Relocating from PA to Fort Myers, FL (Jacksonville, Orlando: to rent, condo)

[sunbabe73]

Hello,
I have been looking at other threads and have a few questions on how to proceed with my relocation. I live in PA now and am unemployed. My husband has a good job here, but our hearts have always belonged to Florida- some hate it, we love it. We feel, even with alot stacked against us (economy and all,) that this is a good time to make the move. We have settled on Fort Myers because we do like the area and love the proximity to Sanibel. Some people have said that you need to have local contacts to move- I do have a contact, but they are not close contacts at all so I feel uncomfortable asking them for help. We know someone in Orlando and I have family in Lake Worth although again, we are not close with anyone. We are thinking we want to move in steps, meaning send me down to find a job and get a place to live and then get our house sold and move my husband down (simply because he does have a good paying job to help with some of the expenses of the move.) We can't put our house on the market yet because we are finishing a remodel (hopefully done within the next month or 2.) If we really want to be in Fort Myers, does it make sense to try to first relocate to Orlando or Lake Worth- won't in be almost as difficult to move cross state?

Also, the job situation- I am able to do lots of different things, from office work, medical office work, retail, massage therapy, teach massage therapy, hell I was even an engineer for years. I know the market is not looking good, but would it help to contact a staffing agency? So far, I'm not having much luck with putting these pieces together. Any advice on any of these issues to help put me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all for your time!!!!

We have been to Orlando many times and like it, but it is a little bigger area than what we would like to live. We also love St. Augustine, but realized it meant we would have to work in Jacksonville which we aren't excited about a daily commute. We love Bonita Springs too!

[nhkev]

why not have husband keep his good job and just vacation in ft myers more often?

[cfbs2691]

Where ever you secure a job... go there.

[sunbabe73]

Husband's job is very good for pay, but horrible for trying to take time off, we do visit Florida every chance we have, but it is still only a couple times a year. Depending on the job I have it may be hard to manage.... my last job was also impossible to take vacation. We have thought about that before and it is actually why we are still in PA.

[Billythepokerkid]

Originally Posted by sunbabe73

Hello,
I have been looking at other threads and have a few questions on how to proceed with my relocation. I live in PA now and am unemployed. My husband has a good job here, but our hearts have always belonged to Florida- some hate it, we love it. We feel, even with alot stacked against us (economy and all,) that this is a good time to make the move. We have settled on Fort Myers because we do like the area and love the proximity to Sanibel. Some people have said that you need to have local contacts to move- I do have a contact, but they are not close contacts at all so I feel uncomfortable asking them for help. We know someone in Orlando and I have family in Lake Worth although again, we are not close with anyone. We are thinking we want to move in steps, meaning send me down to find a job and get a place to live and then get our house sold and move my husband down (simply because he does have a good paying job to help with some of the expenses of the move.) We can't put our house on the market yet because we are finishing a remodel (hopefully done within the next month or 2.) If we really want to be in Fort Myers, does it make sense to try to first relocate to Orlando or Lake Worth- won't in be almost as difficult to move cross state?

Also, the job situation- I am able to do lots of different things, from office work, medical office work, retail, massage therapy, teach massage therapy, hell I was even an engineer for years. I know the market is not looking good, but would it help to contact a staffing agency? So far, I'm not having much luck with putting these pieces together. Any advice on any of these issues to help put me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all for your time!!!!

We have been to Orlando many times and like it, but it is a little bigger area than what we would like to live. We also love St. Augustine, but realized it meant we would have to work in Jacksonville which we aren't excited about a daily commute. We love Bonita Springs too!

Leaving a place with a good job without having a good job lined up in the place you are moving to is not even a bad idea, it is horrible, especially with the job market here. If you are unemployed in PA what makes you think you will be able to find a job here? I would not leave PA unless you both have employment here, it is very hard to come by for most people.

[Florida Paradise]

You would be crazy to leave an area where you hubby has a good job. You know "good" jobs are hard to come by.... especially in Ft. Myers. I LOVE Ft. Myers and hate PA (where I currently live) but I am established here in PA, so I did the next best thing a bought a condo in Florida. I travel down 4-5 times a year and because my place is an investment property, all my travel expenses are write offs.

[klavuhn]

My family is in the same situation, we are also in PA and looking to relocate to cape coral area. we are in the process of finishing up a few home improvement projects so we can get top dollar out of our home before we move we are planning to make the move with in the neext few mths. we are going in blind. we have never been to cape coral area. we have heard good and bad things about it. we have been to Fl a few times and found a few areas that we liked but we want more of the beach life... I am currently unemployed my wife has an ok job it pays good but she hates it and is ready to quit we need a change. we have done weel this far in life and we figure this is our best time to pack up and start over new in a beeter location. so FL here we come.

so any pointers for us would also be helpful. we have a friend or too in fl some in seabring, tampa, deland, miami. we have been too all of those cities and didnt fall in love. we liked deltona and deland but it is too far north for my wife (she wants tropical) we cant afford the keys so the next best thing is southern Fl. we plane to rent for atleast a year and then to buy once we get jobs and find the right area of cape coral. we just want a change of of everything...

[klavuhn]

and too top it off we have nothing keeping us here in PA. my family is over an hr away her family is all gone, my real friends are Hrs away so we dont get to see them that offten we just have our co workers and neighbors and new friends.. not enough to keep us here

[GRNDHOG]

Just do it. Moving to Orlando first isn't going to help you find some thing in fort myers. It's a minimum 3 hour drive each way. IMO a bit much for job interviews, home searches, etc.

Do your research, rent a place. Get your husband down here. Buy a house. Live happy.

[sunbabe73]

I appreciate all of the comments. We know it will be very difficult and most comments confirmed that- which is good to know up front. Most of the comments have been that we shouldn't do it or just vacation more/buy vacation property. It's not possible- my husband can not take time off easily. His job is what has kept us here so many years sometimes without a vacation at all for years. He will be keeping his job during my transition down there, if it is too difficult- I will come back and we will try again another time. We are not stupid enough to drop everything and go down without some kind of plan and back up plan. Guess I will keep going along with my own research on areas to live and places to look for work.

I sincerely thank everyone for their time and comments.

(Thank you to GRNDHOG for saying positive things about people wanting to follow their dreams! Much appreciated!)