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If you don't mind, please tell me more about these (what part of FL, etc) ?
I've always loved visiting Florida, but have never owned any property there. If (and that's an enormous "if" ) I can sell my Alabama property in the next few months or so, I might well be interested in looking at "bargain basement" Florida property to rent out part of the year, then vacation there sometimes when it isn't rented.
You are talking the dream of a future snowbird. You will be quite surprised at the associated costs of owning rental property in Florida. If you are not a Florida resident, the costs will usually be cost prohibitive.
While I see where you are coming from, this would be a huge problem for people who bought their homes when prices were high and just create more foreclosure properties. I sold my home in FL in 4/07. It was on the market for 8 months. I sold it for $99K less than I initially listed it for. When I look on Zillow now, the property is now worth $60K less than I sold it for, and I believe the Zillow estimate is pretty accurate. So, in less than a 2 year period, my former home is worth $160K less than it was back then. While I didn't lose any money, because I bought it before the market went nuts, imagine the person who bought the same house then & just lost $160K (and is continuing to lose money). There needs to be a "bigger" plan for FL to bring the economy back to where it should be. I certainly hope home values don't fall another 50%.
The lower property values go, the lower taxes will be. Lower property values mean more economic opportunity for entrepreneurs and working families.
If you don't mind, please tell me more about these (what part of FL, etc) ?
I've always loved visiting Florida, but have never owned any property there. If (and that's an enormous "if" ) I can sell my Alabama property in the next few months or so, I might well be interested in looking at "bargain basement" Florida property to rent out part of the year, then vacation there sometimes when it isn't rented.
Well, I may regret saying but OK .... leave the nice ones for ME please.lol It's funny, I was thinking of scoping out Alabama also (but my son would kill me). I just started renting here March 1 and moved permanently May 1 so I'm not fully informed yet. I think there are more than the ones I've seen....
I live Vero Beach, Indian River County, the Treasure Coast, a unique, lovely, calm, UNPRETENTIOUS (key point), low crime, unhurried, deserted- clean -beach city. You would consider it "upcale" in most parts if you saw it but more in the quiet southern way. .and overall housing appears to be from $175,000 - $500,000 if you were just driving through. There are alot of single homes compared to other more dense areas of wall to wall condos in several areas. There are a couple of pockets of strip centers with a couple of dopey bars or check cashing but I stress a COUPLE, nothing really.
The Vero Beach residents are generally "well off" but quiet about it. You see your share of flip flops and shorts, yes, and there is a Walmart and Kmart lol. The services people, insurance agents and bankers etc are professional and there is no wierd stuff going on like further south.
In this area you have the "mainland" with Vero Beach city and a sort of suburb (where I live in a gated community - rental ) with a mall. (6 miles from the beach). Usually you don't want to live near a mall but this one is very nice, clean, quiet and convenient. Movie theater etc. You can walk from my house to any store you can think of actually. lol.
There are condos right next to me with ALOT OF GOLF Vista Plantation. These are slightly higher about $90,000. Then from here, the mainland, you take a causeway to the barrier island the beach.
The barrier island condos are about your average entry level $300,000 + with commensurate HOAs of course. I may have seen some drop to mid 200,000 lately. There are beach side small gathering spots and a tiny "boardwalk" for just walking with some restaurants and something like mini parks on the beach, picnic tables and a large central city park where the causeway takes you from the "mainland" to the barrier island with trails and boat (I forget the term) loading docks (?). Along Ocean Drive (beach road) there are several other restaurants, stores.
Vero has a large amount of retirees but they are not annoying to me. There are some families. I worked my way up from down south at FLL when relocating here from Phila this past year. Vero televises its city meetings and the mayor is very sincere, cute and outgoing to the community. Example, during one routine meeting he had the idea to pursue historical designations and within days another meeting was scheduled. He let the residents all say whatever they wanted to say and you know how annoying that can be lol.
There seems to be alot of medical care available and you are not far from other specialists if need be. You are also 1.5 hrs from Orlando, West Palm and 2 hrs from FLL.
They have events here that are very small town and ....um sweet. lol. You see the mayor out there at the park with residents giving them mugs and having breakfast with him etc. He's also always giving radio interviews and even discussing his colon cancer experience lol. A good promoter of the town and VERY respectful to everyone from residents to other city employees.
This is significant to me because in my home town in Pa (outside of Phila) the city council used to end up in fistfights and the township manager is in jail for stealing township funds LOLOL.
The three condos that I referenced that are near the water are right near the causeways and all similar in style (this area has a sort of standard building style) with "florida room" or screen porches in building "units" of about 8 condos per building. There are one bedroom or two. The two have a "double" screen porch access from br and lr. The size is about 900 sq ft I'd say but I haven't been inside any.
Vista Royale which has seen better days. 4 miles from the beach. I believe they had some hurricane issues and took awhile to repair. But still fine if you want entry level so to speak. About 4 miles from the beach. Golf course and just OK landscaping but I see them working on it. It's sorta a large property with the most units perhaps. No water view except it's own man made lakes with fountains. Has some natural woodlands.
Then Vista Gardens which used to be part of the famous botanical gardens McKee...next door to the housing. 4 miles from the beach. Therefore they have beautiful landscaping that has been impeccably maintained. This is the community that I have met longstanding residents of (over 15 years) and the people don't want to move out. They like it. AND they are on the young side of retirement. No water views except man made lakes with fountains. They have a golf course too. I understand the clubhouse to be very active but I havent bothered to pursue that. has some natural woodlands too.
Then Vista Harbor which is the one next to the causeway. 3 miles to the beach. Not so fancy and not the same type of community as the others, and smaller. Sits on a narrow canal with boats (and docks for residents) and a limited but actual ICW view and situated on a point along with million dollar condos (with better views of course). On this point there is a little gathering area like a paved park with a giant fountain people go in like a shower type deal. It is directly on the ICW (Intracoastal) with benches and stuff. Restaurants on the point as well as basic shopping. You can walk to it all from the condos. "Locationally" this would be my first choice.
Be aware that there are HOA rules on renting, and also the problem in Florida is EXACTLY because (in part) of absentee owners renting to "low life" or not being able to rent it at all. So to buy it as a spec isn't really a great idea unless you're going to use it. There are several for rent already but I don't know if there's a market for tenants. They are renting for around 700.00 this time of year.
I like Vero Beach and I'm picky but willing to compromise when it comes to Florida because it's so unusual here. They have the typical Rt 1 strip center issues in part of the town but it's no big deal and overall it can be someone's paradise. Perhaps for a couple it's perfect. I will say it's boring when you're used to jumping on a train to NYC etc but you get used to it if your deal is water, weather and calm and no crime (visable).
BTW The UV sun factor is some serious stuff and you spend a ton on sunscreen etc but can get UV protective film on windows. I had two skin cancers the month I decided to move her (just my luck) so it's no joke and you have to adjust to humidity.
If you are buying a spec please don't take the end units
OH...a BIG PLUS there are NO high rises even though there are some major chains on the beach like I think like a Hilton or something. There is only ONE that snuck in there and then they zoned against X amount of floors.
And of course there are several multi million dollar properties, I just didnt' bother to get into all that. And directly west of me after 95 are several miles of citrus and cattle. NOTHING but open area. Very nice drive for what it's worth. I think the next town west is Lake something ....lol cant remember.
Thank you for the response, runningwith scissors. I looked them up at realtor dot com. There are ALOT of condos at VISTA ROYALE for sale between 40-55K. The outside didn't look great...but the ones that showed the interiors looked as if they had been recently updated.
They looked awfully small for full time living....I think I'm too claustrophobic. However, it is amazing you can buy a condo at that price.
Yr welcome. Yes at first I thought from the outside that they were ugly and all look like a giant nursing home or something. LOL Then I realized that's the style here.
Small for sure. And some have a parking lot view, too. But I live alone. Realtor dot com doesn't have all the listings not all realtors participate. Go on Trulia and check the comps you'll see recently sold homes for in the 30,000's in also in Vista Gardens in that range I dont know the name of the streets in vista harbor to look up.
But yes, to live in Vero, just paying tax and HOA per month, with low utilities it's tempting. And look, with the money you save you can take a ton of vacations LOL.
I would have to knock out walls in one of them, though, for sure. An open plan would change the feel and it'd have to be an end unit and without the glass windows on the porch but with screening (some have and it can be changed).
A neighbor here owns 2 in Vista Gardens and although he'd like 50,000 I bet he'd take 30,000 lol. poor guy.
I just found a website for Vista Royale, that's new. It's a good sign. The other thing is, when they show just the door they look ridiculous like a motel room so dont pay attention to that.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 06-28-2008 at 10:18 PM..
Wow, it is remarkable to see condos that cheap in a nice, safe town near the beach. Is there good air service anywhere near Vero Beach ?
That's really the only potential major drawback I can think of.
I also noticed that some complexes like Vista Royale are exclusively for people 55 and older,
which would rule me out.
Quote:
I was thinking of scoping out Alabama also
Well, I can probably tell you a good bit about most parts of Alabama. Basically, the two big things going in favor of Alabama real estate investing going forward are that the property taxes are among the lowest of all states and that most parts of state are pretty stable and don't have big "boom-and-bust" cycles of overbuilding and price appreciation.
Wow, it is remarkable to see condos that cheap in a nice, safe town near the beach. Is there good air service anywhere near Vero Beach ?
That's really the only potential major drawback I can think of.
I also noticed that some complexes like Vista Royale are exclusively for people 55 and older,
which would rule me out.
Well, I can probably tell you a good bit about most parts of Alabama. Basically, the two big things going in favor of Alabama real estate investing going forward are that the property taxes are among the lowest of all states and that most parts of state are pretty stable and don't have big "boom-and-bust" cycles of overbuilding and price appreciation.
The thing I "expect to like" about AL besides the favorable tax structure is the people. Some of the funniest and most entertaining people I've met were from the south and specifically AL and AR. Odd coming from ,me, a Phila girl but it's like a Mark Twain thing lol.
I'll get back to you after I get some real questions!
Ah the 55 thing I forgot! I don't know if there's an 80/20 rule in them. Many down here have that then some others are very strict. Some people put it in the parents name I think. But I dont know the legality or what other issues might be a factor.
For airports you have Melbourne an hour away but limited and Orlando, 1.5 hrs away. Or West Palm 1.5 hrs away. You get used to the drive I was flying down weekly for awhile.
There are other similar and even cheaper condos belieive it or not, more south but with density issues and in my opinion those areas are changing for the worse. At least for me, at 55 I don't need the ag. Deerfield Beach, Tamarac (FLL) Boyton and Sunrise (FLL). Actually in the $20,000's !!
I don't know if I'm the condo type but frankly I'm not in the mood to do the whole maintenance thing anymore and it's not just cost but actually having local people to DO the work. This house I'm in has huge windows and you have to put up the hurricane shutters on short notice and it requires ladder climbing and heavy lifting .PITA LOL.
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