Relocating to Florida...which city should I pick?

[RaginCajun]

So many things to consider, despite the market and current nationwide financial crisis. Yeah, I'm trying to take advantage of a strong market in the Houston area and a depressed market elsewhere. If I time things right (yes IF) I figure that I could sell high and buy low, then sell high when it's time to move back to Houston.

The biggest draw to the panhandle is the proximity to relatives and the ability to drive back & forth to Louisiana for work, holidays, good food, etc if necessary. Besides, I've been to Panama City Beach a few times already and it seems like a nice area and I've enjoyed the diving. However, since Southwest flies from Ft Lauderdale to NOLA & Houston often and cheaply, that's an attractive option too.

I'll tell ya that SE Florida was somewhat of an afterthough in that it was doable since FLL is a Southwest hub, but given everyone's input here about the diving I'm beginning to think I was nearly lead astray. I always thought that Atlantic diving was cold & deep, but I have a lot to learn I can see. Nothing a few dive trips uggh I mean house hunting trips won't fix.

 

[I Dive]

I always thought that Atlantic diving was cold & deep, but I have a lot to learn I can see. Nothing a few dive trips uggh I mean house hunting trips won't fix.

If this is what you think of South Florida and the Keys, you definitely need to take a vacation down there! Yeah, it can be deep if you want to dive deep, but there are some amazing dives in incredibly shallow or moderately shallow water. On my last trip down there, some of my dives included a gorgeous reef at 25 feet in Key Largo, a great wreck at 80 feet off Miami Beach, and a 110 foot wall dive off of Homestead, jjust to give you a little idea of the variety of diving down there. Cold? There were times I felt my 3 mil was too thick...

 

[sportxlh]

Ragin: I moved to WPB last year. This is a great area, but not cheap compared to other areas of the southeastern U.S. Broward County (Ft Lauderdale) is not cheap either. However, with the housing crisis, overbuilt condo and townhome projects, foreclosures, etc. etc. you can find places that are a lot closer to your purchase price parameters than you might think given the stratospheric prices from a couple of years ago. And I am talking about places in decent areas. Check out Zillow.com and don't be afraid to make low ball offers. With all the speculators and 'investors' who are having cash flow problems, there is plenty of housing inventory on the market. As long you don't fall in love with one particular home, you can just keep making low ball offers on various houses, townhomes or condos until you find a motivated seller.

Until we completed a major restructure at my office located in West Palm Beach last year, I had a number of young single people working for me that had moved to FL from elsewhere. By in large, they preferred the Ft Lauderdale area over WPB: I guess it has a better singles scene (which does not matter to me since I am married) and far fewer gray hairs per capita. Ft Lauderdale is also nicely located: quick drive south to Key Largo (which is great diving), quick drive north to drift diving in WPB (which is also great diving) and many beach and wreck dives right in Broward (no experience on my part but I understand that it is world class).

One other place to check out: St. Lucie County. It has been particularly hard hit by the housing crisis and has a huge number of new but unoccupied homes (however, the condo inventory is pretty small). I don't know if the diving is good in the area, but it only takes 45 minutes to get to Jupiter and WPB for diving. St. Lucie County and Port St Lucie are sort of sleepy bedroom communities, but if that floats your boat, prices are down significantly from a few years ago (Centex was advertising single family detached homes for $109,000 in St. Lucie County a month or two ago)

Good Luck with your search

 

[stinggirl]

I'm considering relocating to Florida and I'm trying to pick the right location to live. Naturally since I'm a Scuba Boarder, I'm a dive nut and want a place near good diving.

Here are my criteria:

I'll be working a 2 week on 2 week off schedule. Kind of like being on vacation 6 months out of the year--I know. My work location is near New Orleans Louisiana, so the place should be within a ~4-6 hr drive or have an airport with cheap regular flights since I'll be going to/from there once every 2 weeks. The Southwest hubs are: Tampa, Ft Myers, Ft Lauderdale, W. Palm Beach & Jacksonville.

So far I've narrowed it down to Panama City Beach and West (taking the drive option) or possibly Ft. Myers & Ft. Lauderdale taking the fly option.

I've been diving in Panama City Beach a few times and much prefer it to Destin. I've never been diving in S. Florida so I definitely don't know what I'll be missing.

Since I'm not a Rockefeller affordable housing is key. If I can get a 3 BR in a decent area for under $250k I think the MRS would be happy. I also plan to buy a boat to dive the near shore stuff, say <30 miles? If I could really swing it I'd love a house with canal access to diving, but so far in the Panama City Beach area those homes were closer to $300k

How bout it? If you were in my shoes where would you move to? I figure living in Florida with my schedule is kind of like living on vacation.

Have you considered Tampa or St.Pete, Clearwater?