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My husband and I are considering a potential move to the Orlando area. My husband will be transferring from his job and I am hoping to do the same. My husband makes close to six figures and I make about half of that. I am a full time administrative assistant and if I cannot transfer, I was wondering what is the job market in the Admin/Executive assistant field like in the area. I noticed alot of jobs are part time. Also, reading some of these forums has me worried. Is car insurance really expensive? We live in PA right now and i pay about $200 a month for full coverage on two vehicles. Right now I'm about 25 mins from work either on the highway or backroads. Is there tons of traffic as I have read? Reading some of these posts has made me think twice about a move.
First question would be why are you considering the move? Your reasons may influence some of the answers you receive to your post.
Insurance in general is expensive in Orlando, it is a big city with many of the big city issues. Added to that you have the issues of storm coverage related to homeowners insurance. Even if you rent, you are still paying for the insurance in the monthly rent you pay.
Yes, there is a ton of traffic in the Orlando area. You have the normal resident commute traffic, but add to that the tourist traffic. Even in the non-tourist areas there is a lot of traffic and the roadways have not necessarily been upgraded to handle the volume. Regarding your commute time, 25 minutes might be a comparable commute time, it just depends on where you work and where you live. When DH and I lived in Orlando, we each commuted 60 miles round-trip to our jobs, in opposite directions. Not good, especially if one of us had a car in the shop and couldn't find anyone to give us a ride to work. I had to give him a ride one time and I spent 2.5 hours on the road that day. Thirty miles to his work, 60 miles to my work, 60 miles back to pick him up and then 30 miles home. All of this in very heavy traffic. You can get an idea of the traffic and the log jams if you look on Google Maps during rush hour.I have not lived in the area for many years but we do come down 3-4 times per year for vacation so I still have a pretty good idea of the traffic.
I can't really speak to the job market for Exec/Admin assistants, but I would imagine if you have a solid, advanced skill set you should be able to find a good job. It just might take some time for the right opportunity to open up. The healthcare and education market might be a good place to look. UCF is a solid employer and I would think they have need of admins on a regular basis. Same with the hospital systems. My advice, for stability would be to look for something with a larger employer, corporate type, higher education, healthcare. You'll obviously end up with better pay and better benefits in those environments. Start looking now to see what skill sets they are looking for and brush up in areas that you may be lacking in.
Where you decide to live and where you work will be the biggest impact on your commute...obviously. But from experience I can say, that the commute can have a very negative impact on your quality of life. The region has really struggled with the infrastructure (roads) keeping up with the growth. So do your best to have both of you work in the same general area and then look for housing that is not too far from your jobs, and do your best to have your commute NOT require traveling on the highways (I-4, 417, 408 etc.) Those highways are great if the traffic is flowing, but horrible if there is an accident or construction. When we were there my commute was a solid 30 minutes each way on the 417, but if there was an accident and I had to take the back roads that commute exploded to 90 minutes.
I am not trying to crush your dreams, but do make a realistic assessment of why you want to move. Maybe it doesn't have to be Orlando, there are other good locations in FL. Read some of the other FL forums to get a sense. If Disney is one of the things that makes you dream about living in FL, think about how often you'd like to go. If you dream of hopping over there for dinner on a weeknight then the Orlando area would be the place. But if you think maybe once or twice a month for a long-weekend is enough, then maybe a location an hour or two away could work.
In my opinion, the first step would be to realistically look at your reasons for moving. Cost, location, weather, opportunity, fun. All of these are very valid reasons but a move does require decisions based on research rather than emotion. Good luck in your research, these forums are good sources of information but do remember, everyone's experience is different and take the advice here with a grain of salt. Do your own research. Which is why you are here after all :-)
My husband and I are considering a potential move to the Orlando area. My husband will be transferring from his job and I am hoping to do the same. My husband makes close to six figures and I make about half of that. I am a full time administrative assistant and if I cannot transfer, I was wondering what is the job market in the Admin/Executive assistant field like in the area. I noticed alot of jobs are part time. Also, reading some of these forums has me worried. Is car insurance really expensive? We live in PA right now and i pay about $200 a month for full coverage on two vehicles. Right now I'm about 25 mins from work either on the highway or backroads. Is there tons of traffic as I have read? Reading some of these posts has made me think twice about a move.
I can't speak for car insurance in comparison to PA, but it is cheaper than San Francisco where I moved from in 2015/16. I have a 2019 Tesla and I'm paying $200 per month with low deductible and really good coverage through Geico. My 2016 BMW before that I was paying $140 per month with the same setup.
As far as traffic goes, if you are from a major city, you're likely to find less traffic here unless you will be commuting across town. It all depends where you live and where/when you will commute. Compared to the SF Bay Area, traffic here is a walk in the park. However, if you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere and move here, you will think traffic is terrible, so it depends on a lot of factors, for me it was a big improvement.
If you are going to have any income in the six figures, which sounds like you will even if you don't work, you can have a really comfortable life here. You have to think about what activities you like, what weather you like, what homes you like, etc. I work from home for myself, so I can live anywhere, my income is six figures, have a lot in savings (well investments) and I like living here. I almost moved to Orange County California to be around more Asians, but decided against it after visiting. Orlando is a special place for me, I think it's a nice city to live if you can afford a comfortable life.
I can't speak for car insurance in comparison to PA, but it is cheaper than San Francisco where I moved from in 2015/16. I have a 2019 Tesla and I'm paying $200 per month with low deductible and really good coverage through Geico. My 2016 BMW before that I was paying $140 per month with the same setup.
As far as traffic goes, if you are from a major city, you're likely to find less traffic here unless you will be commuting across town. It all depends where you live and where/when you will commute. Compared to the SF Bay Area, traffic here is a walk in the park. However, if you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere and move here, you will think traffic is terrible, so it depends on a lot of factors, for me it was a big improvement.
If you are going to have any income in the six figures, which sounds like you will even if you don't work, you can have a really comfortable life here. You have to think about what activities you like, what weather you like, what homes you like, etc. I work from home for myself, so I can live anywhere, my income is six figures, have a lot in savings (well investments) and I like living here. I almost moved to Orange County California to be around more Asians, but decided against it after visiting. Orlando is a special place for me, I think it's a nice city to live if you can afford a comfortable life.
How is traffic compared to say Boston? Have you heard any comparables on this at all?? Because traffic in Boston is enough to make you wanna go ‘postal’..but I read constant posts on how bad the traffic is in Orlando and I wonder how they compare?
How is traffic compared to say Boston? Have you heard any comparables on this at all?? Because traffic in Boston is enough to make you wanna go ‘postal’..but I read constant posts on how bad the traffic is in Orlando and I wonder how they compare?
It can be just as bad, especially I-4, and other roads such as the 414 from OBT to 434.
The problem isn’t just traffic itself, but also terrible TERRIBLE drivers, non-synch’d lights, poorly-places on and off ramps...
I am retired 5 years from a Boston job and am new to Orlando as of a few months. Before I retired I worked in the middle of town and took Storrow or the pike out every day around 3:30pm, not even full rush hour. It was soul crushing then.
I am almost never in traffic during rush hour here, except by accident a few times. Once google sent me on to the high speed highway. People purposely speeding up to not let me merge in from a highway on ramp. People cutting me off for going 70.
Another time coming home from the main library I found myself in traffic trying to get out of the city. It was like Boston traffic only much less predictable. Lots of people jockeying around to be in the lane moving the fastest at the moment.
If I had to pick one I'd rather drive in Boston rush hour traffic.
How is traffic compared to say Boston? Have you heard any comparables on this at all?? Because traffic in Boston is enough to make you wanna go ‘postal’..but I read constant posts on how bad the traffic is in Orlando and I wonder how they compare?
Just 2 days ago during rush hour it took us 2hrs 40 minutes on I-4 from exit 88 down to exit 58 Champions Gate which is generally an hour. No accidents, no narrowing of lanes due to construction. It was all due to congested on and off ramp exits. This area is growing exponentially crazy. This travel time was out of character because normally during normal rush hour it’s 1:45 - 2hrs with no accidents but the growth is unbearable. My dr was telling me last month he was sitting in 1.5hr traffic at 11:30p due to crazy congestion no accidents or construction blockage. It’s really hard to tell anymore with the huge influx coming in. Keep in mind that it’s not a true metro so real public transportation will not cut it unless you’re in the small Lynx coverage area. You need to drive here or you’re basically screwed so pick your living place wisely because it isn’t getting better. In addition, the I-4 construction project has been extended for another 5 yrs and has already been going on almost 10yrs if my memory serves me correct. Florida has surpassed NY state with 21 million residents, NY is 19 million. Go figure.
I have State Farm and found it went to it from GEICO. 2017 Highlander is 1200 per year. 2020 Camry is 1200 per year. No claims in 30 years of driving. Home insurance is expensive. My home is 2200 sq ft., 2300 this year. It's difficult to get home insurance from a "A" rated company. Lots of scams in home repair business down here. Latest one is "you need a new roof, we will file the claim".
Traffic is a pain. I4 is a real killer...no joke on that road. You have to pick where you live pretty carefully.
Been here 11 years now from Stuart FL. Don't want to retire here, maybe NC would be better.
Assumed the pandemic halted all your plans. The job market is now dead in the water here & home prices are actually rising at this time because of supply & demand. No one wants to host an open house or have people walking through so sell plans are stifled. Traffic sucks! because we have no public transportation except for a crappy lynx bus service & a extremely limited sun rail system that goes North to south with stops that are usually miles away from where you want to get to. Hwy construction projects are in the works all at once so you have to deal with that aspect when getting around town, completion is years away. I would look to either country type living & having to drive everywhere or look to a more convenient location that is within walking distance to supermarkets like Publix & close to Hospitals, retail, highway access, etc. Just remember that Orlando is a car centric city. Areas to explores are Winter Park, Dr Phillips & Windermere as personal choice. Anything in downtown Orlando (East of I-4 ) is very nice as long as its on the good side of the tracks if you get my drift.
I have State Farm and found it went to it from GEICO. 2017 Highlander is 1200 per year. 2020 Camry is 1200 per year. No claims in 30 years of driving. Home insurance is expensive. My home is 2200 sq ft., 2300 this year. It's difficult to get home insurance from a "A" rated company. Lots of scams in home repair business down here. Latest one is "you need a new roof, we will file the claim".
Traffic is a pain. I4 is a real killer...no joke on that road. You have to pick where you live pretty carefully.
Been here 11 years now from Stuart FL. Don't want to retire here, maybe NC would be better.
Good luck
Is this with your home as a discount? We are paying 2500 a year for a 2012 Prius and a 2020 Corolla with our home on there so supposedly this is a discounted price on cars? Also 30 plus years no claims clear records.
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