moving need help please

[David Gianquitti]

I have to move due to my job and relocating to the hialeah florida area. Can anyone tell me a good location to live; I have a 6 year old and would like a kid friendly area with good schools. I don't mind traveling up to an hour. Well actually I do but it will be worth it for her.

I am pulling my hair out it is so expensive down there.:wacko:



Thanks all

 

[Chops]

Dave,

More info needed.

What is your target for housing?

Do you want to rent or buy?

Looking for quality schools?



Traffic in Dade County is a real ******, I strongly recommend Broward County for setting up home.



There are some nice places in S. Broward, but it really depends on how nice you want and school rating.

 

[Les]

I agree with Chops. I grew up in Miami and now live in Plantation, in Broward County. Hialeah is easily accessible with travel time taking from 45min. to an hour. Housing is very expensive here as are taxes and homeowners insurance. Due to the recent hurricanes, homeowners insurance is being increased over 70% from last year. Hialeah is primarily hispanic, so unless you speak spanish, you may have a difficult time communicating. So many rental properties have been converted to condos that apartments are more difficult to find but are available. I would probably recommend renting at first, until you get familiar with the area. If you come up with any specific locations, I'm sure either me, chops or others on this site will be glad to help you.........

 

[Wes Davis]

Do not move to Hialeah. I also suggest a nice rental in Coral Springs, Ft. Lauderdale, Deerfield, Pompano even Boca until you learn the area and see whats going on down here for yourself. No distance is too far here if you find a place with easy access to the Turnpike or Sawgrass. Try to avoid traveling I95 as part of your commute. Les is correct about home owners insurance. That is the business I am in and cost is currently out of control. Many people are going to loose their homes because of it. It is going to end up in the area of $5-6,000.00 per year average very soon.

 

[David Gianquitti]

Thanks guys I really appreciate the input. I have just been doing alot of research and agree with the coral springs, plantation and boca maybe even weston. I should have done the research before I agreed to go. It is going to cost me alot of money. I work for the USDA and unfortunatly I do not speak spanish so this is going to be fun! I used to live in central Florida about 12 years ago and very comftorable living. My house only cost me $58,000 3/2/2 brand new. Things have changed. I am going to rent at first. I don't think my family is actually going to like it. Thought about living in Naples but after some thought it is way too far.



Thanks again guys it is appreciated greatly!!

 

[Les]

You would probably enjoy living in Naples, however the drive across Alligator Alley is about 1 1/2 hours just on the alley.

 

[Chops]

Dave take a look at a large scale map. Plantation where Wes lives is nice, Sunrise, Pembroke Pines, Davie, these are areas that would be best to commute from. The further West the better, the closer you live to I-75 or Sawgrass Expressway the better. Stay away from I-95, FL turnpike, or the beaches. The traffic would send you packing.



Will you get a personal company truck? I see USDA white trucks around Sunrise/Plantation quite frequently.



Apartments run ~$700 - $800 for a 1/1 (I think, I don't rent) in a decent area. That should be a guide if you're looking for something bigger. 3/2 homes (condos) start ~300k.



Shoot me an email if you want more specifics, and leave the snowblower in Maine!

Also you'll need all summer clothes year round, forget the coats and ice scraper.



And I had this steak at this trendy place on Sample road, I got sick as a dog. I need to send you there.

 

[David Gianquitti]

Chop for you I will get right on it!! Can't say for sure but the person preparing that steak either cross contaminated it or he went potty and didn't wash his hands. The USDA trucks you see are from a different branch. possibly APHIS?? Unfortunatetly I use my own vehicle. I work in the food inspection I will be going to processing plants including caterers. I am going to put the snow blower as a front lawn ornament it will look good next to the pink flamingo I pulled up the ft lauderdale newspaper on the internet found some homes going to make a call Thurs. Going to try and get in that general area. Just so expensive. would like a house, not too crazy about the condo's, apt's may have to settle for a townhouse for now. I am still thinking of communting from naples!:wacko: should we keep the ice scrapers for the luv bugs. Thanks chop. I will send you an e-mail let you know how it turns out.

 

[J Piroth]

Dave G,



I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale and Coral Springs before moving to Tallahassee for college and staying here. If you can, take a hard look at a neighborhood in Coral Springs that's sandwiched between Copans Rd. (called Royal Palm in Coral Springs) and Sample Rd., with University Drive acting as its Western border.



My folks moved there in 1996 and just left to move up here two years or so ago. It's essentially a circular neighborhood with waterfront and non-waterfront single-family homes throughout the "circle" and apartments, townhomes, villas, etc. running around the outside. There's a school in the neighborhood (not sure if it's elementary or middle since my sister and I were both older when we moved there) and Coral Springs High is around the corner.



Unfortunately, housing prices in CS have boomed recently. (It was named the #1 place to live on the east coast by some publication a few years ago and people flocked there in droves.) My folks place was around $120K when they bought it, they sold it for around $300K two years ago and now Zillow.com has it listed at over $400K.



Good luck.

 

[Fudged Undies]

Dave, the only downside I see with living in the areas noted above would be traffic/travel times. What would your work hours be? Going south in the mornings and north in the afternoons are a miserable experience down here especially if hialeah is involved (depending on the area of hialeah) but hialeah in general is a disaster, even on a saturday afternoon.



It's a shame you aren't closer so you could take a trip down here and at least see the area you will be working around. If you will be working non-rushhour hours then the above stated areas would be pretty good, but traffic and construction never seem to end down here. I would seriously consider pembroke pines/Hallandale though I'm not certain how price friendly they will be.

 

[Craig Keller]

Dave,



Don't forget to check out the real estate section on eBay. You might find a good house there. Make sure the place you find is hurricane proof. Good luck.

 

[J Piroth]

Dave G,



Another thing occurred to me: See if your office is close to a Tri-Rail station. (Close enough to walk in Miami heat, that is.)



In general, public transportation in S. Florida sucks. However, for getting N-S, the Tri Rail train actually does a pretty good job. If your office is near a station and you can find a house fairly close to a station, you'll save a lot of time and gas money. My father in-law takes the Tri Rail from Boynton Beach to N. Miami every day and loves it.



If you've got to have your car at work, this may not help you, but if you can work something out (Get a Civic or something to keep at the office, for instance.) it may help you to live in a better area without killing your entire day commuting.

 

[J Piroth]

Oh, and one more thing...



WELCOME TO FLORIDA! [Broken External Image]:

 

[David Gianquitti]

Thanks for all your help. I am torn bewtween Boca/coral springs area and Naples.

It is hard without visiting. Piro I will need my car, I have to travel between 8 places I am an inspector and have a patrol assignment carrying all kinds of regulations, documents and a laptop. Good thought though. Originally was looking into Homestead but was told to stay away from there??? I am leaning towards Naples. It will be a long commute and hope it is worth it. I don't know gut instinct is telling me to go there. We probably will only stay here for a few years. Much too expensive for me.



Thanks again for the help

 

[Les]

Before you make your final decision, you may want to come visit and make the drive from Naples to Dade and Broward County. Naples in on the west coast and where you say you will work is the east coast. You will have at least a 90 min. commute before you even enter this area. Granted, I would rather live in Naples than Ft. Lauderdale, but the time involved and the price of gas, it could get expensive. Once you get off Alligator Alley (toll road), you will still have a 45min. to an hour drive to your destination. If there is an accident on the alley, they shut it down and you could be stuck for a couple of hours.

 

[J Piroth]

Dave G,



I'm with Les. Don't even think about making the Naples - Miami commute without trying it on for size first. That's a major haul, even if you hit NO traffic snags, which is incredibly unlikely. There are places in the Dade/Broward/Palm Beach area that are much closer and should be at least as affordable as Naples. Hell, you could live in the Keys and be closer than you'd be in Naples.

 

[Wes Davis]

Plus if in Naples you will be screwed by any hurricane warnings. They will either shut down the Alligator completely or limit it to one way traffic. Either way you will be stuck and thats only for a warning let alone if an actual hurricane hits.

 

[David Gianquitti]

Thanks guys. Naples is definelty out if I did Iwould have to give up my trac not ready for that. looking at boca