To All Those Considering Moving To Florida ! (Miami, Kendall: apartments, HOA)

[heydade]

I see many people wanting to move here with unrealistic expectations about the prices and TAX and INSURANCE that is required to own a home here. This is not meant to discourage you, only to enlighten you.

If you are living anywhere in Miami, Broward or Palm Beach.....insurance is going to cost you anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 dollars. I was about to purchase a 200K home in Palm Beach and State Farm whom I have been with for over 10 years quoted me 5,965.00 a year. PROPERTY Tax is around 4,000 a year.

Most communities have HOA fee's that are around 150 all the way up to 500 a month.

So let's do some math. A decent home in a decent area here in South Florida is going to cost you at least 299K...and I am being conservative here. A 30 year fixed at 6.5% on the price alone will be 1,896.00 Now let's factor in the insurance (3500 conservatively) is 291/month in homeowners insurance.

Property tax for a 299K home would be about 4500 if not more. thats another 375/month. So now you are paying in TAXES and INSURANCE only 666.00 a month. If you are in a flood zone, add another 1500/year to that. Over 75% homes in South Florida are in gated communities....so let's add in a 250.00 a month HOA fee which is NOTHING these days given the rise in costs that we homeowners need to cover.

So....on a 299k house > 30 year mortgage of 1,896.00 +250/month HOA + 291/Month insurance + 375/month property tax = 2,812.00/month.

TAXES AND INSURANCE is what kills you down here. And hurricanes are horrible to deal with. Many people now shell out 10K or more for standby generators that run on propane and automatically kick in when the power is out. I lived south of Kendall when Hurricane Andrew stuck in 1992. It was devastating. I remember the long drives to sawgrass mills mall just to get gas. I remember 2 weeks without power. A few pics of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and it's damage :

[SummerBabe]

Originally Posted by heydade

I see many people wanting to move here with unrealistic expectations about the prices and TAX and INSURANCE that is required to own a home here. This is not meant to discourage you, only to enlighten you.

If you are living anywhere in Miami, Broward or Palm Beach.....insurance is going to cost you anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 dollars. I was about to purchase a 200K home in Palm Beach and State Farm whom I have been with for over 10 years quoted me 5,965.00 a year. PROPERTY Tax is around 4,000 a year.

Most communities have HOA fee's that are around 150 all the way up to 500 a month.

So let's do some math. A decent home in a decent area here in South Florida is going to cost you at least 299K...and I am being conservative here. A 30 year fixed at 6.5% on the price alone will be 1,896.00 Now let's factor in the insurance (3500 conservatively) is 291/month in homeowners insurance.

Property tax for a 299K home would be about 4500 if not more. thats another 375/month. So now you are paying in TAXES and INSURANCE only 666.00 a month. If you are in a flood zone, add another 1500/year to that. Over 75% homes in South Florida are in gated communities....so let's add in a 250.00 a month HOA fee which is NOTHING these days given the rise in costs that we homeowners need to cover.

So....on a 299k house > 30 year mortgage of 1,896.00 +250/month HOA + 291/Month insurance + 375/month property tax = 2,812.00/month.

TAXES AND INSURANCE is what kills you down here. And hurricanes are horrible to deal with. Many people now shell out 10K or more for standby generators that run on propane and automatically kick in when the power is out. I lived south of Kendall when Hurricane Andrew stuck in 1992. It was devastating. I remember the long drives to sawgrass mills mall just to get gas. I remember 2 weeks without power. A few pics of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and it's damage :

I gather you have moved or are planning on moving since it is that "bad"?

[compelled to reply]

That kind of damage will never happen again because of the post-Andrew Miami-Dade/Broward building code. Most of the homes that got totally leveled were crappy Lennar homes or mobile homes, and most of the pre-Andrew homes still here could survive another Andrew. But the HOI situation is a reality.

[doggiebus]

The sad fact it can still happen because Hurricane Andrew was a small compact storm relatively speaking. And so the majority of homes south of Kendall Drive were the only ones really affected. The homes north of Kendall Drive (relatively speaking) didn't take the same brunt that the homes south of Kendall Drive took. And so homes built pre Andrew could technically have the same out come if hit with the same forth as those in South Miami-Dade, if they have not been updated, which my guess is many probably have not.

Now yes the newer homes built after Hurricane Andrew have a much better shot at not having the same out come as those in Country Walk.

Did you know that there are still some ALL wood homes in Country Walk????Crazy thought.

[rogerbacon]

Two weeks without power? Oh boo hoo. I lived on SW 196 DR. and we were without power for about two months.
Yes, it could happen again. A lot of houses back then were built well and trhey still got destroyed. A lot of all concrete structures were destroyed. Wood roofs don't stand a chance against a tough hurricane. That's a lesson the insurance companies learned and that is why insurance is so high for some people today (but it is still nothing compared to property taxes).

[kbeejbee]

and my friends live on long island in a blue collar neighborhood, house is kind extremely small, very little yard, snow, rain, ice, sleet, $500/mo heating bills all winter, blah blah blah AND they pay a tad over $14,000 year for taxes. yahoo, i'll take miami any day. oh and btw, they don't make tons of money either. so it's all relative.

[SoBe_ToBe?]

Originally Posted by kbeejbee

and my friends live on long island in a blue collar neighborhood, house is kind extremely small, very little yard, snow, rain, ice, sleet, $500/mo heating bills all winter, blah blah blah AND they pay a tad over $14,000 year for taxes. yahoo, i'll take miami any day. oh and btw, they don't make tons of money either. so it's all relative.

Sounds about right for Long Island, depending on the neighborhood. My parents' taxes are $16k per year (North Shore, Suffolk County) and heating bills can top $1k per month in the coldest months (relatively large house, high ceilings).

I'm thinking I'll take Miami, too. But that's why I'm here... to look before I leap!

[Bette]

I am a mortgage broker and I deal with these insurance issues every day. The costs are going down. Really. Especially if you have a home built after 1995 (better code) or after 2001. On a $200,000 home, you are only insuring the dwelling, not the land. I know State Farm was high at one point - I have them - mine was $7900 for the year in 2006 and 2007 - now, it is $2900 for the year which is what is was before the hurricanes. (Dwelling coverage is $385,000).

In other words, check out other companies against State Farm and sometimes, your agent can write those too. It really varies.

[rogerbacon]

Originally Posted by Bette

I am a mortgage broker and I deal with these insurance issues every day. The costs are going down. Really. Especially if you have a home built after 1995 (better code) or after 2001. On a $200,000 home, you are only insuring the dwelling, not the land. I know State Farm was high at one point - I have them - mine was $7900 for the year in 2006 and 2007 - now, it is $2900 for the year which is what is was before the hurricanes. (Dwelling coverage is $385,000).

In other words, check out other companies against State Farm and sometimes, your agent can write those too. It really varies.

My insurance is only about $1,600 and I have about $350k of insurance. My house was built in 2006 and has all the anti-hurricane measures you can throw a stick at. Insurance isn't bad for me. It is property taxes I hate. The worst case would be buying an old home today. You'd getthe high property taxes and the high insurance. I feel for anyone trying to sell an old home in Miami.

[TallblondeguyFL]

Sounds like heydade will be moving out soon? Ok, some facts. Heydade says that 75% of people in Florida live in gated communities. The actually number overall is about 16%. You're more likely to be effected by HOA dues in condo-like situations. On a $300K house in Broward, payments are going to be around $1600 - with taxes and insurance, payment will be around $2800. So , if you're moving to S.Florida, this is something a newcomer clearly would need to be aware of.

As far as the Andrew pics,(of course, not meant to scare anyone, right...) the worst damage from Andrew occurred in structures that were not up to current Hurricane codes. According to damage accessments after Andrew,the worst damage occurred to Mobile Homes and wood-framed (walled) apartments built to withstand 100 MPH winds, not 250+ MPH winds that occurred during Andrew. (see pics.) CBS construction with properly boarded up windows simply did not see that amount of damage, even in hard hit areas. Also, many residents were not given a chance to prepare properly for Andrew because warnings about actual wind speed and storm locations came too late...mistake?...that's a whole different blog.

I had over a week to prepare for Wilma. My neighborhood (CBS Construction) saw 150+ MPH winds at the eye, but we had very little structural damage in Broward. Most damage was infrastructure (poles, cables, etc...11 days with no power.)

I love S.Florida, the Beach, the sites, the weather, but of course budgeting was something I had to plan on in order to buy property here. That's a reality of life here now ... it suxx, yes, but's it's a reality.