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Home prices in Florida are way down


Ukmummoe

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This topic is a spin off from the 60 minute post about drug wars affecting the cost of property in Mexico...

You don't have to leave the US to get a deal on property, Florida is the place to buy....I live in Ocala Fl ( so does John Travolta ) it's a beautiful town, known as the horse capital of the world for it's horse breeding farms.

I bought a 4 bedroom house last month that was built 4 yrs ago for $254,000 I paid the bank $70,000 for it, and I rent it out for $1500 a month, I also bought a condo last year that was $80,000 and I paid $30,000 for it...there are dozens of homes like this in Florida right now.

THIS POST IS ABOUT INVESTMENT PROPERTIES , not to encourage people to move to Florida ..THANK YOU

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It's not the place to buy if one does not want to live in Florida.

Just because it's cheap and you find bargains is not a reason for me to move there.

This is not about moving, someone was asking about investing in property and renting out, I live half here half in Mexico....because I happen to have found the 1st and second best towns in the world to live..... ...

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This struck a nerve.

I own a house in the El Parque community (Lake Chapala area) but have had to continue working because I own and need to maintain my house in Miami cos there's a glut of properties for sale.

And, I have my eye on the Dunnellon area, which is quite close to Ocala.

Plan was/is to be a chapala sunbird.

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This is not about moving, someone was asking about investing in property and renting out, I live half here half in Mexico....because I happen to have found the 1st and second best towns in the world to live..... ...

You currently living 6 months in Mexico - where? I am just curious, I am interested in alternative areas of Mexico than Lake Chapala to live.

To quote your 1st post...... 29th Mar 2011

my husband and I live in Florida ( I am English he is American ) , I have been researching for a long time and have decided the Lake Chapala area is where we will retire.( early 56 ) We are coming July 1 st to La Floresta for 2 weeks to check out the area, then starting next year we will be there summers. For 3-5 months...

Can you all tell me what not to miss while we are in the area ? Should we rent a car? Is there a british contingent in the area? What's happening July 4 th, ? Club parties? We are spending a couple of days in Guadalajara before coming to Ajijic

Unquote.

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You currently living 6 months in Mexico - where? I am just curious, I am interested in alternative areas of Mexico than Lake Chapala to live.

To quote your 1st post...... 29th Mar 2011

my husband and I live in Florida ( I am English he is American ) , I have been researching for a long time and have decided the Lake Chapala area is where we will retire.( early 56 ) We are coming July 1 st to La Floresta for 2 weeks to check out the area, then starting next year we will be there summers. For 3-5 months...

Can you all tell me what not to miss while we are in the area ? Should we rent a car? Is there a british contingent in the area? What's happening July 4 th, ? Club parties? We are spending a couple of days in Guadalajara before coming to Ajijic

Unquote.

Maybe I should have explained more, I actually own a home in England, and 3 homes in USA, and instead of traveling between UK,USA and Mexico I am selling some properties and and will just have the one in Ocala and Mexico ..( rent first ) is that what you wanted to know?

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This struck a nerve.

I own a house in the El Parque community (Lake Chapala area) but have had to continue working because I own and need to maintain my house in Miami cos there's a glut of properties for sale.

And, I have my eye on the Dunnellon area, which is quite close to Ocala.

Plan was/is to be a chapala sunbird.

I can understand your frustration with having to keep working , is it because there are so many on the market you can't sell for a good price? Dunnellon is about 10 minutes from my winter home in Ocala, Yes like you I want to be a sunbird in Ajijic , I usually go to UK but the summer airfares are $1200 and the cost of living very high.

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This struck a nerve.

I own a house in the El Parque community (Lake Chapala area) but have had to continue working because I own and need to maintain my house in Miami cos there's a glut of properties for sale.

And, I have my eye on the Dunnellon area, which is quite close to Ocala.

Plan was/is to be a chapala sunbird.

When you say "sunbird", how many months does that mean you would stay in Chapala?

Is this Dunnellon area a target for Canadian Snowbirds?

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This topic is a spin off from the 60 minute post about drug wars affecting the cost of property in Mexico...

You don't have to leave the US to get a deal on property, Florida is the place to buy....I live in Ocala Fl ( so does John Travolta ) it's a beautiful town, known as the horse capital of the world for it's horse breeding farms.

I bought a 4 bedroom house last month that was built 4 yrs ago for $254,000 I paid the bank $70,000 for it, and I rent it out for $1500 a month, I also bought a condo last year that was $80,000 and I paid $30,000 for it...there are dozens of homes like this in Florida right now.

THIS POST IS ABOUT INVESTMENT PROPERTIES , not to encourage people to move to Florida ..THANK YOU

We Humans have short memories. After barely getting out of Realestate Prison, (sale has not closed yet), I swore I would not even think of buying for a year. Its pretty hard not to. Everyone I know, here in Canada, knows someone who has just bought a house in Arizona. (I'm on the West Coast of Canada). I hear its Florida for the East Coast Canadians.

It is hard to resist these prices with our dollar being strong. I know that there are a lot of things to consider (property taxes, managment fees etc), but still..... at those prices you are not risking a lot of money. I can't see prices going lower.

I have seen some great prices, recently, on the mexicomls site.... but nothing to compare to Stateside bargains.

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Maybe I should have explained more, I actually own a home in England, and 3 homes in USA, and instead of traveling between UK,USA and Mexico I am selling some properties and and will just have the one in Ocala and Mexico ..( rent first ) is that what you wanted to know?

Yes, it's just that you said "I live half here half in Mexico..." but now I know that you are not currently living in Mexico 6 months a year, but that it is a future plan/dream - thanks. Best of luck selling...

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I'm wondering what this thread has to do with Mexico in any way???

I have to say that whatever price one pays for property today is the current value of that property. Prices from before have no bearing at all on current value when dealing with foreclosed/short sale properties - the market has changed, probably for the lifetime of most people reading these posts. And those prices establish the value of all other properties in the market. So - if you buy a place today for $90,000US that previously sold for plus $200,000US - it does not mean you have a bargain - you have simply paid current market value for your purchase.

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I'm wondering what this thread has to do with Mexico in any way???

I have to say that whatever price one pays for property today is the current value of that property. Prices from before have no bearing at all on current value when dealing with foreclosed/short sale properties - the market has changed, probably for the lifetime of most people reading these posts. And those prices establish the value of all other properties in the market. So - if you buy a place today for $90,000US that previously sold for plus $200,000US - it does not mean you have a bargain - you have simply paid current market value for your purchase.

Totally correct. I feel for the tens of millions of homeowners who have paid the $200k, struggle to make repayments to the bank, yet have negative equity. Plus be scared stiff of loosing their job. That must be disheartening. On a short trip to California I recall seeing a Walmart parking lot in California full of cars in the early morning with families that had lost their homes. I still wonder what happened to them.

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Yes, it's just that you said "I live half here half in Mexico..." but now I know that you are not currently living in Mexico 6 months a year, but that it is a future plan/dream - thanks. Best of luck selling...

Omg talk about semantics ..... Ok to clarify ...half the year in one place and half the year in another what does it matter to anyone but me, right now I am in the middle of my 6 months in Florida, ( if i decide to stay that long ) The next 6 may be Mexico I am not sure, we will make that final decision in June thankfully we can afford to do so.. in the last year ( England Spain,Portugal, ,Bahamas , Mexico , ) obviously not for 6 months

I didn't think we would start our time in Mexico till next summer because we were going back to England first, but maybe we will decide otherwise, ( we make plans and god laughs )

In regards to my selling my properties, as you say the market is not that good right now so once again I may choose to keep them rented out,but thanks for the good luck on that...."" can I answer anymore questions for you? :rolleyes:

Ps I worked hard for over 35yrs and saved my money to enjoy my life now, I don't have credit card debt, and I didn't buy a house for more than I could afford just because I wanted it, that is why the real estate bubble burst....also as stated above this thread was started by someone asking about Mexico v USA real estate investing......

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Totally correct. I feel for the tens of millions of homeowners who have paid the $200k, struggle to make repayments to the bank, yet have negative equity. Plus be scared stiff of loosing their job. That must be disheartening. On a short trip to California I recall seeing a Walmart parking lot in California full of cars in the early morning with families that had lost their homes. I still wonder what happened to them.

Almost all Americans bought their homes based on 2 incomes and when one lost their job they lost their home, whenever I bought my homes I always bought within what we could afford on one income just in case, they say most people are 2 pay checks away from losing their home and h ave nothing saved for retirement, I feel sorry f or the people who are losing because they are upside down on their mortgage thru no fault of their own, but not the people who took interest only mortgages or who bought a home they knew they couldn't afford

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I'm wondering what this thread has to do with Mexico in any way???

I have to say that whatever price one pays for property today is the current value of that property. Prices from before have no bearing at all on current value when dealing with foreclosed/short sale properties - the market has changed, probably for the lifetime of most people reading these posts. And those prices establish the value of all other properties in the market. So - if you buy a place today for $90,000US that previously sold for plus $200,000US - it does not mean you have a bargain - you have simply paid current market value for your purchase.

I agree, but still prefer to pay 90 Versus $200,000

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I'm wondering what this thread has to do with Mexico in any way???

I have to say that whatever price one pays for property today is the current value of that property. Prices from before have no bearing at all on current value when dealing with foreclosed/short sale properties - the market has changed, probably for the lifetime of most people reading these posts. And those prices establish the value of all other properties in the market. So - if you buy a place today for $90,000US that previously sold for plus $200,000US - it does not mean you have a bargain - you have simply paid current market value for your purchase.

Arizona and Florida are 'competition' for retirees for Chapala, having nice housing available for 70k, better built and less maintenance than houses here will have a real effect on the number of gringo retirees coming in the future and that is important for us all in regards to property values and having enough gringos here to keep up the infrastructure and things that make living here so easy and nice. We've lived in other areas in Mexico with only a handful of gringos and know the ramifications that don't make it easy to happily live in a foreign culture.

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I'm wondering what this thread has to do with Mexico in any way???

I have to say that whatever price one pays for property today is the current value of that property. Prices from before have no bearing at all on current value when dealing with foreclosed/short sale properties - the market has changed, probably for the lifetime of most people reading these posts. And those prices establish the value of all other properties in the market. So - if you buy a place today for $90,000US that previously sold for plus $200,000US - it does not mean you have a bargain - you have simply paid current market value for your purchase.

I agree, but still prefer to pay 90 Versus $200,000

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This topic is a spin off from the 60 minute post about drug wars affecting the cost of property in Mexico...

You don't have to leave the US to get a deal on property, Florida is the place to buy....I live in Ocala Fl ( so does John Travolta ) it's a beautiful town, known as the horse capital of the world for it's horse breeding farms.

I bought a 4 bedroom house last month that was built 4 yrs ago for $254,000 I paid the bank $70,000 for it, and I rent it out for $1500 a month, I also bought a condo last year that was $80,000 and I paid $30,000 for it...there are dozens of homes like this in Florida right now.

THIS POST IS ABOUT INVESTMENT PROPERTIES , not to encourage people to move to Florida ..THANK YOU

Before coming to Chapala I lived for 8 years in the town of Palm Beach Florida I loved it there, but circumstances caused me to

move down here.

I remember driving through Ocala on a trip to Tampa once. A truly beautiful little historic Florida town. I envy you.

As luck would have it I've just bought a house here in San Antonio, Had I known that I could have bought a place in Ocala for

that kind of money I would jumped at it. You have yourselves a Bargain1111

that kind of mony

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Arizona and Florida are 'competition' for retirees for Chapala, having nice housing available for 70k, better built and less maintenance than houses here will have a real effect on the number of gringo retirees coming in the future and that is important for us all in regards to property values and having enough gringos here to keep up the infrastructure and things that make living here so easy and nice. We've lived in other areas in Mexico with only a handful of gringos and know the ramifications that don't make it easy to happily live in a foreign culture.

I don't think it will stop people coming to Chapala, I am a perfect example, I own houses in Florida but intend on spending most of my time in Mexico, minimum of 6 months a year and maybe more in the future, but you are right I would rent versus buying right now.

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http://4closurefraud.org/2011/01/28/a-frightening-satellite-tour-of-americas-foreclosure-wastelands/

Friend a property appraiser in Ft Myers and he states thousands of foreclosed homes in his city alone waiting to be foreclosed and listed but financial institutions do not want to depress market further. In addition to what the link shows now add in how many owe more than house is worth. In Nevada it is 65%. The article below is on this subject and a shocker.

http://www.credit.com/blog/2011/03/more-american-homes-in-negative-equity-report-finds/

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Wow, these maps sure do show the extent of the foreclosure problem.

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This topic is a spin off from the 60 minute post about drug wars affecting the cost of property in Mexico...

You don't have to leave the US to get a deal on property, Florida is the place to buy....I live in Ocala Fl ( so does John Travolta ) it's a beautiful town, known as the horse capital of the world for it's horse breeding farms.

I bought a 4 bedroom house last month that was built 4 yrs ago for $254,000 I paid the bank $70,000 for it, and I rent it out for $1500 a month, I also bought a condo last year that was $80,000 and I paid $30,000 for it...there are dozens of homes like this in Florida right now.

THIS POST IS ABOUT INVESTMENT PROPERTIES , not to encourage people to move to Florida ..THANK YOU

becareful of the condo association, i have a friend who lived in a condo, was charged $8000 in extra condo charges to pay for hurricance damage

about 5 years ago, that insurance did not cover.

Florida i great if you have a second home up north, and not there season.

at that low price you can afford the extra charges form hurricance damage

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Based on the following and many other similar articles, this limits those retiring as planned and those relocating to Mexico for some time.

http://www.financialpost.com/news/housing+markets+risk+major+collapse/4614485/story.html

Even the baseline scenario in places like Las Vegas and Miami is grim, where Case Shiller projects a 21% decline in home prices from 2010 to 2012.

But in one scenario it could be worse.

6.7 million delinquent mortgages are waiting to flood the market around the country -- and with near-zero cure rates most of them will. Another 2 million homes in foreclosure are being held off the market by banks.

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Based on the following and many other similar articles, this limits those retiring as planned and those relocating to Mexico for some time.

http://www.financialpost.com/news/housing+markets+risk+major+collapse/4614485/story.html

Even the baseline scenario in places like Las Vegas and Miami is grim, where Case Shiller projects a 21% decline in home prices from 2010 to 2012.

But in one scenario it could be worse.

6.7 million delinquent mortgages are waiting to flood the market around the country -- and with near-zero cure rates most of them will. Another 2 million homes in foreclosure are being held off the market by banks.

If the US did, indeed, create a retirement visa - similar to an FM3.... there would be a stampede of canadians buying homes. There are already so many people buying. It used to be the upper middle class and wealthy that would have a snowbird home in the Sunbelt or Hawaii. Now its the middle class and blue collar workers that are taking trips down to Arizona and Florida.

It is not just Canadians. There are retirees from all over the world that would migrate to the Sun Belt in the U.S. Medical Insurance becomes affordible once you get rid of the second home. Example: I will pay $600 per month to maintain my Canadian home while living as a snow bird. That would be enough for a private Insurance in the US.

I can't understand why they have not done this already.

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