Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Hi, another newbie here.

My partner and I are thinking of moving to Florida, I would first like to know where we are aiming to move to then I can look further into all the visa info etc.

So please can anyone here tell me more information about Ocala, Florida?? I would like to run a dog grooming, kennel business/ livery stables when I move so please can you tell me if this area is suitable for those?? I will be looking to buy an exisiting business. Are other areas of Florida more suitable??

What is the snake situation there?? I'm not very good when it comes to snakes!

Thanks so much
princesslilly

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

For now, I'll just do the snakes! :)

I live in Australia. The subject of spiders and snakes comes up often as a cause of concern. I can't talk for Florida of course but the fact is that run ins with these things are pretty rare.

Hopefully, no one will contradict me. Not TOO much anyway.

Alistair.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Unfortunately, you need to figure out the visa part first - the US is notoriously hard to get in to, so it's the toughest bit of the process for most.

Have a look at this link and see which visa you may qualify for, then you can come back and ask questions about it. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585898

Good luck.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Nice area ...very horsey area ..quite expensive
you can visit the Don garlits musuem ...

Snakes abound in florida

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Where are you living right now? You didn't say. What are your citizenships? You didn't say. If not in USA and not Americans, then:

your partner... married or not? Same sex or opposite sex? What visas are you planning to get for this adventure?

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

You may get a better idea about life in Florida if you search for old threads. The search function is located in the pink bar at the top of the page...go to 'Advanced Search'. In the box at the left hand side of the page type in 'Florida'...set it to search thread titles only. Then in the large box on the right hand side highlight the US forums. This should bring up lots of threads for you to read through.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Pretty nice area, you would have a 'posh' neighbour John Travolta...the americans love their pooches and treat them like kids, so maybe a dog grooming business and kennel would be good thing to look into.
You do need to read older post as suggested first. Big decision and grass
isnt always greener and all that stuff. Visa's can be one hell of a headache.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Assuming you do not have any US connections you would be looking at an E2 Visa,

Downside is it is not permanent and there are children issues, but none mentioned.

You have to have adequate capital, you have to have a reasonable number of employees. A Business like this is like to cost enough to get rid of the capital requirement and I would have though a reasonable sized business is quite staff heavy.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Hi Everyone

Thanks everyone for your replies, we currently live in England, we are not married, we are an oppsite sex couple. With selling both our houses we should have around $900,000 to start with.

I think from what I can gather we need to look at an E2 visa, is that correct??

princesslilly

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

With that sort of money just come over as tourists and buy a fake id/passport when you are over here.

Go somewhere cheap (like the midwest) and buy a decent house for $100,000. Put the rest in the bank and enjoy your early retirement.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

The prices in Ocala (and many other parts of FL) are much lower than my part of the Midwest. You can get quite a decent house in Ocala for a small price. This is just one example of many, many homes: http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...482_1119642919


www.realtor.com

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

I used to live near Ocala its a nice place the horse capital of the world allegedly I would live there in a heartbeat. It has a good selection of shops etc AND AND a decent curry house.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

That sounds like a great plan TimberHut thanks!!!

I will take a look at the website many thanks, tamms.

We also love the look of Venice, FL. I love the idea of being close to the beach as well.

I have owned horses for the past 20 years and would love to bring him with us when we move so maybe Ocala would be ideal??

princesslilly

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

For horses, yes it would - the place is obsessed with horses, there are thoroughbred farms all over. As I understand it, its one of the premier such locations in the world. I've only been up there a couple of times, but you can't move for seeing pictures of horses everywhere!

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

you've never been to Kentucky then...........

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Or Newmarket!

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Agreed. Horse people that go to both agree that Kentucky is the horse capital of the US (Ocala pales in comparison) and Newmarket is the throroughbred capital of the world.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Kentucky's official logo:

Ian

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

a fine breeding pair from Ocala

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

I think it's based on the actualy density of horses rather than a claim to fame. But who give **** it's got a good curry house

http://amritpalace.com/

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

If you've got $900k to play with, you might look at a better visa than the E2.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

If you are looking at an EB5 then it is $500k plus fees which would leave $300k to move over and you are not going to set up and run a Horse/Dog business on that.

Plus there are two of them. $900k should be enough for a double E2 business etc.

OP Beware, lots of scammers out there, particularly it appears in Florida. You need proper business and legal advice.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

doesn't the EB5 get you a green card though?

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

yes it does:) and with $900,000 it would be an EB5 all the way!
you could even buy a good franchise for around $75,000, to provide them with an income (with the money left over) then they still have $200,000 + dollars to play with. Bingo

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

I agree.....the E2 tend to be a road to unhappiness more often than not. EB5 a supremely better bet if OP can swing it.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Is there a 2 for 1 offer?

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Many thanks, I will do a search for the EB5 visa. Sorry I maybe stuipd here but can someone please tell me what is OP??

Thanks again

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

OP = Original poster ..you

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

If you are into horses, then Ocala might be for you. As for the culture there... well, they got both types of music--country AND western.

True about Amercans treating dogs as children. But if you are looking at starting a dog grooming business, make sure you go somewhere where people's idea of a dog is a pampered house pet and not a flea-bitten hound dog that lives underneath their trailer.

Edit to add: I forgot to mention that Venice is a dump.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

I take offense at the insinuation that my kin folk all live in trailers and have flea-bitten hound dogs. Neither I nor any of my friends have ever had a hound dog!

Ian

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

I hear banjo music...I'm outta here!

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

HIYA, I am a native Floridian, just moved from Orlando to Surrey, UK. I have lived all over the USA so I can speak about Florida without being too biased.

Ocala- well, yes there isdefinitely lots of land and horses and such but Florida in general is swampy, rains all the time, hurricanes and Ocala will get a little cold in the winter. Don't laugh, when the temp reaches 32 degrees F for about 5 minutes - we call it a cold snap - and everything that is green dies in that moment! Definitely serious snakes,lizards,spiders,scorpions, bears, raccoons. Serious mosquitos, bugs.

I am not really sure there will be a market for dog grooming. We had a Hollywood Houndz in Lake Mary where we lived ;-) It is very low income as a whole.

It is hard to compare Central Florida outdoor type of places to say England. Because of the general lack of public or commuter transportation in Florida, basically you will be out in the sticks with not the greatest type of people around - Ok, I'll just say it, ignorant. Your likely to have neighbors that have never left a 20 mile radius of Ocala for say 3 generations. There wont be business type people that say commute to Orlando. It's not like here in the UK where you can take a train for 30 minutes from London and be in the middle of nowhere in Horley or West Sussex yet still be by the airport and bustling areas. Same with say Cambridge.

We pass through Ocala to get to Tallahassee where my little brother is in Uni and there is just one main highway, etc. Seriously it sounds mean but there will be loads of trailer parks. I don't want to be rude but everything you see on TV is true!

I am in the middle of another move myself and I have come to this message board seeking advice so please don't take my post as "taking the mick" or anything, I am being honest.

I agree with some of the other posters, I would look for an area that has a larger history or heritage in outdoorsy type of living not a small throw back town that never got off it's feet. Florida is not the best state for that southern outdoor stuff because it is too diverse and throws most of its efforts into being a beach going/resort industry state. Try further north like Georgia, Tennessee, North/South Carolina, I absolutely love the Midwest like Colorado. If your stuck on Florida, try Deltona or Mount Dora - both a could of hours from Ocala.

if I had to give you my honest opinion, Ocala would be the last place I would ever want to live.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Hiya

You obviously haven't gone for a walk in 6 inches of grass before in Florida. I am a native Floridian and I HATE Snakes. They are everywhere that is wooded area or swampy area- which is just about everywhere especially in Ocala. Lizards and other little thingy jump out everywhere from trees, etc and don't even get me started on alligators. People think you can just call animal control to come and get them but they don't come out unless they are of a extraordinary size. I can't even do gardening because I am afraid to stick my hands in the bushes and find a snake. I am so traumatised from it that i have to consciously remind myself that here in the UK we don't have snakes and when I am on the trails with my dog not to worry!

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Some good points. I live in Florida and am looking to move back to the UK asap partly due to the above!

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

With respect, this is an ignorant comment - and something you suggest you know a bit about! It sounds as though you are now emulating those you would otherwise denigrate! Fortunately, ignorance can be cured.

Ian

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Are you saying the comment is ignorant or that the poster does know something about it? I may be a product of the American education system, but even I can see that you are contradicting yourself.

Unfortunately, being a sanctimonious prick can't be cured.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Yes - the comment was ignorant.


Also yes - the poster claims to know something about ignorance, since he wrote about it in his post.


I suggest you take a remedial reading course. Further, I suggest you sue the school board that allowed you to graduate from high school... apparently, you lack the basic ability to understand what you read.


You say that as though it's a bad thing! :)

Ian

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

Great idea! My law degree will come in handy for that!

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

I have a BS and a MA but do not claim to know everything. I certainly did not mean to offend anyone...I tried to stay factual. I do believe that having lived about 2 hours from Ocala for the past 7 years allows me to offer my first hand knowledge of the area that I felt could help the person asking some advice (I think that covers the ignorant part). "Emulating those you would otherwise denigrate" Sorry, I had to look up denigrate...I didn't mean to "attack" anyone and I do apologise if you were genuinely offended.

Re: Moving to Ocala, Florida??
 

I did not mean this to aggressive, please don't post back moaning at me. ;-)