Please help buying a Investment Property in Florida (Confused) (Boca Raton: short sales, foreclosures)

[KillerDave]

Hello,
I live in NJ. The property market is way overpriced here. I am very undecided about buying a property over here, so i am not sure if i will wait for another 5 or 7 years before buying a home, so i wanted to have a investment property in Florida, since the prices have gone down so much i would love to invest there and own a property there. I have asked around a little bit but mostly havent gotten any clear answers where to invest.

Can someone please suggest me good places to invest in Palm Beach County, my Budget is around 150K. Couple of people i spoke to recommended BOCA RATON...but not sure, how about WPB city center area? Also i got couple of recommendation for WESTON. I know its in different county but just thought of listing here as well.

I have 3 major concerns
1) After i Buy a property IT HAS TO BE RENTED because i wont be able to afford another 1000/month worth of expense

2) If at all i can payoff the mortgage in next 7 to 10 years, i may think about coming and living over there, how are the jobs possiblity over there.

3) School systems and Universities. Are good areas with good schools hard to go on Rent?

4) How much average rent can i get on a 2 or 2 bedroom Home or Townhome in Weston/Boca Raton or WPB?

I would appreciate the insights on this.

Thank you

[Davep59]

Check into West Boynton Beach as you can get some great home deals via short sale's or foreclosure.
I own 2 rental property's there and they are easy to rent and the price's were a good deal.

[skylinet]

Boca can be tough because a lot of the condo communities have no lease rules for the first year (or not at all) There are complexes that don't have those rules but make sure you/your realtor finds out this info.
If you are not too picky with your tenant and price a property right you should be able to rent it out quickly.
For $150k I would take a look at townhomes in Delray/Boynton as you can get a little more for your money in a fairly new property and rent for around 15-1700.
If you are planning on financing plan on putting at least 25-30% down.

[KillerDave]

Originally Posted by skylinet

Boca can be tough because a lot of the condo communities have no lease rules for the first year (or not at all) There are complexes that don't have those rules but make sure you/your realtor finds out this info.
If you are not too picky with your tenant and price a property right you should be able to rent it out quickly.
For $150k I would take a look at townhomes in Delray/Boynton as you can get a little more for your money in a fairly new property and rent for around 15-1700.
If you are planning on financing plan on putting at least 25-30% down.

Thanks Skylinet for letting me know about condo rules. I will sure have to find that out with my realtor because my first and main goal is to RENT it out after i buy it. I am not looking to make profits from thru renting but atleast i need to breakeven at the end of the year or have a very minimal loss since i cant afford mortgage burden of $1000/month on top of my expenses. Can you tell me how far is Delray and Boynton beach from Boca-Raton? do they have the same prestige that Boca has and would the rents go faster in Boynton beach and Delray compared to Boca? Thanks

[KillerDave]

Hello,
I was looking at some listings in the Boca Raton area and i saw that some of the townhomes or single family homes have fees as high as $1075. Are the fees monthly or yearly. Because the mortgage of the 150K house would come around $1000 or little more so can it be $1075 fees monthly which is even higher than the mortgage. Doesnt make sense to me. Can somebody please explain? Thanks

[skylinet]

Delray is the city North of Boca and Boynton is just North of that.
There's no reason you can't make some profit on your rental if you do it right. You are also buying at the low end of the market so you should see some turn around if you hold it for awhile.
If you are seeing $1075 for a 150k unit that is probably quarterly or in a country club. Most dues on a townhome go from 100-250 a month sometimes more depending on the amenities.
Just have your realtor pull comps on recent purchases and recent rentals and you should find some good values in any city.

[carol frayne]

I purchased in 2006 in West Palm and my property is now only worth half of what I purchased it for and so it is rented out and although property prices have plummeted the taxes in West Palm and surrounds have not. Typically for a townhouse you will pay $3K-$4K per year on a 2,OOO sq.ft property with double garage which you bought for $320K and as I said is now worth $160K. Water and Electric standing fees alone are $100 per month before you use your electricity or your water so bear that in mind too.

If you purchase a property with an HOA realize that as more and more people default on their mortgages and move our your HOA will come to the remaining people for that money.

You also will find some properties in HOA's will not allow you to rent out for less than a year at a time. Some allow six months but you have to have strong nerves to do that I am sorry to say.

Most renters use and abuse the property with or without furniture in it and often turn a luxury townhouse into a slum very quickly because they pay rent and they don't want to do anything until they move out not even change a light bulb. I promise you they would rather walk around in the dark than make that purchase of a light bulb. It is like a mini vacation when they don't clean anything and don't care about the noise and mess they make. They make holes in the walls to install their heavy t.v.'s on the wall and they run wires everywhere for their surround sounds and they paint the rooms odd colours which no one wants. They move in heavy gym equipment almost wrecking the staircases and floors to get it there. They smoke in the bedrooms and leave holes in any carpets and disconnect your smoke detectors invalidating your house insurance. Generally this is what has happened to us when we have rented out even to high class tenants so called.

You cannot be immotive about your tenants but realize this is the type of things they do and be prepared to put up with it. Get a good rental agent - there is one called 624homes.com who are in Palm Beach. They know the law and how to handle these tenants but do a lot of research before you commit to this undertaking.

In hindsight if I had known the market would drop as it has I would have used my hard earned cash to just go down there during the winter months and stay in a nice family style hotel instead of having an investment property which now causes us no end of grief and we cannot use it or sell it.

I have read that the property market for renting out is good for only another year and after that banks will start to lend money again and people will start to buy their properties but I am not holding my breath about this ecomomy we will wait and see what happens.

Be well, invest wisely and don't get carried away thinking that from a distance that everything will be okay.

[carol frayne]

If you have your own company in FL you will probably to alright. Otherwise there are just service jobs down there and there are few jobs available there. Do a lot of research about work before you commit to anything. Florida was one of the hardest regions hit for work. Many are homeless down there and living in RV's and hotels and some under bridges. Be aware.

[Swimmom32]

Just so you know not all renters trash nice places for the record...and A lot of relocating families and those that unfortunately lost their homes, especially here in Boca are all renting for whatever reason and they all have jobs and keep their rentals very nice...There are more people renting than buying...and even if the banks lend money I can tell you with amount of short sales and foreclosures around this country most people will still not get a loan let alone who would have a downpayment...My realtor friends here tell me renting will be around for quiet sometime until the Job maket is Stable and the Economy Turns around....Good Luck to you..

[Davep59]

I also have no problem with renters trashing a place after 3 different renters in 2 property's over the last 2 years.Just do a tough screening process with back ground and financial checks ,references for there last 2 landlords if possible and get a good security deposit for any damaged that might occur.
West Boynton area is where I'm at.