This would totally be it for me. We've built the life we want with the sense of community that we want and we knew when we were doing it that we would be here forever. Vacation spots are for, well, vacations. I do sort of admire people who have both the desire and ability to pick-up and start over and I wish them well.Many I know who have made a major move like that have regretted it because of the difficulty finding new Doctors/Dentists they like that are accepting new patients, being away from family and long time friends, and in the case of moving to a resort area, being over run by tourists really sucks.
My only concerns would the paying all those real estate commissions and moving costs. I'm still trying to get over paying nearly $40,000 in real estate commissions and fees when I sold my parent's house 7 years ago, a house THEY paid $29,500 for.
Lol on people complaining about politics. If you're a liberal and need to be cocooned among people who mostly agree with you on everything, then stay where you are. But if you welcome getting to know different kinds of people with different perspectives, and can accept that you'll usually have a Republican governor, then you'll be fine. Florida is a conserative-leaning swing state, not a hotbed of right-wing extremism.
I would say with small kids, a downside would be a support system. I have some friends around me who are transplants, and they struggle with not having family to help with the kids. And for a while at least you wouldn’t have any friends either. Who do you call if you have car trouble and the kids have to be picked up? What if there is an emergency? It helps to have a village.
This morning I showed DH a listing for a gorgeous home in Windermere, with more bedrooms and bathrooms and square feet than we currently have, plus a pool. The listing price is less than our current home is worth and showed lower taxes. For the first time, we started seriously asking ourselves, why don’t we move here?
It seems like there’s a real opportunity to get more value for less money than our current situation. We don’t have much family in our area, and DH’s job was wfh permanently even before the pandemic. We love Disney and it would be amazing to be annual passholders, and it would also be amazing to keep our lifestyle, possibly even upgrade it, for less.
So far, my reasons to say no are that I would miss the fall foliage, my friends in the area, and hurricanes. Is there anything major I’m missing? Giant killer iguanas or something?
We have been to Florida 5 times since May. It is perfectly safe. Don’t succumb to scare tactics. Just practice safe habits and you’ll be fine.Everyone has listed important things to think about, but no one has mentioned COVID19. Not sure when it will even be safe to go anywhere in Florida for a long time?
Do you mean decisions like the Governor‘s of New York and New JerseyIt's not so much to do with living around different kinds of people, I usually can get along with almost anybody, but this Covid 19 thing has really opened my eyes to those who don't like to listen to health experts or scientists. I do not want to live somewhere a majority of people think their rights to infect others by not wearing a mask is more important than protecting others. It starts at the top though.
This is certainly a valid point, and something that needs to be researched. It probably depends on the size of OP's employer.i would check to see what the situation w/health insurance would be like. many employers offer wfh positions that afford the opportunity to work from anywhere but only offer affordable plans within a certain radius of their brick and mortar geographic location(s). my former employer offers 6 or more plans to choose from w/a variety of premiums/deductibles/copays-but only one at 10x the premium and far inferior coverage to staff that resides outside their chosen 'preferred coverage regions'.
Personally, I would never rely on Zillow or any other listing site for this kind of information. I see a couple of Zillow listings in my neighborhood and the information in them is pure fiction.property taxes-check to see if the numbers you are looking at are what you would be roughly paying vs. what the current owner pays. some places (like where i live) have a variety of decreased property tax programs that lower rates but there's no mention of them being applied to individual properties on zillow or other listing sites (a person would need to pull up the assessors website and pull up the property information to get the full amount charged each year before eligible discounts are provided-a neighbor is selling their house and to look at the listing a person would think the tax liability is 2/3rds lower than the full rate b/c of a program few would qualify for).
Well, I'm fairly liberal (voted for Obama twice), so, I definitely do know at least one lol. I know & love a lot of others. I know & love a lot of conservatives, too.This attitude is enough to keep me away. How many liberals do you actually know?
So far, my reasons to say no are that I would miss the fall foliage, my friends in the area, and hurricanes. Is there anything major I’m missing? Giant killer iguanas or something?
I am confident that the violent crime rate in Windermere compares favorably with Philly!I think there are more dangerous animals.
Windermere is an excellent area, with great schools. There are plenty of activities (normally, not in COVID times) that would allow you to get out in the community and meet other families so that you and your children can make connections.
Everyone else has covered the negatives already. My major complaint about living in FL, lack of access to the shops I want to go to, isn't an issue in Windermere, as it is more centrally located.