Housing prices! (vent)

[manhattan]

Ugh!! I moved from NY to FL thinking it would be a better life for us here, but guess what? The grass isn't greener on this side. My company transferred me down here and they were nice enough to keep me at my NY salary. When we were in NY I was able to support my family while my DH stayed at home with the kids. Well, you would think that we could continue to do that here, but we can't. Cost of living is sooooo much higher down here. So now DH has to return to work so we can afford to live here, but he is having such a hard time finding a job, he registered with 5 different agencies and not one has sent him out on an interview (over the past 8 months!). I was able to find a weekend job to help put food on the table. And now we rec'd our lease renewal letter and our rent is going up $280! We thought about buying a house, but everything is so outrageously priced that we can't afford anything (I am secretly hoping that the bubble will burst). The cheapest we can find is a 3/2 townhome for $299K, and if we were to buy that we would put every penny that comes into our home to the mortgage....we couldn't afford food, electricity, phone....you get the idea. I have no choice but to continue to rent. But I refuse to stay where we are and give them that much extra when the past 10 months have not been the most pleasant. So now I have to look elsewhere, which is fine, except that my kids are upset that they will have to move, yet again, and then I am sure we will have to move in 12 months again! I keep telling myself, as long as your moving, move back to NY where its cheaper to live......haven't had a good night's sleep in over a week. Don't know what to do! I miss NY and the stability we had up there.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I hope you guys can get settled soon. Sometimes we're thrown pretty tough curves.

 

[Caradana]

So sorry to hear it. Gauging by your username, did you go from Manhattan to South Florida, and find that the cost of living was higher!?! Wow. I can't even imagine.

 

[RitaZ.]

Where in S. FL are you living?

 

[diznygirl]

Having moved from Los Angeles to Central Florida, I cannot even begin to imagine that it would less expensive where you came from - even with housing prices going up around here.... I can only guess that South Florida must be very, very different. I know we can get a 5 bedroom mansion for $250,000 in one of the new housing developments........ maybe you and DH should look for work up here (you probably already are!)

Good luck!

 

[ADisneygirl]

I am sorry to hear things aren't working out the way you expected. We also came here from NY, and it was a transfer for my husband with his NY salary. Did you try to look for housing a little further away from the area you work in? Maybe a longer drive to work could get you into a house that is more reasonably priced. I know playing the renting game is a losing battle because the rent keeps on increasing and you get nothing in return on the investment.

Where in NY were you from? Upstate? I know one of the prime reasons my husband wanted to move, besides the warm sunshine, was because we were getting priced out of the housing market up there. Realtors were only showing us fixer-uppers or taking us to townhomes when we wanted a single family. And my husband made a good salary, but he was still going to drive 2 1/2 hours into the city every day in order to afford a house.

We moved to please him basically, because I happen to hate it here. Except for WDW, and maybe the pretty beaches, I am miserable.

I hope things start looking up for you soon.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Where are you Manhattan?? I am in Palm Beach and there are a few townhouses around here going for 240..I also know a few apartments that are good...I have lived here my whole life ( I work and grew up in Broward)...let me know if you need area advice

 

[pjshaff]

It's pretty amazing, last night I went on the Dade County Tax Assessment site out of curiosity. The house that I grew up in now has a market value of $209 k. My husband's old house was re-sold last year for a whopping $377 k after his mom sold it for $110 k in 1998. The market down there has exploded. I'm actually quite happy that we got out of there when we did, because I don't think we would've been able to afford living down there, or move into a better neighborhood.

I do feel for you, hopefully you will be able to find something in the price range you want.

BTW, where exactly are you now?


Pam

 

[kimisabella]

manhattan - where in ny are you from? Here on LI the housing prices are through the roof. Where I am the starting prices for houses are 600K and those are the ones that need work!! Right now our house is for sale as we want to try to get into a different school district, but there is nothing in our price range that doesn't need a lot more money put into it. We have some friends that live in Melbourne, and family in Jupiter, and they say that the housing is really getting crazy down there too. It's so difficult for young families to live here, if all of my family wasn't here on LI, I would seriously consider moving to FL.

 

[Pin Wizard]

South Florida is expensive. It's not a cheap part of the state. Sold my home in Palm Beach County a year ago for more than double what I paid just 7 years before. Good for me, bad for the buyer.

 

[chrissyk]

South FL is very expensive, so I feel for you. A lot of people are moving here (Space Coast) from South FL because the cost of living here is so much lower. Can you relocate to another part of FL? We're from MA, and we find the Space Coast to be very reasonable in terms of cost-of-living. We're doing a lot better here than we were in MA. I hope that you find a solution soon. As far as I'm concerned, the housing in South FL is no cheaper than the housing in the northeast

 

[scrump]

I am a New Yorker (Manhattan-area) and how many times have I dreamed about moving down to Florida thinking that housing would be more affordable, and because I'd be closer to you-know-where. I really feel for you, my husband and I are struggling to find something here. SIGH...

 

[nativetxn]

I'm sorry that you are having a hard time. I hope you can find a better place to rent where you are happy.

Katholyn

 

[binny]

I thinkits gone up everywhere!

We put a bid on a nice new house last week, we decided it wasnt the right house for us. That same house down the street is now on the market for $15,000 more! In ONE WEEK! I talked to teh relator and she said the builder "because he could"

if the market will take they will do it!


Good luck to you!

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I live in NW Florida and housing went up 40% since Ivan. We now have a shortage of housing in this area so houses are on the market for less than a week. If I had to buy a house in my neck of the woods I would not be able to afford it, but when it is time for me to sell I might me a happer camper. Well, I guess that depends on the housing market where I will live.

I have a friend who is a realtor and she stated that people in New York are just calling and buying a home here without seeing it because it is cheaper and they are looking at coming here in a few years. They will then turn around and rent out the house for a few years before they move in it. I think Florida is just going to keep on growing with people wanting to retire here and cost of homes are just going to go up.

I would have thought the entire state of N.Y to be more expensive than Florida. What about the taxes in N.Y aren't they more expensive?

 

[chrissyk]

I think Florida is just going to keep on growing with people wanting to retire here and cost of homes are just going to go up.

Yep. It's not just the retirees, either. The housing markets in the northeast, NY, NJ, and CA are out-of-control expensive. The weather in the cold areas is very undesireable to many people, gas prices are very high (making home heating very high), property taxes are out-of-control in many of these areas, etc. FL still looks cheap to people from the aforementioned areas. I don't think that the FL housing market is going down anytime soon. I'm glad that we settled here when we did.

 

[FINFAN]

To the OP....Back in Feb., DH was offered a position in Ft. Lauderdale, a dream come true for me. I am familiar with the Gulf side of Fl. for housing and pretty much only familiar with the "fun" vacation-type stuff for the East. We began researching areas closest to what we are used to, and schools etc, and had TONS of help from RitaZ., she really went above and beyond. (Now keep in mind, DH was unemployed, butwe did have some severence to live on) We could not believe how expensive an average home was going to be...and by average I mean a 3 bedroom/2 bath...1800 sq. ft place, no pool, small lot. I was o.k. with it, but DH has worked his whole life to have a little piece of property, at least large enough to not hear his neighbors t.v.! Anyway, Rita is in a beautiful area, but we were priced right out of it. Our home here in Il would sell for about $415, but even still, by the time we added the homeowners ins(almost triple ours) auto ins (double) and the distance DH would've been driving to get to work...about 60 miles each way...we had to turn it down. A VERY difficult thing for me...and DD who can't wait to get there. My parents are on the Gulf side as is my brother/niece...I am still "getting over"" the fact that we had to say no. The kicker is, DH took a job here that pays LESS than the FL one! However, even tho our taxes ar outrageous, our current mtg is more affordable at a lower salary. In IL we pay just under 3 percent state income tax, and none in Fl., but it just didn't help that much. The kids realized we stood a better chance of getting to WDW once every 2 years from Il than if we had taken that offer. It haunts me every day...'cause to me, a bad day under a palm tree beats a good day anywhere else, but it was a family decision, and DH just wasn't all the way on board. We have had FL as our goal for so long (forever for me) that we are now trying to deal with how to handle the fact that it may be changing. it is very odd. I always say you need to give at least 2 years time to a place you relo to...the first year is stress/fear/expense...and the second year you start to get your bearings and hone in on the area/ neighborhood you really want to live in. I hear ya with the kids situation....we felt we had to find the right home on the first try, as DD is a freshman now and DS is entering Jr Hi....moving DD more than once in a 3 year time frame would have been rough. DH even contemplated commuting across the state, from Naples to Lauderdale...I said no way...nothing is worth that! So, you are not alone in this struggle, let us all know what town you are in...maybe we can help you thru this frustrating time. Have you looked into any lease to own properties? We saw several that were nice....jst a thought.

Pam

 

[Pin Wizard]

It's high in so many places in the country. I was talking with my realtor here this week since I'm thinking about moving closer to work. I've only had this home a year. She told me what two homes in the development sold for recently, then said that by the summer she expects mine would easily sell for more than a $30,000 increase from what I paid for it. Then again, where I'm looking to move is double the property taxes I'm paying. Will have to figure out if that's worth it or driving the 65 miles round trip a day.

 

[RitaZ.]

Pam, you are too kind. You know that I really enjoyed helping you. I'm sure that your driver's license will say "FL resident" one day. .

 

[manhattan]

Thank you for reading and posting....you have all made me feel a little better.

I was born and raised in Midtown Manhattan...my parents still have their apartment there. But we lived in Hudson County right across the Hudson River, not on the River, but a few blocks away.........had a great view of the NYC skyline from my bedroom window. We had a huge 3/2 modern apartment (if anyone is familiar with Hudson County you know those houses are old, but many new ones are popping up) that was slightly more expensive than a regular apartment. Our children went to a small private catholic school and I worked in Midtown as well. My commute was 1 hour door to door and my commuting expense was $63 a month for a monthly bus pass. We only used our car on weekends, so gas prices was not an issue for us.

We too dreamed of being in FL for many years as we took 2 vacations a year to see Mickey. So when the opportunity to work here opened up, well I asked for a transfer. I now work in Downtown Fort Lauderdale and live in Pembroke Pines which is a 40 minute commute (over an hour during the winter months). We picked our area because of the school district. We knew when we came down that the schools are not as good as those up north and we also knew we could not afford private schools here, so we did the next best thing and picked a place that had a good school district.

Now our new rent ($1700) is higher than what we paid in Jersey ($1,300) our car insurance is higher than it was in NJ, our electric bill is higher than PSEG was, we found ourselves having to get cells (cause who wants to break down on the highway and have no means of communication?), while in NJ we didn't feel the need for it as DH was with the kids, and when we really did need them on 9/11 and during the blackout, they didn't work. We find that groceries are more expensive here and you don't have the selection that we had up north. And it seems we are pulling into the gas station every few days spending $40 to fill up the tank.

Yes, it is nice to have palm trees around and the beaches, but when you are working 7 days a week....not much chance for enjoying them. And here is the funny part.....we can't afford to go see Mickey at all now!

So we dream of owning a home, except that now we can't afford anything. We have looked at some townhomes 3/2 1,300sf going for $299k! People say go north.....but do I want to do a 2 hour commute? For that I can go back up to NY and make more money, and DH could find a job in a week....not a year like here. I would love to go somewhere else in FL, but my company only has an office here, so that would mean quitting a good paying job and get a lesser paying job, which funny enough, with the average salary here, DH and I both working would make what I currenty make on my own.......so there you have my life....