A Good or Bad time to be buying a home in Tampa? (Lutz: apartment, rental)

[SeaSpur]

Originally Posted by GulfCoastGuy

It seems like Tampa Real Estate prices have moved up quite a bit over the last 6 months.

I was wondering what people think about the current pricing in the Real Estate market.
I would hate to buy something then end up with an upside-down condo downtown should
I meet someone, get married, then need to move out to the suburbs.

I still think it's insanity to buy a condo. The idea of a condo/townhouse doesn't appeal to me in the first place, but buying them right now just seems like a bad investment. There are *so* many of them here and many people are under and waiting for their moment to get close to even and throw it on the market...that is going to hurt any value of your condo now and for many years to come.

I don't get the "buy a condo young" then "move out into the suburbs when I get married" sentiment.

[NALEXAND]

Unbelievable! Wow!

[vml68]

I have the penultimate story to tell.. Go to Ladera in Lutz. Their cheapest
single floor home is 780k and you have to wait for them to build it. And that's
not the insane part. You talk to builder's sales rep at the model home and she
tells you that they will determine the house's exterior paint color on a house
that is not even built yet. They will choose the the finish, style, and color
of the kitchen cabinets on an unbuilt home. You are not allowed to choose.
Same goes for the tile and granite. I asked the woman "So for 780k, is the
buyer allowed to make any selections for a home that has not even built yet?"
She said, "no the builder has already made all the selections so that he can
sell the house at this price." The arrogance was unreal. For the record, they
quote this same single floor Camila IV plan on the internet (look at zillow) for
$479,900 but then tell you it's really $780,000 when you get there. I didn't
see the value and left.

GulfCoastGuy - The price for the base Camilla model is $479k. Once you add in the cost of the lot + any upgrades, the price escalates pretty quickly.
I moved down to Tampa last year and was planning to build a home in Ladera. I had been doing most of my research on the internet and they had everything I was looking for (public utilities, natural gas, no CDD and .5 acre or more lots). When I stopped by the sales office with my realtor we found out that they had decided not to sell the 2 smaller models that I was interested in and they had also bumped up the prices on all the remaining models by 50k or more. After pricing out what it would cost to build their (now smallest) Camilla model, we decided to pass.
Our concern was that the price of the same model built and sold in 2011 was in the mid to high $400k and it was now costing $750k or more. I could not see how they could justify a $300k increase in price in just 3 years.

[NALEXAND]

Wow! Unbelievable!

Originally Posted by GulfCoastGuy

I have the penultimate story to tell.. Go to Ladera in Lutz. Their cheapest single floor home is 780k and you have to wait for them to build it. And that's not the insane part. You talk to builder's sales rep at the model home and she tells you that they will determine the house's exterior paint color on a house that is not even built yet. They will choose the the finish, style, and color of the kitchen cabinets on an unbuilt home. You are not allowed to choose. Same goes for the tile and granite. I asked the woman "So for 780k, is the buyer allowed to make any selections for a home that has not even built yet?" She said, "no the builder has already made all the selections so that he can sell the house at this price." The arrogance was unreal. For the record, they quote this same single floor Camila IV plan on the internet (look at zillow) for $479,900 but then tell you it's really $780,000 when you get there. I didn't see the value and left.

I eagerly await someone to top this experience.

[NALEXAND]

Good Point!

Originally Posted by EngGirl

I am wondering there the difference between available online and actual price is coming from? Do they charge extra for everything (even if you are not choosing)? Is it the one community with at least 0.5 ac lots? Maybe they charge so much extra for any lot?

As for letting people to select - not allowing it might be a smart choice and I will explain why. People normally walk around decorated models and like what they see. All colors are normally well coordinated together. Now then people are getting in design center to pick their colors and options, most of them cannot see final product and how well their selections will be coordinated together, so they are getting sometimes a little uncoordinated mess at the end. I saw few new built houses with horrible choices of kitchen cabinets + wall colors + tiles and countertops colors. Nothing matched! When I chatted with owners it ended up they were picking "their favorite colors" and something they likes, but never put everything together in one picture. So, I guess if builder will go by the same way they go when they put models together it actually make sense.

[GulfCoastGuy]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

Are you talking about Taylor Morrison?
Looks like you compare their pricing for home to be built with current inventory home on specific home site loaded with upgrades like optional bonus room, outdoor kitchen, wet bar, extra bathroom, premium site. Let say you want to go with everything it comes with without upgrades - what will be the final price?"

Please read my post again. I didn't compare anything. I saw an MLS listed home on zillow at $479,900. I went there and asked about this home listed in the MLS for $479,900 and was told it was $780k. This home is not available in current inventory which I clearly stated in my post. If you look this home up on the MLS you will find out that it is listed for $479,900 as I stated. If you go there and ask about it they will tell you there are no current inventory for this home but that they will build one for you at 780k.

[GulfCoastGuy]

Originally Posted by SeaSpur

I still think it's insanity to buy a condo. The idea of a condo/townhouse doesn't appeal to me in the first place, but buying them right now just seems like a bad investment. There are *so* many of them here and many people are under and waiting for their moment to get close to even and throw it on the market...that is going to hurt any value of your condo now and for many years to come.

I don't get the "buy a condo young" then "move out into the suburbs when I get married" sentiment.

I totally agree but for different reasons. When I saw that the trendy high-rise condos coming in at
$495,000 plus $700mo condo fees, plus property taxes for a paltry 1,025 sqft of space I decided that
a house was a better investment.

[Roscoe Conkling]

Originally Posted by SeaSpur

I still think it's insanity to buy a condo. The idea of a condo/townhouse doesn't appeal to me in the first place, but buying them right now just seems like a bad investment. There are *so* many of them here and many people are under and waiting for their moment to get close to even and throw it on the market...that is going to hurt any value of your condo now and for many years to come.

I don't get the "buy a condo young" then "move out into the suburbs when I get married" sentiment.

As the economy picks up in the US it's inevitable that so too will the sales and prices of condos in Florida. They're often purchased as long-term investments by people from out of state and they're easier to maintain from a distance than a single family home.

Far from insanity this is a perfect time to buy a condo although not as perfect as two or three years ago when people on here were making apocalyptic predictions about Florida real estate.

My condo is already up 30% in value since three years ago.The good times are back for the canny investor.I'm in no hurry to sell either as real estate is going nowhere in value but up.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by GulfCoastGuy

Please read my post again. I didn't compare anything. I saw an MLS listed home on zillow at $479,900. I went there and asked about this home listed in the MLS for $479,900 and was told it was $780k. This home is not available in current inventory which I clearly stated in my post. If you look this home up on the MLS you will find out that it is listed for $479,900 as I stated. If you go there and ask about it they will tell you there are no current inventory for this home but that they will build one for you at 780k.

This happens more often since the builders often advertise on the MLS the base price of a home without any upgrades.

Some builders have even a difficult time quoting any upgrades since some are constructional items they can give right away but the design center items are where the issues often start with vague disclosures and difficult to get a decent answer what the total cost will be.

Often buyers are given a booklet which all the options itemized and then buyers have to do the math. My client had a hard time getting a quote for certain flooring through out and was told it is in the book and she needs to add it for each room. A few years back it was just a click on the computer to get the info but now either the employee is lazy or not giving full disclosure is what they hope will add money in the pocket of the builder but making it very difficult for a buyer to know what the final price is.

A finished product from a builder can be great for a buyer who has a difficult time deciding or working with a budget or one who has no clue about colors.

For all others choosing their own upgrades is a nice item to customize a home to their taste for as much a builder has options and making homes not all cookie cutter homes.

The best thing for a buyer is to walk into the empty build spec homes and see what they look like since often it is so different than the model which is loaded with upgrades from the outlets till the colors on the wall.

Just for glass doors for the kitchen cabinets for 2 cabinets was an additional of $ 2000 since it was $ 500 per door.... if you want the glass cabinets next to the microwave on both sides than it is already $ 1000 for one cabinet since nobody wants one door solid and one glass door. The prices are really high for some items.

Often we have seen in the past that tiles start to crack in the few years after a home is build and often it was due to the cheap materials used to lay the tile. If you look at resale you often come across that issue.

Builders often a better material if you upgrade and of course the ticket price is added.

Many buyers have to realize that at as builder the upgrades easily start at $ 50,000 when you want some simple items.

The most shocking to me that now you have to pay additional for a regular height toilet which they now call "comfort height" and which we have in our house as standard size for homes build in 2005. Now it is an upgrade or you get what most people will consider a kid size toilet which is now the standard included toilet.

We were talking the other day that toilets have seem to shrink or were we growing and we laughed about it but after meeting with builders and the homes we learned this is now an upgrade.

After all in 2005 granite was an upgrade and now it is standard so they need to come up with something else to make their money.

[EngGirl]

Originally Posted by GulfCoastGuy

Please read my post again. I didn't compare anything. I saw an MLS listed home on zillow at $479,900. I went there and asked about this home listed in the MLS for $479,900 and was told it was $780k. This home is not available in current inventory which I clearly stated in my post. If you look this home up on the MLS you will find out that it is listed for $479,900 as I stated. If you go there and ask about it they will tell you there are no current inventory for this home but that they will build one for you at 780k.

I am not saying you comparing, I was asking because current Taylor Morrison website also shows their base model starting from $479K. If they told you it's $780K, well, they are doing huge misadvertising and either need to update their online pricing or start offering it. Do you want to report them? I can give you the link how you can do it.
However one home in this floor plan shows April availability and priced to pretty much what you stated they asked - around $780K.
Did you asked them about $300K difference and there it's coming from?