Can you still get a cheap foreclosure? (Palm Beach: foreclosures, rental)

[doggiebus]

100k in South Florida isn't going to get you much if you want a yard. Now if you looked in North/Central Florida in Lake City you could probably get two acres with a house for 100k (just guessing).

[Beach and Tree Lover]

I am looking for homes 250k or less. I said I was preapproved for homes 100k more than the asking price for the house I lost.

[doggiebus]

Ahh, 250k you should be able to find an older single family home with a yard in Cutler Bay. The yards there are pretty good size, since the homes/lots are older. Even in Kendall you might be able to find something, it may be a fixer upper though in Kendall.

[tallrick]

If the Fed is forced to stop printing, I can see many homes going under 100K in the future.

[RayNagin504]

For a nice house in a safe gated community you are going to pay at least 300-350k+ easy. 100k in south Florida will get you a dog house in the hoods of Miami or Broward county. I would never personally live in a house that didn't have a gated community unless I lived in a upscale area like Southwest Ranches or Coral Gables were there is virtually no crime. You will have to deal with neighbors parking broken down cars and trucks all over the streets or lawns. Boats in the front yard, strange color homes, unmaintained grass, and loud music. The monthly home HOA fees are going to be $180-$300 on a house in that price range. It's money well spent to keep neighbors in check. I have a condo downtown and my monthly HOA fees are $750+ a month. Well worth it if you can afford it. I like peace of mind.

[gbugmiami]

As someone else said, there is alot more work on the buyers part today to get the house and financing you want. A Realtor will help you, but its really all up to you to make it happen. It took me 1 yr to make my deal happen. Numerous misteps, mistakes, and lost deals along the way, but the right one did finally come around. You will lose to a cash buyer (one of my lost deals... grrrr), thats the nature of the game. The cash buyer can close in 2 weeks, this was an estate deal, they wanted it done. With the trouble i ultimately had getting financing, i know why they preferred cash buyer... already owning houses, made financing for me more difficult, and required an extension on the contract... some sellers just want it gone, and less money is no problem...
Just Stick with it. When yer in the door, it will be worth it. just dont over commit yourself, and look at the WHOLE picture. Lots of houses in my area have sold for 40k more than i got mine for. They need roof, bath and kitchen work. This in itself can be 30k. I dont get it. Whereas a few with this work done, have sold for the same price. Some people just arent thinking. Add up everything it needs, and plan for it. if it all adds up to too much, walk. Once you have a mortgage and responsibilities adding up, its just not that easy to come up with the cash to redo a kitchen or roof. So figure it in up front to the price of the house.
Also note, Citizens is getting nutty about all the andrew roofs coming up due. I had a big problem with my roof becoming 20 years old and they dropped me. Ultimately, my choice was get a new roof (13k), or succumb to mortgage company forced place insurance for about twice what i was paying. I had the money for a roof, this just motivated me to get it done, but if you walk into a new house, not knowing this. Year 2 they very well could get you on this. On a decent looking roof, just aged out. Roof Over 20 years old = bargaining material.

[TraderNYC]

Thanks Gbug, what is Citizen? Hurricanes are obviously a factor i have not considered yet. How much is home owners insurance and flood and hurricane insurance in south florida? Guess if hurricane wipes out my 100k house i could always just buy another 100k house.

[gbugmiami]

Citizens is the florida states 'insurance of last resort' that just about everyone has down here has, as no one else writes insurance competitively because of the hurricane risks. Its their game, we just live it. Insurance i would say is simply 4 or 5 times what you would pay, anywhere else. Insurance goes up, what they cover goes down, repeat as necessary.

[gaash2]

You can get stuff < 100k but it is much harder to do nowadays. I am also from NY and own a few properties. I don't own in Miami; nothing I would touch in south beach etc. goes for under 150k. But if you are willing to go to west palm beach, there are tons of great deals for under 100k. That market is not in as good a shape as miami, but you can get high end newer assets for dirt cheap.

[TraderNYC]

Hey gaash, do you rent these places out? Is the rental market good? The reason i want <100k - I'm not super picky about where I live and will be doing a lot of traveling - I'm a single white male and I work from home so location is not an issue. I keep most of my assets in the stock market, liquid for trading.