Buying Property in Florida

hearts

Does anyone know of any sites that list foreclosure homes for sale? Done a Google but most of the ones I see are looking for paid membership, which is probably just another way to scam.

mr-mad_2

Not Forclosure but these are useful
http://www.trulia.com/
http://www.realtor.com/

Compare all house prices not just foreclosure, Prices of normal sales could
be relative, or very negotiable.

Better to buy a house for sale privately, less complicated than buying foreclosure

Anyone know of any other good search sites?

gfplux

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

There have 58 repossessions to date on the Florida estate that my friend's brother bought his villa (to rent).

She said a big worry to the owners of the other villas, is that the services get turned off on the repossession and then the swimming pools turn black and the houses start to go mouldy. Nobody wants to have a black swimming pool in eyesight of their rental villas pool.

My family live in Florida and when I see the non stop maintenance required (their house is 5 years old) The wonderful climate of sun, wind, humidity and insects, is not very forgiving to wood, paint and metal and I can imagine how these beautiful houses can become a wreck in a very short time.

Trollfever

And some more properties in Florida:

http://realestate.search-desc.ebay.com/florida_Residential_W0QQa15ZQ2d24QQa16ZQ2d24QQa20ZQ2d24QQa9ZQ2d24QQalistZa9Q2ca10Q2ca20Q2ca15Q2ca16Q2ca3801QQcatrefZC6QQdfspZ2QQfposZQ5AIPQ2fPostalQQfromZR2QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ2QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQftsZ2QQgcsZ9QQpf_queryZfloridaQQpfidZ10QQpfmodeZ1QQreqtypeZ2QQsabfmtsZ1QQsacatZ12605QQsadisZ200QQsaobfmtsZinsifQQsargnZQ2d1QQsaslcZ2QQsbrftogZ1QQsofocusZbs

Kez100

Love the one at the top which has been 'remodelled' and selling for a quarter value. His workmanship is worse than some of Sarah Beeneys recruits!

mr-mad_2

Here we are three months on, and the prices are still falling.
We will be over there in July again, mainly holiday, but will again look at a few.

Realtors tell me the property market has turned, and point out that sales are up
(They would say that wouldn’t they?)
Also care should be taken making low offers for fear of insulting the seller?

It's still a buyers market and any offer we make on a property will reflect that.

Our current realtor is very good (after being shown round unsuitable properties by
The previous realtor).

We won’t be buying till we have the full picture, including all running costs.
And get a good deal.

We have friends who have a villa there already, who confirm that the only way to rely on rentals is to promote the property yourself.

Other friends have a property on the coast, shared with another family, who use it for their own families. No Rental No Taxes (UK or US)

We are in the position to have cash available, so we are not tied to any bank, and the loan interest cost is not therefore adding to our monthly expenses.

Kez100

I think the costs of running a property in Florida are high so it won't necessarily be an easy ride even if you do own the place, having paid with cash.

JessicaF_2

We own a house in another US state, and the running costs for a house left empty can get high.

We pay someone to look after the gardens, water the plants, mow the lawns etc....

Then there are the property taxes, ours have just risen $400 this year.

The utilities can be on the high side with hot temperatures. Our air con pushes our bills up, as we have it on a timer to keep the house cool. Our surveyor advised us to do so.

The costs of actually buying were expensive, far more than in the UK. Legal fees etc...

Also, we have been told that if the house is sold the buyer must withold 30% of the sale value - something to do with the IRS. You must then apply for the money from the IRS, something to do with tax bills.

Then there is maintenance etc...house insurance was hard for us to get, but that is because we are in a state that isn't common for overseas owners. Also, our house in in area frequented by Tornadoes, Florida has similar extreme weather and that can also take a toll on a house and increase the upkeep considerably.

All in all you could be looking at a few hundred pounds per month upkeep.

Jess

disney_cjd

I would not listen to the doubters at all. Now is a great time to buy a property in Florida. We had had ours for nearly three years and yes its dipped a little in value but frankly I do not care because of a number of reasons.

Firstly, you need to decide why you want the home. Ours is like you are suggesting. Cash buy, no debt and a place for all the family to use. We do not rent it but it still gets a good 8 months use a year. The kids love it as its their home and they settle quickly when we are over.

If you are planning to rent it you need to be careful of where it is, Not all homes can be rented for short terms (like two weeks etc). There are zones areas so be careful. Some of the great places like on legends etc are NOT zoned for STR (short term rentals) others are.

Also, you mentioned retiring there. Be careful on visas etc. YOu can still get a 6 month visa to stay in the US which you can use to "snowbird" remember though that this is 6 months only and you can not live there on this.

If you have enough money in the bank then its possible to get a different visa and stay for longer.

There are a lot of costs associated with buying (and running) a property in Florida though. You mentioned closing costs so you have some idea which is great. You will also have a yearly property tax to pay somewhere from 3 to 6 grand USD depending on the value of your house. Plus you will have utilities bills even if the house is empty as you will need to run the A/C all year around etc. Also pest control. pool and lawn care etc. Some management companies include these but word of warning on these too. There are so many rubbish runs and I hate to say that there are a lot of people who will rip you off and a few times these have been British people too. Be warned.

Your best bet is to hook up with a decent US Relator (estate agent) And use the tools available to you here.

But as you already have a US Bank account, would appear you know about the US system in some depth anyway.

Regards

Trollfever

Fast forward two years..............................

...................and I do wonder where the folks in the UK will be getting the money from to pay for the air fares to Florida.