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Old 04-22-2013, 06:59 AM
 
9 posts, read 17,452 times
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My family and I will be relocating soon. My husband will be working in St Petersburg. We have zeroed in on Palm Harbor. We like the beach location and have school age children and the schools seem to be as good as where they are coming from. It seems like a good match for us all around. The more I read about insurance there though the more apprehensive I am getting. Can anyone explain the different types of insurance we would need on a home? I'm reading about sink hole insurance, hurricane insurance, wind damage insurance etc....It has me just about ready to back out of the move ! Any general figures on what we need and could expect to pay would be appreciated. We're looking to stay between about $150,000-$200,000 on a house. Also, the schools. Can anyone who has moved into the area from out of state tell me how it was for their kids adjusting to the schools there ? My one child is very outgoing and OK with the move, but I have a 13 year old who is not as outgoing and is very unhappy to be leaving her friends behind. Any insight into the Palm Harbor area would be great, thanks!
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Old 04-22-2013, 07:07 AM
 
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Insurance depends on the property you will be buying. If it is zoned for flood, then you'll need that and so on. If I were you, I would rent first, because that way you will have the opportunity to drive around and explore the different areas, and learn which area is zoned for what. Sink holes are more prevalent in Pasco county. Palm Harbor in in Pinellas. NOT saying Pinellas is immune to sink holes, however sink hole is not required in most areas of Pinellas. Buying a home right off the bat, without knowing the area 100% can turn out to be a big mistake. You can read a lot online about schools etc, but until you see them directly, you won't really know if you like them. I would be more worried with car insurance than homeowners. The general rule in FL is that the closer you get to the water, the more you pay, and not just in insurance costs.

Regarding schools, it is different for anyone. We can't say if she'll make new friends on will resent you forever for moving her. Some kids are friendlier than others, it depends on many factors.
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Old 04-22-2013, 02:49 PM
 
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Thanks for the reply. I had read a couple of articles that made it sound like you had to buy sink hole coverage - and the average price the article quoted was pretty steep. My husband is going down before us and will rent so hopefully he'll get a feeling for the area before I bring the kids down.

As for auto insurance, we were in NYC for a couple of years for my husband's work before we moved to where we are now - PA. I can't imagine it being any worse than there lol ! Thanks again.
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Old 04-22-2013, 03:02 PM
 
4,586 posts, read 5,609,406 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Summerie View Post
As for auto insurance, we were in NYC for a couple of years for my husband's work before we moved to where we are now - PA. I can't imagine it being any worse than there lol ! Thanks again.
It is out of control, get some quotes. We moved from one dormant zip code to another dormant one and with no other changes it spiked $400!

Its good he is coming first; he should be able to scout various areas and get a good grip before u come down.
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Old 04-22-2013, 06:29 PM
 
Location: North of South, South of North
8,704 posts, read 10,898,341 times
Reputation: 5150
Quote:
Originally Posted by Summerie View Post
My family and I will be relocating soon. My husband will be working in St Petersburg. We have zeroed in on Palm Harbor. We like the beach location and have school age children and the schools seem to be as good as where they are coming from. It seems like a good match for us all around. The more I read about insurance there though the more apprehensive I am getting. Can anyone explain the different types of insurance we would need on a home? I'm reading about sink hole insurance, hurricane insurance, wind damage insurance etc....It has me just about ready to back out of the move ! Any general figures on what we need and could expect to pay would be appreciated. We're looking to stay between about $150,000-$200,000 on a house. Also, the schools. Can anyone who has moved into the area from out of state tell me how it was for their kids adjusting to the schools there ? My one child is very outgoing and OK with the move, but I have a 13 year old who is not as outgoing and is very unhappy to be leaving her friends behind. Any insight into the Palm Harbor area would be great, thanks!
We live on the east side of Palm Harbor. We LOVE it. GREAT access to everything, less traffic and very very safe. Schools are awesome.

Insurance on our >$300,000 house is ~ $1,575/year,if I remember exactly. That is for full "great" coverage, with catastrophic ground collapse coverage. Even though we are not in a flood zone, we opted to purchase that separately for just a few hundred dollars a year.
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Old 04-23-2013, 03:39 AM
 
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Happy to hear such a positive review It doesn't sound like our homeowners ins will be too bad if we watch where we live. I called our auto insurer yesterday and our car ins will increase about $800/year. Not too bad considering we'll lose our state and local taxes which are about 5% combined !
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Old 04-23-2013, 08:21 AM
 
Location: Myrtle Beach
3,381 posts, read 9,122,145 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Summerie View Post
Thanks for the reply. I had read a couple of articles that made it sound like you had to buy sink hole coverage - and the average price the article quoted was pretty steep. My husband is going down before us and will rent so hopefully he'll get a feeling for the area before I bring the kids down.

As for auto insurance, we were in NYC for a couple of years for my husband's work before we moved to where we are now - PA. I can't imagine it being any worse than there lol ! Thanks again.

Most lenders will require sink hole coverage... if not all. Ours did. Auto insurance is high in Florida because of PIP being required.
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Old 04-23-2013, 01:44 PM
 
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I think I read that the mortgage company's do require it, or at least the catastrophic coverage. Below is what I read that scared me so much about the cost of sink hole insurance:

"If approved, that means in Tampa the average premium for a sinkhole policy would increase from $156 to $3,651. In coastal Pasco County, rates would increase from $1,270 to $3,598. In coastal Hernando County, premiums would soar from $1,356 to $5,734." from Some Citizens sinkhole rates could rise thousands of dollars

But as I read it through again, Pinellas cty was mentioned at the bottom and the rates were much lower, mid $200's which is a relief. We actually have a similar type issue in PA, due to past underground mining. They sell mine subsidence insurance for that here, about the same price.
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Old 04-23-2013, 06:11 PM
 
323 posts, read 684,707 times
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We live in the northernmost part of Clearwater, literally a stone's throw from Palm Harbor, in a non-evac zone and are not required by our lender to pay either flood or sinkhole insurance. Our auto insurance went down a little after moving out of Gulfport/St Pete also. Becoming owners rather than renters also improved our auto insurance rate, so I'm not sure how much was attributed to the move and how much was the ownership status. Palm Harbor is a bit of a commute to St. Pete, but not terrible. Nonetheless, I agree renting is better at first. If you like Palm Harbor and the proximity to beaches, given your price range and the fact your husband is working in St. Pete, you may want to take a look a Seminole. Virtually sinkhole-free, lots of high ground and non-evac areas, a very decent area and some pretty good schools.
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Old 04-24-2013, 07:37 AM
 
9 posts, read 17,452 times
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Thanks, I did look at Seminole and it does look like a nice area. I think the main attraction for Palm Harbor is the schools. The school district we're coming from is rated 10/10 on great schools and Palm Harbor is 9/10. Also many of my husbands coworkers live up in the Palm Harbor and surrounding neighborhood area. It will be nice to know at least a few people in the area we want to move into and they're really recommending the area as well.
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