$45,000 Miami job - where to live? (Jacksonville, Hialeah: real estate, apartment, rent)

[FleeingSnow]

Hi all.

My wife and 3 girls (ages 7, 4, and 2) currently live in Chicago, but we hate Chicago winters and want to relocate to sunny Florida. I am early in the job hunt, but I estimate that I will be able to land a starting salary in the area of $45,000. However, I am very concerned about whether we will be able to afford to live in a decent area in Miami.

We need at least a 3BR/2BA home or apt for our family size. However, we estimate that the MOST we would be able to afford is a $200,000 house or $1000/mo rent.

To give you an idea of our current lifestyle, we are a black family currently renting in a nice, safe mixed-racial neighborhood (we are comfortable with the 6th and 3rd grader sisters next door walking our 7-yr old daughter to school in the mornings). Our neighborhood schools are good and so are the local parks. We live modestly and mainly spend time together doing family activities. We would stay in Chicago, but we hate being confined indoors from Oct - March when the weather is too cold to do anything outside. Miami just seems so wonderful for raising a healthy active family, and it seems to offer more jobs than other areas of Florida.

We have found nice-looking Miami homes for under $200,000 on realtor.com, but we don't know if they are in safe neighborhoods. If any Miami residents can share their insight, we would much appreciate it.

On a separate note, we are also concerned about living with hurricanes , but that is another topic...

[bale002]

If we are talking Miami-Dade County, then, as far as I know, there is no 3/2 SFH in a decent neighborhood for around $200,000 or less. I have seen some price drops in a certain section of Kendall (roughly southwest Miami-Dade, roughly an hour commute to downtown) to the upper $200s, maybe mid-200s with negotiation in certain circumstances (at least right now, prices may drop further in the next year or two).

Also consider that southern Florida also includes Broward County and Palm Beach County where your dollar goes a bit further than in Miami. But even there, I believe that rent on a 3/2 apartment in a decent neighborhood would be a minimum of $1200 and more like $1500 (and up).

Honestly, if you are satisfied with the education that your children are receiving, and if they are surrounding by other loving family members, refrain from dreaming about Florida just for the sun, and for just $45,000 a year. A better alternative would be to save up enough money to take a nice vacation in February.

On the other hand, if you are really determined, try to build your earnings potential over the next year or two and then compare the cost of living between Chicago and southern Florida when conditions may be more favorable for you.

Good luck!

[Wild Style]

I have a 3/2 (I rent). My rent is 1400 + a month. Generally speaking you are going to be paying 1500 or up for a 3/2.

[illini84]

That will be tough. I pay $1400 for a 1 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. I'm from the Chicago area as well and while it costs a lot to live there too, the cost of living in Miami will absolutely shock you. My utilities are significantly cheaper, but the cost of everything else went up (rent, gas, groceries, especially entertainment). With young girls, be very careful about the area you live in. You can get into some bad neighborhoods in a hurry and I'd hate for that to happen to you! Stay away from Miami Gardens, Opa-Locka, West Coconut Grove, Hialeah, Liberty City, Overtown...think that about covers it in my opinion. Some of nice areas are the communities bordering Miami like Aventura, Coral Gables (expensive though)/Pinecrest, North Miami Beach/Surfside, Sunny Isles, South Miami, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne, Brickell...unfortunately, most of these nice neighborhoods get expensive, so it can be tricky...

[compelled to reply]

Try again in a year. In the time being, you need 250k to be in an area that would be alright for your kids. That 250 will get you either a very nice condo/townhome in a gated complex or a smallish home in a very working class, but reasonably safe community. In about a year, 200k will get you here, or maybe a little bit better.

Condo/Townhouse/Co-Op - 14033 N Forest Oak Cr, Davie, FL, 33325 - Realtor.com
Single Family Home - 13560 SW 10Th Pl, Davie, FL, 33325 - Realtor.com

Like others have said, it would be about 1200 a month rent at the minimum.

Oh, and you don't want to live in Miami-Dade County with kids on that income. There are some good areas, but they are VERY expensive and you will get more for your money in Palm Beach or Broward County.

[doggiebus]

$45,000 a year in South Florida for a family of five will not go far here, you will not be in a good area for sure. For instance my sisters 1bd,1.5 bath plus den rents for $1,400 a month in Kendall to give you idea. If you want to be in Florida on that salary with a family of 5 you might (not sure if still that will be enough) you should look at cheaper areas of Florida like Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Ocala, etc.

[cleoclaus]

I have been living in Miami 20 years now, and I make approximately $63,000 a year working for Miami-Dade County (more than the median salary here), and I am telling you right now that unless your wife also makes $45,000, you cannot have a decent standard of living in Miami.

With the salary I make, I cannot afford to live in any of the decent areas of Miami (I live close to, but not in, Miami Shores village: average price of homes in my area, $270,000; average in Miami Shores, $500,000). Between taxes, insurance and other bills I barely make ends meet -- in fact, the only reason I get by is because my taxes are lower than average (I bought my home 9 years ago so I am only paying $1,500 a year) My insurance costs are about $3,500 a year, but I am underinsured -- i.e., I do not have a replacement costs windstorm policy for my home should it be destroyed by a hurricane. That would cost about $7,000 a year, which I can't afford.

I once estimated what it would cost to live where I live if I had bought my house at today's prices, and it came out to something like $3,500 a month (mortgage + taxes + home insurance + flood insurance --live in a flood zone so I have to have it-- + windstorm insurance), for a 60-year old wood frame house in a quiet, relatively safe area of unincorporated Dade with a D-rated grade school, D-rated middle school and F-rated high school. Even with what I make, I couldn't afford that.

I would definitely reevaluate your desire to move here; maybe you can consider other parts of Florida (not Jacksonville), where the weather is almost as nice but the cost of living isn't quite as high.

[chisoxfan]

Originally Posted by cleoclaus

I have been living in Miami 20 years now, and I make approximately $63,000 a year working for Miami-Dade County (more than the median salary here), and I am telling you right now that unless your wife also makes $45,000, you cannot have a decent standard of living in Miami.

This is an honest, accurate assessment. Based on what I've seen and heard, the tipping point for families with 2-3 kids in South Florida is an income of about $100,000/year (not all that easy to attain given employers' "you're getting paid in sunshine" philosophy toward salaries here). And even making it on that will require skillful budgeting.

[tallrick]

Take the excellent advice of the posters above. You are better off in the windy city, because in Miami that wind is the hot air from real estate speculators and local government. Wait a few years till Miami sinks or becomes more affordable.

[rogerbacon]

I think people that want to move down here for the weather always think of Miami because it isa name they know. What about the other 99% of Florida? The weather's not that different until you get to the very north end. Look into smaller towns that you've never heard of before. Lakeland in the middle of Florida has almost the same weather and it shouldn't be too hard to find $45,000 jobs there. It's not such a one-hourse town like it was 20+ years ago. I'm sure there are lots of other places that people could recommend. I'd stay out of S. Florida though. Life here just isn't worth it.