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one of gods prototypes
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Orlando florida
Posts: 9,741
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ok....here we go........
the wife and i moved to florida 3 years ago. we both lived in the cleveland area for all our lives...we were sick of winters and needed a warmer climate.....
we had gotten married on the beach in wilmington n.c. oct of '07......honeymoon at disney (she would always say how she wanted to go back there so i gave it to her).....
in the same 2 locations we were also gathering local info and doing research for the future move, central florida had more opportunities (seemingly)......
so the following spring we came to orlando to do some reconnaissance, i found a job, house (rent), etc (but was in ocala.....don't move there......we call it SLocala for a reason).....went home, 3 weeks later i was on my way with the moving truck, the wifey came down a month later........
what i learned is there is VERY little opportunity in ocala/gainesville unless you are in the medical field or law enforcement, the guy i moved down here to work for ended up hamstringing me, false pretenses, etc.....screwed me big time, i'm still recovering.......
anyway i walked away from that situation feb of 2010 (when i got my p-car wrenching gig) and moved to the orlando area (celebration first, now in winter springs).....
the MOST IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind about orlando when deciding where to live, the demographics are nothing like up north, one block/neighborhood may be all 1/2 million dollar houses, and the next strait up ghetto......most everything is also HOA controlled....so keep that in mind, that combined with the cost of insurance makes florida the place to RENT.....period, there are alot of houses in forclosure and many have been on the market for years since the bubble first burst.....so do your homework if you plan to buy.....i'd rent for the first year or so before buying to learn the areas.......
there are actually very good public schools in the orlando suburbs, but they are few.......
no state tax.......expect a 17% increase (approx) because of that, but keep in mind people don't generally like to pay here, most places are offering people with bachelor degrees 9-10/hr.......so it's going to depend on your field, the theme parks don't pay squat fyi unless you're high corporate/operations manager.....
the gulf coast and atlantic will be an hour away......
so my biggest piece of advice.......find a job first, locals tend to not like transplants....so keep that in mind......
and secondly, (and don't take this the wrong way locals) the general population here is lazy...poor work ethic....selfish......and they cant drive.......
sorry for the ramble....there's more i'm sure.....but i did EXACTLY what you are thinking, this place has changed in the past 5 years......so use current opinions/local knowledge.....
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