nando820

Or at least thats the plan.

Partially inspired by "Alan Smithee" thread about holding onto material things it made realize how I have been holding on to things myself. Throughout the last few years i have build my perfect home theater/studio and I'm proud of it but I realize I will be happier with people and family more. And now that I have a son its just makes more sense to be close to family

Spent the whole night talking to the wife and yeah we will probably take a big pay cut, downsize at least at the beginning but here we go to start a new adventure

Now my question to people that live close to family/parents/inlaws what are the pros and cons

And to Floridians what are the pros and cons

My soon to be gone setup

Ranger

Where in Florida?

Pros: no income tax, no sales tax on food but not prepared food like McDs. No Amazon sales tax - yet. No matter where in FL, you won't be more than 60 miles form the beach.

Cons: lizards and bugs. Auto/homeowner insurance high in south Florida.

nando820

Miami area

Rockmjd23

This really came about because of the Alan Smithee thread? I wouldn't make life-changing decisions over threads on DVDTalk.

Xiroteus

DVD Talk's Guide To Life

SlartyBart

Con: your son will grow up a Floridian and end up in the news for doing something stupid.

** Your center speaker is way too high; when your screen is lowered is the center speaker actually behind it? And are those surround speakers pointing into the back of the couch and being used to prop up the projector? Where are your cat scratching posts? Out of picture?

RichC2

Pro:
- Weather is pretty great for about 200 - 250 days a year, the other 115 - 165 days can rot in hell.
- Beaches, sure the waves aren't great, but I'm a big fan of being near the ocean
- Flip flops and shorts
- No income tax
- Housing is, comparatively, cheap. Though it is rising quickly
- Your first few years will be spent hitting up tourist attractions: Disney (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM studios), Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Boardwalk/Downtown Disney), Universal (Studios, Islands of Adventure), Busch Gardens, South Beach, Key West/The Keys in general, etc; Epcot is worth the annual pass if you have young ones, they see neat things, you get ridiculous amounts of international beer.
- Cheaper than San Diego

Cons:
- There's a lot of weird
- All the cities are really spread out
- Insects.
- The weather is bipolar.
- It's so ridiculously flat, you don't notice until you take a long drive and everything looks exactly the same.
- It isn't San Diego

nando820

No thats what I said "partially" its an idea I been toying with for some time now, his thread was just the final drops to say u know what i been mindlessly buying shit i don't even need when i could actually be creating memories with loved ones

DVD Polizei

That's what the MH370 airline pilot said to the other pilot.

Supermallet

Well you'll certainly get more sunny days than in Seattle.

nando820

I do worry bout that

Yeah the center is behind the screen when it comes down.
No those speakers are not wired I just used them as temporary support for the projector

Ranger

Lots of nice hotels - it's like you don't have to leave town for a quick vacation.

Florida resident passes for the theme parks. Man, people are just getting raped on the tourist regular ticket prices.

RichC2

Also, moving from Seattle to Florida, I don't think you're going to have to downsize all that much. A lot less goes a lot further down here.

Ranger

A lot of jobs in Miami and other parts expect you to know Spanish.... Not saying you have to learn, but it helps. Most Hispanics speak English just fine though.

mapasu

Technically, Miami is not Florida. And so is Tallahassee, more Georgia. Hope you like humidity and stinky sun smelling folks. It ain't like CSI:Miami.

PhantomStranger

Yep, this is how most residents view the state. Miami is in its own little Latin American bubble, while the Panhandle area is really a part of the Deep South.

I was once offered a professional job in Miami but they were going to require I had to learn Spanish.

TomOpus

I lived in Florida for four years and never got acclimated to the humidity. Good god it was horrible. Unless you like taking 3 showers a day.

And you know there's a bug problem when they sell bug insecticides at the concession stand.

Jacoby Ellsbury

RichC2 covered most of the pros and cons. Im in Central FL after living my first 30 years in Mass. Been here now 7 years. I couldn't afford to live in MA, nor would I want to. I've been back a couple times and it's just so much worse in comparison. The food is better, I have friends and family there, but everything else as a whole is better down here, oh except the schools, those are pretty terrible too. FL is so huge though and it's completely different in so many areas. There's a ton of farm/country areas. You expect palm trees, beach and orange groves everywhere, but I live in basically the country where I am.

You hear a lot about how cars last a long time down here because no salt on the roads. Well my best tip for living down here is get either a white or silver vehicle. Gold possibly will work as well. The sun eats eats eats black paint, I have a dark blue vehicle and am getting some fading, I've seen it on maroon vehicles as well. My neighbor has a 20+ year old white Toyota Tercel. It looks brand new.

HVAC techs, mechanics and some other trades will try to swindle you. There are people who will work for cheap. I have a guy cutting my 1/3 acre yard for $15. I've had a $300+ bill for an after hours HVAC repair that took 20 minutes. I've had other issues with other HVAC companies. Get recommendations from other people on these type of services. There are a ton of crooks down here. Another horrid example is a local dentist. He was gassing kids up. He'd gas them up and then go have them wander off to some waiting room by themselves while the gas took effect. He actually killed one girl, they performed CPR revived her and then released her to her parents without ever telling the parents what actually happened. Other dentists have drilled teeth without cavities in them.
Most of the doctors down here don't know how to diagnose anything as well. There's some good hospitals but for the most part, healthcare down here is 3rd world.

nando820

I think that's my biggest worry, losing my work insurance and getting low grade medical care

RichC2

Doctors vary, do your research and do not just go for conveience and you'll be fine. Finding a female doctor at a primary care associated with a respectable hospital is the best way to go and there's always the Mayo Clinic which is great if your insurance covers it. (For major things). Read reviews for dental places. There's excellent care all over, but there are just as many shit shacks as well, exploiting the poor and retired.

But I have noticed in FL that most women doctors listen and will get you diagnosed correctly, many male doctors will treat you like cattle.

Nick Danger

How are Florida real estate prices? They saw some of the biggest price increases in the 2000s. Did it go up again after the bubble burst? I know that Florida has some of the toughest house construction codes in the country, which makes everything more expensive.

RichC2

Florida is comparatively affordable, depending on what area you're living in. But it seems, to me at least, to be appreciating again.

There are a ton of homes around here that are $80 - $130k (1000 - 1300 sq ft), $150k - $200k (1500 - 2100 sq ft), $210k - $260k (2200 - 2300 sq ft, generally w/ pool) and $300 - $350k (2400 ft+ w/ pool). Depends of course on city, and area inside the city.

Seems to carry over pretty well for a lot of the state, save for higher profile areas and waterfront. The home my parents bought was built in 2001 for about $210k, in 2007 right before the bubble burst it was worth $600k, it's now averaged out to around $350k (half acre lot in a very nice community). And because of that massive hike in '07, Florida also has a large number of foreclosures still for sale.

Jacoby Ellsbury

House prices haven't recovered here. I paid $165K for my home in late 2006. It's worth $90K according to the zillow email I got last night. It's a stucco/cinderblock home from 1997, 1537 sq ft under air, plus I have another florida room that is about 150' plus a 2 car garage on 1/3 of an acre. The thing with houses where I live is that there is so much vacant land here that there is constantly new construction or at least the ability to build whenever you want. Once a house is 10 years old it loses a ton of value. When I lived in Mass, you had plenty of homes that were 100-200 years old on .06 acres or so and no room to build new. Severe penalties for foreclosures here too, if you foreclose you still have to pay, there's no "walking away" like in some other states. Yet we still have one of the highest foreclosure rates each year.

RichC2

I think it depends on where you are. My buddy was foreclosed on, they paid him $4000 to call it square and walk away, and they wrote it off as a deed in lieu of. He was way underwater on it as well.

Why So Blu?

I like your music studio.