A good real estate investment for future? (Jacksonville, Atlantic Beach: for sale, oceanfront)

[erica wasserman]

Hi,
My family and I live in NJ and we're thinking ahead...in 10 years, the 3 kids will be out of college and my husband and I will be ready to leave our hectic, EXPENSIVE lifestyle behind. We love the beach and we're tired of the snow. Thinking of making an investment NOW in a beach community that's not too far from an urban/job center. (My husband is in Finance/Banking and I am a freelance writer. ) Our plan would be to rent out our investment property until it's time to move on a permanent basis.

Would love to get feedback on the best beach communities with good proximity to city/jobs. Also, wondering if there's any info out there on the current rental market for this type of property in the Jacksonville area.

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

[stevep]

You didn't mention if you're paying cash or taking out a mortgage. Unless you're paying cash or putting down a large downpayment, you'll probably have a negative cash flow each year if you're looking to purchase a house. If you're planning on renting it out for 10 years, that could end up being a large loss, so you need to factor that into your finances. And then, after 10 years of renting, you'll probably need to update it, which will cost you more money....Unless you really, really want to become an out of town landlord, I'd wait until it's closer to your move.

[jsimms3]

I wouldn't be an out of town, small time landlord unless you were simply trying to buy a good future home to live in at the bottom of the market and you were merely renting it out to cover some of the mortgage costs in the meantime.

A) Like steve said, I wouldn't bank on making much money as an out of town landlord (anywhere really)
B) I certainly would not rely on appreciation of residential assets as an investment base

Finally, Jacksonville is a great market to buy a house, though, because it is a growing city where land and availability (especially waterfront) will become even more scarce as the years go by (still, don't put your eggs in the appreciation basket). The weather is certainly much better than in New Jersey, it's quiet for a city but not exactly "quiet" like a small town, and it's a nice place to retire (has a lot to offer retirees, and has a lot of retirees).

If you have the money, then I would suggest purchasing a waterfront home or an upscale gated community home. Whether for renting or for buying, these markets are the most stable in town and command the highest prices. I don't know entirely about what waterfront homes are renting from nowadays (I would guess $4,500 for a smaller home to $12,000+ for a larger home, saw a home that was on the market for $2.9 million in Arlington on the river renting out for $10,000), but when you retire, you'll want to live in a waterfront or active gated community. There may be arbitrage since even these homes are down from their 2006 highs whereby depending on if you pay cash or what financing is offered you may be able to pull in more from rental income than you would pay for upkeep, insurance, and the mortgage payments (though it's doubtful...insurance is high and FL lenders probably are going to be real conservative because of the nature of the market). Waterfront home prices range from about $1 million for a teardown on a smaller lot to over $10 million for certain oceanfront lots and houses. Don't forget that most of the waterfront is on the river, not at the beach. The best gated communities are those in PVB/nearby, Queens Harbor, Glen Kernan, and Deerwood. The most popular condos in town are at the Peninsula downtown and VillaRiva in Riverside.

The two best beach communities (by far) are Ponte Vedra and Atlantic Beach. Jax Beach has all the condos but is kind of a whacky place where one block contains projects next to million dollar condos, etc. The people there are hardcore "beachy" and do not want any change. PVB and AB and Neptune Beach is a great "eye on the future" investment as it will soon command prices like Atlantic Beach. There's also Amelia Island to the north, which is very peaceful and quite nice, but further from the jobs.

[Peter the Brit]

I would favor St Augustine Fernandina or Amelia where we get tourists and potential renters.

[JBtwinz]

Originally Posted by erica wasserman

Hi,
My family and I live in NJ and we're thinking ahead...in 10 years, the 3 kids will be out of college and my husband and I will be ready to leave our hectic, EXPENSIVE lifestyle behind. We love the beach and we're tired of the snow. Thinking of making an investment NOW in a beach community that's not too far from an urban/job center. (My husband is in Finance/Banking and I am a freelance writer. ) Our plan would be to rent out our investment property until it's time to move on a permanent basis.

Would love to get feedback on the best beach communities with good proximity to city/jobs. Also, wondering if there's any info out there on the current rental market for this type of property in the Jacksonville area.

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

In regards to your other questions, rentals are doing well here on Amelia and off. I am also in Finance and Banking and the upper level jobs are either downtown Jacksonville or off Butler Blvd in one of the many corporate offices parks. I was making the commute to JTB and it was taking me about 50 minutes from home (on Amelia). It is very quiet and laid back here definitely a small beach town feel to it. Good luck

[Peter the Brit]

I would suggest you visit and stay as long as you can and talk with as many locals as you can to find where you should setlle. Feel free to pm me and I will do my best to help

[squarpeg]

I would be very careful in buying anything now, going down the A1A in Fernandina shows almost every single building for sale or rent, it is certainly a buyers market to that extent , but then what? There are very serious issue in Florida, Lots of overbuilding, poor or non existent zoning. bad water, The state is at it's carrying capacity and has lost a lot of luster. Good deals can be had, but be very careful.