Considering a move to Florida......need advice.

lukenick1

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Hubby and I are considering a move to Florida in the next 5 years. We would like to try a 55 and older community but not sure if there are rules against having our college age children living with us part time? Anyway 55 and older or not we would like a place with a community pool and activity hall etc. We just have no idea which area of Florida to go to? Obviously we would like to avoid the threat of hurricanes which I know is impossible in Florida or an area that is not as hot and humid as well if possible. I figure anything near the shore will be cooler but more money. Our budget is something in the 100k-200k range. Thanks for any advice
 
The best advice I can give is to come down and try different areas to see what appeals to you. You are correct that there is no place in Florida that you can escape the hurricane risk. Every part of the state is vulnerable. I live in the center of the state and have had some really horrific hurricane experiences over the years. You might consider northern Florida to make evacuation easier. There are some really lovely areas in the panhandle, but I would not ride out a hurricane there. North Florida is also not as hot and humid. I have relatives who live in the Jacksonville area who like it as well.

It’s different living here than visiting.
 
I'd lean towards the gulf side if you're looking to avoid hurricanes. Not that they don't occasionally get them, but the majority of them generally affect the Atlantic side of the Florida.

Personally, I would look at areas like Punta Gorda or Bonita Springs. I'd suggest an area like Fort Myers or Naples, but I think it might be out of your price range. Maybe a little further north like Sarasota.
 
I agree - you need to come down and visit the areas. You are asking for a lot of conflicting things. All of Florida is risky for hurricanes period. Every single part. The vast majority of Fl is hot and humid for most of the year, unless you want to stay as far north in the panhandle as you can get and then - still going to be hot and humid a lot. Your dollar range is very low for Florida (in my experience) unless you want to live very far inland, or in a sketchy area - but I do not have personal experience with the panhandle real estate so it could be different there.

As for 55 and older communities - there a ton of them, and each one would have its own rules and regulations about kids living/visiting there so you'll need to research them individually. While you're at it, also look into how much the HOA in those communities are because that can add up to quite an additional cost every year.

I love living here -but I also love the heat and humidity and don't mind the hurricane threats!
 


I'd lean towards the gulf side if you're looking to avoid hurricanes. Not that they don't occasionally get them, but the majority of them generally affect the Atlantic side of the Florida.

Personally, I would look at areas like Punta Gorda or Bonita Springs. I'd suggest an area like Fort Myers or Naples, but I think it might be out of your price range. Maybe a little further north like Sarasota.

FYI - Sarasota is $$$ also, median home price is $269000 and those are far away from the water. But I agree that the gulf side "feels" less risky for hurricanes than the Atlantic side. Not sure if that's true with the numbers or not - but it feels like it.
 
This is a climatology from NOAA showing the number of hurricane hits in Florida. This goes from 1900-2010, so doesn't include more recent hurricanes, such as Hurricane Michael in the Panhandle in 2018.

strikes_egulf.jpg


There does seem to be a relative minimum in the number of hurricane landfalls on the Gulf side of the Peninsula, but then it picks up again in the Panhandle. And also a minimum on the Atlantic side north of Brevard County. But every area does have a hurricane risk, and a lot of hurricanes are so large that major impacts are felt far away from the storm's center.
 
All of Florida is vulnerable to hurricanes and the strength and severity of them is increasing and will continue to increase due to the Climate Crisis. Hurricane Michael hit the panhandle last year and was devastating.

Real estate will be lower in some smaller inland areas or rural panhandle areas, but you won't find as much of the large communities with amenities in those areas.
 


Hubby and I are considering a move to Florida in the next 5 years. We would like to try a 55 and older community but not sure if there are rules against having our college age children living with us part time? Anyway 55 and older or not we would like a place with a community pool and activity hall etc. We just have no idea which area of Florida to go to? Obviously we would like to avoid the threat of hurricanes which I know is impossible in Florida or an area that is not as hot and humid as well if possible. I figure anything near the shore will be cooler but more money. Our budget is something in the 100k-200k range. Thanks for any advice

DW and I are looking very closely at The Villages, which is about an hour north of WDW. We visited there last spring and really liked it, and we're visiting again in May. It's not on the water but it's beautiful and there are a ton of things to do. Home prices there range from 130K to over 1 mil.

Like others have mentioned, my advice is to look around and see for yourself what works best for you.
 
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If its a true 55 and older community, I doubt your college age students can live with you. My aunt is in Century Village in Deerfield Beach and her HOA doesn't even want anyone under 55 at the pools, let alone live there part time.

My mom has a condo on the sand in Boca Raton - and has been through a few hurricanes -the buildings on the sand are fortresses - so that may be something to consider too.
 
Hubby and I are considering a move to Florida in the next 5 years. We would like to try a 55 and older community but not sure if there are rules against having our college age children living with us part time? Anyway 55 and older or not we would like a place with a community pool and activity hall etc. We just have no idea which area of Florida to go to? Obviously we would like to avoid the threat of hurricanes which I know is impossible in Florida or an area that is not as hot and humid as well if possible. I figure anything near the shore will be cooler but more money. Our budget is something in the 100k-200k range. Thanks for any advice

No hurricanes + no hot/humid = no Florida.

Come to Arizona. We have the hot, but not the humid. And zero hurricanes. Plenty of 55+ communities to choose from. If you end up in the Phoenix area, it's a 5 hour drive to Disneyland or a 5-hour plane ride direct on Southwest to Orlando for when you need to Disney fix.
 
No hurricanes + no hot/humid = no Florida.

Come to Arizona. We have the hot, but not the humid. And zero hurricanes. Plenty of 55+ communities to choose from. If you end up in the Phoenix area, it's a 5 hour drive to Disneyland or a 5-hour plane ride direct on Southwest to Orlando for when you need to Disney fix.
Yes we have considered Arizona too! Can you tell me about property taxes and cost of living etc? My only issue is no beaches.
 
Yes we have considered Arizona too! Can you tell me about property taxes and cost of living etc? My only issue is no beaches.

I'm not sure what part of the US you're currently in, but I don't consider my property taxes to be very high. It's definitely way way WAY cheaper than the northeastern US, like NJ for example. Cost of living is low. I'm in the Phoenix area and a gallon of gas right now is about $2.95. In Tucson, it's about 40 cents cheaper. A gallon of milk at my local grocery store is usually about $2.00-$2.25. I can get a dozen and a half of eggs at the local Sprouts Market for $2-3. Income taxes are way lower compared to where we used to live in CA. Of course, FL has no income tax if I'm remembering correctly.
 
I have a friend who moved from CA to NV. Traded one desert for another but was able to have her home custom built and will have enough to live on after selling her CA home.
 
It varies widely. Some places have limits on number of days per year that anyone under the age limit can stay, while others are more liberal and only require that at least one member of the household is over the age limit. However, in most of them, proposed "underage" permanent residents require a review and permission by the HOA, because they are set up to take advantage of certain tax benefits, and if a set percentage of residents are not retirement age, they will lose that. The usual rule is that the more "active adult" focused the place is, the more structured activities there are, the stricter the rules tend to be. Rental property also plays into this; the more rentals the place allows, the stricter the rules tend to be, to be sure that the age distribution does not creep down.

Many 55+ communities will allow prospective residents to come for a trial visit by renting a place for several weeks, even if rentals are not their usual market. A good real estate agent can advise you.

Pinellas county, in particular, has a wide variety of places; they went after the 55+ market starting in the 1920's. The variety of places in Pinellas covers nearly every price range and style of residence, from high-rise city apartments to gated golf communities. (And if you are thinking your 20-something kids will live with you part-time, proximity to St. Pete will probably be important to them.)

PS: While most people know that Florida has no state income tax, many people do not realize that it is also a homestead exemption state, which means that part of the value of your home is exempt from property tax. (Only applies to full-time residents with no second home in another state). In some cases a 100% exemption applies, if you qualify. https://floridarevenue.com/property/pages/Taxpayers_Exemptions.aspx
 
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I'm not sure what part of the US you're currently in, but I don't consider my property taxes to be very high. It's definitely way way WAY cheaper than the northeastern US, like NJ for example. Cost of living is low. I'm in the Phoenix area and a gallon of gas right now is about $2.95. In Tucson, it's about 40 cents cheaper. A gallon of milk at my local grocery store is usually about $2.00-$2.25. I can get a dozen and a half of eggs at the local Sprouts Market for $2-3. Income taxes are way lower compared to where we used to live in CA. Of course, FL has no income tax if I'm remembering correctly.
MA its the worst for taxes!
 
You're missing out if you've never been to the beach at a lake.

Oh, I have, and while I'll concede that it's technically a beach (my post was meant tongue-in-cheek as well), wind-driven waves are just not the same. Many of the things I like to do at the beach are dependent on tidal activity., which you don't really get at lakes (and yes, I know really large lakes can have some tidal activity, but it's tiny compared to that of an ocean, and does not have nearly the same effect.)

ETA: Yes, that includes the Great Lakes. The tidal range on the largest of them is well less than 1". Not to mention that there is no salt breeze.
 
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