Florida vs Connecticut (Jupiter, Wellington, Lake Worth: for sale, oceanfront, apartment)

[embroidery_rocks]

Hey folks

We're considering a transfer from CT to Florida. The pay is the same, but I was wondering if you could help me with cost of living?

Obviously there won't be any state income tax...but are there other taxes? (We'd be renting...)

What do rentals run for? A small 2 br that allows dogs is what we need, in a nice area too.

If we purchase a house, what are house taxes like ?

And home insurance would be sky high, but we'd want to be as far inland as we can (wellington?) what about home ins that far inland?

What about car insurance?

Thanks for your help

[Momma_bear]

I have lived in both CT and FL and the cost of living is lower here although there are individual items that are higher (homeowners insurance and property taxes). I am not familiar with Wellington.

[embroidery_rocks]

Well that's good if we're planning to rent ;D

[McMolly]

I lived in northeastern CT for a large part of my life, but as a child so I don't know the costs. However, I always think of many parts of CT as way more expensive than here.

It has a lot to do with where you are in CT. I was up there last weekend and gas alone was more than here (in my area it's about $4.09 today).

Not having state income tax is a huge blessing. I don't consider property taxes excessive here ... they were much more in NJ.

I don't know where you thinking of living in this area, but just to give you an idea we live in an absolutely lovely gated community in West Palm (west of the Turnpike called the "Western Communities"). For a 1600 sq. ft. home with 3 BRs (one often called a den) and 2 baths, I would expect the rent would be between $1500 and $1700. It had been $1700, but I'm guessing that it would be less now that more homes are for sale and therefore quite likely available for rent.

If you're renting, you'll only have to pay homeowner's insurance only for your personal contents so that shouldn't be too high. If you purchase, you will pay more. So it's very important to buy a home that was built to the new codes (since 2000 or so) ... poured concrete or concrete block is best. Hurricane shutters also bring cost down. This year we only paid about $1100 for homeowners insurance.

In our area, taxes are approximaely 2% of the purchase price of the home (after Homesteaders). It's actually about 1.75%, but many times the infrastructure costs to the builder are built into the property tax for 10 to 20 years of the initial purchase of the home.

Much good luck to you! We moved here 8 years ago and we love it .... especially in the winters. But I miss CT terribly and I always will.

[SgtAJC]

I relocated from New York City and I can tell you that it is not cheap to live in Southern Florida. I don't see much of a difference when comparing NYC to Florida. That being said, I wouldn't go back if given the option. I'll take the palm trees over the snow anyday. By the way...Wellington is a real nice choice...very family oriented and safe...believe me when I say it...there is more crime down here in Florida than in NYC so go to Wellington or a very similar area because it's pretty safe.....

[Amy S in PBC]

I moved here 4 years ago from CT, just in time for the hurricanes. It was a complete culture shock - my pay was $10,000 less than what I was making in CT, my car insurance doubled, my rent went from $800 for a two bed, to $1000 for a one bed, and even though there's no state income tax, believe me, they get ya somewhere else.

Don't start me on the heat and humidity - it's horrid. I think I miss mountains and the four seasons the most.

If you have to move here, go west of the turnpike - Wellington, Lake Worth, Royal Palm. I lived in Gables of Wellington for 2 years - it was okay - they accept big dogs, but you have to pay extra.

It's weird down here - I can't wait to leave - but good luck to you.

[JSnFla]

livng in the north palm beach areas would be as expensive as it would be to live in say Greenwich, CT, same deal.

[TriMT7]

If you're salary is the same, you'll have a lower cost of living in Florida.

Look to spend upwards of 1200-1300k/month for a good apartment in Wellington.

No income taxes are a huge savings. Prices are coming down throughout Palm Beach County, especially in developments. As a guide, figure taxes are ROUGHLY 2% of purchase price per year. Home insurance can vary widely. Figure around 2000-3000/year. You can receive discounts (deep discounts) if your home has a new roof and hurricane shutters on every window.

Car insurance will probably be higher, but it goes by zip code. Look to spend at least 100/month per car, depending on your age and driving record as well. You can often bundle home owners and car insurance for additional savings.

[McMolly]

Living in Florida is definitely cheaper than living in NJ. We moved here 8 years ago and at the time I did a side by side comparison. Florida won hands down. Since I'm not in NJ now, I can't compare, but both have gone up pretty steadily so I would guess Florida still wins. Simply not having the income tax is a huge factor.

On the other hand, we only use our A/C 5 to 6 months a year and rarely use heat. Some people have the A/C on year 'round.

If you have all the right hurricane deductions, insurance is higher than NJ, but not nearly as high as some people here are saying. Ours was just over $1,000 this year for a 1500 sq. ft. home in a gated community valued around $300K.

And the best part is we get the most amazing fruit year 'round

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by JSnFla

livng in the north palm beach areas would be as expensive as it would be to live in say Greenwich, CT, same deal.

So, um, your kidding? You can't buy a house for 250 in Greenwich, you can in Jupiter. You also don't pay 20 thousand dollars in property taxes and don't have a 2 hour stop and go commute to work every day with gas being 30 cents higher than anywhere in Florida. Let's not forget the income tax. Maybe if you wanted to live oceanfront it would be similar...

Originally Posted by Amy S in PBC

I moved here 4 years ago from CT, just in time for the hurricanes. It was a complete culture shock - my pay was $10,000 less than what I was making in CT, my car insurance doubled, my rent went from $800 for a two bed, to $1000 for a one bed, and even though there's no state income tax, believe me, they get ya somewhere else.

How is that a "culture" shock? What part of CT did you come from? I would think that you have to be pretty far out and face a very lengthy commute if you took that much of a paycut yet paid 800 a month for a 2 bedroom. I believe the car insurance as long as you did not in the Tri-State area counties, because then I would assume it to be higher than here.

So basically, your (OP) question is too broad. Florida vs Connecticut covers a lot of ground, literally. The cost of living comparison is going to depend on what part of CT you moved from. To come up with some examples, if you are coming from, say, Fairfield County, it will be significantly less expensive unlike what another poster suggested. If you are coming from Hartford area it would probably be about the same, verging on higher in PBC. And of course it varies in other areas of Florida and CT too...