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I am retired living in Texas currently, wife and I are both around 70. She has health challenges with RA and Lupus and auto immune impairment. With her condition I have inherited the house maintenance and up keep issues as well as most of the driving, shopping and cooking. We do not have children and have always lived in SF homes in Houston, NJ, Pittsburgh and now DFW. We are use to living in larger metros and travel much these days. We have family in NYC, NM, Arizona and Oklahoma but are use to living distant from them so that is not a consideration in making a move to an area we might find better fits our later life needs.
The reason for considering a move from Plano, Texas is I am not fond of the property tax level we pay here, We also have no family in this immediate area as we did when we moved here so other low tax states are ones I am considering. I have landed on two options to the obvious stay where I am case. One option is to move to Nashville Tennessee metro. The second is move to Florida to a condo high enough to get me out flooding concerns with hurricanes and related storm surge.
We have different desires climate wise, I am a fan of four seasons and can tolerate cold winters like middle Tennessee has. My wife prefers a warmer climate for her body comfort. She was happy in the Houston climate while I liked coming North to Dallas for the 4 seasons.
We like living in a major metro for medical options for the highly challenging medical conditions my wife has as well as for the food options we find in DFW. So both lead us to wanting a larger metro or the equivalent for medical and food choices. We are not fans of beaches or water views. We both find the idea of a condo living appealing to off load the residence up keep and maintenance challenges we face. We bought a newer home here than we had before but after 8 years living in it, we are tired of the maintenance headaches in a 18 year old home now. Especially without a strong network of workers both reasonable and good performers.
We are home bodies now. My wife has always been and more so now with her medical conditions. She is out of the house for a couple of medical and health related events a week and to go to church Sundays. We eat out a few times a week but enjoy eating at home now with either prepared food options from Eatzi's or Central Market (fresh daily chief prepared meals to purchase and eat at home, each has 30 or 40 choices each day at a reasonable price. We also belong to Costco and Sam's club and buy prepared refrigerated or frozen options they offer which are very good and easy to prepare and something we prefer to dinning out. So near Sams and Costco are keys in where we locate. I have found these locations are in sync with the shopping and other services options we need. ie find a location with both of these club options and a Lexus and an Infiniti dealer near by and most of the other shopping needs are close by.
Our price range for a residence is $600k to $1M. We live in a very large home now and with our needs and uses for space as homebodies, we need at least 2500 sf with a condo if it has another 500 sf or so of outdoor private space on balconies.
I am looking at condo options across florida with 2500 to 3500 sf. I am concerned in Fla by hurricane related flooding and want a unit only high enough to minimize flooding risk and hopefully in a building constructed to withstand likely hurricane wind forces. I am finding attractive existing condos at 4 floor level and maybe a little higher if facing the land or inland waterway side are prices where I feel comfortable paying for the size we want. We do not want or need an open water facing unit or too high, my wife has a minor height fear this addresses.
I note after searching realtor.com a lack of consistency in info for mid to high rise condo units. I am looking for guidance on any local or florida wide mls site that specializes in the data for these units. The things I see missing or not consistently provided are: condo unit location in the building ie N, S etc side of building, hoa fees, what the hoa fees include, pets allowed but limitations (ie 25 to 75 lbs, I have three smaller dogs 5 to 10 lbs, are small sizes really not allowed by weight?). ceiling heights in unit, all show sf living area but few show sf of private patio space with unit. Size of covered enclosed garage space if included etc.
Also are their specific time frames when hurricane sustaining construction improvements were adopted by industry that i should be aware of when looking? I assume interior condo maintenance is owners responsibility but using a plumber etc recommended by the HOA should make selection easier for me in a new metro market.
Pardon my long post and background specifics. If you have a realtor or realtor mls site in mind please PM me if to mention it would violate CD rules. Also any other observations on my needs and lack of knowledge about condos that you think I need to know are much appreciated as well.
We have visited many age restricted units and do not find them appealing at our current age, feel we may not change our view on them so am not interested in hearing alot about them unless we are mis guessing our long term needs.
Thanks in advance for reading and any guidance you can provide.
I don't know of a site that can do everything that you're asking about with relation to number of floors and such, but you may want to check out https://www.state27homes.com/ for the Florida listings which allows you to search by a number of items and also keywords. Zillow also allows for expanded and keyword searches as well. Someone else might be able to help out with an MLS site for TN. I will send you a message for agents covering a few different areas.
We're in our 70's and moved to Florida in 1973. We made the transition from SFH's into waterfront condos in about 2002 and are now in our 3rd upscale condo in the 2200 sft range. We like condos (low maintenance/repairs/upkeep, privacy, hurricane protection, efficient heat/air, waterfront location, travel ease, resale, property value protection, etc.). I've been active on HOA boards for numerous years and we've got no desire to move back to SFH's.
Florida is a large, diverse state with several major markets and no realtors that cover them all. Condos in the size and price range you are seeking exist in most major markets, along with the amenities your seek. Florida hurricane-proof building standards got serious after Andrew in 1992 and have steadily improved. Any construction after about 2000-2005 has very little hurricane and storm-surge risk ... but, a strong Cat. 5 storm (Andrew) can still produce tornado-like damage.
You should also consider luxury townhomes where the association does all the exterior maintenance, lawn care, etc. It's basically like a condo but these are typically at least 5 miles inland of the Beach and don't have surge issues. If you don't care for water or beach, don't even bother looking there. You will be paying a premium for stuff you don't want.
If I find a condo on or near the coast, two questions. Since I do not need or really want a water view are the units looking toward the land going to be considerable less expensive in general? I am surprised that hurricane risks in new condo buildings is low. I want to avoid flooding of my property and place from storm surge or other non hurricane events, to address that I am only considering fourth floor or higher units. In general is that going to get me up and out of flooding risks too in most locations? I know it depends on a lot of things but for screening purposes I am using this rule of thumb, agree?
We have t three small bichon dogs who are part of our family and live in doors with us now. On realtor.com, I almost always see pet limitations mentioned and some indicate a size rate and a number of dogs range and restrictions on breeds. Are small non shedding dogs not allowed some places? What is the logic of that, barking concerns?
HOA items covered and amounts seem to vary widely by property. Am I generally correct in assuming exterior maintenance costs and common units like HVAC, and amenity maintenance are included in most HOA fees? I see a mention of escrow and assume that is to keep a positive cash balance and accrue for larger cost items like new roof or HVAC unit replacement? I see insurance mentioned in some too, assuming that is liability insurance and Homeowners type coverage of exterior items such as roof etc that are in common not unique to each condo?
Finally I am open to a town home type unit where more maintenance is handled by the HOA as long as I am out of risk to flooding at that location. Can you guide me on the kinds of things that might be covered by HOA fee in this case since a roof most likely is separate for each unit excluding common area buildings? Having landscape and exterior maintenance handled as we age is appealing is that done in most town home developments?
Thanks again for the help and any additional guidance you can provide.
Beach condo units with city views will be cheaper of course but you still pay high HOA fees (mostly because of insurance costs on the oceanfront structure), and you'll be evacuated every time there is a hurricane. The risk oceanfront is not necessarily that your unit will be destroyed by surge but the structure without power, water, unlivable for weeks or months as repairs occur to the common areas also. That's a major inconvenience. Age of structure is also very important condos built within the last 10 years with impact hurricane windows and balcony doors are very very well built under the new building codes. They will likely not have major damage in anything but the most extreme cat 4 or 5 hurricane. Older buildings not up to code are at significantly higher risk.
Each community is different. But you could consider a 55+ community (which can also be SFH not only townhomes) that offers all exterior maintenance, Windows, roof, painting, lawn care, landscaping. Basically, everything inside the walls you are responsible for and outside the assciation is. That's almost standard now in luxury New 55+ communities .
Non 55+ or regular communities are all different. You'll need to go over the rules.
Beach condo units with city views will be cheaper of course but you still pay high HOA fees (mostly because of insurance costs on the oceanfront structure), and you'll be evacuated every time there is a hurricane. The risk oceanfront is not necessarily that your unit will be destroyed by surge but the structure without power, water, unlivable for weeks or months as repairs occur to the common areas also. That's a major inconvenience. Age of structure is also very important condos built within the last 10 years with impact hurricane windows and balcony doors are very very well built under the new building codes. They will likely not have major damage in anything but the most extreme cat 4 or 5 hurricane. Older buildings not up to code are at significantly higher risk.
Each community is different. But you could consider a 55+ community (which can also be SFH not only townhomes) that offers all exterior maintenance, Windows, roof, painting, lawn care, landscaping. Basically, everything inside the walls you are responsible for and outside the assciation is. That's almost standard now in luxury New 55+ communities .
Non 55+ or regular communities are all different. You'll need to go over the rules.
The above-mentioned evacuation (see bold type) really happens every time? Even in the condo towers built in the last 10 yrs?
Yes, barrier islands are typically evacuated every time even in category 1 storms. As I said, it's not all about your building being demolished by surge. It could have minimal damage but the infrastructure could be ruined. Bridges, roads washed away. No power, no water for weeks or months. No emergency services. That's the reason hi rises are evacuated.
Yes, barrier islands are typically evacuated every time even in category 1 storms. As I said, it's not all about your building being demolished by surge. It could have minimal damage but the infrastructure could be ruined. Bridges, roads washed away. No power, no water for weeks or months. No emergency services. That's the reason hi rises are evacuated.
Yes, but the police can't forcibly remove you. You are on your own. There won't be any emergency services during the storm if you run into trouble. So it's silly to stay in a major hurricane cat 3 or higher. You will end up in a hot dark condo with no power or running water for a long time.
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