but even this depends) vs Orlando, or a nice area of Queens/BX/BK or a nice part of Jersey vs Orlando it would be more even for me, but not LI. About the only thing I'd give LI an advantage on is the chance to make the big bucks working in this area but the high living costs almost pretty much trump that completely.

[mead]

NewYowkur, There's a high cost of living throughout the NYC metro area. I don't see how LI is any worse than other places in the area. To be honest I'm not that familiar with LI but in the few trips that I've made there I've enjoyed it.

To Georgi, You certainly do have a conundrum on your hands. Are you serious that your g/f pays only $450 a month for a 4 bedroom? That seems really low even by Florida standards. I think I would sell my soul for a 4br for $450 ;-).

Moving to FL is certainly a conundrum. I seriously considered making a move to Florida a couple of years back, as I have family down there, but ultimately I decided against it. Florida does have a lot going for it, especially the weather (although I've heard that it can be brutal in the summer in an inland place like Orlando).

In my mind it basically boils down to a quality of life issue. You can certainly live in either area and make it. The salaries in Florida are certainly lower, but the cost of living is also (somewhat) lower. I think Florida might be more affordable now than it was previously since the housing market down there seems to have taken a dive. Give it another 6 months to a year before the real estate market down there hits rock bottom.

There is a much much bigger room for career advancement in the NYC area. I don't know what line of work you're in, but if it is anything requiring a college degree (which doesn't involve working with Disney or some hotel chain) then I think you are probably 100 times better off up here career wise.


However life just isn't the same down there. While areas like LI/NJ/Westchester might be the suburbs, down in Florida that whole area is really suburban. Even in a really built up area like Fort Lauderdale, or Miami it seems extremely suburban compared with anything that I am sure you are accustomed to up here. (Personally i could never get past this issue, the whole idea of "there's no there, there" and thats the main reason why I decided against moving down there.

Another issue that you have to consider is whether this girl is your match. If she's the right one for you, then do whatever you have to do to stay with her. If that involves a move to Florida, then that's what it takes.

[NooYowkur81]

The thing about LI is its not really renter friendly, on top of that you have to have a car. Driving around in LI on the weekends is not exactly pleasant, especially when the weather gets better.

[madmj]

I was born and raised in Fl. Spent almost 5 years in Orlando until I moved to L.A. ( which in my opinion is like a giant dirty Orlando). O-town had some very good things to offer but I thought that I would offer a Floridians p.o.v

First thing I would say is where are you living for $400 a month? I lived all over there and the cheapest rent I ever paid was $600 per month for a 1bedroom. This was years ago. I would do some research on the area. I'm guessing that if your lady is in the hospitality field she is probably around the westside (kirkman rd, universal area or possible kissimmee) In my opinion while this area is o.k for tourists it gets very old fast if you actually want to live there. It's like being stuck in a t-shirt shop. Just look at the area and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have if you want to send me a message.

Also look up crime stats. If you think that NY is bad look at the murder rate in Orlando - Orange County. It's outrageous so be careful where you go. The theme is "Come on vacation, leave on probation, come back on a violation". People tend to think it's a year long party and there is no shortage of drunk idiots everywhere, especially since you are always driving.

The last thing I would add from a Floridians view is this. If you and your lady decide to make it your home, my advice would be to try and assimilate to the best of your abilities. One thing that the few people who are natives hate is when people from New York move to Florida and constantly ***** about how it isn't New York. There are so many NY'ers living there that do nothing but complain any chance they get about how different it is. If you do this you will inevitebly get rude treatment from the people who are locals. I'm not saying this is you I'm just saying that in their eyes it gets old and somewhat disrespectful.

Like I said I will be happy to help you on any specifics if you want. I know a lot of this area including good apts. in certain areas. Good luck!