Homestead (Miami: foreclosures, HOA, condo)

[Lildevited]

Some of my extended family just bought a house at Homestead.
1,500 sq ft for $104,000.

I believe it was in a community called Water Stone?

Anyways, I'm thinking she made a mistake.
The house is brand new and the price is just TOO MUCH of a bargain for something in South FL.

Is there something wrong with the area or schools?

My instinct is just telling me she made a bad mistake.

[harrymiafl]

I am interested in Homestead area too...

Apparently,some areas are OK,some others don't carry a good reputation...

U don't mention lot size & year built...

[Reptoid Humidian]

Stop having that instinct! Homestead is just a little far from Miami and the commute times are a bit long. Other than that, it's not a bad area.

[♥♥PRINC3Ss♥♥]

Originally Posted by Lildevited

Some of my extended family just bought a house at Homestead.
1,500 sq ft for $104,000.

I believe it was in a community called Water Stone?

Anyways, I'm thinking she made a mistake.
The house is brand new and the price is just TOO MUCH of a bargain for something in South FL.

Is there something wrong with the area or schools?

My instinct is just telling me she made a bad mistake.

Well they bought it already, there's nothing you can do about it.

Yes the main reason it's cheap is that it is too far from Miami and the home lots are usually zero lot or townhomes. The area has a lot of empty homes, even though Waterstone might not be as empty because they were one of the first communities that were built on East Homestead. I don't think they have HOA issues. Some communities there do because they have a lot of empty homes.
The schools there might not be as great, but hopefully if more people move there, maybe more schools will open.

You shouldn't worry about it. If commuting is not an issue for them, they really didn't make the mistake of their lives. The price they paid sounds reasonable. East Homestead has everything they need, many business have invested there, supermarkets, stores restaurants etc and it actually does feel like middle class when you hang around that area. The best perk is being so close to the keys and Biscayne park.

The area is growing. It's hard to know what the future holds for East Homestead because of their foreclosure rate. Depends how many people move there, and the quality of people that move there.

[tallrick]

Price is a bit high for something with no land. However, it that home sits on 1/2 acre or larger it is a great deal as long as it is not ghetto. Be careful with small lots as they are condo to avoid the RU-1 single family zoning setbacks. A condo/HOA development is very, very bad and will drain your wallet or leave you in a ghetto. Buy with acreage and you will enjoy what Homestead has to offer.

[yakfish75]

Foreclosure perhaps?? Waterstone is a nice neighborhood and it has a nice school inside the community. The house probably has about 5-7000 sf of land which is typical in Homestead.

[heydade]

Originally Posted by tallrick

A condo/HOA development is very, very bad and will drain your wallet or leave you in a ghetto.

Tallrick is 100% correct. HOA's are the devil in disguise. Avoid them at ALL costs. I know of one in Miami that hide to hire a law firm to handle the foreclosures and HOA dues deliquencies and guess who is paying the tab for all those people NOT paying their HOA dues ? Guess who is paying for the law firm fees ? The existing homeowners. They saw their monthly HOA dues go from 125.00 a month to 640 a month in less than 2 years.