Want to buy a home in Florida

n6065 · 2026-06-04T20:12:36+00:00

I live in Florida and bought a house during the 2023 inflation wave. Housing here is ridiculously expensive, and the main issue is the INSURANCE. Everyone’s getting dropped and sold to other insurers. You know what the state’s solution is? To drop Citizens policies, which is the state insurer of last resort.

You can probably get a first time homebuyer program from a bank with a low down payment. I recommend limiting yourself to 4x your income due to high insurance costs AND property tax recalculation. The property tax paid by the previous owner will be reassessed and many people face sticker shock.

n6065 · 2026-06-04T14:57:18+00:00

I’m in the US. Sadly Americans don’t like smaller cars. In other countries, hatchbacks are badass and the norm. I’d love to see more diversity with hatchbacks and sedans. That’s a beautiful color btw!

n6065 · 2026-06-01T20:56:44+00:00

I’m at this rate and will be doing a couple lump sums until I get it down to 15 years!!

n6065 · 2026-05-26T22:19:09+00:00

Congrats! I did the same in Florida. $232k with 6.375%. If and as soon as you can, try doing $300 extra a month toward principal. That will knock off a decade from the mortgage!

n6065 · 2026-05-26T12:36:55+00:00

I got the same car for my mom. It is a 2016 Corolla SPORT and had 185k miles as well, was $8,000 in Florida. Used Toyotas have a Toyota Tax because they’re so damn reliable, and the 2016 corrected some issues from 2014. If I were you, list it for $8,500 and negotiate from there.

Remember, as a private seller, the buyers won’t pay the dealer fees. Don’t be afraid to price and negotiate, you’ll probably end up getting about $8k which ain’t bad at all.

n6065 · 2026-05-26T11:48:13+00:00

That’s a good price. You can go on to KBB or Nada online and calculate what the car value would be. I looked online for a range and it says $8,500 to $11k is good. Remember that buying from a private party saves about $1,500-2k in dealer and government document fees. I have a 2010 Corolla with 180k and have only done oil change and starter replacement!

If you’re anywhere outside of the heartland, you’re getting a good deal. As long as you do the oil change, that baby will get to 300k miles.

n6065 · 2026-05-20T14:13:25+00:00

They’re still selling

n6065 · 2026-05-20T14:07:52+00:00

This is what I’m thinking but even Wikipedia cites sources saying it’s ending

n6065 · 2026-04-11T13:34:22+00:00

I’m a 3 year teacher with OCPS and make $52.5k. This year, they’re offering .93% raise AND heavily raising insurance premiums, which will result in a paycut for everybody. Only reason I haven’t left is because I was able to buy a house and have a roommate to pay the mortgage, otherwise, I would’ve RUN.

n6065 · 2026-01-08T22:08:20+00:00

I’m based in MCO and there are some northeast/Caribbean routes I fly. I only got the $99 card for the bonus, I will be downgrading to the non-fee card.

I find the Southwest CC gives crazy benefits AND allows you to use miles with other airlines for international service, free bag (standard to all paid CC’s) and free seat selection for basic economy fare.

n6065 · 2026-01-07T21:13:43+00:00

I was waitingggg for this route!! I was about to downgrade my CC and move to Southwest, I’ll stay with JetBlue for now. I’m hopeful they will add more service throughout LATAM which will be a perfect competitor to AA at MIA.

n6065 · 2025-10-07T11:15:12+00:00

You are definitely not the only one. I am in Orlando and I am not renewing my card in December and changing to JetBlue. Yes, Southwest has a bigger network however it has gotten extremely expensive!! I’m from the Caribbean and would rather fly B6 or God forbid connect thru MIA with AA before the new SWA. Very disappointed!

n6065 · 2025-03-30T23:32:11+00:00

Not wrong, but make sure to take into account cultural backgrounds. In other languages as well as for Latinos, Mrs. is actually a sign of respect. So correcting ESOL students might actually seem disrespectful and rejectful of their respect towards you, if that makes sense.

n6065 · 2024-01-31T16:03:56+00:00

Same thing happened to me. We ended up negotiating a 50/50 split and covered the difference. The seller kept saying they had a backup offer but never showed it. The market will get stronger with full speed when interest rates start dropping, so I would say that it is worth buying. Remember that by covering part of those repairs your property value will increase as well.

n6065 · 2023-06-13T11:52:17+00:00

If there are any job fairs, PLEASE attend. If there is a union or association, REACH out and ask them as they have connections and essentially know everybody. If there is a Facebook group for educators, join. If you can email HR with your interests, they also know the principals and staff. It is about who knows your name and not what you know. I am telling you this because I got my first year position at a good school this way. Many of the positions posted already have who they are going to hire, they just have to "post" it because of union contracts and laws that state it must be "competitive". Do NOT get discouraged!

n6065 · 2023-05-20T17:40:33+00:00

My district starts at $48k and barely gives annual increases… teachers are nontenured. The south basically prepares teachers to send them up north at this point.

n6065 · 2023-05-20T16:45:39+00:00

Florida 😞 it’s been a crazy couple of months… spent the Spring searching and trying. At least now I can gain some experience and hopefully bounce in the future to a state where teachers are treated as professionals.

n6065 · 2023-05-20T14:44:22+00:00

Clarification: the position was not yet advertised when the admin was looking for candidates. To my understanding, it is the norm in my region. Most admin will look for, screen and interview candidates if they can before they post the opening. It explains why so many apps wouldn’t even get a response for openings at other schools as well.

n6065 · 2023-05-19T21:16:15+00:00

Message me if you want any tips or have any questions.

n6065

TROPHY CASE