Florida Members - Thinking of moving to Miami/Southeast Florida area...

Hey all, I currently live in Massachusetts, and am really considering moving down to the Miami/southeast Florida area. When I was younger, I lived in WPB, and absolutely loved it. I have a Bachelor's degree in Business Administartion, as well as have management experience. Any booming industries or fields down there? I was thinking of looking at working for the government in some capacity. If I had a decent job set up down there, I'd be there already. Any help with this guys.

Bring money. Lots of it.

This place is nothing like it was when you may have lived here. It is overcrowded and real estate is sky high. Bring alot of money is good advice.
Look elsewhere to relocate.
I used to love going for lunch time drives to relax on my days off. Now its a friggin headache. It is worse during these winter months with all the snowbirds visiting.
Everyone wants to live in paradise, this aint it no more.... :bang:

I live in West Palm. and I love it. You may want to look into the home building industry. I work for Centex Homes, they are a solid company to work for. But, as mentioned, don't expect to find what you left behind...it's changed a lot in the 10 years that I've been here.

Damn that's depressing to hear. I've been down there for trips and vacations, and yeah I could see it being more populated, but i chalked that up to people being there like me, on vacation. I jus twant to move somewhere warm, where they'll be much more to do. Up here, once winter hits, there's not much to do.

Here in central Fl is still affordable. But the coast and south of Sebering is just getting out of control. bring lots of money is you move south

Yeah again, sorry to burst your bubble, but do bring some money. It has gotten very expensive here.

What about West palm Beach? Is it expensive there as well? I'd like to be closer to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, but if it's that expensive, I'm not so sure.

Last I checked an acre of land is about 200k in palm beach county. Then you have to build a house on it. The average used home price in Broward County is approximately 400k. This is for a 40-50 year old house with approx 2000 sq.ft under the roof.
The answer to your problem is not in the Sunshine State.
Arizona I hear is also a good place to move, but getting very populated as well.

I love it down here. I live in Coconut Grove by the bay, have a great park nearby, and am within biking distance of some sweet beaches on Key Biscayne.

I can only afford to live here because my wife's a corporate attorney. She brings home the bacon- I spend it on car parts. It's all good. ;)

You're lucky if you can get a condo in West Palm for under $250k. And I'm not talking about a condo on the water either. Right now I'm selling single family homes in Wellington that start at well over $500k...that's 2173 square feet!!

yea I'm down here for work and thank god I get a pretty good per diem. gas prices are about 20 cents more here than Orlando. Food is more expensive bcuz its "west palm", real estate is definitely more than Orlando. It seems like they push the hell out of condos here. Regular houses are super expensive. I think everyone who lives in south florida has to be affiliated with the drug industry here cause its not like this is New York City or something , there isn't a lot of booming industry. But its a tradeoff for the sunshine, beautiful woman and warm weather.

My buddy just listed his 3/2/2 in Wellington for $338K

If you want the pics, I can get you the online link.

Hmmm, maybe I need to find me a rich woman then :nod:

Damn, I'm just looking for a fresh start, and since I was down there when I was younger and love it there, figured it'd be a good place to go. Now I'm not so sure.

you can still rent.

I live about 40 minutes north of WPB in a town called Port St. Lucie and shit is not cheap here anymore either and there is nothing here. Prices of houses have tripled in the last two years and basically everything has gone up (gas,rent, houses, etc.). I'm beginning to think I live in CA. To rent a 3/2/2 in an okay neighborhood will run you about $1500.00 a month, no kidding... Like the others said bring lots of money with you... Alot of people are moving out of Florida (too expensive, hurricanes, etc.) It's your decision but think about it before you make the move. Just my .02 :)








Hmmm, maybe I need to find me a rich woman then :nod:

Damn, I'm just looking for a fresh start, and since I was down there when I was younger and love it there, figured it'd be a good place to go. Now I'm not so sure.

Yep, GA, SC and NC are my future States to check out........as long as I can reside near a good drag strip I don't care if I ever see another palm tree again. :)

I hope to be out of FL and in a new home by Spring of 2007 maybe even by this time next year. I got in and bought before things sky rocketed and it's time to take my equity and buy a new house and carry very little mortgage and enjoy my time racing.

Can anyone tell me about condos down there? I've seen condos for $140-160k that look real nice in the Coconut Grove, Coral Gable areas as well as Miami. Is that true? Or am I missing something there?

Be careful that they are not condo conversions. These are all over. They are apartment complexes that are converting to condo ownership. THe plus is that they are cheap. The bad part is that their is a reason they are cheap. Apartment complexes are not built to the same codes as new condos. So, you have to be careful of the construction. They usually lure you in with new stuff like carpet and granite countertops. Personally, I stay away from them. But, it's getting to the point that these conversions are the only thing that's affordable.

He is so right. I couldn't have said it better myself... They did that where I live too (PSL). :)



Be careful that they are not condo conversions. These are all over. They are apartment complexes that are converting to condo ownership. THe plus is that they are cheap. The bad part is that their is a reason they are cheap. Apartment complexes are not built to the same codes as new condos. So, you have to be careful of the construction. They usually lure you in with new stuff like carpet and granite countertops. Personally, I stay away from them. But, it's getting to the point that these conversions are the only thing that's affordable.

Can anyone tell me about condos down there? I've seen condos for $140-160k that look real nice in the Coconut Grove, Coral Gable areas as well as Miami. Is that true? Or am I missing something there?

Yes NySS guy is right. ALL over Apartment buildings are converting over. A documented Condo or Townhome will be a recorded with the County or City the building or unit is in. You can ask to see the by-laws before purchasing. The recorded date will be in the by laws 'if' the builder turned over the property recorded as a 'condo' or 'townhome' to the ASSociation usually around 60% owner occupancy even before completion.

Condo's in my area run 185K-198K- (I paid 65K for mine in 2002 so don't barf) and it's withstood 3 canes in 2 seasons (mine was built in 1984 by K Hovnanian) There are brand new ones further down the road going for the mid 200's<--it sounds relatively cheap compared to Mass.......or CT but not really!

Insane I can move to NC and buy a brand new 3/2/2 on some land for $180K

Ask me why I'd stay here?

The good news is, when you buy a new condo you get a right of rescission period. This allows you to review the condo docs. If you buy one, find out if it's 3 days or 15 days. Also, make sure to look at the budget. Make sure there is money in reserve accounts to cover major repairs down the road. Otherwise you will be assessed for them later (big $$). I think that's all I know about this stuff. Good luck.

Thanks everyone. The reason I'm asking about Condos is that I was down in Miami this past august, and took with me the real estate section of the newspaper. In it was new condos being built for $140k and up in I beleive Coral gable or Coconut Grove. I'm going to have to look that up again to see if I'm reading it right. Does a new condo for that price range seem right, or there must be something else to it for it to be that cheap? I could've sworn it was under development condos that woud be opening soon.

Thanks everyone. The reason I'm asking about Condos is that I was down in Miami this past august, and took with me the real estate section of the newspaper. In it was new condos being built for $140k and up in I beleive Coral gable or Coconut Grove. I'm going to have to look that up again to see if I'm reading it right. Does a new condo for that price range seem right, or there must be something else to it for it to be that cheap? I could've sworn it was under development condos that woud be opening soon.

More like $400K and up in those areas.
1/1's maybe in the 3's.

More like $400K and up in those areas.
1/1's maybe in the 3's.
Then what the hell was I looking at? I distinctly remember seeing a few with tennis court, fitness gym, spa etc starting at $140k. Now I'm going to dig that up to see exactly where and what it is.

Sounds like a condo conversion to me. There's no way to tell the difference by looking at their ads. They make sure it looks like it's a new condo they are advertising.

140K in August...I bet they are 180k now. It is really appreciating that quickly.
I was looking into some condo-conversions in this real nice development back around August. They were fetching 150k for a 1/1, I checked yesterday and the 1/1's are 185k now.
Anything new around here is 300k and up..for condos that is.
A house in a decent area in Broward County is 300k and up. For 300k you are talking a 2/1 with maybe 1000 sq-ft under air.

that's friggin insane. I honestly don't know how you all live here. Ya'll must be supplementing your income with another job (probably not legal, hehe)

that's friggin insane. I honestly don't know how you all live here. Ya'll must be supplementing your income with another job (probably not legal, hehe)

Jeff, while you are here.....grab a local newspaper on Sunday. You will see insane prices. The average median home price in Palm Beach County is now $411 whereas........it WAS 129K back in 1999.

I remember when prices for lots in the arcreage used to be 16-40K......for an acre. You cannot touch an acre now for under 200K.

That's pricing on demand and well...........a sign of the times. Read it the other day on CNN that people are moving to other States to buy where it is affordable.

I cannot think of what it would be like to carry a mortgage for 300K for a house.........might as well consider yourself working for your house and having no life outside of it unless you are earning over 100K a year to support it.

exactly. i make a good buck now but that's because i make a good salary and work a SHIT LOAD of overtime but literally all my pay would go toward a mortgage payment.

Damn, then I'm going to need to make a decision quick if I intend to go down there. I remember looking back in January- February, and housing in WPB was about $175-200k for what seemed like nive, new homes. I can't beleive it's appreciated that quickly.

Damn, then I'm going to need to make a decision quick if I intend to go down there. I remember looking back in January- February, and housing in WPB was about $175-200k for what seemed like nive, new homes. I can't beleive it's appreciated that quickly.

Noway, last year decent home prices were still in the 300-350K area.........they've gone up since. I am not sure what you were looking at but things I looked at back 18 mths ago homewise were in the 240K area for what we wanted are now 100K more.

I can give you an example, my Mom sold her house in Sept 2004 for 340K it had a contract on it in 24 hours. Great sale for both realtors who each got 10K on it........but her neighbor just has his appraised to sell last month and the price now is about $470K.......she's a bit sick over that........but hey, she wanted to move back to CT.

So this is why we are leaving..........can't stay in an overpriced market with the cost of living that doesn't reflect the surge.

I don't even want to disclose what my house is worth. We bought expensive 1 year ago, and the damn thing has near doubled already. Things are bonkers. Things should level out soon (that's what people have been saying for 5 years now).
Seems like the entire world wants a piece of Miami- from Supermodels to people who come here on rafts. It's been popular for over a decade now.
I remember when South Beach was full of old farts on rocking chairs (watch Scarface- scene when Tony escapes the chainsaw in the hotel and guns the guy down on Ocean Drive).
I live on a well travelled touristic route and you wouldn't believe me when I say a Murcielago, a Gallardo, or an F360 (etc.) drives past my house basically every 15 minutes. It's like living in a Miami Vice episode. :jest: Actually, where Sonny was portrayed to have lived (on his sailboat with his pet alligator), is down the street from me. :D

So this is why we are leaving..........can't stay in an overpriced market with the cost of living that doesn't reflect the surge.

Sorry to quote myself but among leaving due to pricing I also HATE it here, I have no Family here, I cannot stand the rude people, the people constantly in a hurry on the roads or in a store...........so yeah, leaving cause I hate the fucking people here. All FL has going for itself is the nice weather only this time of year.

Nuff' said :D

I agree, the people are ruder down here. Much more ruder than in Orlando. When I first got into West Palm Beach I was walking down the sidewalk minding my own business and some lady carrying boxes walked into me and just kept on walking. No apology, no excuse me nothing. She acted like nothing happened. I wanted to backhand her. This seems like typical behavior down here.

southflo2ss I want to come visit, sounds like a cool place where you live.

:D I agree, the people are ruder down here. Much more ruder than in Orlando. When I first got into West Palm Beach I was walking down the sidewalk minding my own business and some lady carrying boxes walked into me and just kept on walking. No apology, no excuse me nothing. She acted like nothing happened. I wanted to backhand her. This seems like typical behavior down here.

southflo2ss I want to come visit, sounds like a cool place where you live.


Kinda hard to tell the wife (who's really defensive about her newborn son) that we'd have a stranger from the internet coming by the house to hang out. :D

But sure, if you're in town, we can grab a beer somewhere. Cheers!

LOL

yea i have a few applicants around Miami that I have to hit, I'll be visiting them probably sometime next week and in January.

I definitely think appreciation is going to slow down dramatically over the next year. More out of necessity than anything else. How long can we see 25-35% yearly increases?!?! But, even a drastic slow down would put us around 10-15% increases, which is still high. I'll tell ya, I know things are slowing down in some areas, but my partner and I just sold 11 houses in 2 days. And these things are not cheap ($600-$800k). Some people have made soo much on their current houses that the high prices don't matter. It's the people that are trying to just get started that are getting hurt. Of course, everybody has to pay the ridiculous property taxes!

yea its easy when you already have money but the large majority of us don't have that kind of scratch layin around. Like I asked before, what the hell are these people doing that they can afford 800 k houses?

LOL

yea i have a few applicants around Miami that I have to hit, I'll be visiting them probably sometime next week and in January.

All I can say is bring your car. :usa:

i got me a rental

a bad ass piece of shit chevy cobalt, woo hoo.

I agree, the people are ruder down here. Much more ruder than in Orlando. When I first got into West Palm Beach I was walking down the sidewalk minding my own business and some lady carrying boxes walked into me and just kept on walking. No apology, no excuse me nothing. She acted like nothing happened. I wanted to backhand her. This seems like typical behavior down here.

southflo2ss I want to come visit, sounds like a cool place where you live.

Most definately, and I remind myself again why I can't wait to leave. Today, walking out of work I hold a door for a customer..........again, no look, no thank you nadda. Rude fuckers here, think you owe them this kind of gesture.

I think I am going to let the door just hit them next time and only open it for myself.

Jeff, not to get off subject here you still coming to BMP with us Sat?

If you want I will give you a call and plan it out............only a few more days!! I am coming home after I race, can't stick my dog in boarding..........I can't do that to him.

be nice to your doggy, lol.

what time are you leaving? I might be able to swing something now. you still have my number?

I just can't miss this race, sux that I don't have enough time to get my car..:(

I live in New Port Richey, houses there are still $90k+ bought my house 1 year ago for $74k, jobs suck there I drive 25 miles to work in clearwater, you might want to look into that, plus im 5 min away from the beach

I live in New Port Richey, houses there are still $90k+ bought my house 1 year ago for $74k, jobs suck there I drive 25 miles to work in clearwater, you might want to look into that, plus im 5 min away from the beach

How far is New Port Richey and Clearwater from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale? Sorry for my ignorance. I don't have to live like 5 minutes from Miami/South Beach, but at least within 20-30 minutes from it.

How far is New Port Richey and Clearwater from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale? Sorry for my ignorance. I don't have to live like 5 minutes from Miami/South Beach, but at least within 20-30 minutes from it.

It's on the west coast. You'd be looking at a ride down 75 then across alligator alley.......or staying on Tamiami trail which to me is in the boonies I mean swamp. If you live on the west coast depending on what you do, you'd have Cape Coral, Ft. Myers and Naples close by AND you can get to Bradenton to race whenever you want to.

Jeff, I will call you.

How far is New Port Richey and Clearwater from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale? Sorry for my ignorance. I don't have to live like 5 minutes from Miami/South Beach, but at least within 20-30 minutes from it.

It's on the west coast. You'd be looking at a ride down 75 then across alligator alley to get you east or you could get to the FL turnpike I believe.......or staying on Tamiami trail which to me is in the boonies I mean swamp. If you live on the west coast depending on what you do, you'd have Cape Coral, Ft. Myers and Naples close by AND you can get to Bradenton to race whenever you want to.

Jeff, I will call you.

It's on the west coast. You'd be looking at a ride down 75 then across alligator alley to get you east or you could get to the FL turnpike I believe.......or staying on Tamiami trail which to me is in the boonies I mean swamp. If you live on the west coast depending on what you do, you'd have Cape Coral, Ft. Myers and Naples close by AND you can get to Bradenton to race whenever you want to.

Jeff, I will call you.

Damn, then that's a decent trek.

That it is, I went partially across the alley last night to race in Immokalee.

133 miles from my house to that drag strip. Whew...........it was a good 55 or so miles just to get on the Alley to head west and I didn't go over all the way but I did not north on Hwy 29 for 18 miles.

Yep, GA, SC and NC are my future States to check out........as long as I can reside near a good drag strip I don't care if I ever see another palm tree again. :)

I hope to be out of FL and in a new home by Spring of 2007 maybe even by this time next year. I got in and bought before things sky rocketed and it's time to take my equity and buy a new house and carry very little mortgage and enjoy my time racing.

better move quick. the rich fucks are taking over nc just like fla.