I could use some Melbourne/Viera advice-moving this summer (Cape Canaveral: short sale, real estate)

[dsautman]

Hi everyone, I've been reading many of the threads and it seems there are some great people on this Brevard Board offering opinions so I'm hoping I can get some of you to weigh in.





About us: We are a couple in our mid 30's with 2 small boys. My husband is military and will be doing a 3 year tour at Cape Canaveral beginning this summer. We currently live in Northern Virginia and I'm from Los Angeles, him the suburbs of Boston. We live in suburbia now and like many things about it (quiet, less traffic, close to stores, etc) but also have access to lots of history, wineries, restaurants, etc.







We are seriously considering buying since proportionately, rents seem high but of course being Florida, we are worried about the insurance and the overall market. We don't think base housing would be a fit for us, it's very small. We would be looking for a 4 bed, 2-3 bath with a den/office and bonus room as I work at home (doing in home wine tastings if anyone is interested) and we are used to more space. Our current home is 4,000+ sq feet (which is normal in suburban Virginia) and while we can and expect to go smaller, not that much smaller. My older son will miss the cut off for Kindergarten (by a couple of weeks) so we need access to a great pre-k program for him (I know the state has a free one but he is currently in a full day Jr. K since we we expecting him to start K this year and it's probably best if he continues in a full day program) and we would need at least part time care for our 2.5 year old although he could go to base childcare.






So, important to us is commute for hubby (since he commutes more then an hour each way now we'd like to minimize that as much as possible) to Cape Canaveral, schools, childcare for the kids, access to a community pool/playground/parks, access to community/business/networking events for me since I will be rebuilding my business and finally the ability to break even when we need to move and sell in 3 years. I do know that ideally you'd want to be in a house for five years, etc, etc but I know it's possible if you buy carefully and I'm not looking to have huge gains, just enough to cover selling costs, etc and make our investment back.


We know of a couple who live in Grand Haven and we have an offer on a short sale there (but we all know there is nothing short, or likely about it going through) and now we want to know where else to look. We are splurging on a quick trip down there to look around this weekend, but where should we go? What areas should we consider?


I've heard about Viera and have looked into several builders there but I need opinions from someone other then the builders rep. What are the most family/community oriented neighborhoods? Which builders build the most QUALITY homes? Should we even consider new? I hear from the reps that people take golf carts around on errands and to drop the kids at school and that sounds heavenly but what's it really like? If we build new, how important is a pool for FL resale since they seem to start at $30k. If you know new construction, how much off asking are they going?


Where else other then Grand Haven and Viera should we consider? Any other older communities we should consider or is there even a totally different city we should be looking in?

Thank you so much!

[dsautman]

Ha! I probably should have put our price range. Our ideal price would be $300k-$400k depending on the amount of work we need to do or if it's new and blows us away.

[kat22885]

We just moved to Viera about 2 months ago. I like it, a lot. We like suburbia, nice and quiet with enough to keep me entertained on the weekends. Of course, you miss the history of the mid-Atlantic states down here, but that goes without saying.

I can't comment too much on the schools or Pre-K, as we don't have children. My husband passes the elementary school on his way to work occasionally, and yes, there are dozens of golf carts lined up to drop kids off. There's a day care center that's right next door as well.

For you, I would look at a house that is already built. Many of the builders have homes built that have never been lived in, but it's taking longer and longer to build. If you're only going to be here for 3 years, I would imagine you'd like to get settled as soon as possible.

[Carrie8038]

I agree with what Kat said above. If you're only going to be in the area for 3 years, buy an existing home. We are also moving to the area this coming summer and visited a few months ago to get a better feel for the area. We made the decision to move to Viera based on its family-friendly environment, schools, location close to shopping, and other factors. I spoke to a couple of new construction reps and they told me I would be looking at 9 months to a year from start to finish for a new house. The prices for new construction don't incude pools either, so you would have to add $25-30,000 to the price of the home. Do a search at realtor.com or trulia.com there are a lot of existing homes out there in your price range and many of them include pools.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by Carrie8038

If you're only going to be in the area for 3 years, buy an existing home.

Um no, if you have any financial sense, if you are going to be in an area for THREE years, you should RENT.

The transactional costs of buying/selling home coupled with a continued overall stagnation in the housing market makes this an exceedingly bad time to do that (it's never a good financial move anyways when you are staying in area for such a short period of time ---- at the minimum, many experts recommend at least a 5-year horizon before buying).

[dsautman]

Wow chopchop, that was pretty rude. We have quite a bit of financial sense and if you had read my post you would have seen that I did mention that 5 years is ideal and of course we could always keep the house and rent it to someone ELSE when we leave. The cost of buying right now is not actually that high if you're careful.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by dsautman

Wow chopchop, that was pretty rude. We have quite a bit of financial sense and if you had read my post you would have seen that I did mention that 5 years is ideal and of course we could always keep the house and rent it to someone ELSE when we leave. The cost of buying right now is not actually that high if you're careful.

what about repairs? property taxes? etc its still risky

[mscalise]

you seem like you are in a very similar situation to me! my husband is in the air force and we will be moving down to the area in September for him to work at Patrick AFB. we are in our mid 30's with two young boys, 3, and 4. we live in Pittsburgh now and are excited/ nervous for the change.

we are also looking to buy a house in Viera. we have some family and friends in the area that have been helpful with recommending areas. i also found a real estate agent there that has been very helpful. he specializes in working with military families. his name is John S Murphy with Re Max Elite and also has a website, americanairmanhomes.com. we are also considering building a home and he has a lot of knowledge on which builders are better than others.

if you find any information about preschools, i would love know. that is high on my list right now. i really love the school my son is in right now, and hope to find something i love just as much. we are going to be in the area in February, and i would like to tour some schools while we are there.

good luck in your search to find a home!!!

[dsautman]

McCalise, I will PM you more details, we do have tons in common

Chopchop, here's my deal. I would avoid blanket statements like "if you had any financial sense" if you don't want to appear rude. Yes it's true that for some people, renting makes more sense and yes it's true that buying has risks in repairs, downturn, etc. I could make a valid argument for either. We are looking at a pretty new house, repairs are not a huge issue and that's why home warranties exist. A rental is no guarentee that you won't need to pay for repairs. Not all landlords make them, some landlords are terrible. I have tenants in a current property who told me the previous landlord left them without working AC until they fixed it themselves and without a working dishwasher for 2 months. Plus, we will be there 3 years, I've heard stories of families whose landlords sold a property after a year and they had to move and sometimes this happened more then once in a tour. Not what I want for my family. Think signing a 2 or 3 year lease is the answer? What if you get a crazy landlord who doesn't maintain the property? Then you're the one whose stuck and can't move. On your property taxes point. A payment for a house we are looking at is say, $2000 with insurance, HOA AND taxes. Rent on that same house, $2000-$2400. But with the payment we are paying towards principal each month, let's say about $500 or $6000 per year and depending on tax bracket, saving about $2500 on taxes. If we just put away the tax savings in an account, that would be a nice repair fund. Do you live in Melbourne? Your market doesn't exactly suck. Not booming but not horrible, prices have inched up a tiny bit and a tiny bit each year adds up. Experts are expecting the markets to be much better by 2015 so if the house even went up 5% in that time we could cover most transaction costs. Obviously that is a good case situation and anyone who wants to buy should be in a position for worst case. Really just because we want to buy and only be there 3 years doesn't automatically mean we have no financial sense, it just means we might think the rewards outweigh the risks. Might we regret it? maybe but life is risky and leaving your money in super safe cash because stocks are risky doesn't leave you with a growing nest egg. We might do all this research and still decide to rent but that's why I asked for opinions on locations, areas, etc.

[FLMO]

Just look at your comps very closely and make sure you get a DEAL! We did!