Moving to Florida - Not Sure I'm Ready

[Shawn Pixley]

Although you'd think that given the sunshine and the hot weather (lots of expensive air conditioning) that FL would be a paradise for solar installations but the power company has influenced the legislature and they have laws that discourage installation of solar. So check out the cost of electricity for whatever home you think of purchasing. Make the sellers give you a copy of their last 12 months of bills.

Mike

Florida recently lost a suit that restricted the use of sell back electricty to the grid from solar installations.

[Dana Decker]

its is hot here and the mosquitoes are bad but the worse thing is all the Northerners relocating here


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[Mike Henderson]

Florida recently lost a suit that restricted the use of sell back electricity to the grid from solar installations.

I went and goggled for news of that suit but can't find anything. Can you provide a pointer, please?

Mike

[Rick Potter]

As Ted said, if you are in a position to rent your current house, it would give you a back up plan.

I worked with several people who did just that, and were glad they did.

Rick Potter

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks for the support, and warnings! I have a fairly good idea what I'm getting into moving down there. My dad retired to West Palm Beach (where my SO's job is) in 1984 and we visited him 1-2 weeks every year until he passed in 1997. We've been there in the spring and in the dead of summer. I'm no stranger to the heat... or the no-see-ums.

One time we cruised up the ICW and did an overnight at Peck Lake. My son and I took the inflatable to the shore to explore the marine life in the mangroves. As we were leaving, we ran into a swarm of no-see-ums. They were ferocious! The water was too shallow to put the outboard down so I rowed furiously until we were deep enough to motor out and I raced back to the boat. I thought we lost them. It was hot that night and my dad decided to sleep in the cockpit. I got up early the next morning and saw him sleeping there. There were drops of blood all over his white pillow case. He said he was serving up breakfast for the no-see-ums. I HATE them!

And I know about screening in your patio or giving up being outside in the evening. My dad had a pool & patio that was screened in with a special anti-no-see-um screen. We were able to enjoy many evenings chatting out there. Step outside the screening and you got attacked. I describe a no-see-um as a gnat with the teeth and appetite of a piranha.

As to the house, I was looking forward to next spring when the new flowers and other things I planted this year will bloom. The yard is the best it's ever looked. What's really hard is I have a few last projects I need to finish (because they are half-done now) and doing that knowing I'll will never enjoy it is hard. The past weekend we laid paver base, sand and set about 1/3 of the flagstone needed to finish. Those pieces are from 20-50 pounds each and the heavy ones wipe me out for a good 5 minutes. Yesterday I had help but today everyone goes to work so I'm solo. I'm dreading it but it has to be done.

I just hope the new owners appreciate what we've done half as much as we do. Two homes is out of the question.

[Julie Moriarty]

I was so tired from three days of hard labor that after posting the above I plopped down on the couch and turned on the tube. The only time I do that is when I'm sick.

So what comes on the TV? Sinkholes. And what state are almost all the sinkholes in? Florida. Channel surfing, I hear some weather person say Florida hasn't been hit with a hurricane in 8 years. More channel surfing and I see someone sketch the Bermuda Triangle and one point seems to be touching West Palm Beach.

Should I take this as an omen?

[Julie Moriarty]

I went and goggled for news of that suit but can't find anything. Can you provide a pointer, please?

Mike

I did some research and found this:
http://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2012/...-you-wont.html

http://www.solarsouthwestflorida.com/tag/fpl/

http://www.fpl.com/residential/savin...ng/index.shtml

http://www.fpl.com/rates/pdf/electri..._section10.pdf

I only scanned the information but it looks like there is some controversy over the way it's being handled. I did find that all the applications for solar rebates from FPL are taken.

[ray hampton]

I may be wrong but the Keys are in Florida and the Keys reported about 400 waterspouts per year , Is hurricanes a straight-line wind or a swirling wind like a waterspout, you will learn to like the climate in Florida if you try

[Chris Padilla]

Florida...a nice place to visit.... However, I'm from Colorado and I don't deal well with the humidity levels from Kansas on moving east. Colorado on moving west is fine.

[Bill McNiel]

Julie,
Yes, I fully empathise with your situation. I have been working on the Barn (my home) since 1981 (I have done all the work myself. 90% of it by myself). Six years ago my wife and I bought a house on the creek in town that we planned to move to when I "retired". As it turns out we love the Barn and all the personal spaces (her office, 500 SF sewing loft, the shop, etc) that we have refused to move, continue to work on the Barn and rent out the Creek House. There are definately some major economic impacts (no mortage on the Barn which has a market value in excess of one million which would fund a remodle on the Creek House, travel and a very comfortable retirement) but the Barn has our hearts.

It sounds like you want to move but your home wants you to stay. A tough situation to say the least. My heart goes out to you but you do have all our respect for what you have accomplished. Bon chance!

[Belinda Barfield]

Julie,

I have been in your situation, sort of. I remodeled a house including gutting the kitchen, dividing a large laundry room into a laundry room and powder room, and several other smaller projects. Just about the time I had it juuust right, my husband decided he wanted to be with someone else (to phrase things in a nice way), and so we divorced. I think I honestly missed the house more than the husband. I chose to look at what was to come as a blank canvas and a new project, and as other saids, take the things I learned from the last remodel, both good and bad, and use them.

As for moving to Florida to spend more time outdoors, you may be a little disappointed. Florida, Georgia extended . . . High for Friday 101 with a heat index around 107 probably. Bugs, bugs, and more bugs. When it is cool enough to actually enjoy the outdoors, the sand gnats (AKA no-see-ums) are swarming - which you have already experienced. Mosquitoes year round. Bugs you can't even describe. Large flying roaches, but we call them Palmetto Bugs because that sounds so much nicer and this is the South, after all (Technically FLA is not part of the South). Get your hurricane kit together and your storage of supplies together first thing. On the positive side, you can go to the beach almost year round, and play golf year round. You can have a lovely vegetable and/or flower garden. Lots of birds and butterflies. You'll get to use your pressure washer frequently due to the humidity.

Welcome to the area, we're glad to have you.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I moved to a tropical island 14 years ago and am so glad I did. There were sacrifices to make- no malls (not nescessarily bad), hard to get wood and tools, milk $8 a gallon... But the reward is I wake up every morning and have coffee outside overlooking the harbor and watch sailboats and cruise ships come and go. I go diving, sailing, or some adventure all the time that some people save all their lives for. My point is not to brag, but rather that you have to make sacrifices in order to reap the rewards. What are you able to put up with in order to get what you want? Those folks up north warning you of hurricanes and bugs are forgetting that they sacrifice through cold winters and lack of water sports to live away from the things they warn of. In return they also have better access to spruce and cedar, which I envy, but I have local mahogany and lignum vitae that they may envy. In the end you have to enjoy the good and deal with the bad, no matter where you live.

W. Palm Beach is nice and you will love it. You will find a lot of tropical woods from S America are available once you find the right lumber yards. One thing- you need a BMW, Mercedes, or Porche or you just won't fit in there. (Haha- please don't be that person).

As as for me, I love my island life (swats mosquito).

[Julie Moriarty]

Thinking of moving south some time waaaaaaay into the future, we spent a week in late June traveling from Amelia Island to Jacksonville and then to Savannah and Charleston. Amelia Island was for a trip my SO won, Jacksonville to meet up with a couple we know who live on their sailboat and Savannah and Charleston to see if they should go on the list of possible places to move to, when that time comes.

The first thing that hit me about Savannah was how amazingly nice, and polite, the people in Savannah were. Living in Chicago all my life, this was so alien to me I had to pinch myself. The Historic District is gorgeous! Charleston was like halfway between Chicago and Savannah in lot of ways. Both made "the list".

But this was so far off in the future I looked at the time there as just a vacation. A young guy who used to work in my design team before I retired moved from Chicago to the Tampa area and found a job fairly quickly after they got there. He said he couldn't even get a reply from resumes sent while living in Chicago, but once they moved there, that all changed. So I figured we'd have to move before my SO found work in the new place and that meant a lot of time to hunt for a new place. I was wrong.

I've been trying to complete all the outdoor projects that need completing while the weather holds up and those last few areas that needed work are now beginning to look really beautiful. Now my muscles are so sore it's hard to sleep at night. I'll go postal if the new owners don't take care of this place! Maybe I should go into a corner and meditate.

[ray hampton]

My son home is in Florida , if you see me standing on 1-75 hitchhiking will you keep going , DO not pick me up

[Myk Rian]

Florida...a nice place to visit.... However, I'm from Colorado and I don't deal well with the humidity levels from Kansas on moving east. Colorado on moving west is fine.

Our daughter is in Littleton. Nice to get snow 1 day and have it melt the next. Not like here in Michigan where it snows one day,and stays until May.