Moving to Orlando. Need advice!

I did just move to lower Alabama right next to Florida and I am so excited for the 4th. The fireworks they sell down here are absolutely insane.

And at least there is no strange alcohol/no lottery laws over there like there is here.

Check the beaches out. The tourist season will have died down by the end of the month.

a reply to: bbarkow

Florida, both south and central, is a horrible place to live. Left after 7 years... get paid almost 50% more and cost of living is lower. Also don't have to constantly worry that some random perp is going to kill my family for some meth money.

a reply to: bbarkow

Though that's a bit too close to Yellowstone for my comfort.

I love Montana's land and people.

a reply to: BO XIAN

Eh... If Yellowstone blows, it'll eventually kill us all anyway.

As a Tampa-area native who went running north when the opportunity presented itself, my advice on moving to Florida in general (never mind Orlando, OMG, cesspit) is DON'T. The CoL is absolutely asinine, you'll end up trapped there. I've met so many people who moved down there, only to have a change of heart & wanted badly to leave but could not & still cannot afford to. The phrase "Black Hole State" popped up some years back. It's still applicable -- what goes in generally does not come back out without a fight. It's not an exaggeration by any means, that state sucks up every penny you have between high rents & high utilities. Even groceries were sticker shock in reverse when we left, it is so much cheaper to eat in the Great Lakes area.

And the climate is utter s#. There's nothing good about it. The majority of the year is boiling hot, with insufferably high humidity. Your A/C will run constantly for roughly 6 months, if not longer. That translates to huge electric bills for cooling. We honestly pay a lot less in winter heating costs than we did keeping the house cool (in the mid-80's, because it's not getting any cooler than that no matter what you try) in Florida.

I found a good tool for rents that, as far as I can tell for FL, is very accurate. The averages are right on target for all over FL. Type in the area, and you'll see what you're up against. Type in FL, redo the listing to go by High to Low for 2 beds, and ogle away. The cheap ones are in some OK areas, but many are holes, too. Rent where you want to go isn't going to be within your range, at least not unless you want to compromise & settle for sketchy/ghetto.
www.apartmentlist.com...

a reply to: bbarkow

I dwell in Flori-Duh and haven't had any issues besides an occasional SnowTurd w/their head up their arse. I'm about 1 hr. North of Orlando and about 19 min. from The Gulf of Mexico. I moved here from Ca. and paid 1/4 of what I would've paid in Ca. for My 1st house, I've since purchased a waterfront house w/a boathouse and use My Country Club home as a rental to pay for My "Affordable Healthcare"

Does Your Wife have nursing credentials? The reason I ask is My Wife is a Medical Records Director for a few hospitals and they are always looking for reliable nurses.

* I'd also not scoff at the "Communal Living" which was mentioned earlier, "a lot of hands make light work" this goes from doing the dishes to mowing the gnarly grass that grows and GROWS..

Boston Lobster does an excellent "All-You-Can-Eat" and have an 'Early Bird' that is outstanding!! My pb is 9 lobsters..

It's unfortunate that 90% of the comments about the local area are all negative. Living in central FL can be challenging for some professions or if you're looking for work, but it's not universally horrible for everyone here. For those of us who are retired, disabled, or who need decent medical facilities for other reasons, Orlando isn't that bad with the #2 and #7 hospitals in the US both here in Orlando.

a reply to: ReprobateRaccoon
Dude, you can't just focus on "But we have a good hospital!" alone. That's kinda sweeping all the crucial drawbacks to folks on a one-earner income right under the rug. You mentioned your own house is expected to fetch you four thousand a month as a rental. You also glossed over the climate ("The summers are fine as long as you never have to go outside of an air conditioned area") That kind of stuff is touching on what potential n00bs to FL need to know to expect, not "pretty beaches!" and "don't have to shovel snow!" or "we have a great hospital!"

originally posted by: Nyiah
a reply to: ReprobateRaccoon
Dude, you can't just focus on "But we have a good hospital!" alone. That's kinda sweeping all the crucial drawbacks to folks on a one-earner income right under the rug. You mentioned your own house is expected to fetch you four thousand a month as a rental. You also glossed over the climate ("The summers are fine as long as you never have to go outside of an air conditioned area") That kind of stuff is touching on what potential n00bs to FL need to know to expect, not "pretty beaches!" and "don't have to shovel snow!" or "we have a great hospital!"

FWIW, I'm a (twice) retired, physically disabled woman. Outside of resources, my situation probably isn't too far off from that of the OP.

20 years ago a "we have good hospitals" comment would have caused me to roll my eyes too. Today, it's one of the most important factors in deciding where to live. If you live with health issues and are disabled, accessibility to medical care becomes a very big issue. If you need regular treatment, having good care within a short distance can be a very big thing. When I suffered a widowmaker heart attack last year and my overall chances of survival hovered at less than 10%, having a world class cardiologist available at 3am on a Sunday morning was the difference between me posting this and being a statistic calling out from six feet under. For me, health care is VERY important. I'm sorry you disagree.

20 years ago, the heat outside was a real factor in my comfort, and leaving the house in the humidity was sometimes miserable. Being disabled, I no longer have the ability to leave my home without assistance. Like many disabled people, I spend 99% of my time at home, in air conditioned spaces, so the weather isn't such a large factor anymore. If you only left the house once of twice a month, do you think that weather would be as huge a factor for you?

I think that I share many similarities with the OP, with the exception of living accommodations. I can't help much there because my situation is different, so all I can do is try to provide accurate information based on my knowledge. I shared what my homes rent for in various parts of town to be used as a very rough reference. I'm sorry for doing so now, because some of you obviously feel that my statements were borne in arrogance rather than a desire to provide reference.

Regardless of where you and I disagree, the matter remains that the OP is considering a move to this area, and there are some (what I consider to be) rather significant factors that I think should be considered outside of just "Florida sucks."

Thanks for all the help so far.

Yeah, I'm fully aware that the weather is going to suck. I'm seriously hoping I can acclimate. I did two years in North Dakota and acclimated to six months of hard winter, so I should be able to do this.

I'll check out the apartment finder tool.

I've also been checking Craigslist, and there are (now, at least) some small houses for rent in our range - or just slightly out.

As far as hospitals, that is somewhat important to me. While I'm fairly mobile, I have a lot of issues to keep an eye on.

I also found this map which will be really helpful.

Here's the map

You can put it side by side with Google maps, then just line up the highways to see what a neighborhood might be like.