Preconstructed houses in Florida (Gainesville, Palm Beach: for sale, real estate, renting)

gamb312 · 07-18-2007, 11:07 PM

I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about buying preconstructed houses in florida. I have been looking into that option but I don't know much about it. Any good companies to work with? Good areas to purchase in? What are considered good prices? Anything that anyone knows about the subject would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

ddlove01 · 07-19-2007, 09:43 PM

I'm not sure I understand the question...Do you mean spec homes, houses that were built and no one has occupied them?

The question is a bit vague...are you partial to any particular areas?

CHEWY12 · 07-19-2007, 09:59 PM

Are you refering to homes built off site and then assembled on site?

gamb312 · 07-19-2007, 11:47 PM

I am talking about houses that are built on site. I mean houses that are for sale before they are even built. I have heard that it is better to buy that way. Is it?

CHEWY12 · 07-20-2007, 12:42 AM

That was going on in some areas during the upswing of the building boom. What location are you interested in?

CHEWY12 · 07-20-2007, 01:42 AM

You might want to consider renting in the area you are interested in before you buy so you can get a feel for the town. Right now in SWFL the market is in a downward trend and no one knows how long this will last. Another idea to consider is the owner/builder route. If you are pretty savy about home building you can save quite a bit of money, the biggest savings will be no commision being paid to a real estate agent unless you use one in the purchase of the bare land which in that case it will minimal. On the material side of the project prices are below what they were during the boom times and labor prices are also down. You may also want to consider looking for bulder overstock there seems to be quite a bit of that in the more speculative areas of SWFL.

Good luck to you in your search

For some good reading check this out
The Housing Bubble Blog

Chewy

pslOldTimer · 07-20-2007, 06:56 AM

Don't know about other areas, but around here those are called "spec homes", short for houses built on speculation. During the upside of the "bubble", builders were putting them up as fast as they could. Most sold immediately at crazy prices. Now that the prices are on the downside, if there are any left, they are being heavily discounted. If you want a brand new home, they can be a better deal than having a house built. The reason is that material costs have not come down as fast as house prices, so it will cost more to have a house built than to buy one that is stuck in the builder's inventory and costing him money every month.

In comparison to a resale of an existing house, it may also be a better deal. On the upswing, it was the prices that builders were able to get for their houses that helped bring up the price of resales, and on the downswing, it is the desperate discounts of builders that is driving down the price of resales.

Still, there are exceptions to every rule, and you should not limit yourself to one or another of the types in your search, unless you have a specific reason other than price. For example, resales are a good deal because you get so many extras -- landscaping, window coverings, fences and other things added after construction. Spec homes are a good deal because they are brand new, without wear or broken things. New custom homes are a good deal if you can't find what you want any other way.

rkumar3 · 07-20-2007, 09:34 AM

You need to focus on the location first and then consider buying pre-construction v/s resale. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I for myself live in a house that I bought pre-construction and am pretty happy with it so far. Also bought a couple in the hay days for investment and made a decent profit on a couple... got stuck with one and it currently rented. Please free to PM me if you have any questions or want more help in that direction.

gamb312 · 07-21-2007, 01:19 AM

Thanks to everyone who's posted. Feel free to keep them coming. I am learning a lot. I think one of the big problems that I have is not knowing what city in Florida I would like to focus on. I would like to stay around mid Florida (somewhere between Palm Beach and Gainesville). I don't really know anything about good places to live or purchase investment property. Any suggestions?