The Landings? Hubby has fallen in love with a place that makes me cry (Sarasota: insurance, condo)

[bbronston]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

House hunting is sort of like speed dating. Big crush...Realize the psycho features.... Break up....Continue search.

That is hilarious....but true!

[sware2cod]

Dont freak yourself out over flood zone A. I'm in Zone A very close to the water( if my window is open I can hear the splashing when a fish jumps), and my Flood Insurance is $250/yr. My combined wind/regular homeowners/flood is around $1000/yr. But it's a newer home.

The high insurance for Flood Zone A occurs when the home's elevation is below FEMA's required elevation. This is usually older homes but some of them are grandfathered if they were built before FEMA came up with elevation requirements.

This is why you want to get insurance quotes for each house you are considering. 2 neighboring homes can vary greatly.

[joeyddog]

Wow! That house is scary. It looks like an alien space ship has landed. Get out while you can

[Rushmore]

I don't know. It would be so easy to take out and upgrade the most offensive stuff, and you would be left with such a nice open space there. I actually like it.

It is surely a lot to work with.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by Rushmore

I don't know. It would be so easy to take out and upgrade the most offensive stuff, and you would be left with such a nice open space there. I actually like it.

It is surely a lot to work with.

Yeah, I had visions of a cuppola to let light in. A fountain with some flowers around it like a room at the Biltmore mansion in North Carolina. It would have made such a great ballroom with banquette setting in the corners.

There is a whole other room that was a den that would have made a perfect girls living room. And the ENORMOUS master bedroom would have made a great billard room/man cave for hubby's pool table.

Then I realized we would have to HOA approval to make a change from a chimney to a cuppola. That realization was the beginning of the end for me.

[Californianz]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

if we were going to spend $500,000 for that house and put $300,000 in remodel costs (not to mention 4 years of eating dust) we would just be better off buying an $800,000 house that was done the way we want and not in a flood zone A.

It's a huge thing financially to have massive out of pocket expenses to "fix" a bad house. There's no tax deduction until it's done and refinanced - unless of course you're paying cash for all of it....but if you had that much money you also be smart enough to know the tax deduction is quite valuable.

We've done whole house remodels and it's fun to do, but not fun to live in. We've also built custom homes, and that's much more fun! But it also sounds like location is important so you may have to stick with the resale market which (as you know) is very tight right now - not a lot of choices. Everyone says the prices are going up but it's semi artificial. FL is still the national leader in foreclosures. The banks are holding "shadow inventory" (I believe), investment groups are buying everything, and a lot of people are just holding out.

Renting and moving twice is really awful however - so keep on looking. Really focus on the area you NEED to be close to for work/activities. We chose a combination of work proximity and on the golf course of the club we ultimately joined. It's too big of an area with too many choices to just look everywhere, and it's a long way from Whitfield to South Sarasota.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by sware2cod

Dont freak yourself out over flood zone A. I'm in Zone A very close to the water( if my window is open I can hear the splashing when a fish jumps), and my Flood Insurance is $250/yr. My combined wind/regular homeowners/flood is around $1000/yr. But it's a newer home.

That will make Hubby happy to know.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by Californianz

Renting and moving twice is really awful however - so keep on looking. Really focus on the area you NEED to be close to for work/activities. We chose a combination of work proximity and on the golf course of the club we ultimately joined. It's too big of an area with too many choices to just look everywhere, and it's a long way from Whitfield to South Sarasota.

I was thinking about trying that pod moving system. Putting the bare minimum of the stuff we need to be comfortable in one pod, and all the stuff we have collected and are unwilling to part with in another. Then we would just unpack the necessity pod and not the life mementos pod. That would reduce the pain of moving twice.

The best upshot of this thread is it has made Hubby decide to up our target price for a place so we can find one that doesn't need remodeling and he has given up on so desperately wanting to stroll a few feet be on a dock.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

OMG !!! It just keeps getting better and better.

Found out the roof on the monstrosity house has been leaking, it is damp inside, the pool leaks, and the air conditioning needs to be replaced!!!! And the homeowners association insists on cedar shake or manufactured shake shingles. The owners should pay someone to take it off their hands.

If anyone needs an appraiser who gives high values, direct message me. The appraiser used properties as comps that don't need updating or structural repairs and makes no value adjustment in value for the condition of this place.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

OMG !!! It just keeps getting better and better.

Found out the roof on the monstrosity house has been leaking, it is damp inside, the pool leaks, and the air conditioning needs to be replaced!!!! And the homeowners association insists on cedar shake or manufactured shake shingles. The owners should pay someone to take it off their hands.

If anyone needs an appraiser who gives high values, direct message me. The appraiser used properties as comps that don't need updating or structural repairs and makes no value adjustment in value for the condition of this place.

Take it from a gypsy - this house is NOT for you!