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Old 05-09-2012, 10:06 AM
 
Location: Verona, WI
1,201 posts, read 2,405,154 times
Reputation: 830

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Quote:
Originally Posted by downthrust View Post
what I don't understand however is why are the Canadians buying up real estate in the usa?
Probably because it's warmer down here and good deals can be found. I'd have more motivation too if my home currency was stronger than or similar to the US dollar.
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Old 05-10-2012, 12:55 AM
 
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,872,467 times
Reputation: 4559
Quote:
Originally Posted by downthrust View Post
I agree.. I deal with some Canadian customers.. They think the usa is becoming another Europe.[

what I don't understand however is why are the Canadians buying up real estate in the usa? Especially this area of nokomis beach/sarasota? The realtors tell me that most their sales are to Canadian investors as short sales or REOs.

If the Canadians are losing faith in the usa..why invest in real estate here? (the vacation house idea for their own personal use notwithstanding)
Why buy? Because it is so incredibly cheap. Where I live a 1200 sq ft house will cost from 300-350K, larger homes more. Will it go up? Who knows, but fact is, the rate of return on rentals is good. Will it go down? Maybe, but people have to live somewhere, and Florida is an obvious choice due to weather.

A friend of mine just bought a 1700 sq foot condo in the Tampa Bay area with garage and HOA fees of $220 for 90K. That same condo would cost 400K here, with much higher HOA fees.
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Old 05-10-2012, 09:12 AM
 
Location: englewood
1,580 posts, read 3,129,060 times
Reputation: 772
it is difficult or even impossible to have a discussion on home prices and wether to buy or not without looking at what got us into this mess, why are we still in this mess and what will get us out of this mess. unfortunately that all involves politics.

downthrust made some excellent points and had valid questions.
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Old 05-11-2012, 07:08 AM
 
1,438 posts, read 1,948,886 times
Reputation: 878
Quote:
Originally Posted by gettinoutofjersey View Post
it is difficult or even impossible to have a discussion on home prices and wether to buy or not without looking at what got us into this mess, why are we still in this mess and what will get us out of this mess. unfortunately that all involves politics.

downthrust made some excellent points and had valid questions.
I've lived in Germany for the past 2 yrs. German taxes are very high (you can't escape - I pay both!). German real estate is VERY expensive (that's why they buy houses in Florida). How do they survive? Simple. I used to go into to Home Depot back home and search for things made in America - it usually took a long, long time. Go into a German Baumarkt and try finding something made in China - you can't do it. Germany has a positive trade surplus with China. How? Highly engineered, precision equipment known all over the world for quality and cutting edge technology. The US economy has been focused for years on cheaper, cheaper, cheaper; Germany has been focused on better, better, better, which is hard to import. As low-tech US jobs got exported to chase "cheaper", people leaned on debt to prop up their standard of living. The banks filled the vacuum with unsupportable mortgages, which they repackaged and sold to the rest of the world as credit default swaps - the ratings agencies that collected fees for rating those issues should be in jail. The bubble eventually burst, as they all do. How do we get out of this? Since anybody with a real idea and integrity (Stuart Symington, Ron Paul) is dismissed as a crank or curmudgeon, we will unfortunately just grind through at least a couple of decades of reduced living standards for many, many Americans as the Madison Ave politicians "save" us. Real estate prices? Don't know; local ups and downs, but generally flat for 10 yrs wouldn't surprise me.
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Old 05-11-2012, 10:01 AM
 
1,438 posts, read 1,948,886 times
Reputation: 878
Stuart Symington? Where did that come from? I suppose he's a good guy, but I don't know that he has any real ideas. I meant Alan Simpson.
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Old 05-11-2012, 03:52 PM
 
37,315 posts, read 59,533,131 times
Reputation: 25335
and since we are shopping for insurance I don't think you can consider the "value" of real estate w/o considering the costs to insure your property
FL does not seem to have a rational system of insuring a home, especially a vacation home...
don't know about something you might want to rent out since we won't be doing that...

even if you pay cash for a home, you aren't going to go without insurance...and if you are paying a mortgage then insurance costs are even more important in considering the home you can afford...
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Old 05-11-2012, 05:35 PM
 
50 posts, read 127,803 times
Reputation: 49
Quote:
Originally Posted by downthrust View Post
I agree.. I deal with some Canadian customers.. They think the usa is becoming another Europe.

what I don't understand however is why are the Canadians buying up real estate in the usa? Especially this area of nokomis beach/sarasota? The realtors tell me that most their sales are to Canadian investors as short sales or REOs.

If the Canadians are losing faith in the usa..why invest in real estate here? (the vacation house idea for their own personal use notwithstanding)
As a canadian buying in FL, I can chip in something. I find that everyone I know here likes the idea of buying in FL simply because of the prices. I live in a condo worth where the parking spots sell for about the price of a 1 bdrm condo in Sarasota. I can move out and rent my own place for 1900.00 per month, but if I sell it I can buy 6-8 condos in Sarasota and rent them out for 4k to 5k combined.... go figure!
The people that say they are totally losing faith in the US are the ones NOT buying. They are just trying to convince themselves that buying there is not a good option. Since they wont buy one, might as well try to convince others not to.
The ones flooding the market now buying whatever they can...well, its obvious they believe there is something going on in the USA, but they realize it will take a LONG time for the economy to improve. In the meantime, instead of buying a 45k car in Canada, they buy a 45k condo in FL, rent it out for 750.00 per month and use the proceeds to pay the lease of a 40k car.
There is a company in Canada called "Florida Home Finders" and they hold monthly seminars about buying in FL. They are licensed brokers, who contact developers in FL and represent them in the canadian market. Go to one of those seminars, and the banquet hall looks like Black Friday at Walmart when they open the doors. Everyone here is worried about the local prices (seriously, new 550 sf condos in downtown Toronto sell for 350k. Parking is 40k extra, and a locker is 5k to 7k extra) so they get teased about getting something in sunny FL. A lot of them are just looking for a retirement option in 10 years or so, while a lot of them (like me) want to "park" some money there in a few properties and plan on cashing out any equity built in 10-15 years.
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Old 05-13-2012, 09:52 AM
 
Location: englewood
1,580 posts, read 3,129,060 times
Reputation: 772
so is it a fair question, is the housing market any better now than it was 3 years ago?
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Old 05-13-2012, 12:25 PM
 
Location: Sarasota/Lakewood Ranch
42 posts, read 145,061 times
Reputation: 41
Sales are up, inventory is down and prices are coming up so that is a good thing. So all in all, it is better. There will be more bank owned properites coming soon and that will effect things a bit longer but we have to sell through those. I think so many people are still sitting on the fence until after the elections. They don't know what is going to happen with taxes, so they are holding on a bit longer.

Much of our business is from Canadians because their dollar is so strong compared to ours. But with the interest rates still at all time lows, if a person has a secure job, then this is a great time to buy. And sellers just need to clean up their homes, purge the boxes of treasures, fix the little things that need repaired and list it at a fair price and it will sell. There are always buyers
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Old 05-14-2012, 06:21 AM
 
159 posts, read 344,951 times
Reputation: 55
I think you will see a slow down in these international investors very soon... The us dollar will keep increasing in value as europe breaks apart.. Just look at the last week..europe has MUCH more pain to come.. Investors world wide will flock to the dollar.
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