I might be moving to Miami from DC, please read would appreciate your help (Miami Beach: real estate, apartments)

[dstmarti]

Hey guys I have spent most of my life In the Northern VA/DC area and am thinking about moving to Miami sometime in the future. Im finishing up my degree and am considering Law school at UM. I recently got engaged and my fiancé is open to the idea of us moving down there. Does anyone know of any areas not too far from campus that might be good for a young couple with not a ton of money? We are both homebodies so we would prefer living in a quiet neighborhood and would be totally be fine with living in an “elderly” part of town. Our ideal situation would be a typical house in the suburbs. Also how is the real estate down there? I have heard it was pretty badly hit by the credit crunch. I live in one of the top 3 wealthiest counties in the country and you cant get a 3 bedroom for less than a million around here. Would it be conceivable to be able to look at houses instead of condos or apartments? Has anybody made this move that could give me any advice? Thanks very much for taking the time to read all this I really appreciate any help you guys could give me.

[bale002]

Three bedroom houses in the area around UM start at around $500,000, so half as much as the DC region.

The Miami area and southeastern Florida in general are all one densely populated suburban sprawl, there is very little of that suburban/urban dynamic typical of the northeast.

To start, look for rentals in Coral Gables, parts of South Miami, Dadeland, and possibly parts of Coconut Grove.

With luck, the rental rate on a house could start at $1500, but $2000 is more typical. You could rent a dinky condo or apartment possibly for as low as $800, but $1000-$1200 is more typical.

Tone down your expectations and good luck!

[AngeHunter]

You can also live in the Falls area, a short drive to the Metro Rail which drops you off at UM Campus. Large 1/2 acre homes with pools, great shopping, movie theatre, restaurants, etc. Homes are about $500,000 + or -

[planetsurf]

Originally Posted by dstmarti

Does anyone know of any areas not too far from campus that might be good for a young couple with not a ton of money? We are both homebodies so we would prefer living in a quiet neighborhood and would be totally be fine with living in an “elderly” part of town. Our ideal situation would be a typical house in the suburbs. Also how is the real estate down there? I have heard it was pretty badly hit by the credit crunch.

As you probably know, UM is in the middle of Coral Gables, a very leafy & well manicured "suburb."
S Miami is very similar and right across US1.
(The "elderly" areas are more in Broward and Palm Beach.)

Right now, real estate in the Gables and S Miami are way off the highs from 2 years ago, but still holding up pretty well. If you have the resources to buy, maybe you can look for a smaller, older home (many homes built in the 50s) for around $500k (or less) and spend some of your off-time working on fixing it up? You could even walk to school if you choose well!
(Don't know your financial situation, but I assume you have some bank if your even thinking about buying while in Law School. )
Coral Gables is notorious as being difficult when it comes to property permits, but many things can be done w/o one like interior stuff & landscaping. Then just hire a contractor to do some of the bigger stuff (like replacing windows or updating the A/C).

bale002 was pretty accurate, I would add that you can rent a very nice home or 1/2 of a duplex/home (bunch of them along or just off of Ponce, just east of and very close to UM) for between $1800 and $2500 (maybe a bit more for some).

We live very close to UM and one of the reasons WE love it so much is that there is so much "little stuff" to do around us. Walking around downtown Gables, S Miami or Coconut Grove, biking to Matheson Hammock, good movie theaters, concerts at the Congregational Church, book signings/lectures at Books & Books ....
There are also TONS of restaurants (cheap and expensive) to explore and lots of interesting nooks and crannies around (Cape Florida, Venetian Pool, etc.).

If you can afford the cost of living moderately well around here, I think it would be a GREAT place to AT LEAST spend a few years while in Law School.

If you need the name of a great, reliable contractor, IM me.

Good Luck

[desdichado]

My husband and I are being transferred from the Washington, DC Metro area to Miami for three years by the military. We obviously do not have a choice about whether or not to move to Miami, and we are trying to make the best of what we consider to be a bad situation. Not because of Miami, per se, but because he was close to retirement and has had his career involuntarily extended.

My husband is 37 and originally from Georgia & he is a country boy at heart, although he has lived all over the US and the world. He prefers a suburban environment to an urban one & really likes a small town "feel" where you can walk to shops, etc.

I am 28 and originally from Los Angeles & am definitely a big city girl. I like action, action, action. We compromise by living in quieter neighborhoods of developed urban areas where there are smaller microcommunities. We can still walk to shops, know the neighbors, etc., like he likes. However, we are also still near to the larger, more active, areas of the city with the nighttime activities that I prefer.

He will be working in Doral, and we are used to traffic, having lived in Los Angeles and Washington, DC traffic. It is a way of life here, 24/7.

Our Realtor is spending the day checking out some properties on Miami Beach (North Beach, near Surfside & the North Shore Park), but I am wondering if we are looking in the right area. Is this area a quieter place but still with access to more to do? It seems like that would be the case. It also very close to a beach and we both love the beach.

She wants us to look at Aventura next if none of the Miami Beach properties work out. I very much dislike condo living, however, and I believe Aventura is something like 90% condos? Plus it looks like quite the hike to Doral from there. But she told me it would be good for me -- I don't have a car (although I do drive), so I prefer to be in an area that is scooter/bike/walking friendly.

So, is North Beach the right idea?
Would Aventura be better?
What about commuting to Doral from those two areas?
Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

[planetsurf]

Originally Posted by desdichado

I don't have a car (although I do drive), so I prefer to be in an area that is scooter/bike/walking friendly.

So, is North Beach the right idea?
Would Aventura be better?
What about commuting to Doral from those two areas?

I REALLY like N Beach. It's isn't 'suburban' at all, but a nice pocket with a lot of diversity and a little bit of a neighborhood feel vs the "Condolandia" of Aventura. (Mix of Orthodox Jews, Argentineans, ex-New Yorkers and the usual Miami mix -- quite a bit of Spanish but not all by any means.) I might be a bit of culture shock to a country boy, but he might love walking to the beach on weekends too!
Commuting to Doral would be MUCH better from there too, a straight shot West vs doing some N-S from Aventura.
And the drive over the causeway from N Beach to I95 is so much nicer than Aventura west to I95. It's one of the most beautiful "vistas" in Miami.

Being without a car in Aventura is also VERY hard even though things aren't TOO far away vs N Beach where you could totally get away with it assuming you have one for the weekends and big shops.

The only places in SoFla with a "small town" feel are maybe a few communities in W Broward like Cooper City or Davie but they are suburban areas and you can't walk to anything there.
In Dade the best areas with small, walkable downtowns (which WE love) tend to be in pretty expensive areas like Coral Gables, S Miami or Coconut Grove. They all have apartments or condos not far from their "downtowns" to make them much more doable w/o a car for part of the day. Different price ranges too (but never cheap), but none of these places feel "small town" at all.
I don't know it well, but some people really like Miami Lakes for it's "small town feel," maybe double check if that's a better fit (and pretty ok to Doral -- just a South shot).

Enjoy your time in Miami and make sure to take advantage of the many unique things while you're here!

[desdichado]

Thanks for the detailed response!

We are looking forward to moving to Miami. We are both very positive people that can make the best of almost any situation, and we love to travel. We have already identified several things to do there. Plus, there are worse places he could have been sent (Iraq, North Dakota, etc.) so this is a pretty sweet deal for beach-loving people who prefer warm weather to cold.

We checked out Coral Gables and Coconut Grove (I loved Coconut Grove) but they were a little more than what we were looking to spend -- we could afford it, but with the economy the way it is, I would rather not -- and we would like to be closer to the beach.

Our Realtor got back from Miami Beach and told us one of the places we picked (our favorite actually) was a pretty sweet deal. A block from a park and the beach and a mile from the Bal Harbor shops. Plus it was towards the lower end of our price range, which is awesome!

[planetsurf]

Originally Posted by desdichado

Our Realtor got back from Miami Beach and told us one of the places we picked (our favorite actually) was a pretty sweet deal. A block from a park and the beach and a mile from the Bal Harbor shops. Plus it was towards the lower end of our price range, which is awesome!

GREAT! Good for you. Sounds like Surfside? A nice little area. It's not Brighton Beach, but still a lot of Russians there. (Half my family is Russian!)

One "locals note," check out the beach at the extreme north end of Bal Harbour, access right next to the inlet (park under A1A if BH put the spots back). REALLY pretty beach there.

Enjoy!

[desdichado]

Thanks for the tip! We will definitely check it out if we end up getting this place (it is in Surfside). I think Miami Beach will be good for us, but I was getting a little nervous and just wanted to make sure I was reading the area right. Thanks for your help.

[TEACHERSURFER]

Another nice area is Miami Shores. The houses go up in price the closer you get to the bay, but still are cheaper than Coral Gables. Not a development, houses are unique, a lot of trees, more of a community feel. Neighbors know each other. We always take our kids to see Christmas decorations in that area. Mostly houses rather than condos.

The thing about Miami is that satisfaction with the area rises when you take advantage of what's here. My adult daughter and I are teachers and have summers off, so we really do just that. We have memberships to the zoo, the Seaquarium, the Morikami Japanese Gardens in Boca Raton, etc. A membership is often not much more than one entrance fee, and allows you to go back again and again for free. We take her daughter and go to those places, to the beach, to Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Viscaya, to the Museum of Science, the Museum of Science in Broward and so on. You can see the ballet here, Broadway shows, go to professional baseball, football, basketball, and hockey here. For people who want a very quiet and predictable life, going to work, maybe to the movies or a mall very occasionally, Miami may not be the place. But for those who get out and take advantage of all that's here, it can be an exciting place. You can eat food from almost anywhere in the world, cooked by people from those countries. You can have a cafe con leche or Haitian griot. Miami is like living in a foreign country at times, but that adds to the interest. And while it's not the warmest place in the world in terms of its people, it's not the coldest either. I've found that once you find a few places you frequent, favorite shops, restaurants, etc, and people there get to know you, they are incredibly warm and inviting. Moving to Miami is moving to an adventure. I hope you have as much fun here as we do.