Call me crazy....

[flowerpower]

but, I was thinking about trying to buy a condo in FL with the recent downturn in the market.

DD and I make at least 1-2 trips a year to WDW and for what I am paying for a Disney vacation I could be putting it towards something more permanent.

Anyone else with similar thoughts??

 

[kathie859]

Here's a few thoughts for you to consider if this will not be a cash purchase.
Be sure to speak to a few lenders to find out who is financing condos in Fl. Not every lender is doing mortgages on Fl condos due to the high foreclosure rate and the condo associations and management companies struggling to keep afloat. A stand alone home is easier to finance as a second home.

There's a lot of sites that show REO properties for various lenders. It may be easier to get financing (if you need it) from the lender holding the foreclosure.

Good luck...

 

[wdwfan16]

but, I was thinking about trying to buy a condo in FL with the recent downturn in the market.

DD and I make at least 1-2 trips a year to WDW and for what I am paying for a Disney vacation I could be putting it towards something more permanent.

Anyone else with similar thoughts??

Somebody I know was two days to closing on their condo in FL when they discovered the HOA was getting ready to go bankrupt. He was able to pull out of the sale. Had he not found out this could have cost him thousands.

 

[christa112]

I am guessing this could be a double edge sword because with the economy places are dropping prices left and right and you could get a steal, but on the flip side of it. Are you interested in renting the rest of the time? With the deals that Disney and other Olrando hotels are giving during this time you may find it difficult to compete with the deals.

We looked at some website just for laughs of houses in the Orlando area (our dream place to move). They have 4 to 5 bedroom homes with garages and built-in pools selling between $150,000 and $200,000 and some of these home are furnished!!!!! Heck, I would love to sell my house and move down there right now.

Hey, I would say if you can swing it and won't depend on rental income to pay for it. Why not look into it.

I guess the other option is to look into the DVC. Not sure how long your trips are for and when you typically travel to Orlando, but it maybe an option for your.

Good Luck. Let us know how things turn out.

 

[lastminutemom]

Make sure you understand the insurance rates in Florida (generally higher than many other parts of the country) and the property tax rates (you won't get any exemptions because you won't be living in the unit.)

Without wanting to sound to negative, be prepared to own it forever. Do not view it as an investment. It will be many years before the condo market in Florida recovers and some experts thing this the current market values are our new reality for a very long time.

Finally, do check out the health of the Home Owners Association. When people are unable to pay their mortgages, they certainly stop paying the HOA dues. Also, be prepared for increases in HOA dues as well, even if the HOA is healthy.

 

[SandrA9810]

insurance is crazy down here. And flood damage is seperate insurance and many people find that out the hard way. And no matter what "flood zone" you may live in, it's florida, it floods every where.

And be sure that during the summer time, you can make it down here on a moments notice to prepare your place for a hurricane.
I think it's law that any new housing sold must come with shutters, but i don't know the extent of it.

It could be fun to own a home here, and it might be more tempting to make it here whenever you feel like it, but look into other options likle DVC where you can use it for other places too if you want something different. Or you could look at it as a retirement home for when yopu're an empty nester.

 

[PatriciaH]

Condo units are scary here now. The monthly fees are going crazy since so many people are walking away! The ones who pay have to make up the difference and it is not really fair. The unit may look cheap but then have $300+ in fees per month. There are some townhomes in Celebration with monthly fees of $700+ now! People can't get rid of them. The nicer areas (Celebration, Winter Park, Windemere, Dr. Phillips) have held their value better and will not be $150k for a home-that is probably for an area with transient people, empty homes and/or a bad unsafe neighborhood. Florida is a lot more expensive than people think. We moved in 2004 from MA and everything went up for us (electric, groceries, rent, etc.) Also be careful with bad construction (they are having to re-do a lot of the condo decks in downtown Celebration since they are rotting away) and Chinese drywall.

 

[a1tinkfans]

op: Just my 2 cents...or should I say my "penny" as even that small change has depreciated
we're from the NE too. We looked this past year and found the following:
Many people are in or going into foreclosure...That situation is NOT completely done yet despite what some would have you/us believe. I personally believe it will be another year or two to get this back up and rallying. It is starting Slowly, but Not over by a long shot.....values are NOT up!
The associations are starving with all those that walk away or refuse to pay their dues and the rest of the people have to make up for that, It is awful. And the places are getting more and more run down...more transients are moving in, so check out crime stats at local police stations.
The insurance rates are HIGH, even to us and we thought NE was high, it is comparable and even higher as we have seen.
The other thing to think about is what will you do if you use it even 30 days a year, rent it? Who will maintain it (bugs/water etc) while you are not there? management companies will do it for you, at a cost....so, be prepared for that.
As far as houses go, IF you are able to go gated community you have a much better shot at it staying safe versus just purchasing, out on some street somewhere. Last thing you need is someone Squatting in your house, while you are miles away...........
SO, IMHO, While it looks good from afar, it is really FAR from good! If you have the $$ to spend, get it into something Safe and Make more of it while you are able too. Its what we decided, which was not an easy decision. Maybe next year...........

 

[cvjw]

We just recently bought into DVC to save on our yearly trips to Disney. I personally would not want the upkeep on a 2nd home - the utility bills, the insurance, the taxes. I always think about owning a home in Florida and a hurricane coming. I could not get to the house to make it hurricane proof. That is why we bought into DVC, there is someone there watching over the properties. You just pay your yearly dues, and Disney does the rest.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

dvc is the way to go

 

[buzz5985]

Chinese drywall.

This stuff is scary!!!! You have to wonder how many people outside of FL know about it???

 

[flowerpower]

Wow-thanks for the great insight. Some of these things I had thought about. some not.

No matter it will be a well researched decision, but I certainly appreciate the input.

Always get great info at the Dis;which is why I lurk and read so much

 

[Nayan]

It is very expensive to live here. Insurance, if you can get it is very high along with taxes. If a hurricane hits (the Storm Tour of 2004 destroyed our house) then you're looking at a huge hassle, from getting insurance to pay to finding reputable people to fix your home. While living here might seem like a dream at times it can really be a nightmare.

 

[Kay1]

I really wouldn't consider it for one single second, partly because of the reasons mentioned, plus a lot of those crazy mortgages written in 2005 and 2006 haven't reset yet. Google: Credit Suisse mortgage reset chart and you can see it's not over yet.

 

[andrews_dad]

Real estate can still be a sound investment, over time, IMO. If you can buy a nice home down there for $250K now with a nice mortgage rate, you have a nice investment IMO. Condo's are a scary proposition, though, due to maintainence fees. They jack those things up all of the time, and it is nothing but "wasted money." It does not hit your principle at all and goes to paying a landscaper and lining the pockets of teh property owner. If you have the $$ to put down, I would indeed consider buying a nice home down there while the market is ripe (not a condo, though). Especially if it is a place that you might consider retiring to down the road. If you buy that same home to retire to in 20-30 years the pricetag might by 5 times what it currently is.

Depending on how you use the Fla property and how much time you spend there, you may be able to get Fla residency and qualify for the steals of the deals the locals get on AP to places like SeaWorld, Universal, and discounted Diz tickets. If I had the $$ and the work schedule, I could see buying a cheap car and put in the garage of my vacation home in Orlando. Anytime SouthWest had a $49 ding fare I'd fly down and use up some more days on my various AP's and such.

 

[snowbunny]

Real estate can still be a sound investment, over time, IMO.

I would not buy Orlando real estate as an investment. The area is already overbuilt and with foreclosures (yes many more to come, as others have said), it will be a very long time before prices are "back."

Furthermore a single-family home in a gated community means little. If a good portion of the neighborhood becomes foreclosed, your empty neighbor house may feature a waist-high lawn and algae-covered swimming pool. Do you really want to mow lawns in your development for free to try to keep it looking half decent? Because people are doing this to try to save their neighborhoods.

All that aside, I would price out the per-visit cost of that home fully loaded with all costs. Without knowing your plans it will almost certainly be many thousands per trip. You'd be better off buying any timeshare on the resale market and paying the maintenance fees. If DVC is too pricey, Wyndham Bonnet Creek is a steal.

 

[Colleen27]

It has crossed my mind, but we aren't quite ready to take the plunge just yet. We want to spend our winters in central FL once the kids are grown, somewhere within a reasonable distance of both Disney and Lakeland, and in the meantime we could use it for trips. We'd be paying cash, though, and there are a couple things that have to happen up here for us to spend that kind of dough - work has to stabilize a bit and I'd be more comfortable if we sold our old house first (right now, we have a rent-to-own contract with a good tenant, but still, its our names on the mortgage). And I'm not necessarily interested in condos. I'd rather find a fixer/foreclosure single family property, even though it would be more upkeep, than have to deal with a condo association & fees.

 

[SandrA9810]

In the news, they were talking about Champion's Gate/Reunion area. It was supposed to be the new high class golf area, but huge million dollar mansions are only selling for 300,000 or less.

It's right off i-4, about 15min drive to Disney, and about an hour from lakeland.

 

[silmarg]

I was seriously eyeing a condo or two in Celebration, but owning real property can be a big hassle... So I went with a DVC on the resale market...

 

[flowerpower]

I am thinking towards the future-even though we're from New England and love it here, my husband has already made it clear once we retire we will not be living in the north. He really is getting to hate the cold weather.