Homes going up or Down in Price? (Miami, Tampa: purchaser, place to live)

[London Guy]

Originally Posted by krktoday

I had a house I paid 425.000 for in 2004. I lost it in a forclosure in 2009. It sold for 100,000 to someone after the forclosure and in 2010 that guy sold it for 200,000 so I would say price's are still very much down but going up.

I also built a house in 1990 for 47,000. I sold it in 2004 for 110,000. The lady who bought it sold it in 2007 for 220,000 and last I heard it sold for something like 25,000 last year.

That pretty much demonstrates the insanity of a property boom. $425k paid for something that sells for $100k 5 years later

Either somone scored a serious bargain or you waaay overpaid in 2004.

Your other example demonstrates more of the same. If it cost $47k to build in 1990, whoever bought it for $25k last year has done pretty darn good - unless it's situated in Detroit or somewhere like that.

I gave up on the dream of owning a house in America after seeing prices explode in the late 90's-early 2000's. The earnings multiple required to fund a mortgage was getting to silly levels and it was pretty easy to see that there was gonna be tears before bedtime.

Then people started buying property for one over-valued price and immediately re-selling it at an even higher price. Only fools buy in those circumstances and only the truly crazy/corrupt would lend vast amounts of money to people who were, in effect, playing roulette with property.

So the train had to come off the rails but amidst the wreckage, the fundamentals of buying real estate still hold true and personally, I stick to using those fundamentals to assess the desirability of a house purchase.

Location, build costs, historical values, value for money, potential for adding value, attractive sale price - if a property ticks all the boxes and if you can still get credit or have enough cash available then you'd be mad not to buy right now - although not quite as mad as if you had bought when prices were so overblown.

And people ARE buying property right now, (me included), which is having the effect of firming prices upward. Not everywhere of course but in SWFL the evidence is plainly there for all to see - although some people deny the evidence for reasons only clear to themselves.

The crazy money has moved into stocks now. Linkedin is worth 8.45 BILLION DOLLARS is it?

That could have bought an awful lot of good real estate at current prices.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Incorrect.

Food stamps is run by the feds and administered by the states. The asset and income limits are set by the fed.

Do you currently live in this country?

Are you considering buying a home in Florida?

I wasn't going to post, since I am getting tired of all the arguments. However, you are wrong!

Food Stamps are part of the Welfare Program, like Medicaid and other similar programs. Although most of the funding is from the Federal Government, eligibility is regulated by the State. I don't have time to search for links right now, but here is a map of states that use assets to determine eligibility. I have to go outside on the lanai, since I am having trouble getting a strong signal.

Edit: Here are a couple of maps showing states with certain requirements. The first shows states that choose not to consider certain assets in individuals applying for Food Stamps. The second is a map showing states that chose to raise the income level for those requesting Food Stamps. Florida is one of the states that has chosen not to change its eligibility standards. If you download a SNAP application for various states, you'll see a different set of questions.

It's a little more complicated than this, but States definitely determine eligibility to some degree. Example: a number of States exclude the entire value of the household’s primary vehicle as an asset. Currently 39 States exclude the value of all vehicles entirely. 11 States totally exclude the value of at least one vehicle per household. I have a 64 year old friend who was disqualified because of her car. (she lives in Florida)

[URL]http://frac.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/map_eliminating_asset_test.pdf[/URL]

[URL]http://frac.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/map_raising_gross_income_test.pdf[/URL]

I don't know if this will paste properly, but below (in green) is directly from the USDA web site with the eligibility tool.

" The first question asks for a state or territory. Enter the state or territory of the person who is interested in SNAP information. Some states have their own pre-screening tools for SNAP eligibility. If you say you live in one of those states, the system will automatically direct you to the state's pre-screening tool. Some states have made small changes to their SNAP eligibility rules. So your state tool is more accurate.


Some states have special rules. If this pre-screening tool tells you you're not eligible, you might still be eligible in your state. Maybe your state has special rules that make you eligible. You should always check with your local SNAP office to know for sure. "



Okay, I'm done.

[faithfulFrank]

Folks,
At over 600+ posts in this thread, I think we've pretty much covered the subject.
I'll keep it open for now, but please let's stay on the topic, which is Local home prices.

If you think everything has been said about the topic, the thread will just fade away.....

Frank

[nhkev]

Usually whenever there is a list of countries best beaches, siesta key and saniibel are usually near the top. Cape coral is a good location to go to either. The weather is phenomonal almost all year. It is normally one of the safest area of florida. Home prices are affordable to the point that over 70% are now paying cash. The word is out, yes even nationally that the area has already stabilized, bottomed and has started increasing.

The first rule of real estate is location.......cape coral is a great location
2nd rule supply and demand...... historically record demand and a dwindling supply

Always posting your national negativety just shows there is a lack of local negative news (if there was I am sure you would post it).

[stahltkd]

"At the Naples-Marco Island KOA campground, available lodgings - ranging from a basic Kamping Kabin to an Airstream trailer to a log-adorned, park model manufactured home - were spoken for. About 20 overnight spots for visiting RVs remained available as of Wednesday, according to manager Ted Mangels"

"We also don't have an open boat slip - and we have 78 slips," Morrissette said A real holiday feel as visitors hit town | The News-Press | news-press.com

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by London Guy

This is quite a useful thread for people considering a property purchase in SWFL but you keep making irrelevant posts regarding the real estate market generally.

It's like raising a Global trend when referencing the USA - it doesn't give a clear picture about what's really going on.

Or, as I like to say...

What does that have to do with the cost of tea in China?

Methinks someone is very starved for attention.

I love Kev's point. There must be only good local news because he keeps bringing up the irrelevant. Kind of like food stamps.

[cviz]

I read today that there are several real estate markets that are showing recovery. While the country as a whole is down, several areas on the California Coast and in Texas are up. Housing recovery is linked in part to jobs. But that is not necessarily the case in Florida; since a majority of the homes purchase are either investment homes or purchased by retirees who are not in need of a job.

This explains why the market is on the rise in the Ft Myers / Cape Coral area. Most housing purchases in this area are not directly linked to jobs. The downside to this is home values will not rise as rapidly as in other areas of the country.

If you are considering moving to Ft. Myers / Cape Coral area and finding a job, you'd be better off staying put where you are. Unless your are a retiree or independently wealthy, I highly recommend having a job to go to prior to moving to this area.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by equalrightsforeveryone

Eighth month of home price declines as reported on FBN this morning.
Down 3.8% month over month.
Some people are calling it a double dip in housing.

refering to the case schiller index which does not cover Lee county. Some people also have some reservations about case schiller's number. The reason is this... Case schiller picks only 20 cities which they feel represent the entire country. Personally I think this is a rather small pool. 2ndly case schiller does not count all sales, they only count sales of homes that have sold before. The problem with this is during an economic downturn it is more likely that people who sell , have to sell, and also the prople that were most impacted by unemployment were lower incom earners. So even though I think case schiller can be a good indicator for the 20 cities it represents in a normal environment i think it can become skewed in both heated or depressed market conditions.

As much national stuff you put to refute it the facts are in Lee county prices are rising.

[cviz]

I think the point that is being missed here is Miami and Tampa real estate markets are job driven. These areas are home to several domestic and international corporations. So it is evident that as the job market goes south in these area the housing market will follow.

The primary difference with SWFL, especially the Ft Myers / Cape Coral area, it is not domicile for major corporations. Thus the Real Estate market is predominately geared towards investment and retiree purchases. Since mortgage rates are at the lowest levels in years. This is what is spurring the real estate upswing in our area.

It's not rocket science. It's basic law of supply and demand. Folks who have expendable income are looking for investments. Real Estate has always been a sound investment over the long haul. There are great deals to be had for those who have the financial resources.

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by equalrightsforeveryone

Tampa is Down 6.9%, Miami is Down 6.1%
And there are people that claim that SWFL will not be affected by this Get Real, They are not talking about Outer Slobovia.

Home prices reach lowest level since 2002, SW Fla. bucks trend | The News-Press | news-press.com

here's one newspaper that is talking about lee county