WHY have millions of people who made a "permanent" move to Florida, moved out?

Here are the real numbers:

13,164,695

Number of people who moved to Florida from another U.S. state 1980-2008.
  9,540,260

Number of people who moved out of Florida to another US state 1980-2008.

 

The data comes from an excellent study published by the University of Florida in 2009!

This was a very accurate study of what is really happening because the study only used data from the US Census Bureau that could be verified by IRS records. It did not include foreign immigrants, legal or illegal, people who did not file tax returns, or did not file on time, or did not file yearly, or had errors in address reporting, etc. If you are the kind of person who files a properly filled out tax return yearly, you are like the people in the study.

What do the numbers show?

 

People who move to Florida from another state only have about a 1 in 4 chance of being happy with their move, even if they considered their move to Florida to be a permanent one.

A minimum of 9,540,260 people moved out of Florida in just a 28 year period. That's more people than the entire population now living in all individual US States except ten. More people moved out of Florida between 1970-2008 than the entire population now living in New Jersey, Virginia, Indiana or Arizona for instance.

Of course this does not surprise me. I moved to Florida in the mid '90's and worked full time as a real estate agent and then as a broker. I saw the pattern repeated over and over. People would move to Florida to fulfill a dream, then slowly start to realize that living there was far different than what they expected, and then moved back home. This is great for real estate agents and movers who make money when people just like you move down, and then again when you move out. However, these people found multiple long distance moves were terribly disruptive, stressful and often a financial disaster.

 

This is the way things would normally happen. People develop a near 100% positive impression by advertising promoting Florida tourism, real estate, retirement and other interests. After visiting, this impression is reinforced by wonderful memories of vacationing in Florida. I visited Florida at least twice a year for over 10 years before I finally moved. I had been at at all the theme parks and many of Florida's beaches. I thought I knew all there was to know about living in Florida because I had visited it so often.

 

The first few months of living in Florida is almost always great, almost like vacations. I can remember floating in my heated caged pool after dark looking up at the stars and thinking "I should have moved sooner". When I first started selling real estate in Florida I couldn't relate to what people were telling me about why they wanted to sell and move back to their home state. Many were willing to sell at a significant loss just to get out of the state. Most offered their reasons why, but if they didn't I would ask.

As the years went by, I no longer had to ask why they were moving out. I had lived in Florida long enough to realize that living there was not like a vacation. This book is about the reasons why so many people who move to Florida to retire, or for the beach, theme parks or golf courses end up moving out. The numbers above are huge and they represent real people.

 

• sell the home you are in now (costly)
• move long distance (costly) 
• buy another home (costly)
• sell that home (costly)
• make a long distance move back home (costly) 
• and buy another house right where you live now (costly)?

It is entirely possible that you may love living in Florida. The Florida move guide explains many positive reasons for living in the state. For instance, Florida residents enjoy better asset protection automatically, than citizens in any other US state. The book is filled with tips that will help you improve your chances of a successful long term relocation like how to choose a better Florida home, which homes to avoid, where to live, the benefits of being a florida resident and more.

 

Unlike the 10,000,000 people mentioned in the study above who moved to Florida only to discover it wasn't for them, you have the chance to learn what living in the state is really like, before you learn the hard way. The book tells of the reasons given by 100's of sellers to their real estate agent, why they had to sell to leave the state. A small investment of less than $20 could save you a fortune. Find out if living in Florida is really the right thing to do for you and your family.