South African wanting to buy property in Orlando Fl or Rochester NY. Please help! (Winter Garden: mortgage)

[vegasboy]

My main question if you wish to skip this long letter: Would you buy a condo in Rochester NY or Orlando FL and if so, why?

I will be visiting Rochester NY and then Orlando Fl arriving 10 June 2008 on a mission to view properties. With the Rand/USD exchange rate, one cannot buy much for your Rand in the USA, which is exactly what I now want to do: use equity in my South African properties and MOVE it out of the country. To at least make an entry into the US house market, I want to purchase a lock up and go, but this is the challenge: my budget is $85000 or if need be, I can go to $100000.

I have spent hours studying stats on upstate NY, especially Rochester and also Orlando Fl. As a matter of fact, I visited Orlando Winter Garden December 2007.

There are just so many cities and towns that it is almost impossible to narrow it down to 2 or 3 towns, as I have limited time to travel upstate NY, then to Orlando Fl and then, for work, Chicago Il, back to NYC and then home.

I often travel to the USA. I want a base where I can stay for a week or so after having completed my work in the USA and also perhaps stay for a month per year to detox from crime, poverty and power cuts in South Africa.

MY need:

1. An agent who will commit to communicating with me via email from now until 10 June to work through what I really need, and what area will be the most suitable for me.
2. To show me a wide variety of properties on or around 13 June 2008. Date can be confirmed later.
3. It makes sense that whatever I buy must be very low to no maintenance. It seems that a very neat flat with minimum 2bdrm and 2bthrms will be the best option, but I am open to suggestions.
4. Monthly levies must be as low as possible.
5. I do not want fixer uppers, but something that looks and feels wow.
6. I do NOT want to be in any neighbourhood that is poor, low income or crime plagued. Country sides near water or nature is always great but I do not want to be too far from shopping malls etc.

Please let me know if you can be of assistance and O yes, if I haven't yet lost your attention: What is the difference between a flat and apartment, and also a condo and townhouse?

Warm regards,

Roy Harris

[GregTraub]

Well to tell you the blunt truth, almost all the condo's in that price range are going to be in not so great area's, and they aren't going to be upgraded. There are one or two I know of in decent area's that are either new from the developer or in a foreclosure situation....all are condo-conversions where they were built originally as apartments but converted to condo's.

The condo market in orlando is extremely tough right now, which means you can beat sellers over the head usually on price, but if you don't get a great price now, you can be nearly certain the condo will lose value over the next few years.

As far as due's go, the decent ones with some amenities are at least 200+ a month, and alot are well above 300 a month mostly because of insurance increases, and alot of units being vacant and/or foreclosed on.

Now that I've painted the pretty picture about orlando's Condo market, I have no idea how the market is in NY. I know it will be a challenge if not near impossible to find you a place in your price range that meets your criteria. But I'll send you a quick search of some of the condo's I think are at least better than others.

Where you purchasing with all cash or would you also consider partial financing?

Also, not really any difference between flat and apartment, just a name really. The main differences between Condo's and townhomes in two main ways. Condo's usually have units that can stack virtically, townhomes are always side by side with no upstairs or downstairs neighbors. Also, condo's always have their common area maintenance, reserves for replacements and building insurance run through the association, Townhomes while sometimes having associations that cover insurance on the buildings and reserves for replacements, are not always set up like condo's

[vegasboy]

Originally Posted by GregTraub

Were you purchasing with all cash or would you also consider partial financing?

Greg, Thanks SO much for your time and effort, also for compiling a list of condo's in good areas. This really gives me some indication as to what I should be looking at.

On your question of considering partial financing: In South Africa, I have the best rating you can get, a more than 20 years financial record with major banks and a personal property portfolio. HOWEVER, as far as I know, this means nothing in terms of acquiring overseas mortgages with institutions, as I am a South African resident living in South Africa, and earning in RAND currency.

If it was by any means possible to acquire financing at the USA interest rates or at a USA banking institution, it would make things much easier for me, and because of the lower interest rates, would be able to buy for much more.

Just recently (two weeks ago) one of our major banks here, ABSA, announced in newspapers that they now offer a product where citizens can apply for a mortgage to buy overseas property. I'm planning to meet with a banker after our school holidays (two weeks) to find out more about that.

Just this morning, an estate agent told me how many (White & Coloured) families are phoning her on a monthly basis to sell their properties as they are leaving this country to go to New Zealand or Australia. Although I am not yet considering to emigrate, I'm halting expansion on my property portfolio here.

Let me have your thoughts, and thanks once again.

Roy

[GregTraub]

E-mailed.

Foreign National Loans are quite easy actually and I'll get you in touch with some banks that do them.

[jrkelly]

Rochester is one of the top cities to purchase a home for a lot less than most other places, but it's not because it's a bad place to live or anything. The nicer, richer suburbs of Rochester are mostly on the East side like Pittsford, Penfield, Brighton, Victor, and others. I live on the West side in Greece which borders the northwest part of the city and Lake Ontario. Greece is the most populated suburb, and some parts aren't that nice, but as you move west, the homes get bigger and a lot nicer, like my house in the Northwest part. The business and economy of Rochester is a lot better compared to Buffalo and Syracuse whose is going downhill real fast. I lived in Buffalo last year for school and I don't really like it. I like having all 4 seasons here, but sometimes it gets pretty bad in the winter because of the lake effect snow and what not. Rochester has the highest per-capita murder rate in the state, but the only real crime happens in the bad parts of the city itself, not in the suburbs. My mom lives like 2 minutes down the road in a townhouse on the corner of Latta Rd & Flynn Rd. It's in a nice area and a really nice townhouse. It has 2 bedrooms upstairs, a bathroom upstairs and downstairs. I like living by the lake, my dad has a boat and everything. It kinda sucks that Charlotte Beach's water is gross and off limits to swim in sometimes, but whatever. I just thought I'd give you a little info. about the area since I've lived here all my 18 years of life. Bye!

[jenrein]

Rochester NY or Orlando FL? I left Rochester to move to Florida. What in the world do these two places have in common that they become the 2 choices is beyond me!