Indian Harbour Beach Questions... (Orlando, Palm Bay: sale, apartments, rentals)

[Curious J32]

Hello Everyone.

I am interested in moving to the Indian Harbour Beach area (from Chicago) but have some questions about it. I (25) would be moving with my wife (26) and daughter (8). I don't necessarily have a "career" and neither does my wife. I do have an associates degree and have worked mainly in customer service and the medical field, but most recently in telecommunications. My wife works in the medical field (chiropractic assistant).

1. Currently our annual income is roughly about $42k (combined) and rent is $870/ month, so assuming we can find work that pays similar to what we make here (hopefully more), is it possible to find a nice apartment for $800-870/ month?

2. It appears as if most of the jobs are in nearby Melbourne, is this the case? How is the economy in this area as far as employment goes?

3. What is the culture/identity of IHB? Is it a place for mostly seniors? Beach town? Military town?

4. Since this is a barrier island, is it regularly affected by storms? How often do people have to evacuate from this area?

Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[scottschuetz]

I can help with your questions but I'm curious how you became interested in Indian Harbour Beach. It's a 2sq mile city between two smaller cities, Satellite Beach and Indialantic. What is it you're drawn to about Indian Harbour Beach?

[Curious J32]

Thank you for your response. I had been searching the internet for about a year or two, looking for an area that was affordable, had great schools, a high safety rating, and close proximity to the beach. I was originally interested in South Florida but realized all of this might not be possible down there. I also love the fact that Disney and all of the attractions are only about an hour away, while South Florida is about 2.5 to 3 hours away. It seems as if this area has most, if not everything, I'm looking for.

[Curious J32]

Also, I am not restricting myself to only IHB.. Satellite beach, Melbourne, and Viera also sound nice. I've seen a few 3 BR homes for $100,000-$150,000, but not sure how nice the areas are.

[clnewman]

Originally Posted by Curious J32

Also, I am not restricting myself to only IHB.. Satellite beach, Melbourne, and Viera also sound nice. I've seen a few 3 BR homes for $100,000-$150,000, but not sure how nice the areas are.

Melbourne and Viera are both nice, as is Rockledge. Picture the suburbs of Chicago... bedroom communities. Lots of affordable tract housing. Main thoroughfare traffic can be a bugger at peak hours... especially when schools let out.

Satellite Beach is also nice, but the homes are more like IHB... older, built in the 50s-70s.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by clnewman

Melbourne and Viera are both nice, as is Rockledge. Picture the suburbs of Chicago... bedroom communities. Lots of affordable tract housing. Main thoroughfare traffic can be a bugger at peak hours... especially when schools let out.

Satellite Beach is also nice, but the homes are more like IHB... older, built in the 50s-70s.

When you picture the burbs of Chicago don't forget to add some awesome Palm Trees and green grass in winter.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Curious J32

Hello Everyone.

I am interested in moving to the Indian Harbour Beach area (from Chicago) but have some questions about it. I (25) would be moving with my wife (26) and daughter (8). I don't necessarily have a "career" and neither does my wife. I do have an associates degree and have worked mainly in customer service and the medical field, but most recently in telecommunications. My wife works in the medical field (chiropractic assistant).

1. Currently our annual income is roughly about $42k (combined) and rent is $870/ month, so assuming we can find work that pays similar to what we make here (hopefully more), is it possible to find a nice apartment for $800-870/ month?

2. It appears as if most of the jobs are in nearby Melbourne, is this the case? How is the economy in this area as far as employment goes?

3. What is the culture/identity of IHB? Is it a place for mostly seniors? Beach town? Military town?

4. Since this is a barrier island, is it regularly affected by storms? How often do people have to evacuate from this area?

Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

1. 42 K in Chicago may be high for this area in the same type jobs. So beachside might be too expensive.


http://www.homes.com/rentals/FL/County/BREVARD/

Brevard County FL Apartment for Rent - 1038 Rentals - Zillow

Brevard County Apartments for Rent - Apartments in Brevard County FL

2. If you are go getters you can probably find jobs. Many are just part time with few benefits so might have to work more than 1 job to make ends meet.

https://www.employflorida.com/vosnet/Default.aspx

3. I would say all of Brevard county is a mix of all. Lots of us originally from Illinois, too. We are pretty family oriented with lots of activities for everyone. On my street on the mainland, I think we are sort of beachtown, because of the boating,skating, the love of fishing and surfing, outdoor sports etc. But different neighborhoods might be hip hop, retirees only, redneck, etc, Drive through at all times of day and check out the activities going on. For example we found a house a couple of years ago that was perfect for us, but when we drove by at midnight on a Saturday, the teens across the street were still having pick up games in the street at the hoop on the edge of their property. Very noisy and the basketball bouncing would have driven us crazy that late.

4. When we do have hurricanes come in, they actually effect the whole counties. Beachside of course takes a bigger whammy and they evacuate to the mainland. A good share of us had some kind of damage during 2004. How often does it happen? This time we have been hurricane free since 2005, I think. In my 38 years here have only had to hunker down for hurricanes in 1979,1995,2004, and 2005 that I can remember. We had a tropical storm that dropped 20+ inches of rain in a day which caused flooding, though.

[Curious J32]

Originally Posted by Rabflmom

1. 42 K in Chicago may be high for this area in the same type jobs. So beachside might be too expensive.


http://www.homes.com/rentals/FL/County/BREVARD/

Brevard County FL Apartment for Rent - 1038 Rentals - Zillow

Brevard County Apartments for Rent - Apartments in Brevard County FL

2. If you are go getters you can probably find jobs. Many are just part time with few benefits so might have to work more than 1 job to make ends meet.

https://www.employflorida.com/vosnet/Default.aspx

3. I would say all of Brevard county is a mix of all. Lots of us originally from Illinois, too. We are pretty family oriented with lots of activities for everyone. On my street on the mainland, I think we are sort of beachtown, because of the boating,skating, the love of fishing and surfing, outdoor sports etc. But different neighborhoods might be hip hop, retirees only, redneck, etc, Drive through at all times of day and check out the activities going on. For example we found a house a couple of years ago that was perfect for us, but when we drove by at midnight on a Saturday, the teens across the street were still having pick up games in the street at the hoop on the edge of their property. Very noisy and the basketball bouncing would have driven us crazy that late.

4. When we do have hurricanes come in, they actually effect the whole counties. Beachside of course takes a bigger whammy and they evacuate to the mainland. A good share of us had some kind of damage during 2004. How often does it happen? This time we have been hurricane free since 2005, I think. In my 38 years here have only had to hunker down for hurricanes in 1979,1995,2004, and 2005 that I can remember. We had a tropical storm that dropped 20+ inches of rain in a day which caused flooding, though.

Thank you very much for your response!

1. There is no problem if we are not exactly beach side. I later mentioned that I am also possibly interested in Melbourne and/or Viera. Anything beats the 45min-hour long commute to the "beach" that we have now.

2. The fact that we do not have any contacts in this area, I do see that finding a job will be the most difficult part without a doubt.

Random Question: I do have a friend who owns a few business throughout the US and said he could possibly help me start something up and get me off the ground in a new location. As a resident of the area, what do you feel might be a successful start up in this area? Is there something that you, or others, feel is lacking (or could be improved) in Brevard County?

4. Is this the same for Melbourne and Viera?

5. As a young couple do you feel that we might become bored with this area? We are not really into clubs and parties (all the time), but do occasionally like to go out. I've read on a few other threads that it can get a bit boring here.

[clnewman]

Originally Posted by Curious J32

1. There is no problem if we are not exactly beach side. I later mentioned that I am also possibly interested in Melbourne and/or Viera. Anything beats the 45min-hour long commute to the "beach" that we have now.

Melbourne/Viera will probably be ok. Come out, rent for awhile, and see where you like.

Originally Posted by Curious J32

Random Question: I do have a friend who owns a few business throughout the US and said he could possibly help me start something up and get me off the ground in a new location. As a resident of the area, what do you feel might be a successful start up in this area? Is there something that you, or others, feel is lacking (or could be improved) in Brevard County?

Two words: Frozen Custard. But it's all about location.

Originally Posted by Curious J32

5. As a young couple do you feel that we might become bored with this area? We are not really into clubs and parties (all the time), but do occasionally like to go out. I've read on a few other threads that it can get a bit boring here.

You should be fine. Cocoa Beach is probably funky enough for anybody.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by Curious J32

Thank you very much for your response!

1. There is no problem if we are not exactly beach side. I later mentioned that I am also possibly interested in Melbourne and/or Viera. Anything beats the 45min-hour long commute to the "beach" that we have now.

2. The fact that we do not have any contacts in this area, I do see that finding a job will be the most difficult part without a doubt.

Random Question: I do have a friend who owns a few business throughout the US and said he could possibly help me start something up and get me off the ground in a new location. As a resident of the area, what do you feel might be a successful start up in this area? Is there something that you, or others, feel is lacking (or could be improved) in Brevard County?

4. Is this the same for Melbourne and Viera?

5. As a young couple do you feel that we might become bored with this area? We are not really into clubs and parties (all the time), but do occasionally like to go out. I've read on a few other threads that it can get a bit boring here.

4 Not sure if you can find an apartment in the $750 range except for maybe a studio in Viera..

As for hurricanes the farther inland usually the less danger of damage, but with the 2004 hurricanes Charley and Jeanne I believe the winds in Orlando were still in the 95-100 mph range and even Sea World and UCF had some damage. Usually windows or roof damage nothing major like Andrew where whole buildings were destroyed.
But with hurricanes there are also tornadoes that come before and after the named storm. With David in 1979, the storm itself came up the river from South Florida basically. We watched the tornado in Palm Bay on Monday morning and the eye wasn't over us until late Monday night. Usually the tornadoes seem to happen farther inland, though. 1979 David was a dry hurricane, but 1995 David was followed by 12 inches rain the day the wind stopped and there was some flooding in Melbourne/ Palm Bay. Viera was just in beginning stages of becoming a populated area so can't remember if the area flooded except for maybe problems keeping water out of the School Board building built out there.

If homes were built after 1995 usually more up to code. I believe anything built South of Malabar Road in Palm Bay is built to the stricter codes of South Florida and all homes have to have shutters in the original build and sale as well as the reinforced hurricane garage doors.