Looking for a Condo Downtown...advice

[ORLguy]

Awesome advice. I very well may rent downtown first. My #1 choice is the Sanctuary, but those are extremely expensive. I may try and rent 1 first to get a vibe for the place.

I do not work downtown, but I live right now right near the science center, which is closeby. My commute is out of town, so I always drive against traffic. Thornton park is a killer location because you can hop on South street and get to I4 East pretty fast.

Also, what is the deal with the Solaire? Is the power off because of Kuhn? I hear all kinds of weirdness going on there and have no idea what to think.

[msaRick]

Originally Posted by ORLguy

Awesome advice. I very well may rent downtown first. My #1 choice is the Sanctuary, but those are extremely expensive. I may try and rent 1 first to get a vibe for the place.

I do not work downtown, but I live right now right near the science center, which is closeby. My commute is out of town, so I always drive against traffic. Thornton park is a killer location because you can hop on South street and get to I4 East pretty fast.

Also, what is the deal with the Solaire? Is the power off because of Kuhn? I hear all kinds of weirdness going on there and have no idea what to think.

I was just at the Solaire on Monday seeing a friend who lives in the building. She had power. As a side note, that is a great building.

[gstdesign]

Originally Posted by Silence Dogood

No such forum. First of all if you are over 30 don't even think about living downtown with the exception being the Thornton Park area. Orange avenue is full of rogue's and if you don't feel that way now you will in five years. That being said Thornton Park has a publix coming in which means the buildings closest two it will offer the ability to walk to something that you may actually use which is a full size supermarket. Downtown in generally has nothing that the average person can use. You can live near a strip mall in any suberb and it will have more useful things than the entirety of downtown, that is why I value the coming of the Thornton Park Publix. Walking to work would be the only consideration to possibly want to live downtown. With the highest vacancy rate in the country I would look for people to get desparate in the next six months two a year when they realize that the market will not rebound in that time (THERE IS NO CHANCE IT WILL) Remember the only reason that the market got inflated is that speculators were buying and that they were giving ridiculous loans to people who couldn't afford them. You take those two classes of buyers away and that leaves us what we had in about 2000. Prices back then were about half of what they are now and they will return to those levels because with the increased taxes and outrageous post hurricane insurance rates combined with the overbuilding, rapid inflation and very low salaries in the area it is clear that the market cannot come back, not now, not in five years. Therefore, do yourself the biggest favor you can ever do. Rent for a year in the building you think you want to buy in and sit back and something fair will fall in your lap for a fraction you will pay now. Who knows, after renting there you may decide you don't like that building, meet people in other buildings and make a more informed decision now. Don't let these realtors tell you bargains can be had downtown. Remember, if a 1,000 square foot condo is only worth $200,000 it is not a bargain at $250,000 just because it was once priced at 400,000. Realtors won't tell you that and will always paint a rosy picture of how the market will be. Let them back it up with facts, we are in a full recession with a depression looming. Sit back and wait, as they say, "YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET"

$200 per sq ft seems like a pretty good marker to keep in mind when shopping around. What I would like to know while doing my reasearch for future ref is how and where can I find data/info on the ACTUAL estimated market value of such condo units, as opposed to their most recent sale price (property appraisers website). As I often hear numbers such as a 30% drop of peak prices would be rock bottom to come, or early year 2000s prices should stand; how can I back these numebers up?

[alwayschels]

Live at the Vue and enjoy it.. Good for a single person.. Expect to pay 1400-1600 for a 1bedroom loft rental.. No clue on buying.. But my loft is about 1100 sqft.

[GregTraub]

Originally Posted by gstdesign

$200 per sq ft seems like a pretty good marker to keep in mind when shopping around. What I would like to know while doing my reasearch for future ref is how and where can I find data/info on the ACTUAL estimated market value of such condo units, as opposed to their most recent sale price (property appraisers website). As I often hear numbers such as a 30% drop of peak prices would be rock bottom to come, or early year 2000s prices should stand; how can I back these numebers up?

To find current market value just look at what other similar units have sold or recently. What a condo sold for a 6 months, a year, 8 years ago has no bearing on today's value, only comparable sales will tell you that. A realtor can easily look these up, or you can use the property appraisers website to find recent sales in an area relatively easily.

There is no magic % number off peak prices that can be backed up, it's just a shot in the dark. And there is also no magic year that prices will automatically revert to. It all depends on the area and the neighborhood/building. Some area's are not dropping in prices much more, while some will be coming off 50%+ from "peak" and will be dropping much more in value.