Hello all,

In new to the element boards and need some help.. I currently live in NY Long island. Incase you don't know, its extremly expensive here.. I can't afford to survive, IM concidering moving to florida, I heard its cheaper there... But where? IM looking for a place with a good job marker, someplace up and coming where i can start my life, and houses that aren't 1 million dollars. Any ideas?

Hello all,

In new to the element boards and need some help.. I currently live in NY Long island. Incase you don't know, its extremly expensive here.. I can't afford to survive, IM concidering moving to florida, I heard its cheaper there... But where? IM looking for a place with a good job marker, someplace up and coming where i can start my life, and houses that aren't 1 million dollars. Any ideas?

Can't you come up with a better username? This guy is with me folks. He's doing all the research, but most likely I'll be following him down.

Welcome to the Boards!

This is a pretty tough question to answer since it depends on what you do for a living, whether or not you have a job lined up, have schools to consider, etc. I'm no expert on Florida but my hunch is you want to stay away from a "touristy" town, since the property values will most likley be much higher.

A town like Port St. Lucie might be a good place to investigate. It's a pretty big city but is not glitzy. My folks lived there for the past 8 winters, and rented a ranch house in a residential neighborhood for a very reasonable price. House prices seemed good too. Why not contact a Florida realtor and have them help you?

Corpus Christi, Texas (The fourth largest port in the U.S.) is also a very affordable place that is near beautiful beaches and was recently voted as being the "Fourth Happiest City in the U.S." according to a web article on MSN. My folks moved there this year instead of Florida and like it much better! This is also a "regular town" that is not glitz and glam. I was only there for a weekend but it seemed like a nice place.

Good Luck to You! :)

Both of us are comp techs here on LI. Basically desktop support, imaging, test troubleshoot, maintenance and deployment.

Never thought of Texas. Have to give it a look.

I too have never looked into texas, ill have to give that a look, but as far as houses that are affordable? What do you concider to be affordable? Its a tough call... Port St Lucie was a place I was gonna look into to be honest!

Stay away from Miami / Ft. Lauderdale if you want something that is affordable. Parts near Tampa and Orlando aren't too bad and will give you the best shot at finding a tech job. :)

Pensacola Area is pretty nice. I lived there for a couple of months.

Are these places affordable? Good Jobs? up and comming? I mean, here on LI, a 2 bedroom house with a leaking roof is $300k plus, whats it like in Florida?

I'm not a big Florida fan. Hot, humid, pretty flat and boring in spite of being surrounded by water on three sides...plus there's the hurricane factor. Central/Western North Carolina has some beautiful countryside, lakes and rivers if you want water, is relatively cheap and Raleigh-Durham is a high tech area as I recall. Actually any decent sized company has comp tech needs even if what they make/do isn't high tech.

If you're dead set on Florida, go to the Keys. Screw the rat race, get a job as a bartender and be a beach bum.

No offense to anyone, but I am not crazy about Florida (with the exception of the Keys).

Most of the places I've been down there seemed like homogenized bland communities littered with endless strip-malls & Wal-Marts. No character or culture, and high crime. I spent a winter down there in the early '90s, and you could never get me to live there under any circumstances.

Don't hate me all you Florida people - it's just my opinion! :D

I've never lived in Florida, but i visit Jacksonville often and its a beautiful place, and a large enough city that theres tons to do and im sure plenty of jobs....i know parts of the city can be very high class and expensive, but im sure there are areas where things arent quite so expensive. Its worth looking into at least!

Guys I live in Orlando, came here from LI about 15 years ago, Florida isn't the cheap place it once was. Homes in Orlando have gone threw the roof in the past two years, average house in a nice area is way over $400 now.
I know thats not bad compaired to LI prices, but thats high considering the salaries that are earned here. If you dont mind a bit of a drive you can work in Orlando and live in the far out burbs, like St.Cloud, or Poinciana, or even Lakeland. There are still some good housing deals out there, like lower 200's and high 100's!
Note: Lakeland is about 1/2 way to Tampa and Orlando, so it gives you a vast job market to search threw.

I agree with the other posters, stay away from south Florida, its become way expensive, its real nice down there, but it also is close to LI in price, expect homes in Ft.Lauderdale to be in the $500's to out of reach!
Condos are your only salvation in south Fl! They can be found in the $200's.

If you have any questions let me know, also check out www.orlandosentinel.com as a good place to check out homes, news, and stuff about this area.

I love it here and wouldn't go back up north for anything, I think you will like what Fla has to offer, its a nice way to live, but unfortunatly its not that cheap any more.

Good luck,
Jay

Looks like you should have a "Former Long Islander E Meeting" sometime...I have no intentions of moving to Florida...but I may be taking a trip there this Summer to see a friend who moved there 12 years ago from L.I..

Yes, I think I am done with Long Island...I just need to spruce up a few items on my house and sell it...then find somewhere to settle (East coast, I like the change of seasons). Lucky for me I'm single, so I only need to buy enough house for me...the rest of my money will go to toys.

Hi ELTJ,
I live in Ft. Lauderdale and am formally from L.I. (Nassau County). I have been in FL for 8 years. FL is a huge state with many different areas totoally different from each other. In regards to real estate, FL is the fastest growing and largest increase in value in the country for a few reasons.
1) Weak $. Europeans are buying up land in Fl like no tomorrow as investment. Causing rising real estate prices.
2) Every time there is a problem in S. America (Venezuela on strike, Argentina economy collapse) they all move here to Miami.
3) We see more and more Califonians coming here to escape the high real estate prices there.
4) Many areas like Broward County (Fort Lauderdale) are built to capacity, rising prices.

I have never seen real estate rise so quickly as in S. FL. I own 2 condos and am buying a house now. My one condo doubled in value in 4 years, the other tripled in 2.5 years time. While the country averages 8-12% increase in value annually, FL is at 13-18% with no signs of cooling. It really depends on your income and life style.
Steel

We're a great place to visit, but you don't wanna live here... especially in June, July, August, September, and parts of October-December... (and longer the further south you live, unless of course, you LIKE shimmering heat and humidity). DON'T even CONSIDER the Keys. It's too crowded now, and real estate is OUTRAGEOUS, plus it's hard to evacuate when the hurricanes come due to the two-lane "Overseas Highway." Like 'skeeters? We have those... everywhere, as well as lizards, BIG roaches and Jeb Bush. Wanna talk about MILDEW? Melanoma? Sweat? :roll:

(You might not know it, but I DO love this state... I'm a native. But certain times of the year, I'd love to live in SAN DIEGO!)

Come for a visit around the Fourth of July; :shock: you'll see what I mean...

Where should I move in Florida?

Please answer a few questions to narrow down the search.

1) How High do you wear your pants?

a) Gangsta (the lower the better)
b) Uptight white guy (they are on my hips right where I put them)
c) Just over the gut
d) Help I'm being consumed by my pants (just under the arm pits).

2) What type of teeth do you have?

a) Uppers
b) Lowers
c) Both
d) Teeth?

3) What time you you eat dinner?

a) 3 PM
b) 4 PM
c) 5 PM
d) Whenever the early bird special starts

4) How much do you like Matlock?

a) I Like him but not as much as that hot chick on Murder She Wrote.
b) He sets a standard for the elderly...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
c) MAAATTTLLLOOOCCCKKK!
d) My TV gets the big three only: CBS, ABC and NBC and that's the way I likes it!

5) When I am driving people behind me see:

a) A guy with his left turn signal on while turning right
b) Hair and knuckles driving 43 in the fast lane
c) My "Happiness is being a Grandparent" licence plate frame
d) Still attached to the rear bumper the tattered bag of the paperboy I ran over last week

I've been residing in St Pete for 2 years now (Tampa Bay area for those not in the know). My wife and I love it here. Not as hot as Orlando gets in the summer (it's ridiculously hot and humid there). The weather is mild (tops out at 85 or so in the summer, a few chilly 40 degree nights in the winter). There is a lot to do here if you love the outdoors (kayaking, biking, road trips to wherever). There is always some kind of festival going on during the weekends. Traffic isn't as bad as it can get in some of the multi-million person areas of the country.

Anyway, just my .02

Sean

Just wanted to add my 2 cents...and share my experience of living in Florida just over 3 months. I am from the big apple (NYC) and love it here.
I got work before I came..but since arriving I see there is work for all that want it (like some of the other posters said...it ain't necessarily at the greatest salaries).
My cousin who lived here and has since returned to NYC told me Miami was like NYC but with palm trees....so I settled in Orlando (I am partial to Disney and Universal).
I wish you well deciding where you and your friend will live. I would certainly welcome another New Yorker to the area and his "E"!!!

I'm over in Daytona Beach. We also moved down from NY state & originally moved to Ocala. That was too far from the ocean for us (what's the point of being in FL if you aren't near the ocean?), so we headed east & are now a block & a half away from the ocean. Property values have skyrocketed, but there are still bargains to be had compared to other places in the country.

I think a lot depends on what type of employment you will be looking for; you'll need to be near a bigger city for the higher paying jobs--Daytona has a lot of service-industry type jobs.

As others have mentioned, being near the ocean moderates the temperatures somewhat. Another thing to keep in mind is that anyplace you go is air-conditioned. We had hot, sticky summers in NY but we suffered through it without AC.

I've lived in FL all my life and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else! There are lots of suburbs with nice houses in the $100k range. The cost of living is very low in these areas.

If you want affordable stay in the center of the state ,cross the georgia line and then park your car and start house hunting. Otherwise the prices go up from that point on.

Find the job first. The rest will fall into place. Housing prices, weather ect. ect. is irelevant until you have a J O B.

PS. I lived in South Florida for years and also Dallas, I would take Dallas in a second over South FL. I would also explore San Antonio. Many jobs there.. decent salaries and very low housing costs.

Peace...

I understand the thought of Florida is nice but if your going to do it do it soon!
My husband and I built a home in Naples, Florida. Now one year later we could not afford this home unless we both worked two jobs. Don't get me wrong I love florida. I will die here...well, maybe in GA.
We are about to sell our home in Naples. We live in a very money driven area and its' still growing. Unless you get a good deal in this area I would stick to central or north FL. South FL is crazy money.
That is what all my research is turning up. I have lived all along the west coast and in central FL. Just about any where you go has its good and bads.
I would suggest lots of research.
I have a friend that is moving from Naples to the panhandle. His new home there is 2557sq ft. He will pay only $700.00 a month. That same house goes for $250,900.00 in an area called Lehigh Acres that is going to be over a $1,200.00 a month payment for the same thing. I was just there today checking out the price because the builder works all over FL.
I would check out LEHIGH ACRES if I where you. Its growing fast and near Ft. Myers airport. Word is it will just keep growing.


Got to go
Jessy

As of right now, FL is the fastest growing increase in property value in the country. CA is higher $ wise, but not growing as fast as FL. Most areas in the south are at build out, forcing prices to skyrocket. I own 2 condos and am buying a house right now. Trying to get into a single family house before it is too late.

I agree, get the job first, then see what your requirements are.
Steel

Box
How could you not afford you home now. Your taxes could not have gone up that much. They are only allowed to go up 3% per year after the first year (I think it after the first year). Where is your house and what are you asking for it.?

Yes ..Please listen to MrSilly and stay away from Florida .With 17 million people and growing ,it's filled to capacity. The natives (gators) that eat humans,the palmetto bugs (roaches) that can be saddled and ridden like ponies and the hurricanes that blow you away anytime of the year ,should be warning enough. Besides all that ,we cheat on our elections and the traffic is intolerable. :-(

Florida Roadie ..

I moved to St.Pete from Houston Texas 15 yrs ago. I love St.Pete.....lots of kayaking,nature,music etc.....this town has really built up last 3 yrs for the better. everything you need but still laid back enough...but yes the price of houses has doubled all over Florida in the past 2 yrs. My best friend is a realtor! The prices are better than Ca & NY i hear.....
As far as San Antonio, my sister lives there & houses are way cheaper.She just bought a brand new 3/2 for $119k......
anyway, Im a Fla fan...love all the nature, the keys are fun.....yadda yadda

With respect to all and knowing we all seek different things in life, I Love Fl. I've been going down there for many years and have seen it change. I now have three brothers living in Spring Hill, just North of Tampa. They all have beautiful homes which were not as expensive as those in NYC and Long Island. I wish I could go there now to live but my job and family keep me from it. I am fortunate enough to own timeshare in Disney and go there just about every year. Like all places Fl has its drawbacks, but so does the Northeast (winter, brrrrrrrrrr), hate it....I'm not a winter person. Never too hot for me. Like others have said if you stay away from certain areas you'll find something you'll like. But getting a good paying job is something else. Have you given Marine Biology a thought?? hehe Good luck...

.. " The right place to live is more in the person than the place " ..

You will not like Florida , so stay put. As said before , the skeeters are terrible, the sunburns are painful, and palmetto bugs are aggresive to a fault. Worst of all the traffic grows worse every year, especially when the other snowbirds follow me south for the winter. Stay up North and enjoy the winter wonderland! Now since that is out of the way, let me be truthful and share this since you are fellow Element owners. We found the Port Charlotte Harbor area between Sarasota and Ft Meyers to be very affordable when we bought our little villa four years ago. Of course it has appreciated about 35% to 45% in value since then, (hasn't everything?), but housing in the Charlotte County area I think is still affordable in relation to the rest of the state. North Port is an affordable and booming community right next door in Sarasota County. However, as I began this oracle...you really should stay up North and support your home state's economy. lol

My advise? *DON'T*

We lived there just over a year and we couldn't wait to get out!!! If it's weird, it's in Florida-

just my humble opinion

My advise? *DON'T*

We lived there just over a year and we couldn't wait to get out!!! If it's weird, it's in Florida-

just my humble opinion

Since I only live in the Sunshine state for the six winter months out of the year, I guess I would only be considered half "weird"! I hope all those other Snowbirders besides us considering a move South choose to stop and stay in the Carolinas. I love Florida but then I am weird, ha.

You should move right to left in Florida ! :lol:

I could have sworn this was the Florida Element owners section :|

Jacksonville
has all 4 seasons, actually gets too cold to comfortably surf for several months, ride motorcycles for a couple months or so every year. Of course with the proper gear there are people that do surf or ride all year. I only surf three seasons, but I will ride.
Getting more expensive, but still get a very nice place for $200K,, And there are still decent areas with places for around or under $100K. We moved here 8 years ago, built a nice new home, not too big, for $130k.

Northern St Johns' county, (considered Jacksonville, but really halfway between Jax and St Augustine as some of the best schools in Florida. Both high schools Neese and Bartram Trail made the top 1000 high schools in the US list last year.

It also has never been hit by a hurricane over cat 3 and rarely gets hit head on as Jax is sort of set back West of Miami and of Outerbanks of NC so if the storm hits Miami it gets slowed down and is not as powerful, and if it misses Miami it almost always is curving back to the east and just passes offshore (making the surf good) on its way to Hatteras.

Orlando,

very crowded at times because of all the tourist stuff, Disney, Universal studios. and tons of smaller parks. But lots of fun, great area.. Has gotten expensive. Out lying areas 30 to 40 miles East much cheaper and closer to the ocean if that is important to you. Of course being away from the ocean means you might get bad storms from a hurricane, but you don't have to evacuate.

Tampa,
much like Orlando, older but still nice, still gets lots of tourists but not like the area around Disney. lots of tech jobs there too. not sure about prices there, but have a good friend there and can find out if you want to know more.

Daytona,
only 80 miles south of Jacksonville, 50 miles south of St Augustine.
pretty wild, crazy beach/party scene, not as crazy as Miami's, but constant.

Depends on what you are looking for lots of nice places in Florida, some may not be to everyones taste, but that is true in any state. The one thing you have to like here is HOT.. most of the year, everyplace in Florida gets HOT and HUMID, and unlike up North it does not cool down at night.

Ok. Looks like you got a lot of advise. Here's my two cents:

a) Tampa is a dump. Don't go there. (St. Pete/Clearwater is nicer)

b) Florida is reversed from the rest of the country. The further south you go the more "liberal" it gets; further north it's more "conservative".

c) Check out Sarasota, it's nice. It has a lot of amendeties, for a smaller town, it has a lot to offer.

Don't know if you're still looking for a place in Florida, but since we're getting beaten up pretty badly, I'll stick my 2 cents in.

I'm in St. Pete and I love it. It's very affordable (ESPECIALLY compared to NY) and has everything you could want in a city - well, a normal sized city. It's no manhattan, but that's a good thing. There are plenty of houses/neighborhoods with a lot of character, and the downtown has nothing to do with strip malls.

I do hate the summers, but the winters make up for it. Way better than yours! The only place I'd rather live is my native CA, but who can afford that?

Are these places affordable? Good Jobs? up and comming? I mean, here on LI, a 2 bedroom house with a leaking roof is $300k plus, whats it like in Florida?
It's a lot like anywhere... on one side of the tracks the houses are expensive, on the other side not so much.

My parents and sister and her family live in Sarasota. You find houses a lot nicer than two bedrooms with a leaking roof for under $100k. My parents house and my sisters house are both in the neighborhood of $150k, both decent quality 3BR 2BA houses with lanais. My parents live on a small lake and have a built in swimming pool. On the other hand, you can drive five minutes and find $1M homes.

It's actually like that just about everywhere you go... I live in Atlanta now. Well, metro-Atlanta. Where I live in a very nice brick house around 25 years old is around $150k to $180k. But there are new houses in my own neighborhood that are on the market for over $700k. I could go five or ten minutes in any direction and find anything from less than $100k to $1M houses. What I'm saying is that some places (like LI - I'm a former resident) and some places in CA are expensive regardless what you get, but most places have very localized areas of high and lower property values.

Dont move to Pensacola...

Housing/Income ratio is WAY out of wack.

The per capita income around here is somewhere in the neighborhood of $18,000-$20,000. And the average house is quite a bit above $100,000.

Ever since Hurricane Ivan hit, there has been a HUGE home shortage.

We would be getting out of this town but we just found out that we are having a baby in May and my mom is fighting cancer right now so we can't just pick up and leave.

We want to move to Tennessee someday and buy a 100 acres or so of mountain property. I hope we can do that one day.

Here's my 2 cents worth.....stay up north.

I have lived in South Florida for 33 years, (guess my age) and I can tell you that I am ready to move after the last two hurricane seasons. My house is still in the process of getting a new roof and I'm missing drywall from the rain damage. Anyway, stay away from the southern end of Florida. Those guys are right, eventhough not being from Florida really doesn't qualify them to give opinions on how life really is down here. Today I went to the beach and swam, what did you do? Shovel snow? It's the life man I'll tell you, but a somewhat decent house within a good area is around 300k. A nice house, your looking at 500K +! The insurance is terrible and the old people, oh the old people. I live in Palm Beach area, if you have any questions I will be glad to help a fellow E owner. Here is a local job website, through the Palm Beach Post newspaper. Good luck! CG
http://careersite.palmbeachpost.com/perl/vaui/Search/top/results?pid=242&matches.page=1

i was born and raised in the Miami area....lived there for 21 years...it's an interesting city, but not some place i would move to with good intentions.

I've been living in Tampa for the past 7 months, and I like it much better here. It's a slower lifestyle. Tampa has it's dumpy parts, but you can see some effort to rebuild the city. Housing is ok here....better than Miami.

My fav city to live in so far is Atlanta....lived there for four years north of the city.

I cant see why anyone would want to live there. Hurricane Magnet!!!!

The decision really depends on what your in too. There is not alot of Hiking, camping type things here because it too hot and sort of flat, but if you are in to water sports this is the place. Also this is the golf capital of the world!! I grew up in Cocoa Beach and now live in Orlando so I am a little biased about this subject. You do have to deal with tourists, but I don't mind because that's why there is no sate tax here. I just wish that they would drive faster and quit looking for the Rat (Mickey Mouse). The big thing I don't like is in the winter you get alot of "snowbirds" (northerners) who come down here and complain about everything and drive slower than the damn tourists! But as a way of life... it's certainly not too bad here! I am a Lead Flash devloper so I too am in the tech field, and there are a decent amount of jobs here. But moving is a tough decision... chooses wisely and good luck! :cool:

Cheers from the sunshine state!