Originally Posted by Bryan316

Latest headline from Florida! LOL

http://www.freebeerandhotwings.com/b...649490431.html

Originally Posted by joe51

OTOH I guess it says something good about Florida if the kids are smart enough to be able to pull this off.

Originally Posted by joe51

Any real estate person should be able to tell you if the property that you're looking at is in a designated flood zone. Personally I like my property high and dry so I make sure that I'm always in the highest point around. And any modern GPS will show your altitude as well as your location so it's easy to find out for yourself.

IF you sign up for the program, then the rate of increase in your accessed property VALUE is capped at around 11% IIRC annually but your rate can still go up as will the taxes that you pay. The cap also does not apply to charges from Fire and school districts, only county property tax.

Some areas are VERY restrictive about having old cars sitting around, regardless of their condition or drivablity. Florida HOAS are *****! Pure and simple! If you want to keep your cars then you need to find a house that is NOT in a HOA! I can't stress avoiding HOAs enough. Unless you LIKE living in a prison and having NO rights. Many HOA won't even allow you to have a truck in THEIR neighborhood!

Bugs should not be a problem unless you live in the woods or have pets that go in and out. This is Florida, you WILL have an occasional critter. They come in under doors, on mail, on clothing, especially on pets, also on and in packages and even in bags from grocery and other stores.

Re: hurricanes IMO any responsible person should ALWAYS be stocked up on enough food and water and essentials to survive a week or more ON THEIR ON.

I have 1 large and two small generators and plenty of fuel, a well and a septic tank,, food, water and medicine. Also a tent, several portable camp stoves and various cook ware. And enough guns and ammo to make sure that it STAYS mine! If you think I'm joking then go talk to anyone that was in south Miami or Homestead after hurricane Andrew! And here's a tip: Get a small window AC unit that your gene can run. You will thank me later! Immediately after a hurricane is always the most damp, humid and STILL weather that I've ever encountered. A working AC is worth it's weight in gold after a hurricane! The same gene can also power my well so I will have running water and a functioning sewage system and can keep my freezer and refrigerator running if I need to.

Originally Posted by joe51

Crime is generally low in Florida, IF you stay out of the bad areas. For example, the west part of Orlando used to be called "Pine Hills", now it's simply called "Crime Hills". It's easy enough to get the police crime statistics but realtors often refuse to give them to prospective buyers and claim that they're "biased" or "profiling" or some other excuse but the truth is that they don't want you to know that you might be buying in a bad area. FWIW in my experience one of the best indicators of potential crime rate is the amount of rentals in a neighborhood.

But it's definitely true that Florida attracts some strange people!

Originally Posted by Roadie

I don't think the crime is that bad in most of FL. But the Miami area and south to Homestead the crime is high. I lived in Homestead and worked in the area for over 3 1/2 years in the 2010 through most of 2013 range and for the first time I decided to get a concealed carry permit. I never needed it but I thought I might on one occasion. I watched an interview with a Miami policeman on local tv and he said there were 58 gangs in Miami. He said the young guys from south of the border who belonged to gangs came and they continued the gangs there. During a celebration such as New Years, people come out of their homes in Miami and shoot their guns into the air instead of buying firecrackers. Occasionally someone is killed by the falling bullet. My friend and co-worker got a bullet hole in the hood of his car from a falling bullet when he left it parked outside close to the airport when he flew home over the holidays.
If you are ex-military like me, you don't have to take a firearms training class and I got my permit in less than 2 weeks.

In Homestead, you have to live in a gated subdivision or apt complex with security if you don't want your home burglarized on a regular basis. I also lived in the Crystal River Area on the Gulf side for a year and no such problems existed there.

Originally Posted by Roadie

Many drug dealers in Miami switched from smuggling and selling drugs to Medicare/Medicaid fraud because it paid as well and there was less chance of getting caught. Miami is the Medicare/Medicaid fraud capital.

Originally Posted by 05RedFX4

Or, and most likely, the general population is dumb enough to fall for it.

Back in 84, I spent the summer with my dad in Bradenton FL and it was brutal. I would never ever again set foot in that horrible state, It's worse than hell in the summer, and I lived in Phoenix for 3 years and was there in June 1991 when it hit 122 F as the official high temp for the day. It was closer to 140 on the streets and sidewalks that day.

Originally Posted by 05RedFX4

Phoenix is not bad in the summer, 105 feels like 80 here, it doesn't get uncomfortable until it gets above 110. Florida gets 100+ and still has the humidity like Ohio does. The downside is the population explosion, when I was there a lot of people were bailing out of LA bringing the crime with them. 80% of the population of Arizona lives in the Phoenix metro area, the rest of the state is mostly lizards and cactus. Unlike OH, AZ has only 15 counties, some of them are the size of Massachusetts. Here in Ohio you can drive across most counties in roughly 30 minutes, out there it may take you 3 hours.

I'm just west of Cleveland in the suburbs. When I retire, I would like to get out of Ohio myself, possibly go to Tennessee, it's far enough south to get mild winters, but far enough north that you still get a real four seasons.

I'm getting tired of the escalating crime here in the Cleveland area, and the cops are worse than the criminals. They are nothing more than thugs with badges. Remember the police chase in November of 12' when they fired 143 rounds at two unarmed people in a car killing both of them, one cop fired 49 times himself.

Then you have the idiots who try blame the cops for their own stupidity. The parents of Tamir Rice are trying to sue the city of Cleveland for killing their son who was playing with a toy gun (that had been modified to look real) out in a public park. When approached by the police and told to put his hands up, this dumb kid reaches for the gun in his waistband. Of course the cops are gonna shot first, ask questions later. IMHO the mother should be in jail for child endangerment. Why was the kid allowed to play unsupervised with a toy gun that was modified to look real out in public? This isn't 1955 anymore and this ain't mayberry, you don't go out on the streets and wave a gun around and not expect the cops to show up.

Originally Posted by Roadie

Check out Naples. I have been there a couple times and I was really impressed by the area. It's totally different from the east side of southern FL.

Originally Posted by Svets96

Hope everything works out well for you too when your ready for the big move.