moving south from Maryland at last (insurance, condo, house)

[George Eber]

we are going down to Saint Augustine in a couple of weeks to look for a house, Any suggestions? My wife and I are retiring Nurse and a fire fighter, love boating and fishing, golf and drinking beer

[mawipafl]

Originally Posted by George Eber

we are going down to Saint Augustine in a couple of weeks to look for a house, Any suggestions? My wife and I are retiring Nurse and a fire fighter, love boating and fishing, golf and drinking beer

You'll be able to find the above here on the First Coast! Now, if you can narrow down the type of housing you're interested in, folks here can give you some suggestions. Condo? Single-family new or old? On or near the water, and "water" being river or pond or ICW or ocean? St Augustine or the St Augustine area?

[George Eber]

Thanks. I am looking for a single family with 2 car garage from 0-5 years, around 2000 sq '. I have heard that taxes and insurance is rather expensive. Is that the case?

[mawipafl]

I'm not sure what taxes are like in Maryland, but to give an example I looked at a random address in St Augustine -- single family house listed for $350,000, with 2900 sq ft, 5 bedrooms and 3 baths, built in 2004 --- taxes and fees are $3400/year on a valuation of $233,000. This is more house than you described, but at least it gives you an idea.

If you have an address you can look up the tax bill:
St. Johns County Tax Collector

As for insurance, where I live in Clay County is not that much more expensive than where I previously lived in PA. Not including flood insurance (which could be in the $300-400 range), homeowners might be in the $1200-1500 ballpark -- I can't say for sure, but maybe this gives you an idea of the differences between MD and NEFL.

[blakesq]

Watch out for these things called CDD fees. community develeopment district. They can range from $1000/year up to $3500/year. Not all homes have them, but I lot of the newer ones do.

Originally Posted by George Eber

Thanks. I am looking for a single family with 2 car garage from 0-5 years, around 2000 sq '. I have heard that taxes and insurance is rather expensive. Is that the case?

[mawipafl]

CDD fees would probably be listed on the tax bill as they are usually collected annually by the county along with general county taxes, school taxes, trash disposal fees, and other sorts of fees.