I know this is a travel board, but I was hoping that someone could answer some questions OR point me in the direction of another type of message board more suited to relocation type questions. We are considering relocating to Melbourne/Palm Bay are for work. We currently live in FL, but on the west coast. I have been there before, but only to the beaches.
What is the area like as far as housing? Online prices seem to be very good for an average size home, much better than our current area. Is there quite a bit of new construction?
Also, is can you get homeowner's insurance in this area or would it be Citizens? (Of course, we are looking at moving mid-summer when most places put a hold on writing new plans anyway)

I live in Fort Pierce, 50 miles to the south. Many homes are up for sale because of the insurance situation. If you purchase on the beach, it will probably just be Citizens. Insurance prices for inland areas have really gone up. I just paid $2,800 for a 900 Square foot house. I was just happy to get insurance as I live on the beach.

Have you checked out the Sebastian area?

What it amounts to is that if you're looking on the mainland side of the causeway, you'll find a lot of choices for reasonable costs. If you cross the causeway to the beach side, you'll still get some bargains, as real estate is slow these days, but the prices will be considerably higher.
You mentioned Palm Bay, so I'll comment on it. Parts of it are OK, but it's not really the most desirable spot in the area. That's probably why you're seeing prices that seem attractive.
Personally I like Mlb. Bch. It's not a tourist trap, and a lot of families live there so it's not considered a "retirement community."
You don't give your price range or whether living near the beach is a priority, so I can't comment further.

My parents live in Palm Bay and my sister lives in Satellite Beach. Sebastian is lovely but so remote. Isn't it at least 20 miles from there up to the bridge to the mainland?

There is a lot of new construction, and housing always seems reasonably priced to me. Maybe you should consider renting a condo for a year so you can look the area over a little bit. There are plenty of new condos in the Viera area.

As a young family, we aren't too interested in the beach area or in a condo/townhouse. I don't mind being inland. We are trying to find something similar to what we have now...4 bed average home in new development type of suburbian area.
Online, Palm Bay seems ideal....lots of new construction, new developments, etc. I just can't wrap my mind waround the low prices, since on the west coast the same home is around 100k more.

We are looking around $250-$300k
Prefer new (past 5 years construction) Preference is to be inland, rather than near the beach. Work would be in the northern part of Melbourne, so Palm Bay is as far south as we would go.
(Trying to avoid the commute we deal with now)

Palm Bay is probably one of the least desirable areas, but I'm not really sure why that is. I think that the new construction over the last 15 years has always been a little "down market" in Palm Bay.

I noticed on my last visit that there is a lot of new construction along Dairy Road which is not quite in Palm Bay. If I was looking down there, I would look in West Melbourne or in areas north of Melbourne.

"We are trying to find something similar to what we have now...4 bed average home in new development type of suburbian area."

There are lots of these areas in Viera or West Melbourne. Palm Bay does have some nice newer areas (Bayside Lakes, as an example), but has some older, less desirable areas. Like Cape Coral on the gulf coast, large parts of Palm Bay were a GDC development. It has had some of the same issues (mostly infrastructure - water, sewer, and roads) as Cape Coral.

Have you looked at the local paper's website? www.flatoday.com

Try this relocation board:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/florida/

Hi,

I lived in north Melbourne for several years and still own a home in the Suntree area. Feel free to e-mail me for information on some of the good neighborhoods in the area. You definitely want to live closer to where you work as the area has grown faster than the roads and traffic can be very heavy. Palm Bay would be a brutal commute IMO. Also, my house just became available for a short to long-term rental if that is something you need. It's a good idea to rent for awhile and check out the area before you buy. It's 3/2 w/pool on a small lake. I promise that I am NOT a real estate agent, just trying to help....!!
[email protected]

Weird that this is your first and only post though arrowbuck.

Greetings 321, & tell me, what is a CDG development? I was hoping you would come along and see this question since I knew you lived in the area.

Hi Suki,
GDC = General Development Corporation. They were before my time, but they went bankrupt in the early 90s. If you google it, you'll get the whole colorful story.