Anyone here from North West Florida? learning about what areas to move to...

[YeOldeStonecat]

At first I was in love with south west Florida...or mid to south west. From Saratoga...south. LOVE Siesta Key and Holmes Beach area...but yeah expensive. And...holy traffic!!! Started liking Ft Myers and Cape Coral areas at first....but unsure about stability of that region. Still haven't written it off.

South East coast...too dense...traffic jams. But...from say.....Jupiter...north...Palm Coast, St Augustine, Amelia Island....I'm just getting into exploring those areas.

Anyone from here in those area that can toss in some input?
Looking for an area that is <1 1/2 hours more like < 1 hour from an airport that I can do a direct from from Providence RI airport to. An area to purchase a small home or condo in...to use ourselves a few times and year and rent out the rest of the year. Get a foothold down there for 5 or more years...and then find a home for ourselves.

 

[glricht]

What kind of "stability" are you referring to? Economic? Weather?

My wife's from Ft Myers and we have two sons and their families there, one in N. Ft Myers and one in Cape Coral, so we go there quite often. From an economic viewpoint, the place is growing -- along with traffic issues. From a weather perspective (e.g. hurricanes), there's no "safe" place in Florida!

 

[mr m]

Ever since Hurricane Andrew, insurance costs and condo fees have skyrocketed so be sure to check those figures before signing on the dotted line.

My M-I-L was forced to sell her tiny 90K condo in N Miami because of the rising fees albeit she was on a fixed income.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

By stability...I mostly refer to economy. I also am aware of "boom towns" that died, were poorly rushed built. I did hear about (and saw) some areas of Cape Coral where developers rush built many neighborhoods...poorly planned...and with barely a 25% occupancy rate..lots of neighborhoods have homes that were never completed. Unkept. Looking like detroit neighborhoods. And no local towns to support them.

Was looking at a hotel condo in Pink Sands resort in north Ft Myers Beach.

Familiar with flood insurance and rising costs of coastal living...I'm buried in that up here too. Guess that's why I'm looking more towards north east FL lately..the Jax area hasn't really been hit by a major hurricane in....many decades.