We're Losing Money on our Florida Property - help!!!

SleepWalker_2

Hello,

We bought a seven bedroom Florida property off plan and have been renting it out for the last year and a half but the management company are useless.

We've had tenants stay just for a few days for a party who break things and leave stains on the sofas etc but the management company weren't taking any of their deposit from them.

We had been bearly getting enough people stay in the property in order to pay the mortgage each month so decided to put it on the market but it isn't selling.

We would switch to a better management company but as the property is up for sale different management companies aren't interested in taking us onboard.

Was just wondering if there's any others on here in the same situation or if anyone has any advice as to what we can do.

BobProperty

SleepWalker wrote: »

We bought a seven bedroom Florida property off plan and have been renting it out for the last year and a half....

We had been bearly getting enough people stay in the property in order to pay the mortgage each month so decided to put it on the market but it isn't selling.....

What market did you expect a 7 bed house to rent to?
How far off being in negative equity (or "under water") are you?
Given the house is about 2 year old, is the mortgage about to go up?
Where about is it, Florida is a reasonable size? I ask that as I understand that the market is pretty bad in some places.

Griptool

BobProperty wrote: »

the market is pretty bad in some places.:rotfl:

Speculative investments in illiquid assets are never the smartest play, I would get out now at any cost - florida has got a long way to go before it hits bottom.

'Craig Studnicky, of International Sales Group in Florida, another property broker, said: “We are having to cope with five or six years of oversupply." '

macaque_2

You have two choices; sell up or sit it out. If it was me, I would slash the price and cut my losses as quickly as possible. The idea of toughing it out for the next 20 years trying to break even sounds like a recipe for an unhappy life.

I think you have guts for telling it like it is and others may have cause to thank you for this. TV programmes which play up the glamour of buying abroad are the financial equivalent of drug peddlers. Owning property abroad is a huge risk. As an absent landlord you are a sitting duck for changes in property laws, tax laws, crooked agents and bad tenants.

Running_Horse

What on earth do you need a seven bedroom house in a foreign country for? There are far easier ways to throw your money away. Sell for what you can and reinvest a little more wisely.

BobProperty

Griptool wrote: »

Speculative investments in illiquid assets are never the smartest play, I would get out now at any cost - florida has got a long way to go before it hits bottom.

'Craig Studnicky, of International Sales Group in Florida, another property broker, said: “We are having to cope with five or six years of oversupply." '

Like I said, it varies from place to place. Other parts of Florida only have 2 - 2.5 years of inventory on their books, IIRC. ......:eek:

vickyj

Running_Horse wrote: »

What on earth do you need a seven bedroom house in a foreign country for? There are far easier ways to throw your money away. Sell for what you can and reinvest a little more wisely.

WOW tell op they were stupid and then patronise, how helpfull you are :rolleyes2

plane_boy2000

Op - I agree with others on here who advise you to get out ASAP. Unfortunatly there is massive oversupply in this market so as a resale you are competing against the new builders who will offer furniture packs and lot sof other incentives. The market there is already in free fall so you will really need to be honest with the agent and tell them you need it gone ASAP so are open to offers. I think if you dont get rid of it soon you will be sat on it for at least 5 years before the price bounces back to anything like its worth today, and by then you will have probably been subsidising it and spending money on renovation / repairs etc.

Feel free not to answer, but out of interest how much does a 7 bed property cost?

SquatNow

OP - Sorry, but you fell for a real estate con. A lot of people have. You were sold a property on the basis of overstated rental returns.

You need to accept that your going to lose a shed load of money, and sell immediately to cut you losses.

You're chasing a market down so you need to knock enough off the price to get an immediate. Every day you wait means you get even less for the property.

Cut your losses and move on.

dolce_vita

A classic case of greed and stupidity.

Running_Horse

vickyj wrote: »

WOW tell op they were stupid and then patronise, how helpfull you are :rolleyes2

OP was stupid, and greedy. You might not like my advice, but its a shame nobody else was "patronising" before such an unwise investment. I see you have nothing useful to say to OP; perhaps you could pat them on the back and say "there there", in an unpatronising manner of course.