Considering making a move to Florida? Reach out Day/Nights/Weekends whenever you want; we never stop working for you!! Juan Alcala - Tampa Realtor 📲 Call/Text Direct at (813) 261-3540 📲 Email: info@trulivingroup.com 📅 calendly.com/juan-alcala/45 👨‍💻 Website: www.tbhomesearch.com/ Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/juan.alcala.realtor/

The summer will wear on you and I found myself romanticizing about living back in the snow country as the years went by. Then I actually went up north during the winter...I was happy to return to Florida! Bottom line...no matter where you live there will be things you'll need to learn to tolerate.

The over use of popping noise in your audio is very annoying. Just saying

Don’t move here. People who work here can’t afford to live here anymore. Teacher shortages all over the state because with the salary they earn, they can’t afford to rent or own a home. And teachers aren’t alone. Wages haven’t kept up with the huge inflation of prices. The lizards and bugs are the least of our worries.

Everyone has a preference. I lived i Florida for years, and moved to New York (Upstate, NOT NY city). Happy we made the move. We break up the 3-4 months of cold winter weather by taking a vacation to Florida. I just couldn't take the heat in the summer, others can.

You missed the part about taxes. Florida gets their money, one way or another. As a small business owner and homeowner, we have seen taxes skyrocket over the last few years. Add In the extremely high cost of living, people moving here because it’s “cheaper”, are being conned by the governor’s PR department.

Florida is nice but 1. It's flat...no hills, no mountains, no waterfalls, no canyons, no valleys, no cool crisp air. Nothing but sand...lol... Am I wrong.

I lived in Daytona Beach for 20 years and hated every minute of it. The points you made are right on if not worse. I am from New England and am very happy to be back where things are so much more beautiful. I missed the change of season the most. I was so sick of things being green.

Politics and diverse cultures are great but I’ve lived here my entire life (28 years) and the heat is worse every year. It’s so miserable. My husband refuses to move so I’m stuck here but I’ll take mountains and seasons any day over the beach and non stop humidity and heat.

Loved on a island in south texas for 5 years. The way I using describe the heat and humidity is like this: it’s basically like getting out of the shower and immediately putting your clothes on without drying off.

what is with the popping noise? I advise to get rid of it. It is really annoying. I mean, you do it whether you change the perspective or not.

I've lived in the Tampa Bay area for the past 50 years and watched the changes. All I can say is if you can live here for half the year , preferably November through May, you have hit the best of the best. Otherwise, be prepared for the summers which have become an inferno. There are no breaks from the heat. Just plan on living inside from May through September. This wasn't our experienced when we first moved here 50 years ago. I'm not going to go into what the causes are but it is an objectively observed truth that things are very hot and getting hotter, so if that's off with you, by all means move on down.

I don't recommend a move to Florida. Cost of living is so high that it more than makes up for any saving you might get from not having to pay income tax. Health care is atrocious, like living in a third world country only its very expensive. Floridians are nice but not at all helpful. You are on your own. You can't trust small business owners; you must go to national chains for all your retail needs and pay their high prices. At least you can return if it doesn't work. There is a lack for professionalism everywhere. Even doctors and lawyers lack professionalism. It is just a very difficult place to live.

As someone from Michigan considering moving to Tampa this video is about relatable as it gets lol

Don't forget HOA hell.

SUMMER is the BEST TIME of year here in Florida. I live in The Villages Florida and I can wear a bathing suit or sun dress 24 hours a day!!! And I love the daily afternoon thunderstorms!!!! I sit out on my screened in lanai and watch nature!!!!

I really like your channel and content. But would you consider dropping that popping noise? It’s super annoying.

Great because it's thoroughly informative and you go into tapping into a bit of insurance send traffic and maintenance etc.

We LOVE Florida! What has been an issue is the traffic and how unless you are beachside the roads are basically highways everywhere you drive.

You keep referring to Tampa 🤨St. Pete is not Tampa !!!…Lived in St. Pete over 40 yrs , just moved to Blue Ridge , Georgia 3 yrs ago ….was so glad to leave brutal long summer heat……crazy traffic …..tons of people in stores now …..yes, red tide …..no parking for residents …all,taken up by tourists and if u find spot meter’s expensive to stay for few hours …..and yes , popping noise irritating !

thanks you for the video. very helpful

Great video & I’m glad your family found the pros outweigh the cons. I’ve been in the Tampa area since ‘97 & love it!❤ So often we start convos with “Where are you from originally?” People are generally friendly yet not in your biz. And it’s hard to be in a bad mood with our beautiful sunshine and palm trees!☀️🌴

Tampa Bay got lucky last fall as Hurricane Ian was forecast to strike there but instead landed well south in Port Charlotte/Englewood/Ft. Myers and the surrounding areas. I spent two and a half months in the aftermath volunteering in those communities with a non-profit that specializes in disaster relief. We concentrated on debris removal, chainsaw work, mucking and gutting, and sanitization. Most of the homes we worked on did not have flood insurance as it apparently is quite expensive so the homeowners hoped that they would not get hit and were unfortunately wrong. (BTW, I saw a lot more damage to floors, walls, furniture, cabinets, and appliances caused by flooding then I did to ceilings and roofs from heavy wind and rain.) If you are willing to chance a hurricane in your zeal to move to FL then there is one thing you should definitely avoid and that is living in one of those mobile/prefab homes so prevelant there. We gutted dozens of those places and they are shoddy compared to a properly built home with a concrete foundation. For example, we had to remove and throw out entire subfloors of plywood that we should have been able to save by sanitizing because they had particle board glued to the bottom of them which we could not sanitize. What's more, most of these homes were built in the late 1970s which means if there was original flooring anywhere in the house we had to stop work and send a sample to a lab to test for asbestos. And if it's not bad enough to have your home heavily damaged by a hurricane we saw many homes with the words "You loot we shoot" spray painted on them as apparently some people saw the suffering of others as an opportunity to trespass and treat themselves to anything of value that does not belong to them. Then there's the out-of-state contractors some homeowners told us about who took their money and then disappeared without completing a job if they even started it. I realize my view is jaded as I only saw these communities in the aftermath of destruction, but it's good to know what you might be getting yourself into.

The roaches you showed were not palmetto bugs. Also, they can, and do, nest inside. Ask me how I know…

I'm going to Florida like five days in the winter and the coldest part of the winter. And it still sucks

this was awesome!!! this is what living in Florida is really like!!!!

Good info but I stopped video half way through. That popping noise annoys me. it's weird. No sub.

AAAHHHH! Please stop with the POP n ZOOM effect. No Mo!!!

If you live in/near Indian Rocks Beach, no wonder you love it so much. Indian Rocks Beach and that whole area is awesome!

We relocated here in 2017 fr Chicago and Florida STILL proves to be a continuing learning curve living in South Florida in particular - Yes, thank goodness we have been lucky dodging tropical depressions/hurricanes since Ian.

Great video thanks

What’s the purpose of the popping sound. Annoying

Good personable presentation. Thanks.

I have never seen this show before. I have lived in Florida since 1991. I do not like cold weather at all, so this is perfect for me. I love it here and I will never leave. I would say this guy summed up life in florida quite well. A. Everything is expensive. B. The traffic can be terrible. C. The only seasons in Florida are 'hot and humid' and 'high humidity and hotter'. Most of the time you feel like you are living in a sauna. Best tips for living in Florida: 1. Always keep your AC in good working condition 2. Drink lots of water 3. Spray on insect repellent when you go outside 4. Absolutely do NOT let your dogs swim in any open body of water The alligators will get them. Apparently dogs are a real treat to alligators.

My family and I moved from Eastern Europe to Jacksonville Florida back in 1994, and we have lived here every since. I gotta say the heat and humidity is almost unbearable during summer. Unless you’re going out to the pool, or going to the beach, forget about outdoor activities during summer here. Even going to the pool during summer here in Florida isn’t that pleasant, because the pool water is quite warm. I’ve lived in Middleburg Florida town for the past 15 years, and during summer it rains literally every day. The in between seasons spring and fall are nice though, because there’s almost no humidity and the weather is very nice 65-80 degrees during the day, and around 50-60 degrees at night. The cold months which it only gets cold maybe 3 months and the coldest I’ve ever seen was 19 degrees at night.

I have lived in Florida in Florida for 31 years, before Disney, SeaWorld and Universal. Okay this is about the Palmetto Bugs. Roaches and Palmetto bugs are two separate type of bugs but they are similar. Roaches cannot fly but Palmetto bugs can. The way that Palmetto bugs got their name is because they like to live in the Palmetto trees.

Moved here in st Pete and less than 2 months a hurricane evac.. 😂 WOW welcome to Florida

Great coverage for a northerner moving to the South, thanks

Moved to Hernado country 7 yrs ago Love it love love it.

Thanks for all the honest info. From what I've read from our climate experts, more seaweed is on the way. When it decays on the beaches, it produces hydrogen sulfide gas. One thing I'm mindful about is when I buy my house I don't want any trees so close to the house where leaves, branches, or anything else clog up the gutters. In the past month I've already cleaned my gutters four times.

I moved from Boston to Boca in October. Upon hearing this in April, a long-time resident told me, “Well, be prepared to become a vampire for the next five months because you won’t be able to go out in the daytime.”

As someone with many medical problems, I'll add that there are loads of doctors of virtually every specialty in the area. The problem is, most of them that I've dealt with are awful. I have to go to Orlando for one of my specialists... there is no one in Tampa familiar with this particular disease. Speaking of which, the drive to and from Orlando is a pain in the butt... Tampa is fine, but don't think you're going to pop down to Orlando frequently to visit the parks... the traffic there is terrible every day, all times of the day. Apparently we can add flesh eating amoeba to the list now... usually it's only found in fresh water, but it's been found in Tampa area ocean water recently. Lovely. We moved here 4 1/2 years ago and despite everything, we're still happy here. I don't think this will be our last home, but we do like it (we live in Valrico).

Respectfully disagree on the "live and let live part", otherwise seemed an honest assessment of Florida not often seen in real estate videos. We started researching Florida and discovered it was not a good fit for us, even without the rapidly rising cost of living there.

Yes I was in ft myers last July 2023 I really enjoyed the heat

I moved to west palm beach from Chicago 11 years a go and I’m glad . A good air conditioner it’s all it’s need it .

All True.....Well done...

The hubby and I live in Florida and we love it.

I was a die hard loved loved loved Florida fan- where I lived for 20 yrs. (Clearwater) I was ready to leave though when I did. Weather changed over 20 yrs- no more thunderstorms every afternoon- which had been like clockwork and cooled everything off. The weather simply changed. So hot, like an oven and it is hot year round. And real humid, walking through the parking lot to get to my car at 1 am, when it is still 92°hair soaked wet and clothes sticking to you.. I got real tired of having to evacuate for storms- that is a nightmare! Stuck in traffic for hours and hours while your car just rocks back and forth with the wind. And you cannot afford to own property in Florida- you cannot get affordable home owners insurance and good luck even finding any flood insurance at any cost! Utilities are more- costs a lot to cool. Costs a lot to insure anything, car ins. is twice what it is in other states. AND it takes you forever to go anywhere out of the state. You will drive for a day or two before you get anywhere you might want to be, it takes a day just to drive from Tampa to Panama City or Pensacola. Otherwise it takes most of a day to fly anywhere by the time you've gotten to the airport and flown in a packed plane to somewhere, etc. Save Florida for your vacations.

Great video 👍🇺🇸

What a beautiful family!

Hmmm... after hearing this, i think where we live now in Southern Cali still wins. Thank you for the information!

Live on the Atlantic side Melbourne area…..beautiful weather! Light humidity and mid 90’s in the summer with afternoon thunder storms but no where near as bad as the gulf side. My good friends live on gulf side and they get way more hurricanes and humidity than us.

Great video

OMG! The water yeah! Blechhh

We actually decided to make the move from Boston to Tampa (Apollo Beach). Your videos have been quite helpful. Thanks.

"Knit a blanket" took me out😂😂😂😂 love it lol

The problem with a mild weather climate is the monotony. We moved from Cali to a seasonal state and should have done it sooner. Plus no income tax and lower costs are much easier to live with.

Dude aside from the heat, the large bugs and gators (and the food - aight - if you can call it that) high expenses - if you live in flood country - good luck in finding insurance.

Gorgeous family ❤

You didn’t mention the constant, odd experience of people approaching you, begging, God-bothering, hustling everywhere you go (or knocking on your door). A bum (smoking 100%) or kid with “donation bucket”🪣 at every stoplight. Nerve-wracking.

I was born in Tampa raised in Arizona now I live in Colorado and own my own business here started another location in Tampa can’t wait till business picks up down there and I can get back home

People of Florida don’t use signals when turning. That’s annoying. A lot of dark roads.

Really GOOD video! Excellent information and things to consider. Is your focus only Tampa? Or other areas of Florida also?

Moved to Lakeland FL in 1993, left in September 2017. Smartest desion EVER!

Great video, I truly enjoyed it! I’m finding these types of videos extremely helpful. I love FL I visit multiple times a year from GA and I’m considering relocating there. Tampa, OR and Jacksonville are my top 3. Also, planning on getting my real estate license but can’t decide if I want to complete it here in GA or in FL. Any thoughts? Were you already a real estate agent prior to moving there?

Good video, spot on. Retired here back in 2016, just north of Clearwater. Seven years and still haven't found real pizza. lol But I'll take the heat and humidity over a northeast winter any day.

Great video! Very informative, quick question, where in FL is good for allergy/sinus sufferers? Thanks

Are that many people really that blind to the realities of moving to a different state? Florida wildlife and weather is very well known, so why would they be surprised at it? If you're not going to carefully research your move, that's nobody's fault but your own. We love FL after spending most of our life in New England, but we knew what we were getting into and made adjustments to adapt to our new home state.

I'm a Realtor enjoying your videos( I watch all the way through for the algorithm). Odd question: I'm a guitar player myself, is that a PRS Sonzera 20 combo back there, if so, how do you like it??!! Great videos BTW

Great viewpoints and advice. We visited Land o Lakes in July, and didn't find it any worse than the humid summers of SE PA. In fact, your humidity and air smells cleaner. There are days here in the summer that you just can't go outside because the air quality is terrible. Seems like the Gulf brings a fresher air mass. Love the channel!

Tampa doubled in size and quadrupled in crowds since we lived there. I like visiting in January, but that’s it. We have a place now in Mexico, and we love it! Florida’s environment is being destroyed by all the development.

Obviously, homes prices , & insurance have gone have up dramatically. Especially on the barrier islands beach communities. I live in Indian Rocks Beach (located between Clearwater, & St. Pete Beach), & insurance is a major issue. Just about every, I’m having to change insurers b/c they either leave the state, or become insolvent due to Hurricane payouts. That said, property insurance for beach communities is mainly handled by a state run insurer called Citizens…..Only option available if wanting to live on the Islands, but it’s offset by low property taxes that are about 5K a year with homestead….Far less expensive than any northern state. Used to live in Illinois, & property taxes were over 50K. Also, owning properties offsets it as well……..Aggressive lease growth, allows landlords (unfettered ability) to up lease rates to (again) offset costs. Several years ago a beach efficiency could be leased for under a thousand per month, now that same studio is (minimum) $2500 per. Still cheaper than most.

I moved from New Hampshire 11 years ago, and I love it here. Cheaper and better living that in New England. Come on down!

Oh yeah the palmettos live in the palm trees. Yechhhh & I totally agree… In my mind there still roaches

I want to move to Florida Tampa (Lutz area) but all this insurances scare the hell out of me :(

I'm laughing because I got in my moms car and there was a gecko that jumped out and I freaked. Lizards and Geckos are everywhere...They get into the house And they're so darn fast! I don't know if I'll ever get used to them lol

I love Michigan I will stay here thanks for the truth ❤.

thank you for your video live in Arizona for 23 years now we’ve been in Tennessee for almost 3 years and having winter blues don’t want to go back to Arizona because we enjoy the greenery so we’re thinking about Florida but we don’t want to live in a city but still want to be close to a PublicSq or a Sprouts and not be more than three hours away from the ocean any suggestions?

Daytona beach realtor here!!! 🎉🎉

I live in Grand Rapids Michigan! And I’m dying to leave before the winter comes! I’m tired of the 4 months of summer and 8 months of winter

I was surprised to see how high the sales tax is in some counties.

Sounds like fun🤣

More uninsured drivers and more foreign drivers visit Florida for the parks making it also the rental car capital.

Should we be getting a tile or metal roof in Florida?

Well I see it a whole different way I've been here five years the governor begged me to come here I've been fighting with the locals ever since I arrived the locals do not want transients here we are called transients and they made it very clear to me the second thing is and part of their begging me to come here I'm an avid fisherman I live on the ocean they showed me pictures of crystal clear water and it is nothing but filthy it's contaminated you can't go in the water on the beach if you have an open cut because you'll get a bad infection all the fish in shore are all contaminated with red tides now we have a big blob of seaweed coming and they had the nerve to show me pictures of crystal clear water I've been asking everybody where is this clean water and everybody looks at me like I'm from another planet

Stop the bubbles poping

Great report, TY!What's that bizarre popping noise throughout the entire video. It's not my phone. Just checkt other channels.

We once had a gecko living with us for so long that I named him harry. I just got use to him being in the home. I have not seen him in a while I guess he moved out.

Its the palmetto bugs that are the worst...they fly ..get into your face and hair

Hi, I am planning to relocate finally to FL from CA, but I'll go without a vehicle, do you have any recommendations what city has better public transportation system? How is taking a bus in Tampa? I have to start from zero, because I am not taking anything from CA., I notice the moving and U-Haul will actually cost me more than actually two suitcases. Thank you for the video excellent information.

Don't trust brokers,anyone,this stuff they never told you,always research before

palmetto bugs - roaches that are drawn to the water standing in the joints when the palm fronds join the tree. Palmetto Palms are one of their favorites. When I lived in S Florida - 1950-1985 - they 'seemed' large enough to saddle. They will fly AT you...and if you store paper products of any type, you will have them. They love boxes....paper bags...wrapping paper...They will also eat through some loosely woven fabrics. Make sure you leave no water standing...anywhere, yard or house. I miss a lot of the south Florida offerings. Roaches? nope.

Does having a solar roof appease the insurance companies?

I've been living in Manhattan since 1972. But I've been going to Florida since 1959. New York is not New York anymore. And I'm not a black. I'm moving to Aventura soon just as soon as I unload my Manhattan condo.. Florida is a well-run state unlike New York.

I had a bad attack of no-see-ums on the beach. They are no joke! Felt miserable most of my vacation and almost ended up in emergency room.

Tampa bay have way less mosquitoes than in Central Fl. Mosquitoes hover around fresh water lakes and Central FL has many lakes just look at the map. Same with gators in Central FL.

I love Florida ❤

LIZARDS ARE AWESOME

I move on to maybe Arizona instead ; don’t like bugs

No affordable insurance. Manhattan rents at Mississippi wages.