Georgiabk

we are in the process of looking into immigrating to Florida. I'm doing reasurch into areas we could potentially look into and also come over to invistigate later in the year. We are looking at buying a business, have a 3 year old son and have family (Aunts and cousins) in the palm beach area and cocoa beach area. We currently own a marquee company and wondered if this would be popular in Florida covering events, weddings or we are looking at selling the business and buying another in Florida. We have been looking into pool cleaning, hurricane shutters and landscaping business.
We have been looking into the Palm Beach County, Vero beach area, Sebastian and Palm city areas. In these areas can people recommend them for the following
- good areas in general
- good crime rates
- excellent education
- business potential
- properties that have a separate guest house attached
- community feel
- extra circular activities

We have searched sites like citydata.com and real estates but would like to know from a more personnel advice to offer. Have tried to look up forums for advice but can't seem to find anything recent.

Thank you for your help x

scrubbedexpat099

Which State do you live in now?

I have not been to Florida bit would find it too hot and muggy in the summer, OK in the winter.

Pulaski

"Good crime rates" and "excellent education" aren't things that I usually think of when I think of Florida.

scrubbedexpat099

Is NC back on the recommend list following repeal of the Bathroom Bill?

Pulaski

No. It's terrible here.

anotherlimey

Hey now..!

Excellent education is available and I haven't been raped yet.

Rete

Your aunts and uncles are the perfect people to advise you. They live there already.

I have family in Ft. Myers. One loves it and will never leave. The other hates the state with a passion.

anotherlimey

Lots of people do pool cleaning/maintenance - I can get that very cheap.

Hurricane shutters are seasonal. I don't know what the margins are like but you need to buy the actual shutters from certified manufacturers (they are tested independently), that might indicate they charge $$$. If you install uncertified shutters the homeowner doesn't get the insurance discount.

The money in landscaping is probably in design because the labor is cheap here.

scrubbedexpat099

Not sure if that is a plus or a minus.

Rete

Landscaping businesses are only lucrative if you are willing to hire illegals to do the work which most of the larger landscaping companies do. In my sister's gated community, only one of each crew speaks English.

She purchased hurricane shutters out of season. Your use of them are seasonal The shutters were purchased from the company that installed them. Yes, they got a discount on homeowners insurance and the company and shutters were vetted by the homeowners association.

anotherlimey

You can get a discount out of season too - but most people don't think about them until the hurricane season.

I'm in the process of buying shutters for my house now and 2/3 of the local suppliers for shutters, outside of the Home Depots, are closed until April. I've been looking and researching since December.

Georgiabk

South coast England. We have visited in the summer months and it isn't an issue for us.

christmasoompa

So are you US citizens or do you have a visa already? I think Boiler assumed you were already in the US so wouldn't need a visa, but is that not the case?

Welcome to BE and good luck.

Georgiabk

Thank you for the info with the hurricane shutters I did think this might be the case. We are just starting to look at options and also looking at relocating our current business. Thanks

Georgiabk

No we haven't got our visas yet just starting to look into it and see if it's something we could do. We have an appointment with an attorney next week to discuss options but wanting advice on these type of things to see if this type of move is viable.
Thank you for the advice so far x