The heat is bad. If you are moving from a tropical area you will be fine. It is 95 degrees on average in the middle of the summers. There are about 3 months of intense heat. Accompanied with that is going to be 100% Humidity.

Certain areas are going to flood. Pretty much all of Florida is in a flood zone. The main thing you want to know is what flood zone you are in and what risk you are willing to take on. If you want a house on the beach…you may get flooded; it comes with territory. You can always check on the flood zone by using the Fema Flood Maps.

Hurricanes are also a part of the lifestyle down here. Most are Mild, but there are some times when hurricanes can be really bad. Southern Florida gets an average wind speed of 150 mph; while the northern part of Florida has an avg wind speed of 110 mph. St. Augustine has been real lucky these past couple years. Hurricane Matthew did some damage to the town several years back; though recently it has been mild.

2. Power Outages

I have lived through several hurricanes and the most time that I have lost power was 1 week. This was about 20 years ago; but things have changed in terms of flood management and building standards. Now I have only lost power for at most a day if not hours. Some people have a generator for their necessities.

I was talking to someone from California that asked about Rolling Blackouts and if they were a thing here. Apparently it is pretty common for that to happen. That is not common here in St. Augustine

3. Flat

The state is flat with no Mountains in sight. I have lived in PA, NYC, and NJ. All of these places had mountains and skyscrapers and cityscapes. Going Hiking was one of my favorite activities to do. Just a great way to disconnect and make sure no one can reach my me for real estate. Though you have beautiful beaches and rivers, everything is flat. Not that many skyscrapers, nothing like NYC at least, no mountains or valleys. There are miles of timber and marshes. Miles of coastlines. Great in its own right but different for sure.

4. Allergies

Luckily for me I dont have any allergies, at least I dont think I do. My fiance Maia has them bad though. To be fair she had them bad in Brooklyn but I digress. Most allergy seasons start in the spring; in Florida it can start as early as December because of our climate. Though you can bet on allergy season starting around February and depending what your allergic to can last til its cold again.

5. Sun and UV Rays

Florida has one of the Highest UV Rays and trust me you need to put some sunscreen on. Florida is one of the Highest rates of melanoma from UV Rays. If you have sensitive skin or eyes you may have a tough time with the sunshine all day. I got about a 30 minute window to put sunscreen on or I turn into a Irish Lobster. I have to apply sunscreen once an hour until I get a base freckle tan. I also have blue eyes which apparently are more sensitive to light. There are some days when the sun hits the sand and water that it makes it really tough to see. I have teared up several times.

6. People don’t wear masks

Whether you hate Desantis or love him. Our state has become kind of the poster child for experimenting with post pandemic conditions. Thankfully it has kind of worked out so far. There was a bit of time where everyone did it…maybe a month last year; now maybe 20% of people wear a mask. Id like to make a point that over 50% of Florida is Vaccinated, including myself. I just want things to go back to normal.

There was a point last year where Duval county closed their beaches during co-vid. St Johns county did not and everyone was right on the county line.

7. Tourists and Part-Time Residents

Whether you want to live in Miami, Key West, or St. Augustine. These places thrive on Tourism. Of course there is other industry that makes up these towns but for the most part they live and breathe vacation rentals and snowbirds. That is pretty common in all of Florida. Bless you if you live in Orlando near disney world. People also own second homes here to get away from the weather up north. A winter home to get away from it all and slow down. So its a strong possibility that you may not get to know your neighbor that well. I actually love my neighbor because they are snowbirds from NYC. We hit it off immediately when we met; they only spend 2 weeks a year down here so they let me use their driveway the rest of the year. In return I pressure wash it for them

8. Wildlife

No lions, tigers…well atleast not in the wild; Though there are bears, panthers, bobcats, alligators, snakes, vultures, Mosquitos. Yea we have all of that. Though in all honesty most of the areas have been so developed you are not likely to come upon one. I have only seen about 4 in the wild, one of those was in an HOA retention pond, and was only about 3 feet long. I have never seen a bear bhere but I know they exist. I am not a hunter or anything. I was mountain biking and saw a sign in the black diamond area of Mt. Biking. It gave a warning it said “there are cougars in the area, men under 30 do not ride alone” I freaked out at first and realized it was a joke and felt like such an idiot.

9. High costs of insurance

Apparently the costs are so high because of the weather and because Florida has a high rate of people who drive without insurance. I moved from NYC so my insurance was a little cheaper and I bet there are way more people without insurance there. Though it costs what it costs. If you live closer to the water or in a flood zone I would expect to pay well over $1,000 for flood insurance a year.