People & Places
Here comes the sun
British emigrant Chris Doran tells Emigrate why moving to the Florida sunshine was a real life-saver.
Chris Doran has the kind of emigration story which grabs you from the start. Back in the 1980s her husband had a serious accident, which left him disabled and, for a considerable time, unable to walk. Their lives changed overnight as a result of the accident and the family endured over three tough years, before a visit to Florida provided a revelation.
"We desperately needed a holiday and felt that the sunshine would be a perfect pick-me-up for us all," Chris says, speaking from her office at The British Homes Group in Orlando. "With assistance from my (then) boss, who wanted to help us start the recovery process, we made the trip. By the end of the third week here, we could see that, although my husband still had considerable difficulty getting around, and was still suffering extreme pain, he was certainly more mobile. It was something of a revelation which hit both of us at about the same time. We felt that the warm climate must be responsible and resolved to check this with his consultants when we returned to the UK. Of course, everyone agreed that a warm climate could be beneficial in such circumstances".
The Dorans had been visiting Florida for several years, but it wasn't until this point that they began to consider a more permanent move. There was a problem, however. "Our daughter, Bev, who is a secondary school teacher, absolutely loved her job, was in line for promotion and was also in a serious relationship. Although she would have loved to emigrate with us, she did not want to break her relationship and was not keen to leave her job and very close friends. We are an extremely close family and, despite the fact that Bev was a 24-year-old adult, we were very reluctant to leave the UK without her."
Bev, however, was not going to let them pass up on the opportunity for her Dad to have a better quality of life. "She really forced our hand," says Chris. "She recognised that this was the best opportunity for her Dad and she made us go, on the basis she would visit often, during school holidays."
With Bev's blessing, Chris and her husband and son, James (then 14), began the long and often frustrating process of emigrating to the USA. "It probably took about six years for us to become permanent residents", says Chris. "We initially came to the US on H1-B visa, which had to be renewed periodically, then another visa classification, before obtaining our green card status. It was certainly a challenge! Had the EB-5 green card programme been available, as it is today, we would most certainly have taken that route."
Despite organizational and logistical challenges, it wasn't long before the family realised they had made the right decision, with Chris's husband's health stablising, and his overall quality of life improving. James settled in extremely well - within only a few weeks of arriving he was convinced he wanted to stay. "He loved being able to drive and have his own car much earlier than he would have done in the UK and we liked the fact that he was focused on football, driving his car and (somewhat) on school - as well as girls, of course! His contemporaries at home were more interested in going to the pub!
"We were stunned when James told us he wanted to enter the military", Chris continues. "Whilst we didn't want to influence his decision, we were concerned that he was doing so for the right reasons. We had no idea he would be deployed in a war situation, and were terrified when he was deployed; however, he has served three long tours in Iraq - each tour more than 12 months duration - and, thankfully, has returned home safely. Whilst no-one chooses to go to war, we are proud that he has chosen to give something back to his adopted country."
We have all settled well into American life. We all love our home area, particularly the friendliness and extremely positive attitude everyone has here. We wanted to integrate and make a contribution to the economy and community"
Chris is certain that Orlando has much more to offer than merely great theme parks. "We really like the fact that it's so easy for people to get to us here," she says. "We always have a steady stream of visitors from home, which is great! We are fortunate to live in an area with excellent social facilities, including superb restaurants. In general, it's just a great place to be."
So great, in fact, that Bev visits whenever she can with her young children and has begun to regret not making the move with the family. "As a school teacher, she can visit for the summer and Christmas", Chris explains. "The kids love it here. They live in a nice area of Hampshire, however, they really can't play outside the confines of their garden at home. Here, they have lots of freedom and can enjoy swimming in the pool, riding their bikes around the neighbourhood, going to our local park and, (because we live on a small lake), they go fishing every day - several times a day, sometimes! The area's considered very safe - contrary to concerns expressed by our family and friends before we left the UK."
For Chris, the move has also given her the opportunity to find fulfillment in her career. "I worked in a law practice in the UK for almost 30 years, before emigrating," she tells me. "Soon after arriving in Florida, I took the Florida Real Estate Licensing course and became a licensed realtor. I had felt uncomfortable about the house-buying process and was reticent to purchase a home until then, not knowing anything about the purchase process here. Once I took the course, however, I discovered how well consumers are protected here; we then felt comfortable enough to build our home."
Shortly after the real estate course, Chris undertook the Mortgage Broker Licensing course. She became general manager of the British Homes Group in 2001. "Having worked in law in the UK for many years (much of that time conducting domestic conveyancing), I was delighted to be asked to join the British Homes Group. It was a natural extension of what I had done in the UK and gave me an opportunity to help other UK residents navigate the home-buying and financing process, providing advice and assistance in a process they were unfamiliar with."
Being a qualified real estate professional, she is able to offer home-buying Brits a few tips on Florida's property market. "The Florida market is extremely active at the moment. There's a wealth of financially distressed property available, enabling investors to secure superb bargains. Our enquiries volume is certainly substantially increased over last year. The focus is slightly different, with buyers often paying cash now, since prices have reduced so much."
With property prices at rock-bottom, and Florida clearly 'on sale' in this buyer's market, there has never been a better time to experience the lifestyle that Chris and her family live in person.
The British Homes Group helps UK residents to locate and finance homes in Florida. Freephone from the UK on 0800 096 5989 or visit British Homes Group for more information.
Click below to read more stories of Brits living in Florida
Miami magic
A brighter forecast
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