Tell me about Melbourne, FL (anyone here live around there?)

[dmm5157]

Potential big move up the ladder here at work came up and would require a move.

The 3 cities are: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Melbourne, FL. Miami and Ft Lauderdale are ruled out entirely by my wife, she grew up down there and hates the traffic and culture down there.

I'm not familiar at all with Melbourne, but that is the most intriguing. I'm not looking to move, but figure I might as well vet the opportunity.

So what's there to know about the area?

 

[FSUChad]

I lived there from 2005-2009. I lived in a beach community called Indialantic. There are four Beach communities from north to south, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbor Beach, Indialantic, and Melbourne Beach. Melbourne Beach is the nicest. Viera is a community close by that is all newer construction and has shops and restaurants. Palm Bay is a dump which is just south of Melbourne. West Melbourne is mostly newer communities. The whole county took a big financial hit when NASA closed especially the north end. There are a lot of surfers and bikers (Daytona influence). It is a smaller town. Harris is a large company that has a big influence in Melbourne. All in all not a bad place but definitely on the slow side.

 

[62Nole]

It's on the Atlantic.

 

[ericram]

Don't move to Melbourne.

 

[baldfsufan]

Melbourne has a great little airport.

Slow pace of life, good schools and warmer than tally or Jax

 

[jaxnole77]

My cousin and her family have lived there for years. Her husband is retired from NASA. They and their extended family all still live there, 3 generations, and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. A fraternity brother of mine also lives there and loves it.

 

[Naught-Nole-Buc]

We visit Melbourne Beach once a year bc we love the small town feel of it. It's not as hectic as New Smyrna but still has a nice beach and a cool little "downtown" area. Only an hour and 15 mins from Orlando if you want to bring the kids by to any of the parks.

 

[cmanole]

You can hang out with Free and PBoog. You'll dig the beach. Do it...

 

[Banditking]

I've lived in Miami and Melbourne. I'd pick Miami. Melbourne is a small town. The space center is cool though.

Miami with money rocks.

 

[LT4PLY]

I grew up in Satellite Beach. If you are making enough money to live on the water there it's a great place to live. It has grown and traffic is heavier than it was when I lived there but if I had the opportunity I'd go back in a heartbeat. Beachside tends to have the better schools because that is where the best teachers want to work. The next best place to live these days is Viera. What most people don't realize is the Melbourne area gives you a town to live in daily and Orlando is less than an hour away if you want city life / city events.

 

[BarryB1081]

Born and raised in Brevard County / Melbourne area. A mainly conservative population, with many engineers and their families, as well as a very dense retired military population. We are not Miami, and are proud of that. Still a "small community" feel. The inter-coastal waterways (Indian and Banana Rivers), as well as the beach, provide plenty of water activities and scenic views. Port Canaveral is about 30 minutes north, with large cruise ship terminals. Plenty of good places to eat and drink here out at the port, beachside, in the Viera area, and in downtown Melbourne. There's enough shopping to get by, with higher end retail at the Avenue in Viera, which is part of a larger pre-planned community which is laid out to make sense from a zoning perspective. Virtually all of the development in Viera is west of I-95. Other areas of Brevard County are a mess, such as Palm Bay and parts of Melbourne, especially around the Sarno Road and Eau Gallie Boulevard, Aurora Road areas. Viera is the center of growth in the county, with good schools. Viera is just north of Melbourne and in an unincorporated part of Brevard. Duda family looms large here as they continue to rake in plenty of cash turning their agricultural lands into mid to high end residential communities (there are plenty of neighborhoods here with homes in the 1 to 3m range if that's where you're at in your professional life). It sounds like your wife would love it here.

 

[HilltopperNole]

I can only add what I know from visiting, but it seems like a quiet little beach town. Always liked visiting Cocoa Beach and Melbourne because it is never as crowded as other beach towns. Also plenty of good places to eat.

School system pays more than other counties so more good teachers want to work in Brevard County.

Like others stated too, Viera is very nice and new.

 

[EconSean]

The one in Australia is better, IMO.

 

[FreeFlyNole]

My wife drug me to this area 4 years ago when we got pregnant with our second kid because I travel a ton and she wanted to be close to family. We settled on living in Satellite Beach, it's not the nicest of the 4 beach communities named above but for me it made the most sense, I live just south of the Pineda causway because it makes it super easy for me to shoot to I95 for interstate travel, and I can get to the Orlando Airport in 45 mins. (True that MLB is a decent airport but you have to connect through ATL or CLT, MCO is direct everywhere).

It's perfect for a young family. I couldn't have lived here in my 20's, but there are a ton of young families and a lot of family focused stuff to do. The beachside schools are all 9-10 rated, there are dozens of public playgrouds, nice libraries and parks, of course the beaches, a nice zoo (my wife gets an annual family pass and takes the kids almost monthly). If you like water sports, there is the river for fishing, water skiing, sailing, kayaking, SUP etc etc.

You get a lot of house for your money, it's probably more expensive than Tallahassee, but much cheaper than many other beach-side communities in Florida. The beach is nearly crime free.

As stated above there are a lot of engineers here, that is the primary middle class job. I live in a middle to upper-middle class neighborhood. There are 32 houses on my street, I'm in the Medical Device business, my direct neighbors are a doctor and a dentist couple, on the other side is a lighting business owner, across the street is a CFO with her M&A husband, there are 2 lawyers, one oil and gas guy, a couple that own 2 local restaurants, a retired military guy who is a college professor now, a couple of other retired couples and every other house are engineers, or engineering consultants. When we do any function with the parents at my kids school, it's about the same 2/3 engineers.

I'll give you the lay of the land a bit. You can't go wrong living beachside, but it's more expensive and you get a tiny yard. Melbourne proper is decent but mixed income with so-so schools, West Melbourne has some nice neighborhoods and you can find nice houses for deals there but you may as well live in Tallahasse, you're never going to the beach. Palm Bay... turn on the show Cops, if you watch Cops re-runs 8/10 episodes were filmed in Palm Bay for some reason. It's a dumpsterfire. Viera is the new area, basically they drained a swamp and converted cattle land and sod farms into a new and bustling community. You can get a really nice house there for not a lot of money and all the schools are brand new, a lot of families and close to the freeway. However, again we looked hard but realized we wouldn't get on the river or the beach as much if it was a big production to load up the kids and have to make a big production out of it. There is something to be said about a 5 minute walk to the beach.

Melbourne is a decent mid-sized to small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurants, a couple of cigar bars, 7 breweries within a short drive, all the normal chain restaurants, lots of golf if that's your thing. I've been a lot happier here than I'd imagined. I'm not going to say it's my dream destination for life, but I think it's probably an upgrade from Tallahassee.

As for Miami, my dad lives there and I've been in and out my whole life (he moved there when I was in HS), you couldn't pay me enough to live there, I"m there at least twice a month on business. One of my best friends who is in the same job role I'm at with another company lives there, we have very equal incomes. He moved the from Colorado at about the same time I did, he rented for 3 years because housing is so expensive, the suburbs there suck and there are only a few pocket neighborhoods that aren't crime ridden rat holes. He ended up in Miami Shores in a 3/2 house for $750k, the place was built in the 1960s and could use some work (it has been upgraded a bit but needs more). That coupled with the fact that no matter where you are in the city you have to send your kids to private school because the schools are terrible.

If you want to come down and take a good look around let me know, we have a guest room and you are more than welcome to stay with us.

 

[DanC78]

My wife drug me to this area 4 years ago when we got pregnant with our second kid because I travel a ton and she wanted to be close to family. We settled on living in Satellite Beach, it's not the nicest of the 4 beach communities named above but for me it made the most sense, I live just south of the Pineda causway because it makes it super easy for me to shoot to I95 for interstate travel, and I can get to the Orlando Airport in 45 mins. (True that MLB is a decent airport but you have to connect through ATL or CLT, MCO is direct everywhere).

It's perfect for a young family. I couldn't have lived here in my 20's, but there are a ton of young families and a lot of family focused stuff to do. The beachside schools are all 9-10 rated, there are dozens of public playgrouds, nice libraries and parks, of course the beaches, a nice zoo (my wife gets an annual family pass and takes the kids almost monthly). If you like water sports, there is the river for fishing, water skiing, sailing, kayaking, SUP etc etc.

You get a lot of house for your money, it's probably more expensive than Tallahassee, but much cheaper than many other beach-side communities in Florida. The beach is nearly crime free.

As stated above there are a lot of engineers here, that is the primary middle class job. I live in a middle to upper-middle class neighborhood. There are 32 houses on my street, I'm in the Medical Device business, my direct neighbors are a doctor and a dentist couple, on the other side is a lighting business owner, across the street is a CFO with her M&A husband, there are 2 lawyers, one oil and gas guy, a couple that own 2 local restaurants, a retired military guy who is a college professor now, a couple of other retired couples and every other house are engineers, or engineering consultants. When we do any function with the parents at my kids school, it's about the same 2/3 engineers.

I'll give you the lay of the land a bit. You can't go wrong living beachside, but it's more expensive and you get a tiny yard. Melbourne proper is decent but mixed income with so-so schools, West Melbourne has some nice neighborhoods and you can find nice houses for deals there but you may as well live in Tallahasse, you're never going to the beach. Palm Bay... turn on the show Cops, if you watch Cops re-runs 8/10 episodes were filmed in Palm Bay for some reason. It's a dumpsterfire. Viera is the new area, basically they drained a swamp and converted cattle land and sod farms into a new and bustling community. You can get a really nice house there for not a lot of money and all the schools are brand new, a lot of families and close to the freeway. However, again we looked hard but realized we wouldn't get on the river or the beach as much if it was a big production to load up the kids and have to make a big production out of it. There is something to be said about a 5 minute walk to the beach.

Melbourne is a decent mid-sized to small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurants, a couple of cigar bars, 7 breweries within a short drive, all the normal chain restaurants, lots of golf if that's your thing. I've been a lot happier here than I'd imagined. I'm not going to say it's my dream destination for life, but I think it's probably an upgrade from Tallahassee.

As for Miami, my dad lives there and I've been in and out my whole life (he moved there when I was in HS), you couldn't pay me enough to live there, I"m there at least twice a month on business. One of my best friends who is in the same job role I'm at with another company lives there, we have very equal incomes. He moved the from Colorado at about the same time I did, he rented for 3 years because housing is so expensive, the suburbs there suck and there are only a few pocket neighborhoods that aren't crime ridden rat holes. He ended up in Miami Shores in a 3/2 house for $750k, the place was built in the 1960s and could use some work (it has been upgraded a bit but needs more). That coupled with the fact that no matter where you are in the city you have to send your kids to private school because the schools are terrible.

If you want to come down and take a good look around let me know, we have a guest room and you are more than welcome to stay with us.

Boom! That is a solid breakdown, and all tied up with a, "you're welcome to use the guest room".

There are websites worth millions that are designed to help answer the original posters question that won't give this much detail.

 

[goldmom]

Poster above said it has some of the flavor of New Smyrna and when I've been there I saw some similarities- it's a place I could live and as far south as I would live on the east coast. Miami and Lauderdale would be a no go - they're lost as far as I'm concerned.

 

[PoopandBoogers]

Can't really add much more that what was already said, everyone pretty much nailed it (Im in Satellite, brother in Indialantic). You want to live Beachside or possibly Viera. Beachside is a pretty laid back, small town type of community. The normal attire year round is boardshorts and flip flops, and when the locals dress up, they throw on Tommy Bahama or a PFG with flips flops or boat shoes.
Viera you can get more bang for your buck in a newer community, but its a 20 min drive to the beach, which pretty much defeats the purpose of living here. I will add, I would easily choose Viera over anywhere else in mainland Melb, but it just doesn't have the same vibe, which is pretty evident once you cross the intracoastal to the beachside communities. Beachside truly is one of the last affordable coastal communities on the entire eastern seaboard and the attitude reflects that. Think a mix of good ol boy/surfer/fisherman/salt of the earth/military retirees/soccer moms.

Thank god I traveled extensively in my 20's and 30's, couldn't imagine trying to chase tail and hit the bars if I lived here full time, but I was always grateful to be back home and be just steps to the ocean and a relaxed atmosphere, recharge, then hit the road running. If you're older with kids, it's a perfect place to grow up and raise a family. Everyone here is closely tied to the Space/Defense industry, so as an engineer you'll fit right in. Plenty of beach parks and family outdoors stuff to do.

The one true downside is attending FSU games, it's a 5hr drive to Tally, so an overnight is a must. I had season tickets in 2014 and haven't renewed simply because that Sunday morning drive hungover was a major ball buster. I still attend 1 or 2 games a yr, plus any games in Orlando or Tampa, which are much closer

 

[dmm5157]

My wife drug me to this area 4 years ago when we got pregnant with our second kid because I travel a ton and she wanted to be close to family. We settled on living in Satellite Beach, it's not the nicest of the 4 beach communities named above but for me it made the most sense, I live just south of the Pineda causway because it makes it super easy for me to shoot to I95 for interstate travel, and I can get to the Orlando Airport in 45 mins. (True that MLB is a decent airport but you have to connect through ATL or CLT, MCO is direct everywhere).

It's perfect for a young family. I couldn't have lived here in my 20's, but there are a ton of young families and a lot of family focused stuff to do. The beachside schools are all 9-10 rated, there are dozens of public playgrouds, nice libraries and parks, of course the beaches, a nice zoo (my wife gets an annual family pass and takes the kids almost monthly). If you like water sports, there is the river for fishing, water skiing, sailing, kayaking, SUP etc etc.

You get a lot of house for your money, it's probably more expensive than Tallahassee, but much cheaper than many other beach-side communities in Florida. The beach is nearly crime free.

As stated above there are a lot of engineers here, that is the primary middle class job. I live in a middle to upper-middle class neighborhood. There are 32 houses on my street, I'm in the Medical Device business, my direct neighbors are a doctor and a dentist couple, on the other side is a lighting business owner, across the street is a CFO with her M&A husband, there are 2 lawyers, one oil and gas guy, a couple that own 2 local restaurants, a retired military guy who is a college professor now, a couple of other retired couples and every other house are engineers, or engineering consultants. When we do any function with the parents at my kids school, it's about the same 2/3 engineers.

I'll give you the lay of the land a bit. You can't go wrong living beachside, but it's more expensive and you get a tiny yard. Melbourne proper is decent but mixed income with so-so schools, West Melbourne has some nice neighborhoods and you can find nice houses for deals there but you may as well live in Tallahasse, you're never going to the beach. Palm Bay... turn on the show Cops, if you watch Cops re-runs 8/10 episodes were filmed in Palm Bay for some reason. It's a dumpsterfire. Viera is the new area, basically they drained a swamp and converted cattle land and sod farms into a new and bustling community. You can get a really nice house there for not a lot of money and all the schools are brand new, a lot of families and close to the freeway. However, again we looked hard but realized we wouldn't get on the river or the beach as much if it was a big production to load up the kids and have to make a big production out of it. There is something to be said about a 5 minute walk to the beach.

Melbourne is a decent mid-sized to small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurants, a couple of cigar bars, 7 breweries within a short drive, all the normal chain restaurants, lots of golf if that's your thing. I've been a lot happier here than I'd imagined. I'm not going to say it's my dream destination for life, but I think it's probably an upgrade from Tallahassee.

As for Miami, my dad lives there and I've been in and out my whole life (he moved there when I was in HS), you couldn't pay me enough to live there, I"m there at least twice a month on business. One of my best friends who is in the same job role I'm at with another company lives there, we have very equal incomes. He moved the from Colorado at about the same time I did, he rented for 3 years because housing is so expensive, the suburbs there suck and there are only a few pocket neighborhoods that aren't crime ridden rat holes. He ended up in Miami Shores in a 3/2 house for $750k, the place was built in the 1960s and could use some work (it has been upgraded a bit but needs more). That coupled with the fact that no matter where you are in the city you have to send your kids to private school because the schools are terrible.

If you want to come down and take a good look around let me know, we have a guest room and you are more than welcome to stay with us.

Thanks for the breakdown FFN, that was exactly what I was looking for.

I'll be in Melbourne on Monday for all-day meetings, then going to try to do a bit of driving around to scout the area.

Looking at our office location for my company, it's located just north of N Wickman Rd and east of I-95, area called Hampton Park, near the Brevard Zoo.

Really opens things up as far as convenience for commute goes.

 

[GoNolesTX]

My wife drug me to this area 4 years ago when we got pregnant with our second kid because I travel a ton and she wanted to be close to family. We settled on living in Satellite Beach, it's not the nicest of the 4 beach communities named above but for me it made the most sense, I live just south of the Pineda causway because it makes it super easy for me to shoot to I95 for interstate travel, and I can get to the Orlando Airport in 45 mins. (True that MLB is a decent airport but you have to connect through ATL or CLT, MCO is direct everywhere).

It's perfect for a young family. I couldn't have lived here in my 20's, but there are a ton of young families and a lot of family focused stuff to do. The beachside schools are all 9-10 rated, there are dozens of public playgrouds, nice libraries and parks, of course the beaches, a nice zoo (my wife gets an annual family pass and takes the kids almost monthly). If you like water sports, there is the river for fishing, water skiing, sailing, kayaking, SUP etc etc.

You get a lot of house for your money, it's probably more expensive than Tallahassee, but much cheaper than many other beach-side communities in Florida. The beach is nearly crime free.

As stated above there are a lot of engineers here, that is the primary middle class job. I live in a middle to upper-middle class neighborhood. There are 32 houses on my street, I'm in the Medical Device business, my direct neighbors are a doctor and a dentist couple, on the other side is a lighting business owner, across the street is a CFO with her M&A husband, there are 2 lawyers, one oil and gas guy, a couple that own 2 local restaurants, a retired military guy who is a college professor now, a couple of other retired couples and every other house are engineers, or engineering consultants. When we do any function with the parents at my kids school, it's about the same 2/3 engineers.

I'll give you the lay of the land a bit. You can't go wrong living beachside, but it's more expensive and you get a tiny yard. Melbourne proper is decent but mixed income with so-so schools, West Melbourne has some nice neighborhoods and you can find nice houses for deals there but you may as well live in Tallahasse, you're never going to the beach. Palm Bay... turn on the show Cops, if you watch Cops re-runs 8/10 episodes were filmed in Palm Bay for some reason. It's a dumpsterfire. Viera is the new area, basically they drained a swamp and converted cattle land and sod farms into a new and bustling community. You can get a really nice house there for not a lot of money and all the schools are brand new, a lot of families and close to the freeway. However, again we looked hard but realized we wouldn't get on the river or the beach as much if it was a big production to load up the kids and have to make a big production out of it. There is something to be said about a 5 minute walk to the beach.

Melbourne is a decent mid-sized to small city, there are plenty of bars and restaurants, a couple of cigar bars, 7 breweries within a short drive, all the normal chain restaurants, lots of golf if that's your thing. I've been a lot happier here than I'd imagined. I'm not going to say it's my dream destination for life, but I think it's probably an upgrade from Tallahassee.

As for Miami, my dad lives there and I've been in and out my whole life (he moved there when I was in HS), you couldn't pay me enough to live there, I"m there at least twice a month on business. One of my best friends who is in the same job role I'm at with another company lives there, we have very equal incomes. He moved the from Colorado at about the same time I did, he rented for 3 years because housing is so expensive, the suburbs there suck and there are only a few pocket neighborhoods that aren't crime ridden rat holes. He ended up in Miami Shores in a 3/2 house for $750k, the place was built in the 1960s and could use some work (it has been upgraded a bit but needs more). That coupled with the fact that no matter where you are in the city you have to send your kids to private school because the schools are terrible.

If you want to come down and take a good look around let me know, we have a guest room and you are more than welcome to stay with us.

You had him at cigar bars.

 

[BarryB1081]

Thanks for the breakdown FFN, that was exactly what I was looking for.

I'll be in Melbourne on Monday for all-day meetings, then going to try to do a bit of driving around to scout the area.

Looking at our office location for my company, it's located just north of N Wickman Rd and east of I-95, area called Hampton Park, near the Brevard Zoo.

Really opens things up as far as convenience for commute goes.

Hampton Park? The only Hampton Park I'm aware of in that area is the town-home community off of Baytree Drive. I guess near that.

 

[FreeFlyNole]

Thanks for the breakdown FFN, that was exactly what I was looking for.

I'll be in Melbourne on Monday for all-day meetings, then going to try to do a bit of driving around to scout the area.

Looking at our office location for my company, it's located just north of N Wickman Rd and east of I-95, area called Hampton Park, near the Brevard Zoo.

Really opens things up as far as convenience for commute goes.

Yea, Viera is nice and close and makes the most sense, I go to Viera Hospital all the time and get there from SB in less than 15 mins.

I'm running but I'll put a story on here later of why I don't live there...

 

[dmm5157]

Hampton Park? The only Hampton Park I'm aware of in that area is the town-home community off of Baytree Drive. I guess near that.

Yeah, just west of that. It looks like our local office is actually on Murrell Rd, just behind Health First Medical Group.

 

[FreeFlyNole]

So back to my story. A couple of friends of mine live in Viera in a strait up mansion. It's one of the nicest houses I've ever been in, they have a friggin grotto. Either way, they bought their house at the bottom of the market for $500k, it's worth about $850k today, which may sound expensive, but if you saw this palace you'd know even at that price it's a deal.

There were a couple of brand new houses in their neighborhood for sale that were in the mid $4's when we were looking and they were just the same supreme build quality, but smaller with no grotto.

From an access perspective they were great, 2 mins from freeway, 35 mins from Orlando Airport, good schools.

So I asked my friends how they ended up in Florida because they are originally from Ohio, they told me they had moved to South Florida for the weather (Dade then Broward) and wanted to be near the beach, but after a few years down there they wanted out because it was a dumpsterfire and they didn't want to raise their kids in a third world hell hole. So they decided to move to a small beach town. And they chose Melbourne...

They have 2 kids, similar to our kids ages, and I asked them "How many times did you get to the beach last year" Keep in mind they are only 9 miles away. "Three" The answer was 3.

That really made me think, man if I'm going to live in small town Florida, I want to live the Florida lifestyle, I want to get to the beach often and engage in water related recreation activities. If it's going to be a burden to do that I've got something wrong.

Where we live in Satellite, it's a little more expensive for a nice new house (you can get older houses for a very reasonable price). But we go to the beach once or twice a week, the kids love it, we get out on the boat at least twice a month, some months when the weather is nice more... Kids are in the water one way or another just about every day in the summer. For us it was just worth it. I don't want to live that close to the beach and never get there because of logistics.

 

[dmm5157]

So back to my story. A couple of friends of mine live in Viera in a strait up mansion. It's one of the nicest houses I've ever been in, they have a friggin grotto. Either way, they bought their house at the bottom of the market for $500k, it's worth about $850k today, which may sound expensive, but if you saw this palace you'd know even at that price it's a deal.

There were a couple of brand new houses in their neighborhood for sale that were in the mid $4's when we were looking and they were just the same supreme build quality, but smaller with no grotto.

From an access perspective they were great, 2 mins from freeway, 35 mins from Orlando Airport, good schools.

So I asked my friends how they ended up in Florida because they are originally from Ohio, they told me they had moved to South Florida for the weather (Dade then Broward) and wanted to be near the beach, but after a few years down there they wanted out because it was a dumpsterfire and they didn't want to raise their kids in a third world hell hole. So they decided to move to a small beach town. And they chose Melbourne...

They have 2 kids, similar to our kids ages, and I asked them "How many times did you get to the beach last year" Keep in mind they are only 9 miles away. "Three" The answer was 3.

That really made me think, man if I'm going to live in small town Florida, I want to live the Florida lifestyle, I want to get to the beach often and engage in water related recreation activities. If it's going to be a burden to do that I've got something wrong.

Where we live in Satellite, it's a little more expensive for a nice new house (you can get older houses for a very reasonable price). But we go to the beach once or twice a week, the kids love it, we get out on the boat at least twice a month, some months when the weather is nice more... Kids are in the water one way or another just about every day in the summer. For us it was just worth it. I don't want to live that close to the beach and never get there because of logistics.

FFN that story is certainly relatable for us. While Tallahassee isn't a coastal city, we're barely 50 min drive from some decent beaches if you know where to go. The difference being not having a place to go back to when you leave the beach and having to lug everything to/from the car and back home. We may go to the beach once a year right now, and it's never anywhere locally, it's always because we were visiting somewhere else.


So let me ask you, what's the home insurance (flood and hurricane) look like compared to, say, when you lived in Tampa and Colorado? I recall that flood insurance can be half of your mortgage payment in some cases. The other thing I'm seeing is some houses we have looked at have steep HOA fees ($250/mo or more).

Lots to consider, will see how visit next week goes.

 

[SatBchNole]

Grew up and still reside in Satellite Beach. All the above responses are pretty accurate. I live on the water which is convenient because the wife and I are big boaters. Plenty of outdoor activities to do in the area. Slower lifestyle which suits me just fine. If you want some type of nightlife you can hit downtown Melbourne.

 

[OrthoNole1]

I grew up Indialantic and after our first son was born my wife and I decided on Indialantic over Vero Beach (where her family lives). She thought she wouldn't like it here, but she's grown to love it over a few years. We live in a gated community beachside and bought a 4,000 sq foot house that was completely updated for $565k. Taxes are ~$5,500 and homeowner's insurance is ~$3,500. Flood insurance was $450. HOA fees are $1,200 per year which includes full time guard.

I second what most have said on here about preferring beachside over Viera. If you are going to live in a coastal community, you might as well be near the coast. Many of our friends live in Viera and I dread driving out there for kids birthday parties etc because the traffic is pretty bad on Wickham Rd near the zoo. It's a nice community, but it might as well be in the middle of the state. We go out to dinner there, go to the zoo freqeuently, etc but we'd much prefer to live near the water. It's just a different, more relaxed lifestyle than Viera IMO.

It may be worth looking in the Lake Washington/Turtle Mound area depending on your interests. There are a lot of nicer homes out there on larger lots with the option to have horses, plus its closer to the beach than Viera. My brother bought a 3,500 sq foot house on 2.25 acres for $450k off Turtle Mound and it's a great quiet area. Plus you would be closer to work than if you lived beachside.

The bottom line is it's a great town to be married and raise kids because of the recreational opportunities, great public/private schools, and low crime rate when compared to similar size communities. I imagine it would be a miserable town to be single in, but luckily I don't have worry about that.

 

[FreeFlyNole]

So let me ask you, what's the home insurance (flood and hurricane) look like compared to, say, when you lived in Tampa and Colorado? I recall that flood insurance can be half of your mortgage payment in some cases. The other thing I'm seeing is some houses we have looked at have steep HOA fees ($250/mo or more).

Believe it or not on the beach the flood insurance isn't that bad, it's the hurricane insurance that is high. I live in a house valued around $500k and my insurance is is $2077 per year.

The taxes in Satellite are higher than Indiatlantic, Mel Beach and Indian Harbor Beach.

HOA's are all over the place. I only pay about $100 a month, we get a lot for that, big nice club house with gym and pool, and lawn service.

 

[HilltopperNole]

Believe it or not on the beach the flood insurance isn't that bad, it's the hurricane insurance that is high. I live in a house valued around $500k and my insurance is is $2077 per year.

The taxes in Satellite are higher than Indiatlantic, Mel Beach and Indian Harbor Beach.

HOA's are all over the place. I only pay about $100 a month, we get a lot for that, big nice club house with gym and pool, and lawn service.

That's amazing about the flood insurance. Are in you in a Flood Zone?

It cost my wife and I $897 to get the bare minimum flood insurance to cover our house and no contents. the last survey said our house is in a flood zone but has never flooded. We had 9 inches of rain a couple weeks ago and didn't have so much as a puddle.

 

[dmm5157]

Believe it or not on the beach the flood insurance isn't that bad, it's the hurricane insurance that is high. I live in a house valued around $500k and my insurance is is $2077 per year.

The taxes in Satellite are higher than Indiatlantic, Mel Beach and Indian Harbor Beach.

HOA's are all over the place. I only pay about $100 a month, we get a lot for that, big nice club house with gym and pool, and lawn service.

That's impressive. So you saying your HOI is $2,077/year? If so, that's really low! Our place is around $250k and our HOI premium is around $1,400/year. Pool and big dog really knocked it up a few ticks.

There have been some changes recently to flood insurance premiums. How long you been in your current place? Wondering if maybe you got grandfathered in before they took effect.

We'll be looking in the $275-350k range when we move. While I'd love to be on the beach, having a big garage is going to be a must for me. I have a big garage and workshop now for my recreational wood working and furniture building. I'd just gotten a bunch of new stuff, including table saw and table router. Would hate to have to give that up in the move.



Definitely intrigued, but I forgot about a few personal things that might hinder the move:

1. My parents were going to be relocating to Tallahassee in coming months to be closer to the kids, since my dad just retired. Checking to see if there's places in their budget and type that will suit their needs.

2. My cousin is going to be starting her final year at FSU and had been living with us the last 2 years. If we just up and moved in the next few months, that would leave her without a place to live and it's pretty late in the year to start looking for a place to stay.

3. There's a chance my wife and do her job remotely. If she gets the green light to do so, I think the move just takes 2 big steps forward.

I'm more intrigued about the move now than I was earlier this week. Starting to really consider it.

 

[GoNolesTX]

Gary and Fiji... I was finding it hard to believe how badly we get screwed in Texas. Our HOI is sooooo amazingly high compared to this. Makes a fella DEEPLY consider a move to the Southeast...

 

[dmm5157]

Gary and Fiji... I was finding it hard to believe how badly we get screwed in Texas. Our HOI is sooooo amazingly high compared to this. Makes a fella DEEPLY consider a move to the Southeast...

Yeah, property taxes are outrageous in some parts of Texas as well. I know San Antonio has gotten really bad. Buddy of mine had a house in San Antonio valued at $650k and was paying almost $20k in property taxes. Something similar in Tallahassee would run about $11k with homestead exemption.

Based on what I'm seeing in my searches of Melbourne area, property taxes are comparable, if not lower, than Tallahassee.

 

[GoNolesTX]

Yeah, property taxes are outrageous in some parts of Texas as well. I know San Antonio has gotten really bad. Buddy of mine had a house in San Antonio valued at $650k and was paying almost $20k in property taxes. Something similar in Tallahassee would run about $11k with homestead exemption.

Based on what I'm seeing in my searches of Melbourne area, property taxes are comparable, if not lower, than Tallahassee.

Point of comparison, my place in Denton County is valued at $165k, with HS exemption, taxed at $3400 a year. Looking at properties in St. John's County, FL and $3400 a year would get me almost $400k of house, ballpark/guessing.

 

[FreeFlyNole]

The barrier island is an X Flood zone, which keeps the flood insurance low, in fact most parts of Viera are in higher probability flood zones than the barrier islands.... they used to be a swamp you know, where the barrier islands have no documented history of flood.

There are several retirement communities around here as you could imagine. Check out IRRC (Indian River Colony Club) it's right by your potential future office, it used to be a military retiree only 55 plus community, but they opened it up to civvies about 10 years ago, couple of golf courses, great clubhouses, meal plans at the club house. Houses are very moderately priced, nice little 2/1duplex with 1 car garages go for about $75k. You can get little stand alone units too. Very clean nice gated with a security guard places.

Send pic of cousin, we may be able to work our an arrangement for her.

The Zillow value of my house: $571,000
My 2015 Tax Assessment $389,000
My 2015 Taxes: $9956

The taxes in Sat Beach are high.

Out in Viera other than taxes and HOA you have to look out for CDD's
"A community development district (CDD) is a local, special-purpose government framework authorized by Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes as amended, and is an alternative to municipal incorporation for managing and financing infrastructure required to support development of a community."

They add these to taxes, or charge quarterly and a lot of the new neighborhoods have them and they can be $1k-$3k a year, depending on the neighborhood and value of the house.

 

[dmm5157]

The barrier island is an X Flood zone, which keeps the flood insurance low, in fact most parts of Viera are in higher probability flood zones than the barrier islands.... they used to be a swamp you know, where the barrier islands have no documented history of flood.

There are several retirement communities around here as you could imagine. Check out IRRC (Indian River Colony Club) it's right by your potential future office, it used to be a military retiree only 55 plus community, but they opened it up to civvies about 10 years ago, couple of golf courses, great clubhouses, meal plans at the club house. Houses are very moderately priced, nice little 2/1duplex with 1 car garages go for about $75k. You can get little stand alone units too. Very clean nice gated with a security guard places.

Send pic of cousin, we may be able to work our an arrangement for her.

The Zillow value of my house: $571,000
My 2015 Tax Assessment $389,000
My 2015 Taxes: $9956

The taxes in Sat Beach are high.

Out in Viera other than taxes and HOA you have to look out for CDD's
"A community development district (CDD) is a local, special-purpose government framework authorized by Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes as amended, and is an alternative to municipal incorporation for managing and financing infrastructure required to support development of a community."

They add these to taxes, or charge quarterly and a lot of the new neighborhoods have them and they can be $1k-$3k a year, depending on the neighborhood and value of the house.

Good call on CDD's. I would rather avoid them all together after my experience with Southwood. No thanks.

 

[surfnole]

If you like the beach, Melbourne Beach is the place to be. I plan to move to Satellite an a couple of years and buy an older, smaller house where I can walk to the beach. On the barrier island, when the wind is onshore, you can still hear the waves. The breeze is there too. The only drawback is having to cross 4 lanes of A1A (walking) when there is not a traffic light. It's usually no issue, but can be unnerving. They should have put the four lanes along the river side.

 

[squiffynole]

Go for the high ground.

 

[cmanole]

What he posted

The barrier island is an X Flood zone, which keeps the flood insurance low, in fact most parts of Viera are in higher probability flood zones than the barrier islands.... they used to be a swamp you know, where the barrier islands have no documented history of flood.

There are several retirement communities around here as you could imagine. Check out IRRC (Indian River Colony Club) it's right by your potential future office, it used to be a military retiree only 55 plus community, but they opened it up to civvies about 10 years ago, couple of golf courses, great clubhouses, meal plans at the club house. Houses are very moderately priced, nice little 2/1duplex with 1 car garages go for about $75k. You can get little stand alone units too. Very clean nice gated with a security guard places.

Send pic of cousin, we may be able to work our an arrangement for her.

The Zillow value of my house: $571,000
My 2015 Tax Assessment $389,000
My 2015 Taxes: $9956

The taxes in Sat Beach are high.

Out in Viera other than taxes and HOA you have to look out for CDD's
"A community development district (CDD) is a local, special-purpose government framework authorized by Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes as amended, and is an alternative to municipal incorporation for managing and financing infrastructure required to support development of a community."

They add these to taxes, or charge quarterly and a lot of the new neighborhoods have them and they can be $1k-$3k a year, depending on the neighborhood and value of the house.

What I saw

Send pic of cousin, we may be able to work our an arrangement for her.

 

[baldfsufan]

Still waiting for pic....

 

[BarryB1081]

I wouldn't be concerned about flooding in

The barrier island is an X Flood zone, which keeps the flood insurance low, in fact most parts of Viera are in higher probability flood zones than the barrier islands.... they used to be a swamp you know, where the barrier islands have no documented history of flood.

There are several retirement communities around here as you could imagine. Check out IRRC (Indian River Colony Club) it's right by your potential future office, it used to be a military retiree only 55 plus community, but they opened it up to civvies about 10 years ago, couple of golf courses, great clubhouses, meal plans at the club house. Houses are very moderately priced, nice little 2/1duplex with 1 car garages go for about $75k. You can get little stand alone units too. Very clean nice gated with a security guard places.

Send pic of cousin, we may be able to work our an arrangement for her.

The Zillow value of my house: $571,000
My 2015 Tax Assessment $389,000
My 2015 Taxes: $9956

The taxes in Sat Beach are high.

Out in Viera other than taxes and HOA you have to look out for CDD's
"A community development district (CDD) is a local, special-purpose government framework authorized by Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes as amended, and is an alternative to municipal incorporation for managing and financing infrastructure required to support development of a community."

They add these to taxes, or charge quarterly and a lot of the new neighborhoods have them and they can be $1k-$3k a year, depending on the neighborhood and value of the house.

During Tropical Storm Faye in 2008, Melbourne and most of the Viera area got 24 to 27 inches of rain, including almost a foot of rain in a 24 hour period. I don't know of any seriously damaging flooding in Viera; certainly not at our house / neighborhood. The street had about 4 inches of standing water, but none of the homes were even close to being threatened by flood. The retention ponds, pump stations, and other elements of the storm water disposal system in this area are an engineering marvel and it works. We are in Flood Zone X as is virtually all housing in east and west Viera.

Look up your address here in Brevard County: http://gis.brevardcounty.us/flood_map/

I would be way more concerned about wind and storm surge damage beachside than flooding in Viera and we've lived here for 16 years.

 

[troyboyone]

Cocoa Beach checking in. I hang out at Coconuts on the Beach almost every day.

What they said.

$4200.00 for my homeowners insurance. I basically live on a sandbar about 1000'ft wide between the Atlantic Ocean and the Banana River.