The lingering cold this winter accompanied by late February snow storms and frigid temperatures in early March followed by high winds, storms and a tornado warning had me yearning to return to a warmer climate like Florida.
I spent two days searching all over the US for places with the best weather, the least winter and affordable housing. The results of my search showed me that Raleigh, where I currently live, is pretty good. In fact, it’s better than, or at least as good as many of the places on my list for consideration.
The only better place for me would be in Florida. Specifically, in Orlando or Ocala. Orlando looks good if I want to be in a major city in a diverse environment. Ocala looks good if I want to move to the Villages, a 55+ homogenous community of retirees.
I see only two major problems. Hurricanes and homeowners insurance.
I lived through two fairly intense Hurricanes in Florida in 2016 and 2017. Neither damaged my house. Irma destroyed my fence, took out a huge palm tree, took down our power for more than a week, closed all stores/gas stations/grocery stores and took a full year before my city was cleaned up.
Irma sucked and I didn’t even have any roof damage or structural damage.
As for homeowners insurance, I checked rates in Florida yesterday. Most homeowners are seeing huge increases each year. Many are dropped when their renewal comes due because insurers no longer want to carry the plans. A $350K average home now has a policy that costs $5800-$8000 per year!
There’s no way I’d move there if I had to pay that much. And so, for now, I’m staying put.
That said, there’s a homeowners insurance crisis spreading across the country. In Raleigh, we have seen our homeowners insurance rates increase by 20%-100% in recent years. I expect this will continue.
If my rates start climbing to Florida levels, I might be tempted to move to Florida after all.
If I do, I’ll probably pass on getting homeowners insurance altogether.
I figure at some point, the mortgage industry and the government will figure out some kind of solution because mortgage banks require homeowners insurance. I’m not counting on other to help me.
The government will not save you or me, but they will come up with ways to protect banks and the wealthy people.
As for me, if I return to Florida, maybe I’ll rent. Or maybe I’ll downsize to a smaller home and assume the risk of going with homeowner’s insurance.
Or maybe, I’ll simply stay where I am and bundle up in warm layers to grind through the coldest winter months.
I’m glad it’s spring.