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Thread: RFI: Moving to Florida ?

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by rob_s View Post
    How old are you?

    What do you do for a living?
    Early 40s. Software engineering.

  2. #22
    Be a snow bird. Live in Fla in the winter then go home for the summer.
    I'll wager you a PF dollar™ 😎
    The lunatics are running the asylum

  3. #23
    Site Supporter rob_s's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andy T View Post
    Early 40s. Software engineering.
    Then will you be able to keep your current job and work remotely or will you need to find a new job?

    I’m a Florida native, born in North Florida, college in North Central FL, and the last 20 in SE FL. Each area has its own “flavor”, and if you’re Looking at coasts then the gulf and Atlantic are quite different, but so too the northern beaches are different than the southern, on both sides. IMO the beaches on the west coast get better as you go south, and get better on the east coast as you go north.

    If you’re a hot pussy, don’t come to Florida. One of my major pet peeves is people bitching about the heat.
    Go. The. Fuck. Back. Where. You. Came. From.
    It’s going to get upwards of 90 in the summer in every part of the state. However, the further inland you go the less bearable that will be. The Gainesville-Orlando corridor is the absolute worst. No sea breeze. You can literally leave Orlando and drive due East or west to the coast and it will feel noticeably cooler even though it’s not.

    Heat aside, and presuming you can learn to deal with hurricanes (when approached correctly, hurricanes are just a cost of living expense), I took from your original post that you want to be in the center of a city? Or are you saying here that you’d prefer suburbia to being in a city?
    [quote] I prefer "populated" suburbia and would rather being smack in the center of a city.[\quote]

    In either case, you might look at Sait Petersburg. The downtown continues to grow, but not to the point that Miami or Fot Lauderdale have. My best friend lives there and he is in a house not far from downtown but it still feels like suburbia but gets to downtown in maybe 15 minutes. And there are tons of bars & restaurants in the area if you like that kind of thing.

    Incidentally, I LOVE Fort Lauderdale, even with all the new construction. But you couldn’t pay me enough money to get me to love west of I95 in Broward County. Nothing but ghettos and/or suburban Karens. Yes, there are ghettos east of 95 and ole ty of them, but I don’t see any reason to live in Broward and then not live near all the fun cool stuff.
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  4. #24
    Site Supporter rob_s's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ranger View Post
    I am from Savannah, GA - I always could handle the heat-humidity and frankly hate the cold. As I get older, the heat-humidity seems harder to handle. We are debating "Escape from Georgia" options and although north Alabama is currently the focus also considering Florida. My biggest concern reference Florida is the high insurance costs due to hurricanes and the associated annual evacuations. We had the hurricane threat in Savannah too - don't miss that in NW GA now.
    Eventually you just have to look at hurricanes as a cost of living expense if you want to live here. At 46 and a lifelong native I’m just now understanding that after owning several houses.

    First, buy a new build home. That’ll get you impact windows and doors and generally get you a new roof. If you aren’t looking in an area where code requires impact, consider upgrading to them a anyway (more about that in a second).

    Any sort of exterior structures (pool screen, tiki hut, etc.) is to be considered expendable and will not be covered by insurance. Oh, and get insurance from the most reputable company you can (having things like a new build, new roof, impact windows, etc. helps with that as pretty much your 4-point inspection results determines how shitty of an insurance company you’ll have to go with).

    Have a plan to leave if you can, it makes life so much more bearable. Have a plan as to where to stow the second car if you leave (with no basements here, many people resort to turning their garages into storage warehouses for their junk they never touch). Scope out what direction and how far you intend to go.

    Get the largest garage you can. New builds tend to skimp in them and will call a 20x20 garage a “two car”. It’s not. At least not unless the two cars are Miatas. Many offer 3-car garage options and/or options to extend them 2-4 feet outward. Take both options. This will give you a place to lark one or two cars when you leave AND a place to store all your junk.

    One story homes are, IME, less susceptible to damage than one-story.

    If you can, get a hard-wired, whole house, backup generator with an in-ground propane tank or city gas service. Believe it or not in many areas power, phone and internet will go down in a storm while gas stays functional. This is because 100% of the gas lines are buried while wires, even if underground at your area, likely got there on poles at some point in their route.

    If a metal roof is an option, take it. Do your research and pay attention to the gauge of the metal. Presuming you plan to stay in the house over ten years. If not, fuck it (and fuck the next guy).

    Keep your garden gnomes and other yard junk (chairs, tables, etc) to a minimum. If the builder offers an extended covered patio option, take it. When you go to leave before a big storm you can put up mesh at the outside edge of the patio and just leave your tables and chairs as they are. You can also drag some of your other junk in there as well.

    Re:impact windows and doors. Putting up shutters sucks. It’s for plebeians. And plywood is for mobile homes (I say this as someone that has neither impact windowsill or shutters at this time, and has done the plywood thing several times, but has impact windows inbound). But, if you live somewhere in central Florida you probably won’t ever actually “need” do put up anything. Hell, even living near the coast you’d probably get away with it (shutters and impacts are becoming like guns, the likelihood over ever actually having them save you is tiny, but the media insists in skewing that perception). But, even if you’re in central Florida, impact windows are moser secure breakage from burglars, better insulating so lower electric bills long term, and better at keeping the outside noise outside. They also tend to be better made so they last longer, and they should help keep your insurance costs down slightly. AND, if you’re in an area that only has a true, imminent, hurricane threat every couple of years, not having to remember where the shutters are, dig them out from behind the golf clubs, put them up, etc. may actually be more valuable than to the guy that puts them up 3x per year.

    Living in Florida is a lot like buying an AR or a 1911. You *can* get away with lower up-front costs for sure. You may not even notice the ramifications of going cheap up front. Or for quite some time. But when your cheapness DOES come home to roost, it’s going to cost you even more, maybe everything. And even if it doesn’t, eventually you WILL appreciate the convenience of having spent a little extra up front.
    Last edited by rob_s; 01-18-2021 at 05:53 AM.
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  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by rob_s View Post
    Then will you be able to keep your current job and work remotely or will you need to find a new job?

    Heat aside, and presuming you can learn to deal with hurricanes (when approached correctly, hurricanes are just a cost of living expense), I took from your original post that you want to be in the center of a city? Or are you saying here that you’d prefer suburbia to being in a city?
    I might be able to keep my current gig. Even now everyone is remote at least until July. I would like to be in a populated suburb. For example, right now, I am about 25 minutes away from Boston.
    Love your second post. Thank you for the insights.

  6. #26
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andy T View Post
    I might be able to keep my current gig. Even now everyone is remote at least until July. I would like to be in a populated suburb. For example, right now, I am about 25 minutes away from Boston.
    Love your second post. Thank you for the insights.
    This is very general and you probably need to travel around a bit and talk to people. And factor in this is coming from "your dad"

    Panhandle. Lots of Service active duty and retirees around Pensacola and Eglin AFB. Generally beachy, with lots of year round tourists from Atlanta and Alabama. Cold in the winter (below freezing.) Can be expensive.

    Tallahassee. State capitol. College town. Higher crime rate.

    Jacksonville. Gigantic port city. Money is North and East of town, think Amelia Island Concours in March near Fernandina Beach.

    Gainesville. Another College town. Think Tallahassee, but with less charm.

    Center of the state. Ocala is horse farms and old Florida money. The Villages is Old people and Golf Carts.

    East coast from St. Augustine down to Daytona Beach. Bigger Tech in Melbourne area, as well as Kennedy Space Center. Rockets and stuff. The area is old, since the boom time at the Cape started in the 60s. If you have a Harley though, you might like it.

    Tampa/St Pete (where I live at the moment). Big city living. Great Airport. Weather is on the frost line, so it's hot in the summer but not fricken cold in the winter. (it was 41 this morning, for example. It's 68 right now and sunny.)

    West Palm Beach down to Miami. I hate it. It's crowded, overpriced, high crime and the people drive like assholes. I don't really have anything posiitve to say about Miami.

    Sarasota down to Naples (where I am moving to this summer; we are building a house in Venice). This will be a bit warmer than Tampa. Generally less populated, less expensive. The retiree belt will start to get significant around South of Sarasota and extend down to Port Charlotte and Fort Myers. All the rich retirees are in Naples.

    That leaves The Keys, and one other area. The Keys are like on another planet. I don't see anyone living there by choice, unless they were really trying to get away, or had serious money, or both.

    The last area I'll mention is Orlando.

    You might actually like it. My son lives there now (I worked there in the late 90s). There is quite a bit for young people to do, a pretty vibrant downtown, Disney, Universal, horrible traffic, I-4 constantly under construction. There's also a lot of tech, Lockheed Martin, SAIC, STRICOM (US Army) are all based around UCF since there is a yuge amount of Simulation work there. Yes there is a lot of influence from The Rat (as we call Disney) but if you look at the right location there's a lot like. Sure it's going to be hot, sure you are going to hate sitting in traffic but it's a popular place all the same.

    That's my 0.02 anyway.

    Good luck.

    PS Get a wiggle on because real estate is going nuts down here. When I moved to FL in 1998, there were 1,000 people a day entering the state. I would not be surprised if we are approaching those numbers these days.
    Last edited by RJ; 01-19-2021 at 06:16 PM.

  7. #27
    FWIW: Currently living in PCB and home shopping between Pensacola through West side of Jacksonville. RJ is spot on with his description for the panhandle with one exception. People from California and NY are buying homes here as fast as they are hitting the market. Leon County good homes are under contract within 24 hours. Supply is low and demand high so prices are crazy.

  8. #28
    Four String Fumbler Joe in PNG's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RJ View Post
    PS Get a wiggle on because real estate is going nuts down here. When I moved to FL in 1998, there were 1,000 people a day entering the state. I would not be surprised if we are approaching those numbers these days.
    Mum is one of the top sales people in the Villages, and says that they have have had a huge year in sales.

    One thing about Florida beaches- parking either on or at them usually isn't free.
    "You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
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  9. #29
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    The real estate situation is the same up here (Northeast, by the ocean). As soon as a house shows up, it tends to go under agreement. I haven't seen that many houses come out on my usual walking route.

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andy T View Post
    I am currently freezing my hands at the North East and thinking of moving to FL.

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