Which way should I go?

[Sharon Aikens]

I live in New York on Long Island, and I plan to move to Florida. Should I try to network here and look into getting a home here, or wait until I get to go to Florida and do this? I am not too confident in dealing with property in New york, but I would like to try my hand at it here before I go to see how I do.

[Jeff Kushner]

Welcome to BP!

Whereabouts in FL are you planning on moving/investing?  Florida is a pretty diverse state.  Huge difference in lifestyle and investment opportunities/markets between South Florida (Jupiter/West Palm Beach and south to Miami and the Keys), Central Florida (Orlando), North East (Jacksonville, Saint Augustine), Panhandle (Gold Coast, Destin, Fort Walton Beach), West Coast (Tampa/Clearwater), I'm sure I'm leaving some other areas out but those are just where I've passed through in my time…

There are a lot of people here on BP that both live and/or invest in FL so be sure to search the forums and seek them out.  Also, if you haven't already, set up 'keywords' like Florida and other specific areas of interest so that you will be notified of threads that mention said topic.  I've been away from BP for 3 days and have 30+ threads to catchup on!

Good luck ;)