Who has made the move to FL?

[WVMomof3]

Sorry to somewhat hijack the thread, but I am interested in people's insurance costs also. My MIL lives on the coast of Mississippi and pays $4000 and her home is worth about $140k. That is with a $8000 deductible so will likely only ever payout in a total loss. She is about a mile from the beach but had minimal damage after Katrina. She has been with the state farm for probably over 20 years. I tell her she needs to shop around but she says it is that high with everyone but I am curious.

After our visit to Ft Meyers area last week my husband claims that you could not pay him any amount of money to live in Florida. Too many old people who can't drive. lol I am trying to convince him to snowbird, and tell him we will also be old by then but he says no way. We do like to visit though so maybe I can get him to change his mind at some point.

 

[wendow]

I would consider that fairly inexpensive auto insurance when I compare it to my Maryland policies. We have a 2013, 2009, 2001 and no accidents, multi line policy discounts, higher deductibles (1K) and 100/300 coverage. 2013 is 1400 a year for 25 year old, and the other two are about 1800 total so $3200 a year for 3 vehicles. Either that or I need to go shopping for a new carrier!

I lied about our car insurance cost. Checked with my dh (he is just changing everything...cost same but better coverage) and our cost for three drivers (one teen) and three vehicles (2016, 2004, 2005) is $3100 year. Our coverage is similar to yours.

 

[Judique]

I lied about our car insurance cost. Checked with my dh (he is just changing everything...cost same but better coverage) and our cost for three drivers (one teen) and three vehicles (2016, 2004, 2005) is $3100 year. Our coverage is similar to yours.

You didn't lie! When I started adding mine up I was thinking maybe $2500 and was shocked at my own total! Sometimes it pays to talk about these issues as I am reconsidering whether I'll continue to keep my jeep. I use the older van for travel as it's much more comfy and very low mileage but it's V8 engine loves gas! I'll probably buy newer in a year or so and reduce to one car for me plus my daughters car.

 

[Judique]

Sorry to somewhat hijack the thread, but I am interested in people's insurance costs also. My MIL lives on the coast of Mississippi and pays $4000 and her home is worth about $140k. That is with a $8000 deductible so will likely only ever payout in a total loss. She is about a mile from the beach but had minimal damage after Katrina. She has been with the state farm for probably over 20 years. I tell her she needs to shop around but she says it is that high with everyone but I am curious.

After our visit to Ft Meyers area last week my husband claims that you could not pay him any amount of money to live in Florida. Too many old people who can't drive. lol I am trying to convince him to snowbird, and tell him we will also be old by then but he says no way. We do like to visit though so maybe I can get him to change his mind at some point.

My home insurance is definitely cheaper in Maryland. But the worst weather is usually a Northeaster that may take some shingles off.

 

[Takeme2WDW]

Sorry to somewhat hijack the thread, but I am interested in people's insurance costs also. My MIL lives on the coast of Mississippi and pays $4000 and her home is worth about $140k. That is with a $8000 deductible so will likely only ever payout in a total loss. She is about a mile from the beach but had minimal damage after Katrina. She has been with the state farm for probably over 20 years. I tell her she needs to shop around but she says it is that high with everyone but I am curious.

After our visit to Ft Meyers area last week my husband claims that you could not pay him any amount of money to live in Florida. Too many old people who can't drive. lol I am trying to convince him to snowbird, and tell him we will also be old by then but he says no way. We do like to visit though so maybe I can get him to change his mind at some point.

 

[Takeme2WDW]

I live in the Tampa Bay area in small (1400 sq. ft.) home. My homeowner's insurance is $977/yr. for $194,000 coverage. Hurricane deductible is $3880, all other deductibles are $1,000. My home was built in 1996 and the roof was replaced in 2015. (the new roof made a big difference in the insurance price).

 

[wgeo]

Homeowners insurance is directly related to whether you are in a flood zone or not. We are less than 3 miles as the crow flies to the gulf - but we are not ina flood zone. Our house was built in 84 and when we bought it the roof was over 20 years old so no one would insure us and we got stuck with Citizens - our cost was 1700/year. Had the roof done and we're down around 1200/yr for insurance, which they actually break down and tell you is about 600 for regular homeowners and around 600 for the hurricane/flood portion.

Our car insurance seems high to me - it's around 1600/yr for 2 of us with new cars/full coverage.

 

[floridafam]

Florida does offer dual enrollment. A few of my daughter’s friends were able to start college as juniors thanks to dual enrollment.

The virtual schools are pretty good here. All students have to take at least one online course to graduate.

DS started at Miami with 23 credits from AP and IB exams but he has to basically give them back because he won’t get federal aid for his senior year.

Is your DD going to college next year?

 

[floridafam]

We weren’t in a flood zone until FEMA changed their flood zone maps about three years ago. We will never flood here and are dropping our flood insurance as soon as our house is paid off.

 

[NinaBella]

Florida does offer dual enrollment. A few of my daughter’s friends were able to start college as juniors thanks to dual enrollment.

The virtual schools are pretty good here. All students have to take at least one online course to graduate.

DS started at Miami with 23 credits from AP and IB exams but he has to basically give them back because he won’t get federal aid for his senior year.

Is your DD going to college next year?

My kids school offers DE starting in 10th grade. We are adjacent to the local community college so we have college classes on the high school campus for specific classes (sophomores can take DE Psychology) then starting their Junior year they can walk over to the college campus for classes. My son will be taking DE English next year (junior year on the high school campus) and it counts as 11th and 12th grade English. With his FLVS classes he only will need to take three semester hours (Math, Science, Economics/Government) For his senior year. The rest of the day he will be taking college classes next door.

 

[wendow]

Our car insurance seems high to me - it's around 1600/yr for 2 of us with new cars/full coverage.

This seems pretty reasonable to me...or maybe we just also have high rates in CO which I think might be the case...before adding our teen to our policy, we were paying $1500 for just the two of us with one new car/one older car and average coverage. We added our teen and it has increased $1600 year just for her.

 

[wendow]

Florida does offer dual enrollment. A few of my daughter’s friends were able to start college as juniors thanks to dual enrollment.

The virtual schools are pretty good here. All students have to take at least one online course to graduate.

DS started at Miami with 23 credits from AP and IB exams but he has to basically give them back because he won’t get federal aid for his senior year.

Is your DD going to college next year?

I'm glad to hear that! My dd has some pretty significant health issues so she will need to probably attend a community college and still be home. She's got a few more years of intense treatment and it's going very slow. She was able to do dual enrollment at a community college this year but could only manage one class each semester. We can start dual enrollment at 9th grade and have seen kids also enter college as juniors. My dd was too sick to do that but I'm hopeful my other kiddos might have the option.

 

[floridafam]

UF has a good online program.

FIT, the school my DD attends, has a good online program.

Florida has some really good “community colleges.” Most are now full four year colleges and several have won awards.

She has a lot of options!

 

[wendow]

UF has a good online program.

FIT, the school my DD attends, has a good online program.

Florida has some really good “community colleges.” Most are now full four year colleges and several have won awards.

She has a lot of options!

This is great to read. I worry some about how everything will go for her. It's an awful time in life to get sick (not that there is ever a good time)...!

 

[JessNewt]

I am also interested in the difference between home insurance costs. We have higher insurance costs in Oklahoma (thanks wind and hail!) so I'm hoping that will help keep the shock factor down. But we don't live in a flood area...

 

[tink1970]

Sadly, I remembered our home insurance numbers correctly-$4000 plus another almost $1000 for flood...and this is WITH wind mitigation.

Our car insurance looks like a bargain at $1400 (3 cards and 3 drivers, all cars under 5 years old, one teenage driver).

I guess you can tell we live fairly close to the water

 

[PatMcDuck]

I would like to move to FL I think, one big reason is that I know many others that have moved there. Would not feel so alone. Our biggest problem with getting out of NJ is finding services for DS who is 28 with Downs and Autism. We have heard options are few in FL, (red states do not usually offer a much as blue states). Part 2 of this is moving him away from his 3 siblings, he has no friends, just family (non-verbal). (This is a problem with moving ANYWHERE, but we much leave this big expensive house soon.) But he is obsessed with Disney, and I literally could take him to the parks weekly and it would not be too often for him.

Being a snowbird would be great. DH is not as interested in Disney as me, he would likely prefer to be elsewhere.

When this DS was born, we knew it would effect our life choices forever, and that time has come. Up until moving, retiring, we kind of rolled along. NOW it is getting complicated.

 

[Bronte]

We moved to Florida from the Midwest 3 years ago and we LOVE IT !!!!

We moved down for DH's job transfer so his pay went up (no state income tax) but I did find it extremely hard to find employment (wages are low and workers rights almost non-existent in Florida) The cost of living is higher than Indiana but the quality of living is much, much higher !!!! We live 20 min. from the beach (east coast side) and less than 2 hrs from the mouse. As far as the weather we are just fine and we have lived in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. It is warm in the summer but not unbearable and you are correct having dinner outside in January is FANTASTIC !!! I think living so close to the ocean is a plus because we almost always have a breeze. Our allergies got better and our dogs who suffered from arthritis up north did much better down here. We never had to worry about schools because our DD's where already in college (that was part of our master plan.) Insurance is higher, power bills are lower, property taxes are higher, entertainment costs are lower. In the end I think of what my mom always said "no matter where you live they get you some how" so you will adjust and we did.
I do suggest to really think about where you want to live in Florida. My DD lived in Tampa for 3 years and now is in Orlando. I would NOT want to live in those places because of the crazy traffic. Florida is very big so there are many "areas." My suggestion is to research the different areas and compare that to what you want in life ...

Here are the really BIG things you need to know about living in Florida ...

1. Once you move here you will have lots of house guests all the time (friends and relatives you have not seen in years lol)
2. You will not need a t.v. because there is soooooooo much to do outside ... I love that about Florida !!!! Everyone down here is ACTIVE.
3. Everything here is green, beautiful and alive. We go back to visit the Midwest and get depressed with all the gloomy days and gray landscapes.
4. You will never get a great steak again but the seafood is out of this world (we do miss Midwest meat and Chicago pizza)

 

[jen7233]

Man, this had me recheck our escrow statements. So, not to be confusing I should have said TAXES and insurance! Sorry! Well, still, our escrow statement in 2016 was $6924, and then it went up in 2017 to $8824. Anyway, we no longer own the house, so it doesn't matter but this just made me think oops I meant taxes and insurance, and made me want to pull up my old escrow statements!

On the Florida topic, I think the gulf coast beaches are beautiful! Have you thought about other towns on the panhandle side? I would recommend a couple visits and a rental car before you decide. Then check out some of the towns near the bigger cities with the rental car. Maybe do an Orlando/Tampa trip, and a Jacksonville trip, then a Tallahassee/panhandle beaches. Of course, this sounds all great but money and time come into play! But if you could knock out three big cities your DH applied to and check them out you may get a good feel for what you are truly looking for!

 

[dznygrl70]

We moved to Florida from the Midwest 3 years ago and we LOVE IT !!!!

We moved down for DH's job transfer so his pay went up (no state income tax) but I did find it extremely hard to find employment (wages are low and workers rights almost non-existent in Florida) The cost of living is higher than Indiana but the quality of living is much, much higher !!!! We live 20 min. from the beach (east coast side) and less than 2 hrs from the mouse. As far as the weather we are just fine and we have lived in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. It is warm in the summer but not unbearable and you are correct having dinner outside in January is FANTASTIC !!! I think living so close to the ocean is a plus because we almost always have a breeze. Our allergies got better and our dogs who suffered from arthritis up north did much better down here. We never had to worry about schools because our DD's where already in college (that was part of our master plan.) Insurance is higher, power bills are lower, property taxes are higher, entertainment costs are lower. In the end I think of what my mom always said "no matter where you live they get you some how" so you will adjust and we did.
I do suggest to really think about where you want to live in Florida. My DD lived in Tampa for 3 years and now is in Orlando. I would NOT want to live in those places because of the crazy traffic. Florida is very big so there are many "areas." My suggestion is to research the different areas and compare that to what you want in life ...

Here are the really BIG things you need to know about living in Florida ...

1. Once you move here you will have lots of house guests all the time (friends and relatives you have not seen in years lol)
2. You will not need a t.v. because there is soooooooo much to do outside ... I love that about Florida !!!! Everyone down here is ACTIVE.
3. Everything here is green, beautiful and alive. We go back to visit the Midwest and get depressed with all the gloomy days and gray landscapes.
4. You will never get a great steak again but the seafood is out of this world (we do miss Midwest meat and Chicago pizza)

I'm sorry to he so intrusive, and feel free not to answer, but when you moved, did you buy or rent first? We are from IN as well. We like country living and I'm also wondering if there is anywhere in Florida that isn't all city and super populated?