Zena56

Hi All

I hope someone on this forum can give us some step by step (for dummies) advice on buying a vacation home in Forida.

We are looking at buying a property in Florida - for our own personel use mainly. We do not want to leave England entirely and want to spend approx 2-3 months a year in Florida. We are hoping to buy something for approx £40,000 to £45,000 cash.

We have thought of perhaps renting the property out for 6 months of the year when we are not using it.

We have researched a number of propertes and have seen also a number which really tick the box for us. But we have no idea of what taxes etc would be required on a yearly basis, how we can find a good agent to help us with our process and what are the pitfalls or pluses regarding buying this type of home.

Help is desperately needed.

Thanks
Zena

Michael

You can understand the basics of buying a home in the US by reading the following link starting at post #12.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=789973

Bob

Pitfalls are many, but then there are many threads on BE that go over those.

Good luck.

Pulaski

What is "this type of home" - trailer, double-wide, condo tower, condo low-rise, single family home in a development, or not??? ...The possibilities are numerous and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Is there a pool?

FWIW $60-70k doesn't sound like much for a nice house in a safe and convenient area to me, nor even for a condo. If you go ahead with this plan, a large part of your search needs to focus beyond the four walls of the building and the perimeter of the property.

And where is it in Florida? I would assume the greater Orlando area? But if not the areas vary as widely in other states from very rural and very red-neck, to bland developments that could be in just about any state in the US.

With the heat and humidity, you'll need to run you AC constantly to stop mould. The county around Orlando has bye-laws against short term rentals of homes, this may be the case in other places, so may affect your ability to rent. How do you plan to board up your home when a hurricane is threatened, if you're not there? What about mowing and landscape maintenance - developments typically have strict rules, and often harsh penalties.

ian-mstm

I suggest you triple - or at least, double - your expected output... unless you want to live in a trailer somewhere surrounded by swampland.

Ian

TimNiceBut

The sort of money the OP mentions might well buy a decent condo but I'd be very careful with that, given how broke most condo associations (especially in the touristy areas) are. There might be some unpleasant surprises down the pipeline.

ottotheboar

My wife's mother lives in Connecticut and was visiting friends who have moved to the Boca Raton / Delray Beach area.
She said there was plenty of condos to choose from around $70,000 but they all came with a monthly service fee of at least $500 per month.
Some condos will not allow sub letting.

Ray

renting 6 months a years is a dream ..few rarely get

for $65k ..you wont get much
running cost, taxes. monthly management fees will suck you dry

first decide where in Florida ..find the zip code and check whether
short term rental is allowed

then study http://www.realtor.com/florida/nbselfl.asp?source=web

remember the further south you go the price and temp rise

I live in Florida

do not even consider a Condo

RICH

For a much simpler life, consider renting a place for your 2/3 months a year. You can try a different place each time, fixed price, no concerns.
Invest the 40k well and it might pay for it.
Friends of my parents have done this for years.
On the other hand if you must buy, now is possibly the bottom of the market, so it might be worth it long term. But it won't be a "holiday villa" at that price.

Pulaski

That is highly unlikely because of the costs of taxes, insurance, repairs and maintenance, utilities (esp AC), local agent/ property manager fees (who is going to "keep an eye on it" if you're gone for 8+ months of the year?), HOA/condo fees (and the potential for "special assessments" for major repairs), and investment income forgone (opportunity cost of investing cash in the house, or interest cost if the money is either borrowed OR could otherwise be used to pay off other debts.). :

Add up that lot and the house would have to be the steal of the century to make money.

RICH

Just to clear up the idea of ac always on to prevent mold.
AC is always needed for COMFORT from now = April to Halloween.
AC is OFF from 8-5 while i am at work.
I do not know if this is typical, but I have no mold after 3 years.

Ray

its in the walls hiding from you along with the roaches

RICH

Actually it's not. I know, because I had to rip walls apart, to repair the Termite damage

Ray

you naughty spammer you ..

Calle236

Very true. Plus there are a lot of costs associated with renting including income taxes, agents fees, cleaning services, advertising and maintenance.

Sorry I disagree here. We do own a 2-bed/2-bath condo that we use for a few months every winter. It suits us.

A few pointers based on our experince:

• Go for a long holiday and rent first. Get to know the area and see where abouts you actually want to live. Just as in the UK think about location, location, location!
• Find a realtor who understands you and what you're looking for. He/she will do a lot of the legwork for you and save you money in the long run. A good one will guide you through the buying process and will negotiate with the seller on your behalf.
• Consider your UK home carefully. Can you lock and leave it for the months you are Florida. Property insurance can be particularly tricky to get.

To actually buy the property there are very few costs in addition to the negotiated selling price. The realtor will be paid a commision. You should get a home inspection done to make sure the place is sound (I think ours cost a couple of hundred dollars). You will have to pay a title agent to get the property's title transferred to you. And you may want to consult a lawyer as well. That's about it.

But to own a property is a different story. There are significant costs to be paid whether you use the place or not. Obviously just like in the UK costs vary but to give you some data, we pay:

• A quarterly fee to our HOA (Home Owners Association) to cover common areas, outside building maintenance, pool maintenance, trash collection, and basic cable. The costs vary depending on the HOA, the service levels and the facilities. Ours is about $3,000 per annum but places we looked at varied between $1,500 and $8,000 per annum.
• electricity bills - there are standing charges plus and usage costs. We use electricity for air con, heating (rarely on), cooking and water heating. We have a humidistat that we run throughout the summer months when we're not there to control mold growth. Our bill is about $15 per month when the place is empty; and when we are there it's about $50 a month in winter rising to about $80 a month in summer.
• Water bills - Our standing charges are about $50 a month and add another $30 a month to that for water used when we're there .
  
• Annual property taxes. These vary depending on the area you live in and the assessed value of the property. We are in Sarasota County and our property is assessed as value = $107,000 and we paid $1,700 in 2012.
• Cable TV - our basic cable is include in our HOA fees and we don't take any additional services.
• Phone - We don't have a landline and we use a "Trackphone" (a kind of payg mobile). Our annual costs are about $120. We also use Skype to keep in touch with family and friends in the UK.
• Internet - is much more expensive than in the UK. We pay about $50 a month (that's the lowest we can get there) but we can return to modem to Comcast when we are leaving so we only pay for the months we're there.
• Odds and ends. We are required to get an annual "backflow inspection" on our water supply ($50). Tumble dryer vent cleaning every couple of years ($50). We pay a handyman to fix our storm shutter in late April / early May and take them down again in November ($200)
• Then of course there are repairs and maintenance.

Hope this helps. I remember asking the same questions when we were thinking of buying. Good luck.