Tampa Bay home values on the rise... (Orlando, Spring Hill: sale, foreclosed)

[NHborn]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

Good advice! We'll sit back for a bit and wait and see if the market trickles up to Hernando County. Believe me … we are NOT greedy people. I just don't want to lose a ton of money. Right now we would need to sell for about 150K not to lose money on the house … I don't think that is going to happen in the current market, and I am not willing to dip into our savings to pay for the loss we'd have to take if we sold it for what other homes in the neighborhood are going for.

Sooooo … we wait.

This is what Ive decided to do also, we are in the same boat. I'll be calling my lender today to modify. I have a feeling that 3 years ago was the time to walk and doing so now might be a big mistake.

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by NHborn

This is what Ive decided to do also, we are in the same boat. I'll be calling my lender today to modify. I have a feeling that 3 years ago was the time to walk and doing so now might be a big mistake.

We went with the HARP 2 when we refinanced our Spring Hill home. It dropped our monthly payments a good deal and made it possible for us to offer a competitive monthly rental rate in the area. The problem with the Spring Hill rental market is, most tenants cannot afford more than $1,000 per month. Most can only afford around $800 in the zip code in which our home is located.

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by NHborn

This is what Ive decided to do also, we are in the same boat. I'll be calling my lender today to modify. I have a feeling that 3 years ago was the time to walk and doing so now might be a big mistake.

And just a word of caution if you do plan to rent your home out in Spring Hill … be very wary of your tenants. We have several friends who are landlords in the area and the horror stories they have shared about their tenants are just awful! One friend had to begin the eviction process with their tenants because they hadn't paid rent in several months. The tenants decided to "get back" at them by defecating and urinating all over the house. They also made huge holes in the walls and trashed everything they could.

Another friend of ours ended up having to evict her tenants because they were selling drugs from her home. I hear the drug story more frequently than any other from my friends who are landlords.

The problem with having a very low cost rental market is that it tends to attract tenants who are low-lifes. Our neighborhood went downhill because of that, and it is one of the many reasons we left the area.

We are very thankful, however, that we have our home rented out to a personal friend we have known for many years. She pays the rent on time and keeps the property fairly well maintained. Hopefully she will keep renting from us for another year because I DREAD the thought of needing to find a new tenant in that area!

[NHborn]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

And just a word of caution if you do plan to rent your home out in Spring Hill … be very wary of your tenants. We have several friends who are landlords in the area and the horror stories they have shared about their tenants are just awful! One friend had to begin the eviction process with their tenants because they hadn't paid rent in several months. The tenants decided to "get back" at them by defecating and urinating all over the house. They also made huge holes in the walls and trashed everything they could.

Another friend of ours ended up having to evict her tenants because they were selling drugs from her home. I hear the drug story more frequently than any other from my friends who are landlords.

The problem with having a very low cost rental market is that it tends to attract tenants who are low-lifes. Our neighborhood went downhill because of that, and it is one of the many reasons we left the area.

We are very thankful, however, that we have our home rented out to a personal friend we have known for many years. She pays the rent on time and keeps the property fairly well maintained. Hopefully she will keep renting from us for another year because I DREAD the thought of needing to find a new tenant in that area!

This is why I was never considering renting. Im just gonna stay here for a while, use the insurance money to make improvements. My son isnt even two yet so we have a few years before we have to worry about schools.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

Do you all think the market will ever turn for Spring Hill the way it is doing in Pinellas?

Yes, I believe it will turn around. It just takes a little longer to reach the outlying areas. Pinellas will always have more demand, thus higher prices, due to location......but SH was hit so bad, that it should be able to recover quite a bit of the loses over time. It's just a matter of waiting it out.

Think of it as someone who owned stock and then the market crashed. Some people bailed, guaranteeing themselves a loss. Others waited it out, knowing it always goes back up eventually. Well those that waited out the market, holding their stocks, are the ones laughing all the way to the bank now.

NHborn has decided to hold the property as well. I think this is a wise decision. Not only will it preserve his/her credit rating, but will give him/her the opportunity to recover the lost value over time. Of course, this is just an opinion and not professional advice.

Builders are starting to build again here. That is a good sign that confidence is back here. People just need to give it time to filter to all the areas. The key for people wanting to sell, is to know when. Wait for it to recover, but pull the trigger when it makes financial sense for you.

[Spring Hillian]

In what world do people evict drug dealers? I would think that would become a law enforcement matter. You sure had/or know of more drama in Spring Hill then I've seen anywhere in my life.
You let a personal friend move into a neighborhood that you described as Bushwick Brooklyn?

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

And just a word of caution if you do plan to rent your home out in Spring Hill … be very wary of your tenants. We have several friends who are landlords in the area and the horror stories they have shared about their tenants are just awful! One friend had to begin the eviction process with their tenants because they hadn't paid rent in several months. The tenants decided to "get back" at them by defecating and urinating all over the house. They also made huge holes in the walls and trashed everything they could.

Another friend of ours ended up having to evict her tenants because they were selling drugs from her home. I hear the drug story more frequently than any other from my friends who are landlords.

The problem with having a very low cost rental market is that it tends to attract tenants who are low-lifes. Our neighborhood went downhill because of that, and it is one of the many reasons we left the area.

We are very thankful, however, that we have our home rented out to a personal friend we have known for many years. She pays the rent on time and keeps the property fairly well maintained. Hopefully she will keep renting from us for another year because I DREAD the thought of needing to find a new tenant in that area!

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by Spring Hillian

In what world do people evict drug dealers? I would think that would become a law enforcement matter. You sure had/or know of more drama in Spring Hill then I've seen anywhere in my life.
You let a personal friend move into a neighborhood that you described as Bushwick Brooklyn?

In the world of my friends who are landlords, obviously. One of the conditions of their rental agreement was no illegal activity such as drug dealing. You can put whatever stipulation you want in your rental agreement. You shoud see the list of things one of my friends puts in theirs based on their Spring Hill tenant experiences!

And my friend was well aware of the problems in the neighborhood when she decided to move there. Believe it or not, it was actually a step up from her old neighborhood.

[Spring Hillian]

In my world, we contact law enforcement when we are aware of criminal activity.

Originally Posted by floridagirl777

In the world of my friends who are landlords, obviously. One of the conditions of their rental agreement was no illegal activity such as drug dealing. You can put whatever stipulation you want in your rental agreement. You shoud see the list of things one of my friends puts in theirs based on their Spring Hill tenant experiences!

And my friend was well aware of the problems in the neighborhood when she decided to move there. Believe it or not, it was actually a step up from her old neighborhood.

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by Spring Hillian

In my world, we contact law enforcement when we are aware of criminal activity.

The neighbors of the friend of which I am speaking DID call law enforcement. Then they called my friend to alert them of the problem since it was occuring on her property. After that, she proceeded with the eviction process.

[Ken E]

Originally Posted by NHborn

Did you personally know that the housing market was going to crash? I didnt, and at the time prices were going up so drastically I though if I ever wanted to be a home owner Id have to do it then. Then turned out to be spring of 2007, lucky me. Do I fit your definition of a greedy buyer? If I could sell my house for even a $20,000 loss I would, but I cant because nobody wants a sinkhole house in section 8 heaven.

We took a much bigger hit than that in the same general area. It all boils down to how much do you want to leave. I really wanted to return to my "paradise".