Wanted to get fellow Getbigger's opinions on cities in Florida (factoring in job market, cost of living, quality of life, kids schooling, fun factor, and of course ... gyms).
Discuss.
I've lived in Jax, Miami (coral gables), ft lauderdale area, worked in coral springs and now live in orlando been to tampa, panama city, naples, sarasota..basically all over florida down to key west.
I can honestly say there is no area that has a decent all of the above you mentioned. Cost of living, quality of life, schooling....people here pretty much live away from where they work. 40 minimum straight highway/Interstate drives. Ex. People that work in miami usually live north west palm, boca..etc. People in jax would live in middleberg or not even in the county (duval)..live in st johns and travel to jacksonville for work.
Cost of living is lower in some areas but even in those areas due to the way the market was flooded down here the value of the home .vs amount of people living in that area along with amenities and options in that area = that huge home might be cheap, but the area is shit and won't get any better which means schools..etc suck.
The housing market deal where everybody was trying to be a Realtor fucked up florida. Shit was being built everywhere and everybody wanted to "own" something and try to flip it...EVERYBODY...now everything is upside down, homes that were bought with the idea they would flip them decreased in value like a car coming off the car lot down here....the owners realize the area is not getting the influx of homeowners and renters as they thought so they can't even sell or rent their homes now..even if they rent..the renter easily finds out the area isn't shit and will buy elsewhere (exactly what i'm doing now in orlando...I'm renting while looking and finding what is right for ME and my wife and future family throughout square miles around my job)
My best suggestion is to research tremendously if you want to settle down here. Know what you want job wise, schools, area, are you a fast lif e type, or you more relaxed family, can you go without this or that...etc.
From there you need to actually go to an area and talk to people. When I came here 5 months ago (nice area) but this lady in a store told me "please buy here, we need more buyers" ....that was a red flag...means nobody is buying in the area which means your $200,000 mansion here won't be worth shit in a year let alone 10 and you'll be stuck with that same mortgage.
The home I'm renting is for an older couple..they don't give a shit about area..they are chilling out old enjoying shit..home is 5/3 4,000 square living feet started at 275,000..they got it short sale for 160,000. It's right for them. They will retire there. For me..nope. It's a lovely home but I need the whole deal now, family type shit. safety type shit. I turned their garage into a gym b/c the area has no gyms let alone one's for fighters. Even those away are closed by the time I get off work.
A little lesson on short sales also to everybody...Just because a HUGE home with a big hard, pool, all the shit you like was once 300,000 is now on short sale for 225,000 doesn't mean it's a "steal"...that is probably the homes "market value" ..which means you need to find out what is the REAL market value vs what the seller is trying to sell you on as as "short sale"....that is the new "gotcha" in florida....people are buying homes on short sale "I got a 300,000 home for 200,000" the next year find our their home is worth 150,000 and GETTING LOWER....then they are trying to get rid of the short sale they thought was a steal.
A true short sale is a home of let's say started 250,000 and it's on short for 200,000 and you find out the value of the market value of the home is actually 275,000....you need to jump on that deal (yes i'm using extreme numbers, but I'm doing this for a reason so you can understand this is what a short sale should sort of look like)...means the area is great, schools are good, renters are solid...etc.
