Depending your price point even Estero has some good spots as the ritz residences are going up by coconut point all more trendier places right now down here. 

Do you have to explicitly tell them not to pour fry oil down the drains?

Austin has a lot of growth and isn't so connected to oil. 

The drop in oil prices is is having a dramatic impact on this market and virtually all industries in it have been and may continue to be negatively impacted (see article below).I'm not sure if and if so when these oil companies will be able to transition to clean energy production, but it would be something I would be very concerned with when considering investing in Houston.www.houstonchronicle.com/business/economy/amp/The-deceptive-diversity-of-Houston-beyond-oil-8325303.php?

we oiled and oiled them after we installed them and were so careful to clean water up quickly so they would not stain, that I thought personally they would be a pain. 

There is bound to be an increase in oil prices shortly which will further escalate and skyrocket the prices of everything.

Are you on hold right now in "wait and see" mode in regards to the oil spill, or are you going ahead with your offers on Fla. properties?

My husbands dream is to join the fire department full time (he's volunteer) so i'd love to make enough money plus more to get him out of the oil field and doing what he loves.

I think you are dead on point to look east, but you may not have to go much past east bay or even Central Valley to find something that pencils out (and possibly less oil price sensitive)..

Oil went down a bit as commodities usually go down as money becomes more expensive.But what about real estate prices?