• By WooleyBooley again, December 23, 2009 @ 12:04 pm No way ! I have a brother and a sister who gave up trying to sell their homes. Been trying to get out of Florida for at least two years. Reason? Hurricanes, tornados and illegal aliens. Move to Arizona or Las Vegas. Our family was from Michigan, no close relatives are left. If you aren’t familiar with death like humidity, you won’t like it.

• By redcore86, December 25, 2009 @ 11:30 pm If you like adventure then yes

• By grin and barrett, December 27, 2009 @ 10:49 pm This is EXACTLY what we are doing. We too live in the midwest and have been planning for this for awhile. I can’t give you the local perspective but will answer the question, yes you should move to Florida! Health care is a great career and I’m sure you’ll find work. Best wishes and good luck!

• By abuelamah, December 30, 2009 @ 5:21 pm Don’t sell your house……If you can move to Florida rent for a while get jobs see if you like it… We know so many retired friends that made that move to a location they thought they would love and just wish they could go home but sold their homes and can never go back….

• By Fiona, December 31, 2009 @ 10:26 pm I live on the Alabama – Florida line, on the coast. Don’t do it. Do not move. The insurance rates are more than house payments!!!! You may be able to get a great deal on a house, but you will pay out the …. for insurance. There are so many houses in foreclosure now, that the banks can’t afford to keep them up. There are whole neighborhoods that are neglected. Now add high property taxes. I love the coast, but we have had one house destroyed by a hurricane, and have experienced severe damage more times than I can count. This alone would not keep me from living here, but it has caused more than a few to leave. Just consider visiting. I believe you would be happier in the long run.

• By WACVET75, January 3, 2010 @ 3:00 am I can think of one real strong word. Hurricanes. I know you’ve probably put up with tornado’s and blizzards but a hurricane is a different entity all together. I would if you could afford to go rent for a few months without selling your home I think it would be a good idea. Visiting a place and living there are way different. Also you may be in a field in demand but changing jobs will put you back on the low man on the totem pole and subject to being laid off and the economy is so bad right now no one is safe. I wish you luck either way, but you could not get me to live in FL if they gave the state. I do live in Hurricane country but I lived in FL and hated every sticky bug infested minute of it. The darn mosquito’s are so big they have to put out landing lights for them and the humidity is miserable.

• By the wise old lady, January 5, 2010 @ 1:16 am yes move, i’ve been in the south for the last 10 years i,came back up north for the past 6 months and all my family members look so much older , cause people from the north have dry skin all the time,and i haven’t had a cold in 10 years, people get sicker up here,the bad weather maks the roads full of pot holes and rust on your cars, i pay twice the price for insurence and i pay 3 times as much for plates for my car, the food is all about the same price and the rent is all the same ,the better the place the more the rent , and if i get in a tornado they give me a 20 min. warrning, if i get in a hurricane they give you a 3 day notice, so i will be going back down south almost broke as soon as i can,people live up north cause they have family or affraide of change, i hope i helped ,,, and the electric co. is only 160 dollor deposite with a payment plan , and the power is so much cheaper each month i never paid more then 200 a month ,but here in indiana i paid 400 deposite and about 350 a month ,for a small trailer and my heat on 68 , my bones hurt from the cold, and you can make friends anywere .so in a few months when school is out im going to take my child and go stay at a camp ground and find a crap job and go from there.cause i missed family and came back and now the new were off and they don’t visit as often and i can’t waite to go back to where i can have a garden start in the 1st of may and end the 1st week of nov. i hope i helped . and every year around oct. the peacons fall you can pick them up all day long for free off sidewalks in front of homes for rent and from schools and churches and parks and sell them to the local peacon factories or eat them, you don’t pay 5 dollors a pound, like up here,fruits and juice are a lot cheaper,, hope i helped,,,,,,i liked alabama and mississippi better then flordia’flordia has a lot of sand in the ground ,which makes a garden harder , and hurricanes are more active, but i would go up a little about to the middle of alabama or missippi.

• By Judy G, January 7, 2010 @ 12:56 am You have spent time there and you have friends there, sell your home and don’t look back. The only worry I would have is the really bad weather.

• By ontheqt, January 10, 2010 @ 10:26 am Don’t jump too quick, compare many different places. Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee.

• By circa_1948, January 11, 2010 @ 6:36 am move ANYWHERE,…just leave the Midwest! I used to live there, hated it.

• By dora, January 12, 2010 @ 12:36 am Government retirement classes caution future retirees to try living somewhere like Florida for a year before committing to buying a home there. Many things you experience living there aren’t apparent in vacation time, but you need to know what you are getting in to.

• By geniepiper, January 14, 2010 @ 7:19 am As a native Floridian, I live here because it is home and because my family is here. But I have to tell you that many people who move here from elsewhere are not happy because Florida is different from the place they moved from. If you move here, do not expect it to be the midwest, because it isn’t. And vacationing in a place is different from living there. Also considering that the entire nation is in the midst of a recession/depression and Florida is especially hard hit. Don’t expect to find a job all that easily. Insurance rates are astronomical on account of the hurricanes. Live in certain areas and you could loose everything you own in one night and count yourself lucky simply because you are still alive. Also I am not sure that it is a healthier climate. How do you deal with oppressive, humid heat on a continuous basis for weeks on end? That is what it will be in summer. A lot of northerners can’t handle it. And that is saying nothing of the bugs and the snakes and the other critters that get into everything! Also, as you get older, IMO it is not wise to move away from family. Have known a number of seniors who have regretted this.

• By SandwichGeneration, January 15, 2010 @ 11:26 pm My family moved from eastern Ohio to central Florida in 1967, when I was 9 years old. Most of my cousins, aunts, and uncles still live in Ohio. I enjoy living here, but it is very different than Ohio, and so you need to consider how well you can adapt to changes. There are great things and hard things about living here; and other things that are just different-neither good nor bad. Minus: Yes, the economy should be a huge consideration, imo. Our unemployment rate has jumped nearly 3 percentage points over the last 18 months. It isn’t just the unskilled jobs that are taking hits; professionals are having a tough time finding work too. Should you decide to move here, I highly recommend that you save up at least 6 months living expenses and be able to buy individual health insurance policies to carry you until you and your husband can find work. Plus: you work in Healthcare. There are great jobs available in the healthcare field. The East Central Florida area still has plentiful work for experienced healthcare workers. I live in the metropolitan Orlando area; in Orange County. Other counties in the metro area are Seminole, Lake, Osceola, and possibly Marion, Volusia and Brevard counties. Check out “Orlando Health” and “Florida Hospital”: these are our two largest hospital systems. There is a huge medical core being developed just north of Orlando International Airport, near Lake Nona, the Burnham Institute is building a research facility, M.D. Anderson cancer research and treatment center is moving there, Nemours is building a children’s hospital, the Veterans Administration (VA) is building a hospital there, and the University of Central Florida is building at Medical School there. Minus: Salaries and benefits here may not be comparable here to what you had ‘back home’. Be sure to check out salaries before you decide to move here. We are a ‘right to work state’; so unions do exist here but not to the extent they do ‘up north’. Plus: There is no state income tax here. Minus: It is becoming difficult to obtain homeowners and other property insurance here. The damage from hurricanes, tropical storms with flooding, wildfires, and tornados has caused our premiums to go very high, and some properties are not able to find private insurance and must use the very expensive state insurance funds. My husband and I have begun looking for new homeowner’s insurance because our insurer, State Farm, wants to pull out of the state…..we’ve been with State Farm with this house since 1981. Plus: Home prices and rent have become more reasonable. Two years ago speculators drove up the prices to ridiculous heights. Now, there are foreclosures and newly built houses sitting empty. However; there are many stable, more established neighborhoods that are wonderful. The prices may not be as low as they are in the midwest, but they are more reasonable than they were two years ago. Try to avoid developments with many empty house or foreclosures; look for older neighborhoods. The population here is fairly diverse; native Floridians, long time residents like me, and newcomers from all over the world. Some areas are highly transient; people move in and out frequently and there is little sense of community. My area is more established; a few rental homes but mostly people who live here for many years. It is likely that you will hear many languages being spoken; especially if you work in healthcare. Most people expect to hear spanish being spoken; but there are many others: Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, French, Portuguese, etc. Many students in our public schools come from families whose native language is not English, there were well over 100 languages counted in the last survey. This makes it challenging here sometimes, but I love it, the mix can be quite fun. Minus: Heat, humidity, lightning, insects, over crowded roads, limited public transportation, and many animals that can become pests. Plus: Today it will be in the 60’s all day, with clear blue skies. I think it is lovely here. The plants and wildlife here are beautiful. There are lakes, fresh water springs, beaches within a one hour drive, rivers, and parks. There is lots to do here; you can be as busy or as lazy as you wish. You might want to consider spending some time here before you move. Take a couple of weeks, have a realtor take you around, schedule some job interviews, shop in local grocery stores and farmers markets, check out property taxes and the cost of water and other utilities. Some people love it here, and others do not. Good luck to you!

• By Daisymae †SFECU†, January 17, 2010 @ 8:41 pm Don’t do it. Take some of the advice of others and just rent an apartment for about 3 months before you decide to sell your home. A better place to choose is something like New Bern, NC. I think you will like it. That way you can be close to Florida for visits. Pray about it and do more research before making the plunge.

• By simplyme_prettywoman, January 17, 2010 @ 11:33 pm The choice of course is yours. This is just my opinion. For my part, I lived in West Palm Beach, Lake Worth and Royal Palm Beach for over 25 years and was very happy to leave. I enjoy my seasons, and got tired of the green, green, and more green. Also, very busy there and more moving in all the time. The humidity was also a factor for me, taking a shower and feeling as though I took another one on my way to the car. Hurricanes were also an issue. That said, we are all different, keep in mind that there are other areas you could move to without bone chilling winters, and still be able to do many activities. In the end, only you two can make the decision, as long as you have each other, I’m sure you’ll be happy no matter where you end up. Good Luck to you both.

• By Grammie, January 19, 2010 @ 10:33 am Minus: The bugs. Forever bugs. I could not get them out of my house. Woke up one night when one crawled across my face. And the love bugs. Iowa, where I am by choice, has some snakes, but Fla has poisonous ones. And if you are not familiar, you don’t know which are dangerous. The love bugs… they are everywhere and will eat the paint right off your car. Minus: The overcrowding. My son and I went down to check out the Tampa area. The traffic was incredible. And the snow birds were not there, when we visited. Plus: 70 degrees in Feb We lived in Jax for 2 years in the 70s. Son wanted to go back, after his Dad died. I took him in August. He had forgotten about the heat and humidity, .

• By FL Girl, January 22, 2010 @ 2:27 am We came to Florida for the winter 31 years ago, from the north, for my husband’s health, and stayed. We love it here. It is much better for your health. Everything is level also. No hills to climb. We live on the Gulf of Mexico. It is cooler here in the summer than inland. You save alot of money on clothing. Don’t have to worry about winter clothing. North Florida is colder in the winter than central or south FL. Homeowner’s insurance and taxes are high right now. Good luck in everything!

• By nap4gbp, January 24, 2010 @ 11:48 am florida is a mess right now and I live here but wouldn’t advice anyone to move her until it gets right. 1 ) You way over pay for auto ins. 2 ) way over pay for home ins. 3 ) crime is way out of line as have so many drifters from other states and rip older people off and besides break into homes and rob people in broad day light. 4 ) driver have no concerm for human life , they will run you over and just leave you laying dead in the street. 5 ) hurricanes are a threat every year now, t.v news starts talking about it around march and gets people all upset with you better get ready and all, way over rated. 6 ) groceries way over priced, not many low priced stores. milk is way out of line compared to up north. 7 ) winter months are great excpet too many snow birds and when we want to enjoy the nice cool weather they are here racing thru the streets. 8 ) summer is almost unbearable with the humidity. 9 ) mold is a big concern 10 ) you have to maintain your house every week all year, unless you live in a community that does it for you as I do, but there are so many restrictions you can’t do anything unless you get approval and than someone on the board might not like it and tell you no. other than that you move and hope for the best, if it wasn’t so cold up north I’d be back. plus kids are here and I want to be near them. P/S many people trying to get out of here are going to other states, so be sure to check out every state that is warm before you choice this one.

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