Anyone live in Florida know any mildly affordable towns to move to?

[JaCrispy]

I’ve never been, and am seriously looking to get out of NYS before sh!t hits the fan...any help would be appreciated...thanks! 👍

Edited December 28, 2021 by JaCrispy

[PastaJoe]

2 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

I’ve never been, and am seriously looking to get out of NYS before sh!t hits the fan...

What sh!t, are you a fugitive? If you’re worried about Covid, Florida is one of the worst places to go.

[JaCrispy]

1 minute ago, PastaJoe said:

What sh!t, are you a fugitive? If you’re worried about Covid, Florida is one of the worst places to go.

Lol...no fugitive here...just looking to relocate...👍

[The Warden]

5 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

I’ve never been, and am seriously looking to get out of NYS before sh!t hits the fan...any help would be appreciated...thanks! 👍

Stay North - to avoid the worst of the heat - Jacksonville and environs.  St. Augustine gets pricey. Palm Coast is OK.

Stay away from Gainesville and Tallahasee (college towns)

 

IF you have to go south - Melbourne and Port St. Lucie are cool

 

I am not familiar with the Gulf Coast

[JaCrispy]

4 minutes ago, The Warden said:

Stay North - to avoid the worst of the heat - Jacksonville and environs.  St. Augustine gets pricey. Palm Coast is OK.

Stay away from Gainesville and Tallahasee (college towns)

 

IF you have to go south - Melbourne and Port St. Lucie are cool

 

I am not familiar with the Gulf Coast

Better to stay inland instead of the coasts because of hurricanes, you think?

[T&C]

What does mildly affordable mean to you? 

 

I just did a look at my area... suburb of Tampa... the other day. There was nothing below 350 other than mobile homes in retiree communities... they were less than 100. Some of them looked pretty nice actually if you don't want much of a yard.

[T&C]

Here's a nearby area to look at... and by the way, if a big hurricane rolls though there isn't much difference between the beach and inland, this state is pretty narrow.

 

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Riverview_FL

[Augie]

1 hour ago, JaCrispy said:

Better to stay inland instead of the coasts because of hurricanes, you think?

 

It gets hotter inland, just be aware of that. If you’re not in a flood zone the insurance isn’t too bad. Most people want to be near the water and beaches, however, and then you pay.

 

Unfortunately, nowhere I know of in the state is reasonably priced right now. Not great  timing. My goal in life is to get at least a part time place back in Sarasota. We lived there 18 years, longer than I lived in WNY leaving for college at 17.

 

I looked a couple month ago at our old neighborhood of over 400 houses. Not a single active listing, so I expanded to the place we rented our last year there (so our son could finish high school where he started). Now this is over a thousand houses between two neighborhoods….and there was only ONE active listing. A few more listings now, but they feel they can ask anything they want. 

 

Sarasota in particular is a hot market, but I’m not sure what areas are much better. Smaller places with less “culture” are far more affordable, but it depends on what you are looking for. I’m OK without the symphony or the opera, but I like the restaurants and bars, etc Sarasota offers.

 

I was an appraiser there for 13 years after my banking days and watched the ups and downs. Going up 35% two years in a row is insane! That means roughly a $200k house (the cheapest thing in Sarasota then) went to $365k in 24 months. That’s what happened back then. Unsustainable. Then came the first quarter of 2006, and you couldn’t GIVE real estate away there. I’m hoping my roughly 5 year time line works out to buy back at the next bottom. 

 

I don’t know your situation, but I’d be careful about buying at the top, then finding yourself under water. I hope you find your dream place, whenever and wherever that may be.  Good luck! 

 

 

.

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by Augie

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

2 hours ago, JaCrispy said:

I’ve never been, and am seriously looking to get out of NYS before sh!t hits the fan...any help would be appreciated...thanks! 👍

i remember a friend of my brother in law in the Ohio snow belt bolted for St. Petersburg.

Said it was super affordable— like decent houses close to the beach for $200’s. It’s been a few years, so I am not sure if much has changed.

[JaCrispy]

42 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

It gets hotter inland, just be aware of that. If you’re not in a flood zone the insurance isn’t too bad. Most people want to be near the water and beaches, however, and then you pay.

 

Unfortunately, nowhere I know of in the state is reasonably priced right now. Not great  timing. My goal in life is to get at least a part time place back in Sarasota. We lived there 18 years, longer than I lived in WNY leaving for college at 17.

 

I looked a couple month ago at our old neighborhood of over 400 houses. Not a single active listing, so I expanded to the place we rented our last year there (so our son could finish high school where he started). Now this is over a thousand houses between two neighborhoods….and there was only ONE active listing. A few more listings now, but they feel they can ask anything they want. 

 

Sarasota in particular is hot, but I’m not sure what areas are much better. Smaller places with less “culture” are far more affordable, but it depends on what you are looking for. I’m OK without the symphony or the opera, but I like the restaurants and bars, etc Sarasota offers.

 

I was an appraiser there for 13 years after my banking days and watched the ups and downs. Going up 35% two years in a row is insane! That means roughly a $200k house (the cheapest thing in Sarasota then) went to $365k in 24 months. That’s what happened back then. Unsustainable. Then came the first quarter of 2006, and you couldn’t GIVE real estate away there. I’m hoping my roughly 5 year time line works out to buy back at the next bottom. 

 

I don’t know your situation, but I’d be careful about buying at the top, then finding yourself under water. I hope you find your dream place, whenever and wherever that may be.  Good luck! 

 

 

.

 

This is awesome, Augie...thanks for the insight...👍

[Nextmanup]

36 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

This is awesome, Augie...thanks for the insight...👍

The cheap areas to live are inland and further north, where the state changes dramatically and becomes the southern most reaches of the deep south.  I wouldn't live up north for all the tea in China, but everyone is different.  

 

I'm in Palm Beach County, which is sort of the northernmost development of southeast coastline.

 

Not very far from here, inland or north, you can find pretty cheap housing.

 

Look at places like Stuart or Port Saint Lucie...they are not that far north of where I am, but way cheaper.

 

They also aren't nearly as nice and have a redneck feel to them, but that is for everyone to figure out on their own and you might love it there, or at least not be bothered by it.  The weather is the same there!  

 

If you are serious about moving to FL, you can make it happen if you want to.

 

Don't forget too--no state income tax here.

 

 

[TBBills]

3 hours ago, JaCrispy said:

Better to stay inland instead of the coasts because of hurricanes, you think?

Florida doesn't really have much inland unless you are talking about North Florida. 

 

Most of the middle is marsh. 

[qwksilver]

My in-laws have their in-laws in Cape Coral which is southeast of Sarasota or North West of Naples. Too me that seems "affordable". The west coast is quieter there than the east coast and not as built up.

 

It always comes down to your budget and what you can put up with. As long as both of those are good its more than doable.

 

Also, as everyone "can work from anywhere" I'm not sure the mass exodus of the northeast will stop anytime soon. So I think real estate in the south will remain high for quite sometime. Just my 2 cents on this real estate market down here.

 

If you are real close to the water, there are evacuation zones. but those places usually cost a fortune.

 

If a townhome is an option you can easily save 100k vs single family.

Edited December 29, 2021 by qwksilver

[Nextmanup]

14 minutes ago, qwksilver said:

My in-laws have their in-laws in Cape Coral which is southeast of Sarasota or North West of Naples. Too me that seems "affordable". The west coast is quieter there than the east coast and not as built up.

 

It always comes down to your budget and what you can put up with. As long as both of those are good its more than doable.

 

Also, as everyone "can work from anywhere" I'm not sure the mass exodus of the northeast will stop anytime soon. So I think real estate in the south will remain high for quite sometime. Just my 2 cents on this real estate market down here.

 

If you are real close to the water, there are evacuation zones. but those places usually cost a fortune.

 

If a townhome is an option you can easily save 100k vs single family.

The evacuation zones are only for those living really close to the water.

 

I live about 3 miles from the coast and we are beyond the furthest zone, meaning, we will never have to evacuate.

 

Living like this is ideal IMO; I would not want to be right on the beach or east of the intercostal anyway.  

 

Nor would I want to live way out where it takes a half hour to get to the beach.  

 

Naples is a nice but small area.  There are places all over where the OP can find some happiness without it costing a fortune.

 

In my area the property values are only going to keep going up; we are like NYC south now.

 

 

[qwksilver]

5 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

The evacuation zones are only for those living really close to the water.

 

I live about 3 miles from the coast and we are beyond the furthest zone, meaning, we will never have to evacuate.

 

Living like this is ideal IMO; I would not want to be right on the beach or east of the intercostal anyway.  

 

Nor would I want to live way out where it takes a half hour to get to the beach.  

 

Naples is a nice but small area.  There are places all over where the OP can find some happiness without it costing a fortune.

 

In my area the property values are only going to keep going up; we are like NYC south now.

 

 

I live in West Broward County. What I could sell my house for I could probably retire, but I'm not sure where we could move to. The housing market is still on fire. I can't believe what people are paying. I don't understand how people can afford it.... 

 

I sold a 3 BR 2 Ba 2300 sqft on 1/2 an acre 25 minutes from the beach in 2004 for 375K. It's now valued at 750k by Zillow (so might sell higher since they added a pool). This house was 550k 3 years ago.

[T&C]

45 minutes ago, TBBills said:

Florida doesn't really have much inland unless you are talking about North Florida. 

 

Most of the middle is marsh. 

Most of the middle isn't marsh lol... the green swamp area maybe but no way. 

 

I could sell my place for probably 150k profit right now but where would we get another house. I'm really taking a hard look at the markets in other states right now... we hate it here for 6-7 months out of the year.

[Augie]

24 minutes ago, T&C said:

Most of the middle isn't marsh lol... the green swamp area maybe but no way. 

 

I could sell my place for probably 150k profit right now but where would we get another house. I'm really taking a hard look at the markets in other states right now... we hate it here for 6-7 months out of the year.

 

Most of the middle of the state is farmland, miles and miles of farming, not marsh,  that produces your citrus and tomatoes. As you get up near Ocala it’s horse country and looks a lot like Kentucky. Be careful @JaCrispy who you listen to here. Also be careful with your timing on a buy in the area. 

 

A lot of people have been looking at GA and SC as far less expensive alternatives, so that’s worth looking into as well. Still mild winters, and not so ridiculously expensive. 

 

 

.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Augie

[JaCrispy]

29 minutes ago, T&C said:

Most of the middle isn't marsh lol... the green swamp area maybe but no way. 

 

I could sell my place for probably 150k profit right now but where would we get another house. I'm really taking a hard look at the markets in other states right now... we hate it here for 6-7 months out of the year.

Why, T?

[Augie]

15 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

Why, T?

 

The heat gets annoying, just like the gray and cold does up north. It’s not that any one day is so hot, or so cold, but the season lasts a LONG time. I happen to like the heat. My wife hates it. Hence, our (MY) goal is a place in FL for 6 months and a day, to qualify as a resident and avoid state income taxes and get homestead exemption (your property taxes can only go up like 2-3% a year as a resident) and have a place to avoid the heat and get a break in the hottest months. 

 

I kinda like it, but the wife can’t handle the duration. For close to 6 months in Sarasota it’s a low of 75 and a high of 90 give or take 2-3 degrees. VERY consistent, but too long for her. 

 

.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Augie

[T&C]

58 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

Why, T?

The heat is oppressive along with the humidity. I won't play golf in the summer... and getting into a parked car is like getting into an oven. Darting from AC to AC isn't my cup of meat but some people seem to like it. The fishing is pretty good though. 

 

Georgia/SC/NC is where I'm looking at... maybe even the very north of PA.