Future snowbirds wanting to buy now and rent/move when we retire (Miami: home owners insurance, mortgage)

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by fiege1224

The rate surcharges are for Cape Coral area. The flood increases are for the whole state. I have homes in both areas on the water. But the extra fees added to property taxes in Charlotte County are just as bad to make up for there poor budgeting and promises they can't cover.

I have yet to hear of anyone getting a rate increase that wasn't previously being subsidized.

Gary

[CTC]

Originally Posted by sunshinewi

CTC - can you give more information on renting seasonably? How do you pay the taxes? Do you do background checks on renters? I assume you leave a key in the lockbox. Do you have a cleaning service hired for after the people leave who also check on the condition of the property?
We have an annual renter at this time, but plan on retiring soon and may be snowbirds for the first couple years. We have though about seasonal renters, but are a little leery. Is it a lot of work?

1) Register with the State and County for taxes, The State sends you a coupon book. You have until the 20th of the following month to pay. Same with the County-although you have to print out your own "coupons" You will also have to declare with the Feds (rental income-but you already know this) Depending on your income, you may be able to take depreciation, and deductions pertaining to upkeep etc.

2) Lock box

3)Cleaning service-ours also does homewatch...We have a good one right now. And they have a key. just in case

4) Have not done background checks out side of a google search. They have to come up with the whole amount for the most part before we give them the address/key code etc.. Snowbirds are pretty safe, and are usually very careful about taking care of your property. We have been very happy with the people we have rented to so far.

5) Hard to be a Snowbird and have seasonal renters at the same time. They want Jan-April for the most part. Maybe some demand for Nov/Dec but not as much

6) Work? Some..legwork keeping your property up, being ready to bringing in plumbers/electrician/AC people etc when needed at the drop of the hat. Luckily, In SW FL, these folk are very used to working with absentee homeowners.

Good Luck

CTC

[fiege1224]

Mine went up 25%. I don't carry that much. just enough to buy the supplies to fix the lower part of my home. My home is also fairly new 2006.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by Baby Boomer

Hello all!

I found this website and wonderful forum today! Me and my husband are in our early 50's and not retiring for approximately 15 more years. We would like to be snowbirds in the future and were thinking of buying now, with the intention of renting weekly/monthly or yearly based on what would be the most financially rewarding. Buy now and when we retire be "snowbirds" in the winter and live in central Virginia where we currently reside in the summers. We were wondering what areas would be best for maximizing rental potential, as we would like to pay the majority of our mortgage this way until the house is paid for. We would like to be on a canal since my other half loves to boat. So our questions are:
1. Where is the best area for good rental potential?
2. Is it a good time to buy now in Florida? I was concerned that there is a lot of inventory and houses are sitting on the market for years.
3. We want to buy in an area that is safe, clean, and not too rural.

Any help and suggestions would be much appreciated. We are looking to spend less then $300,000.

Annual rentals would be the best route to reach this goal......weekly/monthly rentals will leave you short.

The other concern is the time frame, 15 years is a lot of time and that "investment' might not make the best use of the capital. If it goes perfect you end up with a paid for house, I get it. If it goes badly, you might end up short in your other "retirement buckets" because you were trying to cover this house.

In that 15 year period you easily could double the purchase price (300K to 600K) when you factor in maintenance (house will need a roof, ac replaced), taxes (this at 5K a year = 75K over the 15 years), plus insurance and any other unforeseen expenses. Now hopefully that house does go up in value but it certainly isn't guaranteed.

[SJNE17]

yup. we're also 15-20 years out, realistically. lot can happen in that period of time. dunno if buying a house there is realistically the best move for us. but, we're continuing to crunch the #'s.

one other question is could punta gorda ever become super expensive, with certain neighborhoods skyrocketing in value? take the most expensive house in punta gorda for sale, it's around $2.5million. that same place in prime waterfront proximity in ft. lauderdale would be at least a 10x multiple of that.

i know of a small town (where i grew up in) where 3 decades ago people would've laughed if you said what was then a $200-300k shack would one day be worth $1.5-2MM+. yet, it's happened, and prices haven't gone down too much since, other than an occasional correction.

sure wish i had a crystal ball!

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

The other concern is the time frame, 15 years is a lot of time and that "investment' might not make the best use of the capital.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by SJNE17

yup. we're also 15-20 years out, realistically. lot can happen in that period of time. dunno if buying a house there is realistically the best move for us. but, we're continuing to crunch the #'s.

one other question is could punta gorda ever become super expensive, with certain neighborhoods skyrocketing in value? take the most expensive house in punta gorda for sale, it's around $2.5million. that same place in prime waterfront proximity in ft. lauderdale would be at least a 10x multiple of that.

i know of a small town (where i grew up in) where 3 decades ago people would've laughed if you said what was then a $200-300k shack would one day be worth $1.5-2MM+. yet, it's happened, and prices haven't gone down too much since, other than an occasional correction.

sure wish i had a crystal ball!

Punta Gorda will never be Naples, Ft Lauderdale or Miami Beach.....

Also with your small town price going up 7X in value....Great but what would that 200-300k do in the stock market over 30 years?

[SJNE17]

That's a very relevant question for a 2nd home purchase. Clearly, there's no comparison about opportunity cost over a long time horizon.

For a primary home, in my opinion, it doesn't matter. A home is a home. You buy it, you live in it for however long it may be, raise a family (if that's part of the plan) & create good memories. At some point in the future when it comes time to sell, if it's worth more, great. If not, oh well.

At least that's my simplified view of the world.

Frankly, I hope Punta Gorda doesn't become like the towns you mentioned. If we wanted to look there, we would. But, we're not!

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Punta Gorda will never be Naples, Ft Lauderdale or Miami Beach.....

Also with your small town price going up 7X in value....Great but what would that 200-300k do in the stock market over 30 years?

[sware2cod]

Originally Posted by MartyGras

I have yet to hear of anyone getting a rate increase that wasn't previously being subsidized.

Gary

There's a small flood insurance increase for those that aren't subsidized. I think mine was 6% or something in that range.

Also the bigger issue for those that aren't subsidized: The flood maps are in the process of changing. Maybe today the home's elevation is 1' above BFE. But a change in flood maps might raise the BFE by 3 feet. This could put that home's elevation 2' below BFE, which would then cause the flood insurance to go up drastically. And because we don't know what the new maps look like, it's anyone's guess as to what will change. Also some homes that are currently outside the flood zone might be added when the map changes. If they are below BFE in the new flood zone, their flood insurance premium could be into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars per year.

I wouldn't buy anything in the area until I saw the preminary draft of the revised flood maps. I don't think they are ready yet.

[SJNE17]

sware2cod--that's our #1 biggest hindrance to purchasing in the area, as it's the biggest operating cost for the type of home we're looking at (prop taxes would be next).

i've seen, and experienced, what a shift in bfe's do to premiums. last year we were in process of bidding on a home when the bfe in that area, along with the zone, changed. our aggregate flood & hazard policy quote shifted, dramatically, during the bid process (well it was really the latter that shifted, since the former was fema policy with the 250k coverage). luckily, the seller countered and we had a few days' window of being able to scramble for updated policy quotes (had prob. a half dozen) or walk. the costs would've been upwards of 10k on what was previously about 3.5k. that's real money.

[MartyGras]

Originally Posted by fiege1224

Mine went up 25%. I don't carry that much. just enough to buy the supplies to fix the lower part of my home. My home is also fairly new 2006.

What is your BFE Base Flood Elevation also what is the lowest level of your house?

Gary