Local here... Winter Garden... pretty much lived here in Fl my whole life, all over the state...
So here's what I can tell you...
Living here is totally different then coming here for a 10 night stay, or even multiple trips during the year and enjoying the weather, the parks, and doing whatever vacation thing that you enjoy...
Living in Florida, this is a hospitality state... from all the different theme parks, to beach's which line our state coastline which is almost all of it, fishing & hunting excursions, biking, hiking and natural trails, boating and site seeing trips, as well as several cruise ports, as well you have the snow birds, and a multitude of colleges which have college students.... So if you live here your not a tourist, nor are you on vacation, or on holiday... This becomes your life... dealing with the the millions and millions of people world wide that come to soak up some of our sun, sand and surf, play in our theme parks, cruise from our ports, ... Realistically you have to get in your mind... your not on vacation once you live here full time... this becomes your life... and I am not complaining, We love our visitors...
So you need to think about things such as;
Hurricane insurance, flood insurance, sink hole insurance, on top of your home owners insurance.. As well depending on where you live, if you live in one of the evacuation zones, or low lying area or flood prone areas and not all of these are on the coast, will effect the cost of your home owners insurance... just because you live in the center of the state does not make you safe from the storms, we have been without power for 11 days, was the longest time... and we were living in Lakeland which is just down I-4 from Orlando...
POOL's -
Your most likely going to want a pool, so a pool company... and we have had several home with pools and trust me with this one, and not unless you have a PHD in pool water are you going to want to take on, cleaning the pool, monitoring the chem levels in your pool... plan on having the motor, and such replaced every 2 to 4 years...
Lawn company - again this is something that we do pretty much year around is yard work... and who wants to mow, weed eat, and edge... trimming the bushes, trees, done weekly -
(some time in the summer you have to mow more than once a week)... When on the weekends you could be at the parks, beaches, on a boat heading down the river...
Pest control - ants, roaches, and the plethora of other little bugs
that share our Florida climate, they love the weather here...Mosquito control which normally is not included in your regular pest control ... as well as wild life control things like lizards, snakes, alligators, raccoons, possums, birds, bat's, owls to name a few.... you might need to use from time to time... Oh and our bi-yearly fight with the love bugs...
Traffic... it is a real adventure driving here... so traffic revolves around the normal work traffic morning and night, then you have the theme park folks trying to get to work... as well as the tourist traffic for opening and closing times, dinner hour traffic which includes tourist and locals alike... and lots of people who come here, and things like stop signs, and red light are a suggestions in their home countries, Yay so much fun! ... and all the ongoing construction on the road ways, which is never ending... Toll Pass is your friend... I think as well car insurance here is much higher, as well as car maintenance.. especially if you live more toward the coast...
Seasons - Hot, Hotter, Hottest, and only once in a while you get "wow what a nice day"... those are our seasons... The only way you really know that the seasons are going to change is that Hobby Lobby, and Kirkland's has out the holiday decor'
HOA's here are a big business, and they rule... Some are about house paint colors, or a shed that has to match the house, what type of fence, style and color, even height.. some even so much as what you can put in your yard, like color of your mulch, type of outdoor lighting, flowering plants and trees.. how many cars you can park in front of your house, things like overnight parking, make sure you know what they rules are before you ever think about buying into a development... If you live in a gated community, your HOA fee will be doubled or tripled, due to the fact the HOA and homeowners must maintain the roads behind the gate... the city, county and state will not handle road repairs..
Who knows in 10 years the tourist will call you a local...