Hidden Costs of Living in Florida | Moving to Orlando | 08/05/20

[@BETTYSAYS]

I moved close to disney world one and a half years ago and I am loving every second of it😍 Have been Disney obsessed since a little girl and now I started my channel!! It is half Disney and half about my Keto diet. Hope I can grow like you guys🤞 you are great!

[@amandamandamanda]

lol I was NOT expecting Pete to say "smash that like button" XD

[@marshallguy301]

Thought I was watching Jake Paul for a second.

[@hawkeyemp17]

Although we miss having Pete around on the WDW live shows, I think it is impressive that he realized leisure travel is slow due to Covid and as a result, is trying to broaden his income streams. It isn't easy to jump into something new as a business owner but kudos to you Pete for taking on the challenges of a Real Estate Agent.

[@franklinmimi]

That's a very nice message. I miss Pete a lot , but he is doing well with these reviews of moving to Florida. I also think Shaun gives very useful information .

[@stevenphillips5323]

franklinmimi I agree. Shawn has been a real star on the shows he has been on. He brings a lot to these shows.

[@candidapm2474]

Those tourists that are coming down and using the roads are probably also a good reason why you don't have state taxes to have to pay for roads, etc... Their direct and indirect (taxes on food, resorts, entertainment) expenses probably add up to a lot of the state's economy to help pay for roads and such.

[@debrahstevens7758]

I agree with the tolls,-pay them and be glad the roads are decent. I've lived in states where the roads are terrible. I just have to say: tourists pay your salary! Tourists are Florida's biggest industry. Tourists should be referred to as "guests" 'tourists' has a negative connotations

[@jolenenickerson2684]

Moving here from Colorado, my costs went way down. My car insurance is $40 less per month, My utilities are lower. Everything i less expensive here.

[@colleenhall4498]

This was a wonderful show. Lots of great information. Thank you guys for all you fo for us

[@conniedelio]

It costs $19 to cross the Verrazano Bridge, from Staten Island to Brooklyn. That’s within the same state, in the same city. Such is life if you choose to live and/or work here. I❤️NY.

[@jonrussell1690]

One thing about living in Tampa/Tampa Bay...I’ll choose TECO (Tampa Electric) vs Duke because Duke is one of the most EXPENSIVE electric utility co here in FL. I avoid them at all cost when I look into moving. Also, good way to judge your electricity is call the utilities up and inq on the address and they will tell you the hi/low of the electric for that address but it’s based on the prior person’s use of the electric.

[@wendysherbert3257]

In the DC metro HOA’s are common for most communities that have been built in the last 20 years. Our Homeowners insurance is also very high. Taxes are high and they also have started tolling even on the main arteries into DC. But we do have seasons and less electricity costs. Yes, we have gas for heat, hot water, stoves etc.

[@harding0010]

Driven to Central Florida multiple times and never taken a toll road.

[@christyr_travelqueen]

Sean is so great on this platform. So knowledgeable. Itches truly found his niche

[@TheJohndempsey3]

Seems like living around Orlando is just more expensive then living in a different part of the state because im paying a lot less just by living up by Ocala

[@moneybee]

It's always interesting learning the cost of living in different parts of the USA. Thanks for sharing!

[@sylviachacon4152]

As always, great information. Wondering if moving to Florida would be a better deal coming from Los Angeles, California. Thx.

[@noonzyc523]

would solar panels offset that bill?

[@mazzy2121]

I believe you that Home owner's insurance would be the most expensive there because of hurricanes, but where I live $2000/year is "cheap", so I guess there are small pockets where coming from them would be a savings. I am speaking of Ann Arbor, MI. It's nothing to have property taxes adding $300-$400/month to your house payment, and on the north end of town (the "nice" side of town - but Ann Arbor's "ghetto" would be any normal town's 'normal' neighborhood so...) I see some taxes listed as $10K+. Yikes! As for HOAs I just don't understand them. You made good points about them, but mostly I don't see them do anything around here except charge to live in a neighborhood. I always wonder what real authority they have, like if someone just didn't want to pay them. They can't take someone's house or property so I am curious what one would do if you were just like 'meh, I don't want to join your association so I'm not going to pay you.' The only response I get to that is people telling me "you have to join" but do I? I think no. Don't sign their paperwork, don't agree to their terms, your home is still your property.

[@ambere6222]

I live in Michigan and our car insurance prices are outrageous!!

[@dougjankowski1016]

Do HOA fees really range from $300-500 or is that an upper range for nicer communities?

[@shellysmom7002]

Tolls are a Orlando thing! Grew up in Tampa and we had ONE toll road..., they are not as widespread in the rest of FL.

[@robbruno8246]

I recently moved to the Orlando area from the NYC suburban area (North of NYC). I will take all these "hidden" costs x2 to avoid the NY taxes (income, real estate, and school) any day. Run the numbers from Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk counties. You have some valid points but for me and where I came from, I got a substantial raise in income.

[@MoonstoneSister]

As always, job well done. !

[@XClomesX]

The visitors coming from across the US also paid for interstate 4 as those who live there, due to the federal highway program FYI. I don’t disagree with the overall point Sean was trying to make, just say it as it is. We want to tax these tourists as much as possible, no harm in that honestly.

[@goddessari]

Car insurance is more expensive depending on where you live. I pay less here in central FL than in South FL

[@JFox337]

Sean made some excellent points and was very knowledgeable on all of this.

[@mattiearchie6913]

Enjoyed the video. I’m looking to move to Florida and trying to compare renting vs buying. Do you have a video on that?

[@A42yearoldARAB]

Future resident, good to know. Coming from Minnesota, the cost of living here is so high for no reason, it will be nice to actually have fun things to do associated with those costs. We have no tolls, but payroll state tax and they still don't maintain them.

[@nolakid86]

Is flood insurance something that is highly suggested/required in Orlando and the surrounding areas?

[@kw5703]

I used to live in a community in Lithia Florida that wasn’t gated and had CDD fees. We paid a small annual HOA fee and the CDD fees were rolled into our property taxes and paid from our escrow account.

[@jroe8089]

Newsflash Sean, no mini Vans from Alabama to Maine and your tax situation skyrockets. Don't be so smug, you don't have a clue.

[@t206kid]

100% no tourists or Disney Florida is way different. It would be last in everything and probably would be the state with the most poverty

[@christophera.turner3394]

A great deal of neighborhood have local businesses that offer a delightful meal options. The parks are wonderful but there are so many more options out here.

[@cagv7297]

does anybody have an idea of how the autism services are in Florida. ? family and i are considering moving down there, but i have a sister with autism, so we're trying to gather up info. is there personal care assistance or an equivalent of that down there ? can relatives be p.c.a. / work as care-takers ?

[@olafpamela]

Great show! 👍 FL had more hidden expenses then I thought it ever had.😏 Thanks for giving me more realistic value to be able to move.👍

[@Pravin_Yeshua_BTC]

We have KUA keep it between 72-74 day and 68 at night. Bill has been around $125 mo for 1 bedroom 700sq

[@jerseyforhawks]

The biggest game breaker is not just the existence of tolls, but the over k#ll of too many.

[@jamesbass9797]

Closing costs? What the hell does closing costs have to do with paying taxes for anything? Fixing roads? Can someone explain this to me please?

[@MattMaryanski]

For me everything was way cheaper but I came from Los Angeles.

[@rebeccalynn4221]

Someone's experience who lived in SD, MN and FL...All car related expenses are more in FL than SD, but way way cheaper in FL than in Minnesota (at least for me). Rent in FL is ridiculously more expensive than MN, but MN is crazy expensive compared to SD. It's all relative. I used to think 500 for rent was expensive when I lived in SD, 700 was expensive for an apartment in MN, now that I live in FL, anything under 1000 is considered a steal. It's kind of crazy. Especially since the wages in SD are similar to FL but living cost is practically nothing since nobody wants to live in SD...my mom makes 11 bucks an HR at a job that would pay 9 here and her rent is around 400 for a really nice apartment. Comparing costs between states is pretty interesting.

[@terrymccormick611]

Same for NY. Florida is cheaper for us.

[@christophera.turner3394]

Pete try AARP for car insurance.

[@eric_in_florida]

Rather than cool your entire house at night consider getting a portable for the bedroom(s). It can be cheaper and also you can make it nice and chilly.

[@bres4950]

What does a sun pass cost?

[@tf51d]

One thing you have to talk about when it comes to Property Tax is Homestead Protection. Florida is probably the if not one of the best States for Homestead Protection. If your home qualifies, it could safe you a ton in Property Tax over time. In addition it protects your property from foreclosure against many (but not all) forms of debt. All of this is protected in the States Constitution so it can't be taken away by any law, it must go to a referendum, where it would need 60% to pass. Ain't going to happen. One of the biggest benefits, is for tax purposes the taxable increase in Market Value, is limited to 3% a year. and you get a $50K exemption on top of that (Except School tax) .This is probably the only state where a real estate crash actually helps you in taxes. For example I was paying about $1400 ad valorem tax when I bought this house in 2004. After the Crash my taxable value dropped to about $40000. With the $25K (Because taxable value is less then $50K) exemption brought my taxable value to about $15K Today my taxable value is only about $48K (while my actual market value is $178K) minus the $25K exemption brings my taxable value to about $23K and my ad valorem rax was aboy $350 last year. (You do have to ad the Non ad valorem taxes on top of that which brings it to about $680 a year if you pay it right away. If you buy here and under Homestead, if the market crashes again, the same will happen to you and you'll be paying a fraction of the taxes you would be paying before it, for many years to come!!!

[@taylor7177]

I almost fainted when they said electric bills could be up to $700 in the summers! Mine is NEVER over $175. I am in Southern Alabama and have all electric... crazy

[@CoreyFiasco]

A big part of Pete’s high bill is our Studio

[@taylor7177]

@@CoreyFiasco makes sense. Still crazy high, though

[@barbaraegan9939]

Our electric has not been over $100 anytime of the year. Air is 69/70 at night 72/73 during the day. We have TECO. Tampa electric. We are in Polk county

[@christophera.turner3394]

The cost for closing is utterly ridiculous the cost can be leveraged on the tourist tax instead of residents. Wages people make here is low, most people can’t travel outside there area they live in.

[@angelamiller1048]

I'm curious to know what FL closing costs actually pay for. Could you expound on that? Thanks!

[@drewc3350]

It's definitely cheaper in Orlando than Massachusetts. Ugh the rates are so high up here.

[@barbarabrown6012]

One thing not mentioned was the cost of food in Florida. Higher than Massachusetts.

[@josephh5085]

Great episode!

[@christophera.turner3394]

Pete, why hasn’t the show expanded to include areas like Lake Wales or Haines City or even Winter Haven. Believe it or not a great deal of Disney employees live in these areas, so it isn’t actually that far from the parks. The prices in these areas are more then reasonable and it has a great deal of old Florida charm still.

[@lorieducation2764]

My son is looking to move down by the parks..he is in college for animation...any ideas of the best areas to rent an apt??

[@jonny5777]

The idea of having a HOA and being told how my house has to look is the stuff of nightmares. The costs you have to pay are so much to me! $500 for electricity is huge, could you get solar panels to offset some of the cost? For context I pay about £150 ($195) per month for everything, water, gas, electric, phone etc. I live in a tourist city and think there should be some sort of tourist tax like your toll roads.

[@t206kid]

Big reason for a lot of fees and pete hit on it, no state income taxes.

[@disneygirl2302]

curious as I wanted to hear about much Pete's car insurance is

[@mrfortlauderdale]

So best communities where HOA is reasonable, least tolls, closest to Disney?

[@darkzordongaming3562]

@@mrfortlauderdale I live in the southwest Horizons West area. We avoid tolls to get just about anywhere. There are 2 toll roads near our house, but we avoid them. We live 6 miles west of Walt Disney World property (the closest community to property on the west side). In our community, the HOA depends on if you live in a house or a townhouse. The houses in our community pay roughly $60 a month but it doesnt include lawn care. In the townhomes it is just north of $200 a month (insane) but that covers 100% lawn care and all exterior upkeep of the townhomes.

[@darlenelibbi7644]

Omg thank you. We wanted to move Florida and I'm reconsidering. We r in NJ

[@darlenelibbi7644]

We drive to Disney lol

[@barbaraegan9939]

We are from the Philly suburbs. It’s been cheaper for us down here. We are 35 miles from Disney

[@darlenelibbi7644]

@@barbaraegan9939 is the weather any better in the wintertime?

[@barbaraegan9939]

Darlene Libbi still pretty warm during winter months. May be a few mornings we turned on the heat just long enough to take to chill out of the air. But it’s pretty warm by afternoon. We do not miss the cold and snow at all. If you like the different seasons than you might not like the warm weather all year round. We forget that it’s January when we are wearing shorts and then see pictures of people in coats and snow pictures from PA

[@darlenelibbi7644]

@@barbaraegan9939 I wonder how my asthma would do there. I manage in Disney by going in and out of shops. I was thinking maybe more Northern Florida. Gainesville? I hope you are staying safe!

[@dee_mcgee11]

The risk of a bad HOA outweighs the benefits they provide IMHO.

[@dee_mcgee11]

@@MatthewEGolden how common is it for HOAs to provide cable/internet?

[@christophera.turner3394]

You would take I 95 to Miami instead of the turnpike.

[@billyjobobb]

Keep charging the tolls but stop with the hotel and visitor taxes. My last vacation I paid over $700 in taxes to Florida. For 1 week. Florida collects that 52 weeks a year. $700 x 52 for each of 100000 hotel rooms.

[@tpgslg1283]

FL has no income taxes. If the eliminate tourist taxes then FL would initiate an income tax. This would cause wages to go up and thus you pay more for hotels and the like. Either way you pay. FYI here in DC you will pay far more for a room then in Orlando.

[@TerryBenner]

Utilities are regulated and if you don't know why it has gone up a lot then you need to read the information that comes with your bill that talks about them getting approval to raise rates.

[@luckygandolff]

Wait, you guys have options for electric companies in Orlando? In Miami we only have FPL! I thought that was a Florida thing, go figure.

[@tonyyero7231]

Way too many HOA's in the Orlando metro area! The neighborhoods are either over priced for the salaries in the area and the it seems like u have to settle in a bad area or be wealthy. The HOAS are way to demanding and they can increase!! Scary!!

[@stevefrazier4281]

Car registration and driver's license fees?

[@ianbenitez7514]

It’s like $65 for me with a regular passenger car BUT I have a custom license plate on the car, if I had the regular Florida tag it would be like $35-45 annually

[@jaklg7905]

I live in NE and taxes are very high here. The housing market is about comparable to that of Florida but our property taxes are over double of that of Florida, NE state income tax is one of the highest in the Country, wheel tax is almost double that of Florida. Sales tax here is about 1% lower but food is expensive here because they just sell less due to population. We are an overtaxed state and would leave in a heartbeat if DH would be willing. Couple that with nothing to do here for entertainment except go to bars, which I am well past the age of that being fun.

[@CJSPENO]

HOA in Florida handles snow removal too ? Lol 😂

[@jameshogan1094]

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing. The last two or three resonated with me. Still coming to Florida, though!

[@sellsje]

Sean said Drinks and immediately said Wisconsin, that’s Truth!

[@mourning_ghost]

You don't mind tourists driving down and leaving all their money behind but you don't want to pay for the roads for them to get there.

[@williamhua4166]

Toll roads everywhere, electric bill doubling overnight. Sounds like corruption is taking root and the place is turning into the high tax places that people originally moved away from. The guy in the video who always smiles about every new tax by saying “The money has to come from somewhere, I understand it actually, it’s not as bad as you think” is part of the problem. The government will never stop taking more money as long as you keep giving it to them, and no more money doesn’t necessarily mean better outcome.

[@johnp139]

So you want everything for free?

[@kimt8162]

Yeh, our HOA is a little weird. Yes, they take care of the commuity pool, grounds pretty well. But, if there is ever an issue our HOA doesn't really do much. Yet, then they'll nit pick like crazy over something small for the whole community. We've seen many people break the rules and nothing ever happens about it. We had one neighbor who was a constant controversy, thank goodness she moved. I'd mind my own business, but she'd nag about weeds, to how tall your grass was, then she'd leave her trash cans (full of dog doo doo) would be sitting out all the time. You'll always have the nice neighbor and then that one that is just a pain/annoyance.

[@christophera.turner3394]

Tolls really are ridiculous

[@katherinechrisman5362]

I love Pete!

[@thequigley72]

Darn electric is steep

[@eric_in_florida]

Depends on size of your house and how much you want to run the AC. I have a smallish 3 BR and only pay about $75-$80 a month. I'm on the plan where it spreads out the costs so the bills are very consistent month to month, no huge spikes in the summer.

[@Jon-Chap]

$700 Pete?!

[@CoreyFiasco]

A huge part of that is we run the studio multiple times a week

[@seanroge]

Tourists already pay enough to pay your state income tax. You should be thanking us for how much we pour into your state not whining about how residents shouldn’t have to pay for road upkeep.

[@loopyloo788]

Agree 100%.

[@hayleygold2698]

did fiasco get younger?