Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't know about the other posts, but regarding the one on this thread, I have to agree with Ruby because I also don't appreciate all the complaints about the "old farts" since they spend most of the money in Florida. We also hear nothing but negative things about the "rude tourists & snowbirds." If they stopped coming to Southwest Florida, it would die. I don't like heavy traffic and long lines either, but Florida survives on tourism.
Probably true. I also don't know how anyone can say there is only a 14 month inventory. In 2007 I was told "we've hit bottom." In 2008 I was told "prices are going up quickly. There won't be any good deals in a few months."
Last week I saw a small home near Aqui Esta listed for only $50,000 online and was curious about it, so I contacted the agent. Turned out to be a short sale, but she offered to send me a list of homes in Punta Gorda. No exaggeration, but I couldn't even begin to look at all the listings. I think there were over 300 homes under $70,000. That's not even including Port Charlotte. Are they trashed? Maybe, maybe not. I'm on the East Coast now and the number of houses on the market in cities like Port Saint Lucie is astonishing. True that the upscale areas have much less inventory, but it's bad all over.
Anyway, I think the only reason the inventory on the Cape seems larger is because of its phenomenal growth a few years back. It's also the 2nd largest area in FL, only 2nd to Jacksonville. When I drove around North Port in April/May there were rows of homes with For Sale signs on the lawn, often several on one street. I doubt if things could have changed that much in 4 or 5 months.
I didn't disagree with Ruby - I think she is right. And I agree with you that SWFL would not survive without them and that they pump a lot of cash into the local economy while they are here.
My comment was simply in regards to her contributions to discussions - she seems to only comment when she wants to chastise someone re: their choices whether they be phrases, living standards, beliefs, etc.
In regards to the rest of your post, we just bought a house in April and we looked for over a year. We saw so many homes listed around 50K that were just TRASHED. The people who'd been foreclosed on ripped out all the cabinetry, all the appliances, some even took the plates over the electrical outlets and the baseboards! We had to keep upping our price point so that we could find something affordable but that was close to being move in ready.
We finally purchased a 2050 sq ft home in Cape Coral with 4 bdrms, 2 bath, and a formal living and dining room for right around $86K. The only immediate thing that the home needed was appliances, which we already had. We are currently ripping up the carpet and putting wood down. We've also put up a fence.
There is A LOT of property in the Cape and definitely over on the East Coast. At one point, PSL was the fastest growing city in the US. My father lives there now and the inventory in that area is like you said... astonishing. But, I'd be willing to bet that those homes listed for almost nothing are just like the homes listed here - trashed with 20 or 30K worth of fixups before you can even move in. The only people that will buy those places are young couples who are looking forward to renovating, a single man or woman who doesn't mind living there while renovating, or a flipper/investor.
the inventory numbers are not a constant. If you have a month of incredible sales and low amount of homes coming on the market the months worth of inventory drops like a rock. If you have a month with few sales and lots coming on the market it can skyrocket. It's not tied to the amount of homes on the market vs homes in the area. this is an almost unique real estate market, in regards to the amount of listings that are marketed as short sales. These are houses that will be listed a lot longer than a typical house, and their chance of closing is not certain. The realtors name the listing price with no knowledge the the lender will even accept to take the sizable loss that they are being asked to do. I know it will never happen but i wish the MLS or Realtor.com would adopt a policy that properties can only be listed the sellers are willing and able to transfer the property at agreed terms. If buyers thought that they could act in good faith and close on these homes at the prices listed the inventory would be devoured in just a couple months. There is a very good balance of supply and demand there is just a lot of red tape that has been slowing down the clearing of inventory. In general the amount of homes listed (at least in cape coral) is a usually between 3400-4200 and the amount of sales is around 600 a month new homes coming on to the market around 400. every month there is around a 200 decrease in inventory. This has gone on for about 16 months with the exception of august 2009. There are some homes that are listed that just will not sell mostly due to chinese drywall, and short sale terms that the lenders will not agree to.
Short sales are the reason it took us so long to finally buy a house. We were tricked into looking at multiple short sale homes, being told a price, putting an offer in, only to be told it was a short sale and that we could wait months and months to find out if our offer was accepted and that the listing price wasn't even a real listing price - just a price the realtor picked because they knew it would draw people in.
Some people don't play well with others. And some people seem to go out of their way to fight with others. It seems like a lot of pent up hostility. Wherever you go, there you are, you know?
To those people I say, "Good luck moving anywhere."
I think that is horrible, that you were lied to, Bakin'Mama. I'm glad you found what you wanted.
The only unemployment rate that is worse than Lee County is the Vero Beach/Port St. Lucie one. Has anyone heard what it is for September?
Was he looking for a job...actively sending out resumes, knocking on doors, making telephone calls, sitting for interviews....
"Hearing/reading" is one thing. Actively pursuing a job to avoid foreclosure is another.
Sounds like the OP had a great vacation, though!
And the housing is cheap. Cheaply made, so about time it was sold for what it is worth.
No, didnt do any interviews. Just talked to as many different people everywhere as I possibly could and came to a common sense judgement.
It seems like at least some FL residents feel they have exclusivity on the tough job market. It's tough everywhere, the unemployement rate in my own county in NW GA was recently higher than that of Lee Co. I'm not understanding the whole "anger" thing....if folks were talking about coming here I dont think I'd have a chip on my shoulder about it.
No, didnt do any interviews. Just talked to as many different people everywhere as I possibly could and came to a common sense judgement.
It seems like at least some FL residents feel they have exclusivity on the tough job market. It's tough everywhere, the unemployement rate in my own county in NW GA was recently higher than that of Lee Co. I'm not understanding the whole "anger" thing....if folks were talking about coming here I dont think I'd have a chip on my shoulder about it.
Maybe I'm seeing it all wrong...
What if someone visited where you were from & said that really, wasn't that bad to find jobs, that there are jobs. They didn't do anything to actually GET employment but they chatted with the waitress or housekeeper at the hotel,visted a few places here & there and then left to go back home.....
Now, if you are not an actual RESIDENT of SWFL, I don't think you can tell the ACTUAL resident THEY are wrong and YOU are right seeing that you have absolutely no experience in relying on the area for livable income.
We did live there. Doesn't mean I am an expert on it, but we saw the boat sink and it was scary to watch friends lose their jobs left & right.
No one has ever said that SWFL is the absolute worst place in the entire world to find a job and there is not one single job to find. And many times that their areas are struggling very much.
I chalk it all up to what I call the Bahamas effect. Lots of people go to the Bahamas quite regularly b/c it's quick, easy, cheap & with some beautiful weather & beaches. But, how many of these tourists actually move to the Bahamas? And why not? Because it is close to impossible to survive there unless you are willing to live in close to poverty or are incredibly weathly & the jobs as 99.9% service related that pay bare bones.
SWFL has the same effect. People are lurred in by the cheap housing, pretty cheap COL, easy to get to, etc. Great for boating & fishing.
That's all fine & dandy if you have the income to support it.
What people are saying is that to expect to find a job there right now that will enable a person to live the life they have imagined in their head while on vacation drinking a beer at 2pm on a boat...might not be so easy right now. Some make it. Others don't.
The unemployment rate is what it is in SWFL. It's not GA. It's not WI. It's not TN. It's SWFL. What you see is what you get. And for some, that is paradise. For others, not so much.
Lots of areas are doing far better than SWFL. Other areas are doing just the same if not a little worse. That's a mute point.
I think you make fair points, and maybe we're talking past each other....
I heard alot of folks saying they couldnt find jobs making what they "were" making. But they had/did pass on jobs making much less than they were making. I dunno, but to me not finding a job paying what you think you're worth and not being able to find a job period are two different things. They didnt take those jobs because their debt situation prevents them from it.
I think SWFL would be a horrible place to try to land a high paying and "great career" job to finance lotsa toys and expensive lifestyle. But I think SWFL is ideal right now for folks who can live below their means, dont have alot of debt, and dont see their work as their life, etc...
I still say that folks who are holding out for things to return to how they were should probably cut their losses...I just dont see how it's ever gonna be like it was. JMO.
Yes, and still the point remains, SWF does not have a monoply on lack of jobs and lower paying jobs... Like it's been established "It's tough everywhere" so if you live in a cold climent with high home prices and high taxes with high heating costs (don't compare summer AC costs with heating costs, it's NOT EVEN CLOSE) where would you rather live? Somewhere like NJ or Wi. where you can't touch a house for under $200k or in the sun and fun where homes are under $50k? You can work a service job and still do ok. Mr.Cool
I know I'll catch some hell for this but.... the higher unemployment rate in florida is not equal to comparing unemployment rates in other areas. For one, florida is a retirement haven. The unemployment rate is not a percentage of the population it's the workforce. If florida's population is 18 million and the unemployed is 1 million it comes out to be 5.5% of the population is unemployed, leaving more than 94% not feeling the pain, not to mention the amount of snowbirds who are not residents that are down there during the season. However because the unemployment compensation is so low, cost of housing was over inflated, and the type of jobs lost will not come back any time soon, if ever (construction), it is a very bad place to be unemployed, so the people who are unemployed are feeling more pain than some in other states.
Yes, and still the point remains, SWF does not have a monoply on lack of jobs and lower paying jobs... Like it's been established "It's tough everywhere" so if you live in a cold climent with high home prices and high taxes with high heating costs (don't compare summer AC costs with heating costs, it's NOT EVEN CLOSE) where would you rather live? Somewhere like NJ or Wi. where you can't touch a house for under $200k or in the sun and fun where homes are under $50k? You can work a service job and still do ok. Mr.Cool
unfortunately, the people who are unemployed in swfl did not have the luxury of buying a house for $50k when they were working that house was $260k and their taxes were based on those values. Being unemployed trying to pay a $200k mortgage vs being employed buying a 50k house are worlds apart.
I know I'll catch some hell for this but.... the higher unemployment rate in florida is not equal to comparing unemployment rates in other areas. For one, florida is a retirement haven. The unemployment rate is not a percentage of the population it's the workforce. If florida's population is 18 million and the unemployed is 1 million it comes out to be 5.5% of the population is unemployed, leaving more than 94% not feeling the pain, not to mention the amount of snowbirds who are not residents that are down there during the season. However because the unemployment compensation is so low, cost of housing was over inflated, and the type of jobs lost will not come back any time soon, if ever (construction), it is a very bad place to be unemployed, so the people who are unemployed are feeling more pain than some in other states.
I've been saying that all along.
Why posters insist on comparing it to their hometown or area, I don't get. The dynamics of SWFL are very specific. The reason SWFL had such an extreme bubble are very specific. It cannot be compared & doing it half the time is to only prove a mute point that is constantly regurgitated.
As the OP so correctly said, the "old days are gone".
For those who sit around & insist that SWFL will "return" to the way it was actually shows that the poster has absolutely no clue what SWFL was like prior to the boom! If they did, they wouldn't be saying it or else they'd be saying it knowing that prior to the boom, the jobs in SWFL were incredibly limited & quite low paying. But, half the posters who make those comments are retiring and have no need to rely on the area for income. They are already living in their own little bubble and refuse to recognize that earning income is not the same as living on retirement money.
What, thousands of constructions jobs are going to flood SWFL next month or next year? Nope. Not gonna happen unless a serious hurricane destroys the place.
It's a nice place to vacation if your into that sort of area for vacationing; same thing for retiring...middle to lower income folks can indeed retire to a warm area if that is what they so desire.
The OP seems to get it and made some good comments (minus the jobs part). In particular, the old days aren't coming back. Doesn't mean people are not going to retire there or vacation there but 2005 is not coming back & why anyone would want it back astounds me. It was fake to begin with...
To the OP- there sure are jobs but they are limited and specific. If you can live on min wage from WalMart and get in enough hours there, you may be ok, too. But as you said, if you think that min wage from WalMart is going to allow you to buy a $150k home and that for some reason you can afford it based on that income, you are more than wrong. And that mentality is why so many in SWFL crashed so hard. There was no place else to go when the construction jobs and the jobs that were based on construction left. And they were/are stuck with mortgages and minimum wage jobs, if they can even get those...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wherever you go, there you are, you know? 
