Should I move to Florida?

[Anonymous]

We live in St Pete and really like it here, though the current governor and summer weather both challenge our affection for the place.

We are in a pocket of blue. A beautiful, thriving city, with good restaurants and lots of arts. This area is very vulnerable to sea level rise, so if you do move here be sure to buy outside of a flood plain - though, in a couple of decades, it's all going to be a flood plain.

We moved here for warmer weather and a better quality of life, on our DC salaries. It's nice here. That's why so many people are moving here, and our house has essentially doubled in value since we bought it five years ago. (Maybe a bubble, maybe not, time will tell.)

Anyway, check out Tampa Bay if you're serious. There are also nice places inland - YES INLAND - like Orlando and environs that are worth checking out.

[Anonymous]

BTW my trip to Florida this place made it clear I want to live ONLY walking distance or a bike ride to beach. My brother lives 3.5 miles from beach and WAY to far.

He was told a bike ride but in reality Beach days are very hot. We went in Sat this weekend and 92 with humidity. That’s 7 mils round trip. Plus we needed a chair, towel and water bottles and sun tan lotion. That is a lot on a bike.

Plus parking lots are small and fill up early and cost to park.

He does not go Beach much as a headache. But he does enjoy restaurants and bars in his beach town

I am not retiring for 6-8 years so hopefully in next housing correction or made bad flood or hurricane I can buy closer in.

Prices are very high my brother paid 550k in 2017 and identical houses sell for 750k to 785k. My brother got a decent deal but not that super amazing.

Look do the math. I am middle class. But I do 401k. But 72 will have around 2.5 million on 401k. I start RMD and Maryland will take a big cut so that sucks. It is based on life expectancy so it ain’t no 4 percent a year. It could be 200k a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a moderate Democrat and I hate DeSantis and his cronies but I do love Florida in the winter. We are on the Gulf Coast which has a very Midwest vibe which beats the southeast coast NY metro vibe. We are empty nesters so we are not dealing with the underfunded public schools. Private schools cost far more than the tax savings from moving to FL. Summers are miserable from mid June thru mid-October but the other 8 months are delightful.

It is amazing how many people hate Florida yet it has one of the fastest growing populations in the country.

I find this interesting as well.

Not surprising. The baby boomers still represent the largest population group and they are retiring and FL offers tangible benefits to retirees. They are not as worried about the longer term impacts of climate change nor the quality of the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how/if this applies to Florida, but we moved to Texas (no state income tax) and while we are saving money on income taxes, we are getting killed in property taxes.

The thing and income tax vs property tax is that eventually your income tax will go down. Property taxes will only go up. (Though there are some exemptions based on age.)

Make sure you understand the full picture if you're only reason to leave the DMV area is income tax. Plus, as noted, you need to understand what your tax implications are if your job is still in MD.

TX has one of the highest property taxes. States need revenue. They have to get it from some where.

Yes, but where is Florida getting its revenue from? Disney World? Tourists? Property taxes have to be a part of the equation given no state income tax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a moderate Democrat and I hate DeSantis and his cronies but I do love Florida in the winter. We are on the Gulf Coast which has a very Midwest vibe which beats the southeast coast NY metro vibe. We are empty nesters so we are not dealing with the underfunded public schools. Private schools cost far more than the tax savings from moving to FL. Summers are miserable from mid June thru mid-October but the other 8 months are delightful.

It is amazing how many people hate Florida yet it has one of the fastest growing populations in the country.

I find this interesting as well.

Not surprising. The baby boomers still represent the largest population group and they are retiring and FL offers tangible benefits to retirees. They are not as worried about the longer term impacts of climate change nor the quality of the schools.

You really think that after this past year and a half, the schools are so much superior in the DMV? You had no complaints?
This is the covid era, everything is held to different standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a moderate Democrat and I hate DeSantis and his cronies but I do love Florida in the winter. We are on the Gulf Coast which has a very Midwest vibe which beats the southeast coast NY metro vibe. We are empty nesters so we are not dealing with the underfunded public schools. Private schools cost far more than the tax savings from moving to FL. Summers are miserable from mid June thru mid-October but the other 8 months are delightful.

It is amazing how many people hate Florida yet it has one of the fastest growing populations in the country.

I find this interesting as well.

Not surprising. The baby boomers still represent the largest population group and they are retiring and FL offers tangible benefits to retirees. They are not as worried about the longer term impacts of climate change nor the quality of the schools.

You really think that after this past year and a half, the schools are so much superior in the DMV? You had no complaints?
This is the covid era, everything is held to different standards.

I'm not going to use the first year of a global pandemic to assess the quality of schools. I'd rather live in NoVA with high vaccination rates (75%+ for ages 12-18) and willingness to require masks to ensure the past year doesn't become an "era". I'm also pretty sure I didn't have more complaints than I would have about the schools in FL. (I know people with kids there and I heard plenty). My kids did fine--their teachers adapted, they adapted. It's not like there was some magical protected place where it was all better. But, over the years I've had my kids in multiple school systems (Including others thought of as "good") and I'm most happy with FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Creating a lifestyle where you must fly every week or two is risky for you and terrible for the environment. Plus Florida, like all of Florida, is dysfunctional and ugly and full of stupid people who can’t drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just flew in from Florida last night as brother bought a place there in 2017 as a vacation home he plans to retire to.

First visit. Roads clean. No beggars, less traffic, electric cheaper, taxes way less, weather better. More normal and nice people. Publix is great Beach is nice. Had lunch in Naples. Nice to get away from DC drama a few days.

My brother is from Long Island and a bit fed up cancel culture and brainwashing and indoctrination in public schools and negative slanted TV News.

Good to be in a positive, clean place with low taxes

Yup, a nice change of pace from DC, isnt it? I'm glad you enjoyed it down here! Life is great here, despite the resounding hatred on DCUM!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Creating a lifestyle where you must fly every week or two is risky for you and terrible for the environment. Plus Florida, like all of Florida, is dysfunctional and ugly and full of stupid people who can’t drive.

And I am so happy to left the DC area to get away from this exact type of vibe.
As if DC/VA/MD is some panacea of beauty, functional government, and good drivers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're not going to get a balanced perspective on DCUM where Florida is now an evil state due to the current governor (while praising Cuomo to the sky, but that's another story).

Despite the comments on this thread, hordes of wealthy people do move to Florida for tax purposes. It's not just anecdotal, but it's a real and proper fiscal drain and it's been noted by many state officials. What they do is establish Florida residency and as long as they spend six months minus one day in Maryland, Florida is their legal residency and there's not much Maryland can do about it. The kicker is that you don't have to spend six months plus one day to claim Florida residency. So you can spend the winters in Florida, summers somewhere cool, travel a lot, and still keep your old house in Maryland, and you're still a bona fide Florida resident.

Florida can offer a high quality of life, especially for those who can escape to cooler climates in the peak summer months. It's a huge state with the whole range of demographics from deep blue to deep red and everything in between. Just find your niche in Florida. If you live and breathe and die by politics, maybe you can't cope with Republican governors. But without those Republican governors, you wouldn't have the generous tax breaks. And summers in Florida aren't that bad. It's not hotter than the DMV, it's just more humid and for a longer period. Plenty of people don't mind humidity. Miami is both an international jet set playground and very interesting and dynamic Latin-American community that makes things interesting. The Gulf side has plenty of upscale communities. Florida is VERY diverse. Commenting about running away from Florida because of the racist people is a weird thing to say. Running away from Florida because you're racist would be more logical.

You seem too balanced for DCUM . I too find Florida quite diverse with many possibilities. I spent a month recently there with the children and family members traversing the state. Not as inexpensive as I imagined and real estate can be pricey. Seems like a good place to spend six months out of the year frankly and am a liberal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just flew in from Florida last night as brother bought a place there in 2017 as a vacation home he plans to retire to.

First visit. Roads clean. No beggars, less traffic, electric cheaper, taxes way less, weather better. More normal and nice people. Publix is great Beach is nice. Had lunch in Naples. Nice to get away from DC drama a few days.

My brother is from Long Island and a bit fed up cancel culture and brainwashing and indoctrination in public schools and negative slanted TV News.

Good to be in a positive, clean place with low taxes

Yup, a nice change of pace from DC, isnt it? I'm glad you enjoyed it down here! Life is great here, despite the resounding hatred on DCUM!

+2

We moved here from DC, and love it!

The worst part is the hot, humid summer, but that's when we travel to Maine or back to Canada.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're not going to get a balanced perspective on DCUM where Florida is now an evil state due to the current governor (while praising Cuomo to the sky, but that's another story).

Despite the comments on this thread, hordes of wealthy people do move to Florida for tax purposes. It's not just anecdotal, but it's a real and proper fiscal drain and it's been noted by many state officials. What they do is establish Florida residency and as long as they spend six months minus one day in Maryland, Florida is their legal residency and there's not much Maryland can do about it. The kicker is that you don't have to spend six months plus one day to claim Florida residency. So you can spend the winters in Florida, summers somewhere cool, travel a lot, and still keep your old house in Maryland, and you're still a bona fide Florida resident.

Florida can offer a high quality of life, especially for those who can escape to cooler climates in the peak summer months. It's a huge state with the whole range of demographics from deep blue to deep red and everything in between. Just find your niche in Florida. If you live and breathe and die by politics, maybe you can't cope with Republican governors. But without those Republican governors, you wouldn't have the generous tax breaks. And summers in Florida aren't that bad. It's not hotter than the DMV, it's just more humid and for a longer period. Plenty of people don't mind humidity. Miami is both an international jet set playground and very interesting and dynamic Latin-American community that makes things interesting. The Gulf side has plenty of upscale communities. Florida is VERY diverse. Commenting about running away from Florida because of the racist people is a weird thing to say. Running away from Florida because you're racist would be more logical.

You seem too balanced for DCUM . I too find Florida quite diverse with many possibilities. I spent a month recently there with the children and family members traversing the state. Not as inexpensive as I imagined and real estate can be pricey. Seems like a good place to spend six months out of the year frankly and am a liberal.

Yes. My brother just moved to Florida and while the rest of my family was shaking our heads at moving to a state with no COVID management and crappy schools, we did like it a lot. In July, it wasn't hotter than DC in the summer, and there were pools everywhere, and the food was surprisingly good. We found good Ethiopian and Jewish food and spectacular food of all Latin American cultures.

[Anonymous]

No going to FL bash. But will add that my DH is from FL and left because of the weather (too hot and humid for him) and the politics. Please note that he went to private school for most of his life; same for his siblings and nieces. So if you have <18 year old kids, you may have to pay for private K-12. However, you can save on college tuition if your kids qualify for the state scholarship (free or partial tuition based on grades, not HHI). For myself, i have liked all of the positives PPs have mentioned above except for the politics. I also prefer the abundance of cultural institutions available in NYC (where we live) and national and state parks in other states. But maybe there are more in FL than I am unaware of, and you can always visit other states during the summer months for a cultural fix. GL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BTW my trip to Florida this place made it clear I want to live ONLY walking distance or a bike ride to beach. My brother lives 3.5 miles from beach and WAY to far.

He was told a bike ride but in reality Beach days are very hot. We went in Sat this weekend and 92 with humidity. That’s 7 mils round trip. Plus we needed a chair, towel and water bottles and sun tan lotion. That is a lot on a bike.

Plus parking lots are small and fill up early and cost to park.

He does not go Beach much as a headache. But he does enjoy restaurants and bars in his beach town

I am not retiring for 6-8 years so hopefully in next housing correction or made bad flood or hurricane I can buy closer in.

Prices are very high my brother paid 550k in 2017 and identical houses sell for 750k to 785k. My brother got a decent deal but not that super amazing.

Look do the math. I am middle class. But I do 401k. But 72 will have around 2.5 million on 401k. I start RMD and Maryland will take a big cut so that sucks. It is based on life expectancy so it ain’t no 4 percent a year. It could be 200k a year.

Did you miss the part about the sea level rising?

Perhaps you will need to kayak to the beach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how/if this applies to Florida, but we moved to Texas (no state income tax) and while we are saving money on income taxes, we are getting killed in property taxes.

The thing and income tax vs property tax is that eventually your income tax will go down. Property taxes will only go up. (Though there are some exemptions based on age.)

Make sure you understand the full picture if you're only reason to leave the DMV area is income tax. Plus, as noted, you need to understand what your tax implications are if your job is still in MD.

TX has one of the highest property taxes. States need revenue. They have to get it from some where.

Yes, but where is Florida getting its revenue from? Disney World? Tourists? Property taxes have to be a part of the equation given no state income tax.

And funding decent schools is actually a social good. If you care about anyone but yourself that is.