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Random Quote: Measure it w/ a micrometer, mark it w/ a crayon, cut it w/ an axe.
Sounds like a great scenario. My 2 cents. .I am from west central, florida. Palm Harbor/Clearwater area to be exact. I have lived in Atlanta, and the Bay area for a short period. You can get a 4/2 on a nice canal for in between 250k-400k. Around here for 700k you can have open Gulf.
As far as the heat, you will acclimate in less than one year. The bugs well, give me a break. Its not that bad. A few alligators on the course if you golf but other than that, your fine. Take your pick along the Florida coastline. Most Floridians I know are having a blast living here! Economy here is suspect, schools are crap, but we make the best of it.
I hear good things about Charleston, Savannah, and NC. Havent had a chance to fish or boat out there too much.
www.njtransit.com/ and panynj.gov are 2 companies that service NJ. The first one NJT offers both extensive bus and rail service. The second I work for. we are considered a commuter rail line and go as far west as Newark NJ east into Jersey city and Hoboken and then NYC. We ride approx. 1/4 million passengers a day.
Something you should no about NJ also is it gets hotter here then in Fl. and it does get humid also. being out on the water makes it all worth while but we have more 95-100 degree days here then Fl.
...............Something you should no about NJ also is it gets hotter here then in Fl. and it does get humid also. being out on the water makes it all worth while but we have more 95-100 degree days here then Fl.
Not so sure about all that, but I'll take your word for it. NJ definately gets a heck of a lot less 90 degree days than FL... AND most importantly, NJ never gets 80 degree days in Dec, Jan, Feb or Mar...
Not so sure about all that, but I'll take your word for it. NJ definately gets a heck of a lot less 90 degree days than FL... AND most importantly, NJ never gets 80 degree days in Dec, Jan, Feb or Mar...
From mt research (trying to convince the Mrs.) I found that the highest recrded temp. in Tampa is something like 97. It hits the 100 degree mark at least a few times every few years in NJ.
No question that Fl. is more consistant with the long hot ones, just saying that we for some ungodly reason top out consistantly higher then Fl.
Our hot summer days are usually confined to July and Aug. with some 90's in Late June and early Sept. After that we cool to more tollerable temps.
And yes gotta love those 70-80 degree days Fl. offers in Dec.
Well there is a lot to think about and research. Thanks all for your comments. Much appreciated. Right now I am going to research the whole NJ thing and see how that pans out. I like the idea of being within commute distance to Manhattan, just in case I need it for work in the future.
Dont know if anyone mentioned Savannah, city has great culture abundant waterfront living and an Intl airport. I am not in your shoes but if I was I would put Savannah and Charleston on your list.
Check out the Beaufort, SC area. I have been looking at property down there (though not in your price range) and there are some killer deals. I found a 1.5 acre lot just across the street from a deepwater creek with a boat slip for $140,000.
Savannah airport has very limited service. Basically you have to go to Asomeone's hub to really get anywhere. I had to use it for awhile when we were having the boat worked on in Thunderbolt. http://www.savannahairport.com/airlines/airlines/ Charleston is a little better.
That being said, we really love Savannah, beautiful town, great boating. It is on our short list of places we might settle down when I don't need to travel as much. I haven't spent enough time in Charleston to form an opinion, but various people we know who have moved there say it is very hard for outsiders to "accepted" there. It is certainly charming, with a lot to do, and also a great boating venue. Both Savannah and Charleston get very muggy during the summer, even with the ocean proximity. We don't mind that so much, but we like the south Florida winters better, ourselves.
Well, if you want to be within a 60 minute commute of Manhattan the south shore of Long Island New York is loaded with canal front homes in a wide range of prices. Anywhere from Babylon west will put you within 60 minutes or so of Manhattan on the Long Island Rail Road. Not really any difference in boating season length or winters from here to NJ.
My wife and I have actively looked between Largo and Islamorada... before deciding that the keys is probably not for us (we have not 100% ruled it out yet)... the problem is -- at least from what I see, that it is too spotty -- you'll have a $2M home right across from a trailer. The houses on the water tend to be very nice, and if you live on a street where the houses have water on one side, and not on the other -- you end up in a spotty situation.
(PM me if you know an area where this isn't the case)
--
From here we started to look more from around East of Coral Springs and South down to Miami... in these areas you can find LOTS of distressed sales and some very good deals. You won't get a nice view for $500K, but you can get water that isn't too far from an inlet for around $500K if you really look hard and don't mind putting $50K into it to clean it up.
The last problem with Florida (for us) is that I categorically will NOT live in a HOA community. No way - No how - Not EVER. So that limits the pool a little -- especially in FL where a lot of a nicer places are nice for that exact reason, the HOA makes it such, it is a double edge sword, however.
I'd consider going a little more North, my wife has family in that area, so I would rather not go more than about an hour North. I also don't want to get too much cooler. I'm a hot-weather animal. :D
Don't know if any of that helps... but this thread is right out my own head. We've been looking to leave NJ for a few years now, and I'm in the line of work where I can live anywhere in the 48 states.
I know we need to get to some of these places and see for ourselves, but just wanting this thread to maybe give us a few pointers on where to start, which it has done.
I still like the FL idea, but the Admiral isn't so keen.
Any places in NJ that are 500k-750k for canal front and less than 60mins to Manhattan by public transport?
Right now prices are the lowest in 10 years!
I don't think you would have a problem finding a lagoon front home in that price range, the only problem is if you are considering working in New York, anything south of Bayville might be too far, rail service ends in Bayhead but bus service seem to be the most used method from Ocean County up.
I made the commute to NY for years from Ocean County, i drove to Metro Park [Edison] then boarded a train to Penn Station, its expensive between gas, parking and train fare, i did it that way because it was the fastest for me, plus i worked for Amtrak so the train fare was free.
Some towns taxes are much higher then others on the water, NJ just did a reassessment and some went up some went down, mine went down, the local paper shows all homes taxes in New Jersey, all you need is the lot and block or the street name, it should be updated soon if not now, go to APP.COM then go to Data Universe, which will give you any residents real estate taxes.
Very true, I live in Islamorada on the bay and the house across the street is as described.
Islamorada had the best "neighborhoods" out of all the places we looked. Largo is 10x worse. I really like Islamorada, but I think it may be too much of a stretch to get what we want in that area...
Islamorada had the best "neighborhoods" out of all the places we looked. Largo is 10x worse. I really like Islamorada, but I think it may be too much of a stretch to get what we want in that area...
What are the price ranges for waterfront in Islamorada?
If you are looking to reduce your cost of living by going from where you are to a 60 min. public transportation ride to NYC, you're going to have a hell of a time.
You're on the right track with the SE... if you don't have to have South Florida there is TONS of good stuff out there on the water. Especially North/Central Florida. Don't buy the "bug and heat hype" about Florida. That's a bunch of crap.
What are the price ranges for waterfront in Islamorada?
I've seen crap for $400K and I've seen wonderful for $1.2M+.
Zillow and a few other sites have lots to offer... we usually look online and then do a drive-by. Once we drive through the neighborhood (to get to the house, off the highway), we are pretty turned off. If on a canal, the backs of the houses you are looking at aren't all that sweet either.
Another MAJOR factor in the keys is if it is ground level or elevated. There are some great deals if you can stomach having a house on grade in the keys... especially when all your neighbors are elevated...
