Is real estate in Tampa suburbs really this cheap?! (Valrico: short sale, to rent)

[eifvfeuin]

Hello everyone,

We are planning to relocate to the Tampa area in August. I will be attending grad school at USF and my wife may as well. We are in our late 30's and have no children and are looking for a nice place to rent or buy. I was checking out the remax website out of curiosity and saw the following listing and was astonished at how inexpensive this place was:

404 Sangria Drive, Valrico, FL $99,900 Single Family Home
Moderator cut: realtor links not allowed

It looks very nice. Is this for real? I assume this house must be in a really bad location because I can't imagine it is in a nice area for this price. Please correct me if I am wrong. We have only been to Tampa once so we aren't that familiar with the various neighborhoods. Are there many houses comparable to this one that are in this price range in nice neighborhoods that wouldn't be too horrible a commute to USF?

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

[crazynip]

That's not a bad location, but it would be a pretty horrid commute to USF. I am guessing this house has some issues if it's that cheap. Like it was abandoned and stripped of wire / plumbing or some other issue.

[Pragmaticus]

Originally Posted by eifvfeuin

Hello everyone,

We are planning to relocate to the Tampa area in August. I will be attending grad school at USF and my wife may as well. We are in our late 30's and have no children and are looking for a nice place to rent or buy. I was checking out the remax website out of curiosity and saw the following listing and was astonished at how inexpensive this place was:

404 Sangria Drive, Valrico, FL $99,900 Single Family Home
RE/MAX SOUTH SHORE REALTY Has Florida Homes Listed Online

It looks very nice. Is this for real? I assume this house must be in a really bad location because I can't imagine it is in a nice area for this price. Please correct me if I am wrong. We have only been to Tampa once so we aren't that familiar with the various neighborhoods. Are there many houses comparable to this one that are in this price range in nice neighborhoods that wouldn't be too horrible a commute to USF?

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

Sort answer: not likely.

Long answer: Most people put their under water house on the market for a very high price. At that time they will have excellent pictures probably what you are seeing now.

Then they follow the market. Then they try to short it. Then it may or may not pan out.

On this specific house, I see the owner boought it 129K in 2001. Then they took out a two mortgages on the house 231K.

Now they are trying to short sale it.

My conclusion: Probably house is in bad shape. It will be hard for the bank to take at least 100K loss. Doesn't matter what the wishful realtor and owner are hoping to get from it.

The fact that it has two mortgage also makes it difficult to close on it quickly. In other word, this house will be on the market for ever and keep selling the competetion and by the time it is all said and done the 100K value may be the market value, may be 2 or 3 years down the road?


My Euro 0.02

[90sman]

First people were complaining that housing was too expensive, now they're complaining they're too cheap?! What do you people want?! I'm glad housing has gotten "cheaper", makes it more affordable and reasonable for more people.

[algia]

& what you'll save on the house you'll pay on gas to get anywhere. There is nothing around Valrico...middle of nowhere...
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

If you'll be at USF, then Carrollwood or New Tampa would be much better choices.

[user8]

Originally Posted by 90sman

First people were complaining that housing was too expensive, now they're complaining they're too cheap?! What do you people want?! I'm glad housing has gotten "cheaper", makes it more affordable and reasonable for more people.

There's a line you cross where "too good to be true" becomes so, and prices that low tend to attract the kind of people you wouldn't want as neighbors.

[chi_tino]

It's probably legit. For those who do their research, there are still many, many great deals to be had.

Also, according to the latest Case-Shiller real estate index, Tampa Bay prices continue to fall and just hit another all-time low. Don't worry -- some sellers (brainwashed by their perpetually positive realtors) may think that everything is coming up roses, but the data shows the exact opposite. I hope prices fall another 50%, because I'd like to upgrade again.

user8 has a good point, though. You want to do some due diligence on these neighborhoods before you start making offers.

[crazynip]

I dont think anyone is complaining about low home prices, unless you are trying to sell. I think the OP is asking if it sounds legit or not

[Tim Tim Tim]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

It's probably legit. For those who do their research, there are still many, many great deals to be had.

Also, according to the latest Case-Shiller real estate index, Tampa Bay prices continue to fall and just hit another all-time low. Don't worry -- some sellers (brainwashed by their perpetually positive realtors) may think that everything is coming up roses, but the data shows the exact opposite. I hope prices fall another 50%, because I'd like to upgrade again.

user8 has a good point, though. You want to do some due diligence on these neighborhoods before you start making offers.

realtors have been saying "now is the time to buy" forever... i see why they do it but there .02 on when the time to buy is means nothing to me

[algia]

Time to buy is when only 10% of your income goes on the mortgage payment every month! That is if you're looking for the "smart" time to buy! and not Joe's time to buy.