2 questions: home owners insurance and location suitable for middle aged folks (Orlando: mortgage, houses)

[umscats]

Hi all!
I live in south FL and my home owners insurance just tripled to over $6,000 for a small 2/1 older house built in the 60's. Needless to say I don't want to pay an additional $350/mo or more in mortgage to stay here, so I was thinking of relocating to the Orlando/central FL area by the end of the year.

Can anyone tell me what the insurance rates are doing there, and what might be an average amount for a small older 2/2 house [vs a 4/3 mansion with a pool]. Are many people leaving the area there, like they are here, because the insurance rates have skyrocketed?

Second question: as a middle aged female with grown kids, are there any areas/towns more suited to active older folks, vs young families with kids, less hispanics but not red-necks, older and smaller homes. I work from home so can live anywhere and don't worry about commuting. I'll be looking for a nice, small house with a good sized lot in a nice quiet neighborhood, in a friendly town. I've heard Lakeland is nice but haven't heard anything about other towns in the area. Anyone have any good suggestions for nice places to live?

[Jammie]

Lakeland is a nice town. There are a few towns that I think are nice in Central Fla. You may want to check out Sebring, Lake Placid (My personal favorite), or Avon Park.

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by umscats

Hi all!
I live in south FL and my home owners insurance just tripled to over $6,000 for a small 2/1 older house built in the 60's. Needless to say I don't want to pay an additional $350/mo or more in mortgage to stay here, so I was thinking of relocating to the Orlando/central FL area by the end of the year.

Can anyone tell me what the insurance rates are doing there, and what might be an average amount for a small older 2/2 house [vs a 4/3 mansion with a pool]. Are many people leaving the area there, like they are here, because the insurance rates have skyrocketed?

Second question: as a middle aged female with grown kids, are there any areas/towns more suited to active older folks, vs young families with kids, less hispanics but not red-necks, older and smaller homes. I work from home so can live anywhere and don't worry about commuting. I'll be looking for a nice, small house with a good sized lot in a nice quiet neighborhood, in a friendly town. I've heard Lakeland is nice but haven't heard anything about other towns in the area. Anyone have any good suggestions for nice places to live?

Insurance rates are a rip-off anywhere in Florida, BUT in the in-land areas (meaning 50 - 100 miles off coastal areas and away from flood zones - check FloodSmart.gov for info if you are in a flood area or not), insurance tends to be cheaper. The problem with in-land insurance is that we in-land people pay for the costal people to live there. All in-land insurance payers help cover the cost of costal insurance.

I would say go for Davenport. It is a nice retirement community. Or go for Deltona.

GL!!

[Angelrocks]

Originally Posted by umscats

Hi all!
I live in south FL and my home owners insurance just tripled to over $6,000 for a small 2/1 older house built in the 60's. Needless to say I don't want to pay an additional $350/mo or more in mortgage to stay here, so I was thinking of relocating to the Orlando/central FL area by the end of the year.

Can anyone tell me what the insurance rates are doing there, and what might be an average amount for a small older 2/2 house [vs a 4/3 mansion with a pool]. Are many people leaving the area there, like they are here, because the insurance rates have skyrocketed?

Second question: as a middle aged female with grown kids, are there any areas/towns more suited to active older folks, vs young families with kids, less hispanics but not red-necks, older and smaller homes. I work from home so can live anywhere and don't worry about commuting. I'll be looking for a nice, small house with a good sized lot in a nice quiet neighborhood, in a friendly town. I've heard Lakeland is nice but haven't heard anything about other towns in the area. Anyone have any good suggestions for nice places to live?

Did you try Citizens? Yikes, that's terrible!

I am going to be eligable for Citizens by the end of the year, however, there isn't much of a difference in price. 6k....that is just insane. I know I checked into getting another policy and I had a rip off artist try to quote that price to me as well. I went to another agent that could get me a 2k price. 6k sounds like price gouging to me. I would see if there isn't some kind of law against this. I don't even know if that's really legal??


I do know that St. Augustine is cheap and you really don't need to worry much about direct hits from hurricanes. They rarely ever get one, so all insurance up there is dirt cheap, especially when compared to S Florida rates. In Orlando they get hit. I was there a few years ago. A friend of mine told me she lost electricity twice in one year. I think it was for at least two to three weeks on each occasion. I saw plenty of tarped roofs, etc in Orlando. St. Augustine for some reason usually never get's a direct hit.

[Angelrocks]

Hey, I just got something in the mail.

Here is what it says:

The massive insurance reform bill that passed last month allows homeowners covered by a private carrier to opt into Citizens if their paying rates 25% higher than what the state run insurer charges. There you go. Get into Citizens asap! No way would Citizens gouge ya.

[rickle]

Originally Posted by umscats

Hi all!
I live in south FL and my home owners insurance just tripled to over $6,000 for a small 2/1 older house built in the 60's. Needless to say I don't want to pay an additional $350/mo or more in mortgage to stay here, so I was thinking of relocating to the Orlando/central FL area by the end of the year.

Can anyone tell me what the insurance rates are doing there, and what might be an average amount for a small older 2/2 house [vs a 4/3 mansion with a pool]. Are many people leaving the area there, like they are here, because the insurance rates have skyrocketed?

Second question: as a middle aged female with grown kids, are there any areas/towns more suited to active older folks, vs young families with kids, less hispanics but not red-necks, older and smaller homes. I work from home so can live anywhere and don't worry about commuting. I'll be looking for a nice, small house with a good sized lot in a nice quiet neighborhood, in a friendly town. I've heard Lakeland is nice but haven't heard anything about other towns in the area. Anyone have any good suggestions for nice places to live?

Housing is very affordable in the Melbourne area. It's very inexpensive in the Palm Bay area. Houses are going for around $100 per square foot for a nice home in the burbs. Taxes are a little bit lower than Sofla and insurance is dependant on where you buy and from what company.
I have some good deals here!

[rickle]

Originally Posted by umscats

Hi all!
I live in south FL and my home owners insurance just tripled to over $6,000 for a small 2/1 older house built in the 60's. Needless to say I don't want to pay an additional $350/mo or more in mortgage to stay here, so I was thinking of relocating to the Orlando/central FL area by the end of the year.

Can anyone tell me what the insurance rates are doing there, and what might be an average amount for a small older 2/2 house [vs a 4/3 mansion with a pool]. Are many people leaving the area there, like they are here, because the insurance rates have skyrocketed?

Second question: as a middle aged female with grown kids, are there any areas/towns more suited to active older folks, vs young families with kids, less hispanics but not red-necks, older and smaller homes. I work from home so can live anywhere and don't worry about commuting. I'll be looking for a nice, small house with a good sized lot in a nice quiet neighborhood, in a friendly town. I've heard Lakeland is nice but haven't heard anything about other towns in the area. Anyone have any good suggestions for nice places to live?

Housing is very affordable in the Melbourne area. It's very inexpensive in the Palm Bay area. Houses are going for around $100 per square foot for a nice home in the burbs. Taxes are a little bit lower than Sofla and insurance is dependant on where you buy and from what company.
I have some good deals here!

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by rickle

Housing is very affordable in the Melbourne area. It's very inexpensive in the Palm Bay area. Houses are going for around $100 per square foot for a nice home in the burbs. Taxes are a little bit lower than Sofla and insurance is dependant on where you buy and from what company.
I have some good deals here!

There IS a reason why the Palm Bay/coastal areas are getting cheaper! Read on...

Palm Bay might be cheaper, but it is not close to any major metro area (so you have fewer job opportunities there - granted, the metro areas already have very modest good-paying job opportunities).

Palm Bay is also in the coast so home owner's insurance will probably be at the $6,000 mark. That is IF you can get a company to insure you. Car insurance will also be much higher in the coast for obvious reasons.

Knowing what we know now about hurricanes, going for a costal area just seems... naive and irresponsible.

[umscats]

Well, thanks to all for the replies and opinions. I agree with not living by the shore, for me it's too expensive which is why I thought the outskirts of Orlando might be nice. It's less of a hurricane threat though I did see a fair amount of blue roofs there a couple of years ago. My father lived in Lake Placid before he died and it's a nice town, with really friendly people, but there isn't a whole lot to do there. It's a little too "sleepy" for me. I know all his insurance rates went way down when he moved there, for home owners, car, health, compared to what he was paying in south FL.

I'll do some research on Davenport and Deltona. I have heard of Deltona, but don't know where it is, or anything about it. Thanks again to all.