[blissblessed1]

Sounds great Redwing. Encouraging for me as you know of my interest by now!

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by RedWingsFan

We certainly aren't rich. But I'll tell you what helped to be able to buy the house. Buying smaller and building up. A year after we were in Vegas we bought a brand new townhouse for $98k. We lived in it 8 years and sold it before moving to Florida for $203k. That gave us a great down payment on this house. You have to work your way up, buy small, earn some equity and then sell and move up...that's what we did.

Id be hard pressed to find a townhouse for $98k in Florida. I guess ill have to buy small in the northeast where prices are so much more reasonable then I can decide when/if I want to move back to Florida.

[RedWingsFan]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

Id be hard pressed to find a townhouse for $98k in Florida. I guess ill have to buy small in the northeast where prices are so much more reasonable then I can decide when/if I want to move back to Florida.

Sounds like a plan!

Maybe it's your attitude that has something to do with it. You sound like you have a "pity me" or "poor me" attitude. I'm not buying it. I'm the type of person that believes you get out of life what you put into it.

By the way, the $98k for the townhouse was 8.5 years ago. Like I said, we just sold it a few months ago for $203k - that's today's prices.

[Ellyg]

Originally Posted by RedWingsFan

Okay, after much deliberation of whether to stay and buy or to leave... we have decided to stay and buy. When we first moved here several months ago we were going to make Florida a 3 year committment to try it out. We started to leap in and then people around us got us thinking... about the hurricanes, tornadoes, insurance prices, low wages, etc...blah blah blah.

So then we started wondering if we should pack up and head back out. But... we actually like it here. Yes, my husband makes less money at his job than he did before. The homeowner's insurance and taxes are also higher. But, the house price is around $100k lower for what we want in the type of neighbhorhood we want to buy in.

We both like Florida at this point, even with the few things I think need to change (like getting higher wages). So we put the money down on a home yesterday! We are sticking with our three year committment for better or worse and if we don't like it after that we will head out. But we got a great deal on the house and it's in a great area so we stand to make money off that purchase regardless.

So I'm in it for a while... yes, the hurricanes and tornadoes scare me a bit. But I made the decision to move here and we're going to see what happens.

Congratulations! Welcome to Florida.
In previous post I have mentioned being tired of the big city, crime, expenses etc. I wish you much luck. Enjoy the sunshine.