[Racelady88]

I keep hearing about all of the deals available for renting in FL, but all I am finding is brand new homes in golf communities for $1500+/month and old, dumpy houses in questionable to bad neighborhoods for $1000+/month.

I actually had a woman say to me this morning that she wants $1600/month for a 1000 sf 2/1 that you can't put a bed and a dresser in the master because it is so small. There is one bathroom in its original 1952 glory. There are several huge rotted trees hanging over the house. This woman wonders why her house will not sell or rent. She paid just under $50k for the house 8 years ago, but took a huge cash out in 2004. She owes more on the house than it is worth, and can't make enough money to pay her mortgage.

Why is it that people think others will be willing to bail them out of their poor decisions.

[tallrick]

Because those people are basing their prices on past trends. They are too stupid to know that real estate goes up and down, not just up. Also many are getting the squeeze from HOI and taxes. Not unusual for a 300,000 dump to pay 6,000 a year in taxes and 4,000 a year in insurance. Doesn't leave much profit margin does it?

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by flddse

depends what you paid for it in the first place. all the people trying to steal others property . if you can not afford that price look somewhere else stay within your means

Evey just said that the lady paid 50,000 for it eight years ago. Two years ago it may have been worth 200,000 or more, but the reality of it is that right at the moment, it's not worth much at all. Depending on what she has borrowed against it, she may not even be able to sell it and get her money out of it. But remember, that inflated price she's asking isn't because she paid so much for her house. It's because she borrowed heavily against it and used it to buy other things or pay other bills. And Evey, I agree with you. What are people thinking when they want others to pay extravagant prices just in order so they can have all their bills paid, which is the case in this situation.

And rent that is 1600 per month for a small house doesn't sound like you're trying to "steal it".

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by flddse

how do you know so much about fl if you are in so dak

It's not really hard. All I did was READ what Evey had written to understand the story. Also, just because I don't live in Fla. doesn't mean I've never been there. There is a lot of info on these boards and I've read most of it so I'm fairly informed of the situations down there.

[Jammie]

This is getting totally off topic. If you would read Evey's post, she has explained the situation. After you read it, feel free to comment on the topic.

[cariad]

I can't speak to other areas of Florida but

Tampa Bay Craigslist shows many reasonable rents all over the bay area.

[121804]

Have you thought about a condo? Wewanted to rent a home, but it was way too expensive. We are renting a 3/2/1 1800 sq ft condo in a safe area for $1050 [water & cable included]. And it is a month by month lease. We only had to put down a one-month security deposit. This is an area that has TONS of empty condos; I think the owners are willing to do whatever to get some sort of $$ at the end of the month.

[Racelady88]

We have a large dog & 2 cats, so a condo is not really an option.

The problem that I am having is that these places are all dumps, many of them are filthy dirty, and most of them are in highly undesirable neighborhoods. I just have not seen a house that justifies the rent.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by flddse

was something said that touched a nerve. if evey does not like the house do not rent it . people have many different reasons why they ask the price they ask number one being market value. all the people think everything is overpriced are in for a big shock. wait till they see the prices in the next 5 to 10 years fl is the next ca

This is as high as it will get in 5-10 years. Unless salaries take a huge climb expect real estate to continue to go down year after year.

[cariad]

So where are you looking, perhaps the area is what makes the difference?
We have a small dog and no cats, our standards are high, but our experience was the opposite of yours-we ruled out bad neighborhoods without looking.
We ruled out really, really cheap rents without looking because we figured they were likely to be dumps.
We looked at 3 that were very reasonable, and in fact less than our budget allowed, but below the standard we had set for ourselves-if I were in a financial bind I would have rented any of the 3 of them.
We looked at 1 a little above our budget-if it had had everything I wanted I might have rented it-interesting that when we turned it down, the owner offered to negotiate the rent.
The next one we looked at was great, the owner agreed to change the pet policy and because we were more than happy with it.-we didn't even try to negotiate a lower price