- Know the cost and prepare for it. There are a couple of things that I would consider before making the move.
- How are you going to move your stuff?
- Where are you going to stay when you get when you get here.
Our story was quite different, and we had no real plan. It was like stepping off cliff into the unknown and trusting God enough to know that He would provide for us. It was easier for us to hire someone to pack up and move us. If it was just the two of us, we could have easily rented a U-Haul and driven ourselves down here. Two kids, a dog and a rabbit came with us. We chose to divide and conquer. My husband took our oldest and the dog in his vehicle. I took the youngest and the rabbit in my vehicle and a way we went. It was best to keep the predator and the prey separated the whole time. The only thing we planned about our trip was where we were stopping first. And we made a lot of stops and figured it out along the way. We rented a vacation home on Verbo for two weeks and prayed that we would be out in that two week time frame. Our host was truly amazing and really played a huge part in helping us get established. With open and honest communication, our host allowed up to use her home address to allow us to get established in schools and doctors officers. She stayed in contact with us for about a week after we moved out her house and into our rental house. We of course made sure to leave positive reviews on her listing. There is no way would ever be able to repay her for her hospitality. It was truly a blessing to us. All in all, it cost us about $7500 for movers and to store our stuff until we found a place. It cost us about $1300 for two weeks at the vacation house. On the way down we spent roughly $500 on gas for two vehicles, snacks and food, and a place to stay that allowed us to bring both animals in for the night.
2. Once you get here, you have 30 days to become a resident, and 10 DAYS after becoming a resident to register your out of state vehicles. The penalty for failing to register your vehicle in the state of Florida while you have resided here for over 6 months will result in a misdemeanor charge of the second-degree, punishable by any combination of the following:
Up to sixty (60) days of jail time;
Up to six (6) months of probation or community control; and
Up to five hundred dollars ($500) in fines.
Penalties can vary depending on the length of the lapse in registration This one is a no brainer, once you have an address you can go to the local tax collector’s office and take care of your car registration and taxes all at the same time
3. If you have kids to enroll in public school, you must have an address, and they have to have a Florida immunization record. They will not be enrolled without it.
One thing we learned is depending on where you are coming from, make sure your kids are officially withdrawn from their old school before leaving. Kentucky school did not consider our daughter withdrawn until she was successfully enrolled in Florida school. For the first two weeks the Ky school called everyday even though we went to the school, told them what was happening, and signed withdrawal forms. During the second week, we had a truancy officer calling us demanding to know why our daughter was not in school.
4. THE TRAFFIC IS HORRENDOUS. Is it as bad as other parts of the country? No not really, but prepare yourself and bring some patience with you. You are going to need it.
5. It is difficult to find a place to live on only one income. If you have a family and one of the two adults is not working most likely you won’t be accepted to most rental communities. We applied for countless apartments before contacting a realtor to help us find a place to fit our needs. We wasted several hundred dollars on application fees just to be turned down because my husband didn’t have a job lined up. Because I was moving due to my job, I had income but every place we applied to needed more than one income.
6. Google maps is your friend.
7. Find a realtor in advance to your move. A lot of realtors that we have encountered can work with you while you are still in another state.
8. Buying a house is more cost effective than it is to rent. We chose to rent because we kept thinking about what would happen if we got here and hated it. The truth is we had to use a lot of the sale proceeds from our home just to live off of the first year. The rent was high but it was the only place we could get into in such a short amount of time. It turned out for the best. We love it and obviously decided to stay and bought a house before our years lease ended.
9. You will never run out of things to do or places to go. There is always something to do in Jacksonville. Jacksonville is like a melting pot of different people and cultures. It’s family friendly
10.Most importantly if you are going to make the move, just do it. A lot can be figured out when you get here. You will learn the ins and outs of the state, where to go and where not to go.