Retirees Explain Why They’re Fleeing Florida: ‘It’s All Malls’

Florida has long been a top state to which retired Americans flock, but some, like local resident Alisa Newman, are doing just the opposite.

Newman moved to the Miami area in 1997 when her husband took a job there. But now, at the age of 58, she has decided to leave.

While she knows she’ll be leaving behind many of Florida’s retirement-friendly perks — such as no state income tax and year-round sunshine — she’s also painfully familiar with the area’s downsides.

For one, there’s the heat. While warm weather is widely seen as a draw to living in Florida, the state has gotten hotter, with record temperatures.

“As I’m getting older, I’m not doing well,” she says. “It’s 80 degrees and humid at 6 o’clock in the morning.”

Then there are hurricanes. Newman’s town of Coral Gables is regularly hit by storms that have knocked out power for weeks. In 2017, Hurricane Irma dropped a tree on her home.

“The storms are getting worse and worse, and people are in denial if they don’t want to see it,” she says.

In response to this increase in extreme weather, insurance costs have skyrocketed, and some of her neighbors can’t afford it at all. Home insurance costs have risen by 102% since 2021 – three times the national average.

Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute also told Fox13, “We’ll see double-digit growth again in 2024.” However, he told Realtor.com that prediction didn’t come true. Thanks to legislative reforms, the average growth in the state during the last six months was only 1.2%.

This may be too late for many.

“Everybody I know got massive rate hikes last year or got laid off,” Newman complains. Carriers also want you to replace your roof if it’s over 20 years old, even if it’s in good shape.

She says many friends are choosing not to pay premiums rather than suffer the high cost. Newman’s home insurance is $10,100 a year, and that’s with discounts for storm windows and a burglar alarm.

She also has to worry about potholes: “Another fun Florida phenomenon.”

Newman adds that car insurance has also increased (24% on average in the state as of 2023, according to the Insurance Information Institute), as have general living expenses like eating out at restaurants — all of which work to drive away further attainable retirement.

Additionally, home prices have soared since millions were displaced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the Champlain Towers South building collapsed in Surfside, which killed 98 people, HOA fees have nearly doubled, according to the Miami Herald. The charges include not only balloon insurance charges, but also the already legally mandated reserve set aside for maintenance and repairs.

Newman, a freelance translator, still has a few years to go before she plans to retire, but she hopes the move to a more affordable location will allow her to retire sooner.

Why Florida is no longer the best place to retire

While Americans from across the country still flock to Florida to retire, that’s slowly changing: Rising housing costs, rising home insurance rates and extreme weather are forcing many to rethink their retirement plans. drawn to the Sunshine State. Others who already live there are leaving.

Floridians age 65 and older are moving to Georgia more often, according to a recent analysis by Realtor.com®. But the northern states like New York, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey are hot.

Why Delaware is attracting retirees

Newman is planning a move to Wilmington, DE, for retirement. She doesn’t know anyone there and is moving alone after her husband died six years ago. So why Delaware?

“I keep seeing it on these lists of the best places to retire,” she says.

President Joe Biden can agree that State One is an excellent choice. He has two houses there. WalletHub also ranked it no. 4 on the list of best places to retire. He also came in at no. 7 on Realtor.com’s list of most walkable cities with affordable homes.

Newman says the area’s walkability was a big factor in her choice.

“I drove around and there were some really nice places to walk,” she says.

She can walk to a downtown area with shops and restaurants, and there are many parks. (The area received a 10 out of 10 on the Realtor.com park rating system.)

She can also drive to famous Delaware beaches like Rehobeth in a few hours. But she didn’t want to live directly in the water.

“With the climate stuff, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she explains.

Additionally, she wants to experience cities with cultural attractions like Philadelphia and Boston, easily accessible by Amtrak, and travel through quaint small towns in Pennsylvania and Maryland that have retained their historic charm.

“In Florida, it’s all malls,” she complains.

While her Florida neighbors were horrified that Newman was willing to move somewhere with cold, snowy winters, she’s heard from people in the Northeast that winters aren’t what they were 20 years ago.

“My brother lives in Syracuse, and he says they’re not having normal winters to the point where it’s scary,” she says.

There were also personal reasons for her choice: The state will make it much more convenient to drop off her college-age children, who live in Connecticut and Baltimore. She could also go more easily to her elderly parents, who live in Manhattan. But she makes it clear that the state’s choice was gone herenot her family.

“I don’t know where my kids are going to go after college,” she says. “Hopefully, they’ll stay on the East Coast, but it’s up to them.”

Moreover, it feels more in tune with the blue politics of the Northeast.

“When my husband and I first got to Miami-Dade County, it was a Democratic stronghold,” she says. “But it has changed so much. I realize I’m bringing my blue vote to a state where it won’t matter, but I prefer to be around people who feel more like me.

Newman quickly started a new development in Pike Creek Valley called Overlook at Linden Run, built by Eddy Homes. Having an old house that was starting to require a lot of maintenance, she preferred new construction.

She put down 10% on a three-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom, $620,000 home and was able to order it to her specifications, calling for hardwood floors throughout and no carpet, a luxury primary bath, a kitchen and appliances improved bathrooms and a security. the system. She also received $10,000 in cash for closing costs.

Listing agent Alex Ercole Stackhouse, of The Gary Mercer Team, says the 17-unit development has been a huge success, selling all but two units in one year.

While the idea of ​​moving to a place where she doesn’t know anyone doesn’t scare Newman, she says construction delays do. Her home in her hometown was supposed to be delivered in October, but has yet to be created. Newman won’t list her home until she moves out.

Stackhouse attributes the delay to the district’s increased demands, such as declaration of a home owners association. But she expects a first quarter 2025 birth.

Newman admits that leaving the country’s pension mecca for her own retirement is ironic, but says she wouldn’t have it any other way. She just hopes she can leave Miami by next hurricane season.

“It will be so wonderful not to have to worry about it,” she says.