[Ellis]

Wife and I moved here from California 3 years ago and it will depend on your situation, everybody's different and to each their own. The California I grew up in is not the California I left, Although we didn't live in SF, the Bay Area, LA or SD we lived fairly close to Sac and homelessness was creeping in when we left. This was just ONE issue in many. And because of these issues we left, pro v. con if you will.

To your question and I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you, "from what little you glean" sure sounds like to me you haven't researched at all? Ask your favorite internet browser the cheapest states to live in. This is one of the top states to retire in. We sold our home in CA and purchased our home for cash here at less than half on the profit we made off our sale. We could have retired in a different community instead of the villages for even less but we didn't because that falls under to each their own. Florida has no estate, inheritance or income taxes and they have an exemption for property taxes. We made money moving here! lol

Living expenses? Don't even get me going on that one. Here we pay .11 cents off peak .14 cents peak for electricity. Our extremely well insulated brand spanking new home typical electrical bill in summer is 75 bucks a month but we use the seminole winds much to our advantage and we don't mind it a little warmer. Our neighbors bills run about double ours. At .31 cents off peak and .34 peak in CA our bill was 350-400 dollars a month in CA.

I just checked gas prices back in CA and currently they are generally 4.65 a gallon, here it's 3.05 a gallon. Food prices are a wash. I find the prices in the stores back in CA to be a little bit less expensive but it's not like it's a quantum leap, not even close. We just registered our 2022 kia and it cost us all of $74.00 dollars to do so and we just walked in unannounced and were in and out of the DMV in less then 10 minutes. Yes, you read that right, 10 minutes. You KNOW the California DMV and that is not even possible there even if you make an appointment. To register our car in CA was 450.00 dollars.

October through April in nor cal is dreary, rainy and cold with some really nice days sprinkled in-between. This isn't called the sunshine state for nothing. Come about Thanksgiving to mid March we have some cold days but mostly nights, that's our winter. Lot of people retiring in places like Tennessee but that's not for us as that weather is not as nice as nor cal. Weather was huge on our pro list. We miss our family and friends back in CA but that's about it.

Some food for thought, California...

-Highest real estate prices in the nation.
-Highest income tax rate nationally, Florida, zero
-Highest electricity rates in the nation
-Highest gas taxes in the nation
-Highest registration fees for a car
-Most expensive state to own a car
-Most expensive state to maintain a car
-7th highest sales tax rate
-3rd highest cost of living
-Highest poverty rate
-Lowest wage growth
-3rd worst state for inequality
-2nd highest unemployment rate
-2nd worst roads in the nation
-HALF of all homeless live in California
-20 billion and counting spent on homelessness
-1/3 of all welfare recipients live in California
-Medicare budget went from 7% to 30%
-45th worst state for school test scores
-Lowest literacy rate in the nation
-Spends 45% more per pupil than Florida
-Longest shutdown for covid in the nation
-The high speed rail will be 130 billion over budget
-Currently has a 55 billion dollar deficit
-1,144,000 people and counting have left California
-730,000 people have come to Florida

Gee, I wonder why?

[mraines]

Originally Posted by donfey

Restaurant prices in California make ALL restaurant prices here look like Denny's.

Ahh, but the food is better.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by Ellis

... You KNOW the California DMV and that is not even possible there even if you make an appointment. To register our car in CA was 450.00 dollars...

With an appointment at CA DMV: 2+ hours. Without an appointment at CA DMV: 6-8 hours. And, you didn't even mention the every-other year requirement to pony up $100 and waste an hour or two for a smog check. Even if your car is just two years old!

Originally Posted by Ellis

... through April in nor cal is dreary,
...

Ya know how I know one is from NorCal? One says, "Hella!"

[GoRedSox!]

There is no question that CA has challenges. Part of that is really beyond it's control with some of the weather-related issues. Part of it is probably mismanagement. Part of it comes part and parcel with being the biggest state in the union.

I see the lists of all the things that are wrong with CA, but there are still many things about CA that are very good. If it truly was terrible, the median value of a home would not have hit $868,000 there. Some of the folks who are complaining and kicking CA in the butt on the way out the door became millionaires due to the incredible appreciation of their home and are set for life.

If CA was its own country, it would be the 5th largest economy in the world. Half of the fruits, nuts, vegetable and dairy in this country come from CA. It still has magnificent beauty, good weather, outstanding healthcare, and it remains the largest state in the union. Once again, that's not to deny it has its problems. It does. And some of them should be able to be fixed. For example, there is no good reason for gasoline to cost $1.50 more per gallon than it does everywhere else.

I am going to end with this. My entire life's experience has taught me this. CA's challenges did not materialize overnight, they were years in the making and exacerbated by huge growth. If anyone doesn't think that FL is going to have similar challenges if the population keeps increasing, I think you are very naive. Some of those challenges are already here....the state legislature seems to be able to act fast on some legislation, while a state-wide homeowner's insurance crisis eludes fixing. If FL wants to avoid problems similar to CA, the time for action to solve problems is now. The growth in the population of FL has outpaced the growth in infrastructure to support it. Medical care being able to keep up with the population growth is another real problem. Maybe many of us won't have to worry about this in our lifetimes, but I do not think FL can continue to grow at this rate without problems here, too.

[Inspector Mark]

At one time the villages was a cheap place to live. Sadly this is no longer true. But what I will say is that the villages is a great value. When you consider your cost to live there and the amount of "free Activities" the villages has to offer it has a better value than most places.

Also consider the life style, Golf cart community, Live music 265 days a year, golf, clubs, sense of community, climate, friendly people, pools, etc there is no better place for me.

[Ellis]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

With an appointment at CA DMV: 2+ hours. Without an appointment at CA DMV: 6-8 hours. And, you didn't even mention the every-other year requirement to pony up $100 and waste an hour or two for a smog check. Even if your car is just two years old!

Forgot about that one. Thanks for the memory jog.

[Ellis]

Originally Posted by GoRedSox!

Part of it is probably mismanagement.

There really is no probably about it.

I see the lists of all the things that are wrong with CA, but there are still many things about CA that are very good. If it truly was terrible, the median value of a home would not have hit $868,000 there.

It's great if you are on the right side of the fence, otherwise it's a disaster. That is some seriously overpriced real estate. I have a friend in the bay area whose 70 year old 1,600 square foot 3/2 house is worth around 3 million dollars. His property taxes are just south of 22,000 dollars a year. Not even prop 13 can save him. Some folks back there talk about how great it is to have prop 13 in place but the issue as I see it is what good does it do you when the cost of your standard old suburban neighborhood home is 750,000 to a million dollars. lol.

If you have a 500,000 dollar home you are talking in the order of about 6,000 a year in taxes. His house, while completely remodeled, which wasn't for free mind you ($$$), isn't any nicer then ours and I would argue his neighborhood is nowhere near as nice as ours. And certainly where we moved from the neighborhood v. the one we are currently in, is night and day.

Some of the folks who are complaining and kicking CA in the butt on the way out the door became millionaires due to the incredible appreciation of their home and are set for life.

Speaking just for me, I worked hard, very hard and scrimped and scraped to get to where I am at. Still do. All this despite the state of California doing everything they could to make it harder on us.

And I'll end with this, we would have never left the state of California if it wasn't such a mess and ridiculously overpriced. We didn't come here because it was a bad deal, we came here because it was so much better.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by mraines

I lived in CA for 22 years but retired here in The Villages. I could not have afforded to stay in CA on my retirement and SS. I also had family nearby and have macular degeneration so I can get around by golf cart to any place I need to go. The drawback for me is the politics but if you are a Republican, it may not be a problem for you. Not sure if I can say that on here. There is also plenty to do here.

Sorry about your deteriorating vision due to MD. But....are you saying it is unsafe for you to drive a car but perfectly OK to drive a golf cart?????

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by GoRedSox!

There is no question that CA has challenges.

......... Half of the fruits, nuts, ..........in this country come from CA.

Couldn't agree more!

[Kelevision]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Couldn't agree more!

As someone born in Leesburg Florida, lived in CA for 30 years then came back home and lives in the villages…. I can assure you, that at least the nuts are in full force right here in TV and didn’t come from the west coast. Or Florida….

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Kelevision

As someone born in Leesburg Florida, lived in CA for 30 years then came back home and lives in the villages…. I can assure you, that at least the nuts are in full force right here in TV and didn’t come from the west coast. Or Florida….

Strongly disagree. Just look at what's going on in California and it speaks for itself

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Danenew20242

Hello,
I am in California and just retired. I have found this unique place called "The Villages", so it sounds and looks very interesting, but I need your knowledge!

Is it really cheaper to live in The Villages or Fl in general? From the little I have been able to glean, there seems to be really no great monetary advantage, so why move there?

Thank you so very much for your time/efforts/comments and advice!!!!!

TL;DR

Both are close to third world countries with some of the state laws and government behaviors.
However, I would say that FL is much less of a future third world country than CA given all the impacts of current CA laws passed which will influence the future lifestyle of CA residents. .

YMMV

[GoRedSox!]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

TL;DR

Both are close to third world countries with some of the state laws and government behaviors.
However, I would say that FL is much less of a future third world country than CA given all the impacts of current CA laws passed which will influence the future lifestyle of CA residents. .

YMMV

It’s hard to predict the future. I am optimistic about The Villages, because I think the developers have such outstanding vision and attention to detail. I am far less optimistic about Florida.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by mraines

Ahh, but the food is better.

For people who don’t know how to cook.

[as3369]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

The OP has not returned to the thread, may have moved on in their search to other states and areas.

FWIW- We enjoy the best of both worlds. As native So Cal folks (L.A. and OC areas - last 17 years in Dana Point), we fled with our equity to East Tennessee. Enjoy the lake life near the Smokys. Great way to spend summer. Winter times are in The Villages, enjoying everything clean and pretty and well maintained - unlike all of SoCal.

Both states have zero income tax (unlike up to 13% in CA), and car registration in TN is about $45/year whether your car is a brand new 2025 or a 2005. No Smog checks! Sales tax was more in OC (about 10%) and about 8% in TN. Property tax is much lower in TN than CA but FL is about the same as CA. TN has no tax on investment income.

I don't know with what kind of equity and resources you are fleeing CA, but consider a small place in each and derive the best benefits of both.

PS - I've heard people say in both places that while the south is welcoming and friendly, that welcome is not with open arms if you voted to make CA the way it is. Neither FL nor TN want to be like CA. If you did vote that way, you may like IL or MI better.

We also live in Tennessee and considering purchasing a home in TV. Which home do you "claim" as your primary residence? I would like to take advantage of the homestead exemption in Florida, but trying to balance everything out.