If we buy a house in Florida HOW DO WE FURNISH IT???

[irisesareblue]

Hubby and I have been looking to purchase a 2nd home in Florida - it will likely be a "fixer-upper" (of which there are plenty on the market) and I was wondering - how would we furnish it? I wouldn't think we could take furniture across the border, can we? Are there many second hand stores in the area?

It isn't like a regular vacation home, which apparently come fully furnished - it truly is a wreck of a house and we'll have to buy everything including appliances! Any advice on where to purchase stuff?

 

[Gigi22]

My Dad completely furnished his Florida condo with the assistance of a decorator from a home store in Florida (could have been Sears). I know it was fairly inexpensive. I think the appliances came with the condo. I believe he bought the furniture by the room, it had that match-match feel to it.
You should likely avoid purchasing secondhand upholstered furniture at present, due to the bed bug situation.

 

[irisesareblue]

My Dad completely furnished his Florida condo with the assistance of a decorator from a home store in Florida (could have been Sears). I know it was fairly inexpensive. I think the appliances came with the condo. I believe he bought the furniture by the room, it had that match-match feel to it.
You should likely avoid purchasing secondhand upholstered furniture at present, due to the bed bug situation.

Good idea! Never even thought about the bed bug thing! Sears is great idea.

 

[dsneygirl]

There is a provision in the Customs Act for non-residents to bring goods into Canada to furnish their "seasonal residence" duty and tax free. I would do some research if the US has anything for goods moving in the opposite direction.

 

[Belle599]

How about Rooms to Go? Their prices seem to be very good and the furniture seems quite decent for the price.

 

[irisesareblue]

I'll have to check out roomstogo - the offer was put in today and our realtor is cautiously optimistic! I might be in Orlando to do the inspection this weekend or next - going to try to stay onsite for the first (and maybe last) time ever!

 

[prairiegekko]

Hey there fellow Canadians! I moved to Florida from Ontario in 2006. I moved with a work visa and had a moving company bring my furniture. All of it arrived as scheduled with no questions asked. I had my employer pay for it, so it may be costly out of pocket. Note financially speaking if planning to buy furniture in the US, you can expect to pay cash or barrow from Canada as you will have absolutly no credit rating in the US unless it was already previously established. I have a tonne of info about housing in Florida as I have been in my fixer upper house for a year. Any questions send them my way.

 

[glendalais]

I like IKEA personally. There's one at the Mall of Millenia in Orlando.

As for appliances, while I can't say much for their marketing strategies, I have heard good things about Appliance Direct.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Hubby and I have been looking to purchase a 2nd home in Florida - it will likely be a "fixer-upper" (of which there are plenty on the market) and I was wondering - how would we furnish it? I wouldn't think we could take furniture across the border, can we? Are there many second hand stores in the area?

It isn't like a regular vacation home, which apparently come fully furnished - it truly is a wreck of a house and we'll have to buy everything including appliances! Any advice on where to purchase stuff?

You will have a hard time beating Appliance Direct for appliances, they have stores everywhere in Central Florida. There are furniture stores, both new and used, everywhere.

I would think that the most important part of the purchase of a "fixer-upper" is to make sure that you fix what needs to be fixed first. The first thing you might consider is employing a very good home inspection company to assess what is wrong with the house. Roofs, heating and cooling systems, windows, plumbing, and other structural factors are much more important to assess first, especially with a "fixer-upper".

Remember that foreclosures are extremely high right now in Florida, and the housing market is very weak.

 

[mbb]

Goodwill/Thrift stores

So many foreclosure cleaning companies will take furnishings from homes, straight to thrift stores (again mindful of the stowaway critters)

You can also try kijiji orlando, or craigslist. We've seen listings for "housefuls" of furniture on there.

As well, some property managment companies, and your realtor, should be able to give you a list of places that sell home furnishing packages.

Of which you can upgrade, upgrade, upgrade for additional $$$

HTH!! And let us know how the purchase goes!!!

 

[mom_rules]

I'm interested in knowing also-what are the tax implications for a Canadian owning a second home in the US?

How about buying a foreclosure home-anything to be aware about?

 

[damo]

There are tons of online stores that deliver furniture. Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel just to name a few.