OT/ relocating Chicago to FL

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PatrickG 78

New member
Hello, We have been thinking about relocating out of Chicago to Florida. My wife has an opportunity to get work in Sunrise and I am about to finish my apprenticeship in the sheet metal workers union here in Chicago. If someone has done this input about the move would be appreciated. Any tinners out there? How's the employment/unemployment? Is sunrise a good area? Were not rich just a working couple with 2 kids, 2 dogs and several tanks.
 
Sunrise is pretty spread out and has plenty of nice places. You should definitley take a trip to scope out the different areas and check rental rates and or real estate prices. Real estate is really high here, but the market is worse than dead, so you might be able to get a good deal from someone who is desperate to sell. GOOD LUCK!
 
I don't want to discourage you but, Theres no real unions here :D local 3 is a joke. The economy is doing terrible, people line up for work, Daniels electric laid off 300 electricians last month, construction is slow, gasoline prices are throe the roof, Win Dixie has no real sales anymore, I am selling corals and repair skimmers, part time to make it, EVERYTHING ELSE IS OK !! WELCOME TO MIAMI. Oh I forgot, Camilos house started charging for soup.
 
I just moved down here about 3 years ago. 25 hour drive was a fun one! one thing to tell you. no basements and the houses cost more and are a lot smaller! I moved from orland park. give/throw away anything that's long sleeve except like 2 or 3 shirts. you won't need them! I've still got bins full of all my longsleeve clothes and I only wear like 3 outa the 50ish shirts. make sure your car has a/c. mine didn't for 2 years and i finally sold that and got a new car. much cooler. we had about 1/3 of a moving semi. filled that up and still had tonnnnss of stuff left over so last minute we had to go rent a moving truck and find 2 more drivers. right now you should be able to deal a little with the price of the new house as the housing market down here(maybe everywhere) is soooo bad. the house accross the street from us that's 2 story's compared to our 1 story just sold for $100,000 less than we paid for our house.

fish wise...theres a store on every corner(well almost) lots of nice stuff. I think you'll be very happy moving down here. It's hard at first, but it gets way better!
 
Thanks for the responses. I'm just trying to get as much info as I can before making any major move. Macawmagic did you notice any difference in cost of living? I'm from Crestwood btw. Everyone up here seems to think its a lot cheaper to live down there and thats why the wages are so low compared to Chicago, but so far I am not seeing it. I'm about to get my journeyman's card in November and the $38/hr that comes with it, so I'm not liking the idea of $22/hr local32 scale. That is if work is even available. The real estate slump around here is putting lots or residential construction workers out of work. A lot of the towns don't allow any more new homes because of all the foreclosures. I'm pretty much getting sick of the weather around here though. Lately it seems like were getting 0deg winters and 100+ summers and no inbetween. Keep the input coming though, its highly appreciated.
 
the reason wages are lower down here than up there is because (they say) the cost of living in florida(as a whole) is cheaper than illinois(as a whole)...but it costs a lot more to life in ft. lauderdale/miami than it does to live in orlando etc. same where it costs more to live downtown chicago than it does to live out in the cornfields...for example...we sold our 2,800 sq. ft. house plus fully finished basement, 3 1/2 car garage on 1/4 acre for 375. and bought a 2,200 sq. ft. no basement. 2 car garage on a teeny tiny lot for 440. all the bedrooms are smaller (except the master which is why I think my parents bought the house) but yea my parents both took pay decreases and a more expensive mortgage when we moved down here. I beleive taxes are like triple than what we were paying up there. thankfully...everythings finally back to normal.
 
If you're looking into larger tanks, do yourself a favor and do a kilowatt price comparison. Log onto Florida Power and Light's website, I'm sure you can find out what your area's cost of energy is. I know mine went through the roof after Hurricane Wilma, and I had to sell off all my tanks. I just set a 56 column with T-5's, and it's much more manageable.
 
I was raised here almost since birth and I love it, but three things you shouuld know about S.FLA (four really, but you're married. lol). It is expensive, it is congested and it is HOT!!! But, with that said, it really is a nice place to live. As far as cold weather goes down here, you'll happy to hear we only get like 3, maybe 4 days of winter where the temp is 45-65F. And we also have a lot of LFSs' around... GL and hope you can make your decision. Welcome, if you do decide to join us!!!
 
A lot of what everyone said is true. It's expensive, hot, congested... However, It is Beautiful here. It was in the middle of winter and I think we needed to wear long sleeves for about 3-5 days this year (a little exaggerated). I have was actually born and raised here and I can't think that I would / could ever live anywhere else. The Real Estate market is tough here. However, because it is tough, you (buyer/renter) has the advantage. There are a lot of people that have vacant houses or apartments that need to be rented or sold. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know
 
As stated above, construction is slow and cost of living is higher than ever. You might want to take a week or so to come down with your wife and do some exploring. Do some driving during peak hours so you can experince Florida traffic and view several options for housing.

Pay rates in Florida are generally low and the increases in cost of living have not been balanced with the marginal increases in compensation.

Nevertheless, it is a beautiful place to live with several parks and opportunities for truly great outdoor living. If you like to cycle, this is a paradise.

Best of luck.
 
call me tomorow 305 970 9885 I can give you names and phone numbers from GCs maybe you can get info for work from them and line up a job before moving here, dont be looking for no $ 38 per hr thou, 20 -25 if you are still learning. But it will balance out with the cost of living. Even if things are expensive in FL you can do so much at no cost. Example when I was North to go swimming it was $ 150 here $ 5 to key biscayne and I am swimming in a park that is in the top 3 in the country.
 
Like Carlos and Gloria said, you dont have to limit your search to Sunrise, you can look in Weston, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Cooper City, Davie, Ft. Lauderdale, Southwest Ranches......they are all within a few minutes drive of Sunrise.
 
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