Clearwater

I was recently in Florida for a week long corporate off-site event. A few of the local employees are trying to recruit me to relocate to there. I wonder what the attraction is? It certainly wasn't the "You can pick up a nice place, that has already been rehabbed, for only $600k-$700k." Yikes!

You can boat 365 days/year

Snow shovel are not sold there

Did you get to St. Pete or just stay in CLW?

Beautiful area, beautiful climate, beautiful water. We're on our way there now.

As to cost of living, it's a matter of comparison. If you're talking waterfront Clearwater vs. Lincoln, Nebraska then expensive, but if you're talking suburbs of Tampa vs midtown Manhattan, then it's cheap.

We use to do something for persons considering relocation to our area. That was to engage a realtor to spend 1/2 day showing them around town. The rules were no attempts to sell them a home, because we advised renting initially until they knew the area. Instead it was to sell them on the area, to show them different neighborhoods and different price ranges. The realtor would then benefit much later but amazing how many homes they sold to our employees.

I'd suggest, if you're seriously considering it, you contact a realtor, tell them exactly your situation, that you might never move there, but would like to be shown so you could get a feel for what you could afford and where you might want to live. The first one you contact might say no, but you'll find someone more than willing to take the chance.

Oh, I was just joshing. I know the attraction, just can't afford the ticket of $600k-$700k if I want to retire any time soon. I live on the water now, the Chesapeake for half that. It ain't Florida, but it ain't bad either. This is the view from my deck ... and my "office."

bayview said:

Did you get to St. Pete or just stay in CLW?

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Just Clearwater Beach. I was trapped in a conference room and evening events from 8AM to 8PM. My wife hung out at the pool! But we did tack on a few extra days after the conference. I'm starting to peel from the sunburn now.

Beautiful area. Yeah, I'd live there if I could.

BaltimoreLurker said:

Oh, I was just joshing. I know the attraction, just can't afford the ticket of $600k-$700k if I want to retire any time soon. I live on the water now, the Chesapeake for half that. It ain't Florida, but it ain't bad either. This is the view from my deck ... and my "office."

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Yes, you should only pay half price. You only have half the season. lol

Let's see-no state income tax, no snow, year round boating, marinas everywhere, great fishing, great scuba/snorkling, Bahamas for the weekend, did I mention no state income tax.

I live 15-20 minutes north of Clearwater. Homes are a fraction of that.

BandB said:

Yes, you should only pay half price. You only have half the season. lol

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Bahaha! Good one.

BaltimoreLurker said:

Oh, I was just joshing. I know the attraction, just can't afford the ticket of $600k-$700k if I want to retire any time soon. I live on the water now, the Chesapeake for half that. It ain't Florida, but it ain't bad either. This is the view from my deck ... and my "office."

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As someone who lives on the W coast of FL, yes the year-round boating is nice, but many days I’d kill to see waterfront like in your picture, with that many other boaters out.

Was just there last week. Beautiful weather and no riff-raff. Go Phillies!

High Wire said:

Was just there last week. Beautiful weather and no riff-raff. Go Phillies!

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Wifey B: How can you say no riff-raff and Phillies in the same post?

Although I'm not talking baseball with our new owners giving away every decent player they had. I refused to go to the Marlins games before and sure as heck won't go now.

ddalme said:

Let's see-no state income tax, no snow, year round boating, marinas everywhere, great fishing, great scuba/snorkling, Bahamas for the weekend, did I mention no state income tax.

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High sales tax on most things except food, bad traffic, boat ramp parking full by 9 am on weekends and holidays, hot, high humidity, land that is dead flat, bugs, snorkeling that is so-so, slip waiting lists that are years long, relatively high crime rate. What's not to like?

I've heard that property taxes can be pretty high, not as high an NJ, but higher than most places. Got to make up for no income tax somehow.

I've spent way more time in FL over the last 20 years than I ever thought I would (many months/year for work). So far it hasn't grown on me.

We moved to Pembroke Pines, Florida from Annapolis, Maryland. The lower cost of living over Maryland, and the better, weather, was a slam dunk, decision wise.

(Then, we moved to Mississippi, even better cost of living, but not quite as nice weather).

I live just south of Clearwater and been in the Tampa/St. Pete area for most of my life.... and I'm staying. We have out goods and bads, just like a lot of places. I don't like winter, so this works.

Yes, property is expensive on the water, and taxes are rather high, too. Traffic is a mess, especially this time with the snow birds.

Clearwater Beach is just too crowded for me, and I just quit going there.

But the water is great and one can avoid a lot of traffic with a little planning.

There are very nice condos in Gulfport FL that can be had in the $120-$200K range .

Rental slips available with a 1 block walk..

Yes traffic is avoidable with planning, but even the bad traffic is less than what it is in Ct.
And I'm paying easily $5K less in property tax here than in Ct.

We keep our boat in Clearwater, love the area.


Previous boat we kept on the East coast of Florida, between Fort Lauderdale and Miami.


Its all about personal preference, we like the west coast so much more. A friend of mine used a term "Urban boating" to describe Dade and Broward counties.

FootballFan said:

A friend of mine used a term "Urban boating" to describe Dade and Broward counties.

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Wifey B: Fort Lauderdale is where the action is. Boating capital. I prefer living here but I love the west coast too. More of everything in FLL and MIA, which is either good or bad depending on what you like. I like it. We don't urban boat much because we run outside. A trip to MIA is out of Port Everglades and in at Government Cut, then you're on South Beach.

All larger cities are just like larger cities elsewhere. Go north from FLL and Jupiter is like a rural town by comparison. Go 15 miles out of Clearwater and a whole different vibe. Someone mentioned Gulfport, FL, a little gem. Friends who live in Sarasota and wouldn't think of living anywhere else. Actual natives. We talk about moving from Charlotte NC but we didn't live in Charlotte. We lived on Lake Norman and all lived either in Cornelius or Huntersville or Davidson. Very confusing. Might be in one town according to the post office, electric and water and sewer from another and according to the phone company you're in another. Neighbor's friends never could get neighbor's phone number through directory assistance as they never guessed it would be listed in a town miles away. Hubby grew up in the middle of Charlotte but I never lived there.

From FLL you can go 10 miles to Pompano and find waterfront homes for less than half. Same thing around Clearwater.

I was a Florida resident for 35 years and it was ok back in the sixties and seventies then everyone decided it was a great place to retire and then.............

HiDHo said:

I was a Florida resident for 35 years and it was ok back in the sixties and seventies then everyone decided it was a great place to retire and then.............

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Paradise lost!

HiDHo said:

I was a Florida resident for 35 years and it was ok back in the sixties and seventies then everyone decided it was a great place to retire and then.............

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I just found some research and projections of growth. I see South Florida growing about 5% by 2020 and another 7% by 2025. Well, sounds bad, except as owners of some businesses I'm ok with it.

For those interested, here's a link to projections by county.

https://www.bebr.ufl.edu/population...da-population-county-2020–2045-estimates-2016

Don't forget hurricane insurance. I hear its not cheap either.

ssobol said:

Don't forget hurricane insurance. I hear its not cheap either.

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You hear? From who? You might be surprised. I had a friend who every time her moved his car insurance jumped. Charlotte was because of the big city and accidents. Chattanooga was because of theft and being a chop shop capital. Mississippi was because of windshield breakage due to farm equipment putting gravel and rocks on the road. So he moved to NYC knowing it would go up. No, went down as he was in a secured garage and didn't use it to drive back and forth to work.

We were expecting outrageous property insurance and boat insurance costs and we're only paying marginally more. Actually paying less for property insurance living on the ICW than people I know living on the coast of NC and only a small amount extra on boats.

I do need to add one caution on homeowners insurance. Flood insurance is very dependent on the zones and you need to check on a specific property as one block can make a big difference. Also, construction, walls, windows, doors and roof are important. A big difference between homes built to current Miami-Dade standards and those not. A friend replaced all his windows and doors and paid for them in less than two years from insurance savings plus had huge electricity savings.

I went to University of Tampa and am an avid Philadelphia Phillies fan so I have spent considerable time in Clearwater. I vacation there every Spring. It is a wonderful area with fantastic beaches, great restaurants, and in good proximity to Tampa which has much to offer. Given the chance, I would move to Clearwater in a heartbeat.

Scientology Headquarters!!! lol plus original Frenchys Resaurant!

ddalme said:

Let's see-no state income tax, no snow, year round boating, marinas everywhere, great fishing, great scuba/snorkling, Bahamas for the weekend, did I mention no state income tax.

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You will need an extremely fast boat to do the Bahamas from Clearwater on a week end.