FloridaKash - Already Has Been A Year Since Moving (Tampa: appointed, rentals)

[FloridaKash]

Pretty amazing how time flies, we moved pulled into Tampa 1 year and 4 days ago. I want to take this opportunity to post my experiences for those who are wanting to move to Florida can get the opinion of someone who has made the move.

MY wife and I drove down from Alaska, all 5000 miles a year ago. We drove in a minivan with 2 dogs. The rear seats were taken out and shipped, we put a double high full size air mattress in the back for our journey. It was a blast and we enjoyed the trip of a lifetime. You can read about it on my blog entry in my profile. My mom flew down with the kids shortly after we arrived.

Finding a place was not difficult, however finding where we wanted to live was. We thought we wanted to live in Riverview, after driving around and looking at rentals, we changed our mind. Instead we picked a nice little home to rent in Seminole, close to the water. It took some getting used to how homes in this area are laid out, it's different.

Getting the kids enrolled was a challenge. In Pinellas your kids may not get assigned to their zoned school and if you have more than one kid, they both may not be assigned together. This involves in extra leg work so be prepared.

A year later, we're now buying a house. It is not in Pinellas, which would have been nice. I like the "beachy" vibe we get over here. But insurance and housing values are much better up in Northdale. Northdale also seems to have a great sense of community and is a good place to raise kids. I can actually let my kids play in the neighborhood, which I cannot do where I currently live. My work commute will also go down from 45 - 50 minutes each way to 20 minutes.

Okay, below are some points I have noticed since moving here. Please note, these are MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES and yours are likely to vary.

- We don't go to the beach very often even though it is 5 minutes away.

Indian Rocks Beach and Maderia Beach are very close to us, yet we don't go very often. Maybe 6 times in the last year and no we typically only go when we have visitors from out of town. Because we go so little I am not going to be heartbroken by moving more inland.

- Shopping in the beach communities is lacking.

I know many of you do not care. But the shopping in Pinellas has a lot to be desired. Most of the malls are not that great and stores are spread out. There are a lot of mom and pop shops though which are excellent to shop at. I always love supporting local business.

- Meeting People/Making friends has been difficult.

This will obviously vary for different people. We have had a hard time at it. We live off of a busy road so we know the neighbors to each side of us and a neighbor across the street and that's pretty much it. We're not good friends with any of them and haven't had a BBQ. I think it's because we are renting and have told them from the get go we were wanting to buy a home soon. I am hoping that being a home owner will make it easier to make friends. I do not make friends through my work because I work almost 50/50 from home.

- Nobody is from Florida.

Maybe 1 in 10 people I have met down here is actually from Florida. Otherwise they seem to be from Ohio, Mass or NY. Some of them have been here for a year or two and are ready to head back home. Not because they don't like Florida, but because they miss their family.

- It does get cold here

Don't laugh. Once you get used to the weather 30 - 40 degrees is cold. I heard this last winter was one of the coldest ever. I hope so because I was pretty disappointed being curled up in my Snuggy. Houses here are not built for that cold of weather, so you feel it inside. I even had to scrape "ice" off my windshield two mornings. Lots of our plants burned from the freeze. I think it's the humidity because 30 here is much colder than it should be.

- Maintaining your own pool is a lot of work, mowing in summer is hot.

The house we are renting has a pool. Lease states I need to do it myself, which is fine. Worse thing about maintaining your own pool is that it needs weekly attention of about an hour. Sure, it's not that much time, but you have to do it every single week. Mowing is brutal in the summer and makes you a hot mess.

- When doing anything in Florida that is touristy, ask for a discount.

Your Florida Driver's license acts like a AAA discount card at more things than you might imagine. Almost all amusement parks have discounts as do some of the more cultural attractions. Some sightseeing, fishing and mini-gold places offer discounts as well. It doesn't hurt to ask.

- Cruises are at your doorstep and the best values are in October.

You live here now, go on a cruise when they have their best rates which is in October. In addition, you get an additional discount for being a resident. We are going to try and go on a cruise every October. We can go on a 4 day cruise for 5 of us for under $1K. Includes, food, entertainment and the best part, my wife and I get to spend time along without the kids because they would rather be at the kid club anyhow.

I could go on and on, but we are happy with our move. We have no desire to move or live anywhere else which is buying a home here. It's not perfect, no place is. But we love being in a semi-tropical climate. I love living in a vacation destination. Lots of family visits between November - March. Nobody comes down in the summer, which is nice because after 5 months of visitors its nice to have your own family time. Feel free to ask any questions.

[Keeper]

WoW.. great post.. it seems like only yesterday we were all giving you our saged wisdom such as it is.. I am glad you like FL and wish you luck finding a new home

[BucFan]

Thanks for the post. Very interesting. Hope you're able to find some friends - possibly through your children, if they participate in sports, activities, etc. I guess people are just too busy to invest in the time it takes for friendship - also, we're very transient in this area and you think, "why bother".

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Thanks for the post. Very interesting. Hope you're able to find some friends - possibly through your children, if they participate in sports, activities, etc. I guess people are just too busy to invest in the time it takes for friendship - also, we're very transient in this area and you think, "why bother".

Precisely. That's why I am hoping that once we close and move into this house we'll be part of the neighborhood (built in late 70's) and people will have less of a transient nature.

[MartinEden99]

Originally Posted by FloridaKash

Precisely. That's why I am hoping that once we close and move into this house we'll be part of the neighborhood (built in late 70's) and people will have less of a transient nature.

I think that will likely be the case for you. It may now be "another" 6 months for you as you'll be the new people in the neighborhood (or new to them) but you already know that. But being in a less transient neighborhood for somebody intent to stay in FL (and not just dipping their toes) is likely to yield the best results. The neighbors will be more knowledgeable about places to go & just general local stuff that you wouldn't know if you never lived here.

Great post, best of luck, and thanks for sharing your experience.

[brrgrl]

Thanks for another great post! I've followed your posts with interest, as we are making the move from MN to Florida at the end of this year. I'm curious - does your new home have a pool? If not, are you planning to have one put in?

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by brrgrl

Thanks for another great post! I've followed your posts with interest, as we are making the move from MN to Florida at the end of this year. I'm curious - does your new home have a pool? If not, are you planning to have one put in?

Absolutely, the new home has a pool. Having a pool was a requirement. We use the one here at our rental house all the time. As an added bonus the pool is screened and has a spa and the sellers are leaving the pool cleaning robot. Less work for me and no more mosquitoes.

When we were shopping for homes we looked at some that didn't have pools. But after getting quotes to get a pool put in, it just doesn't make financial sense. Pools do increase a home's resale value (especially if its a nice/decent pool). With that said, if you pay to have one put in, I would expect only 50% of a return on your investment when you go to sell.... if you're lucky. Plus with the pool already in place we don't have to deal with the construction, permits and all that other jazz that comes along with a new pool.

[springmac]

Great post! Thanks so much, I appreciate your assessment. We are moving down Saturday, so one year from now I can post my assessment!

[MAniacTHW]

I grew up just outside of Northdale and went to Gaither High School. It was a neat area.

[tilli]

I am glad that you are happy here. I can't believe it has already been a year! I think you'll like living in Northdale.