Florida property

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lopin10

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Looking at the us Dollor today reaching 1.32 to euro and projected to go to 1.40 is it now a good time to buy in Florida.I know property prices have falling however with the good currency exchange rate at the moment and the fact that you can buy a brand new 5 bed house/villa with all mod cons for around 300k is now the time to make the move. Reading reports from other sites some people are predicting that there will be further property price falls in property however with the good exchange rates would i be somewhat immune to that. Also others are predicting that property will start to increase in price in 1st quarter 2007 because of the falloff in new builds
 
lopin10 said:
Looking at the us Dollor today reaching 1.32 to euro and projected to go to 1.40 is it now a good time to buy in Florida.I know property prices have falling however with the good currency exchange rate at the moment and the fact that you can buy a brand new 5 bed house/villa with all mod cons for around 300k is now the time to make the move. Reading reports from other sites some people are predicting that there will be further property price falls in property however with the good exchange rates would i be somewhat immune to that. Also others are predicting that property will start to increase in price in 1st quarter 2007 because of the falloff in new builds
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Prices are falling at a fair clip now in Florida (see link). You are correct dollar weakness puts Euro holders in a strong position but its anyone's guess as to when the dollar will stop weakening.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061129/BUSINESS/611290461/1001/NEWS0105


Prices remain the story in home sales, with Sarasota-Bradenton prices falling 18 percent in October, the second biggest drop in the state.

The median sales price in the Sarasota-Bradenton market was $277,900 last month, compared with $340,700 during the same month in booming 2005.

The Charlotte County-North Port market was not far behind, with a drop of 17 percent, from $243,900 to $202,800.

Only Fort Myers-Cape Coral took a bigger fall, posting a 44 percent decline in median sales price, from $445,100 to $249,200, the Florida Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday.

The median is the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less.

Those numbers came against the backdrop of a national decline in sales price of 3.5 percent, to $221,000, the biggest year-over-year drop on record. It marked the third straight month that prices have fallen nationally, the longest stretch on record.
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remember that if you finance this from Ireland in euros the currency depreciation will work against you when it comes to converting the rent.
 
With the huge supply of homes on the market, some sellers are in a panic. The people who are forced to sell are the ones dragging down the median price, said (realtor) Kim Stevens in Boynton Beach. Stevens recently sold a Lake Worth home that was appraised at $380,000 but sold for $318,000. Two years ago, she said the home would have sold for more than $400,000.” “Based on the current market index, Palm Beach County has a 47-month inventory backlog.”
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“Ronald Shuffield, president of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, contends that people who buy now may still see prices go down in 2007, as the market digests the enormous number of homes for sale. Nearly 65,000 homes are now listed for sale in South Florida, from 25,174 a year ago.
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A series of reports from Florida. The market there is tanking and there is no let up in building yet as there are still a lot of homes under construction. There's still a bit of a way to go before the market bottoms out.

“There are 22,254 condo units under construction in Miami, according to the city’s planning department. That’s compared to 15,525 total units that went up since 1995.”
“Meanwhile, 29,558 condos have been approved by city commissioners for construction, and developers have proposed another 30,674 units that city planners are reviewing. These number say nothing of the building in other towns across Miami-Dade and Broward counties.”
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If you bought in Orlando in August you would have lost $9,000 on today's market.
 
Not to mention the negative currency fluctuation on the money you put down up front - bless anyone who invested using €.
 
Insurance rates and taxes have doubled in the past few years in Florida making it much more expensive to own property. A $300,000 house would cost nearly $3,000 to $4,000 a year for hurricane insurance (even more if you have a pool enclosure) and another $5,000 a year in property taxes.
 
Can irish citizens go and buy a house in U.S.?
Does one need a green card or some special visa?
Or do you get a green card if you buy a house there?
I presume one would get a visa that allows unresticted travel into the U.S. , but that one could not work,but would have to pay all taxes on rent etc.Maybe someone could clarify these very important points.
 
Yes, many Irish citizens have bought homes in the U.S. and you don't need a green card or special visa. You are not granted special visa privelages if you purchase property. You would travel under your Irish passport (I forget what the maximum stay is...3 months??) You are still required to pay property insurance even though you do not work there.


One last point on Florida property. Along with the high taxes and insurance, keep in mind it costs alot more to sell your house there than it does in Ireland. Realtors get 6% from the seller plus some other fees are incurred, so that $300,000 house will cost you an additional $20,000 when you decide to sell. All being said, that house had better go up alot to profit from it, and I strongly feel that Florida may not see prices stableize until maybe 2008 or later. Maybe wait until another hurricane hits and then throw out a few crazy lowball offers on a few places, might get it for a fraction of their current asking price.
 
Well maybe if they gave a green card to each irish purchaser of a house,their property market might perk up.
Personally i don`t see the point of buying a property in the U.S. if one can`t have unrestricted travel , and maybe have the option of opening a buisness.
No doubt people will say you can get some category of visa if one has a few million to open a buisness and employ top lawyers, but who needs that hassle.
You`d be better off in thailand_can`t work there and why buy when you can rent cheap.
Thailand is a lot cheaper and from what i hear much more enjoyable.
 
sunrock said:
No doubt people will say you can get some category of visa if one has a few million to open a buisness and employ top lawyers, but who needs that hassle.
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It is far less than that.
I spent $760K on a business there and got a 10 year business visa. It did not allow me to work but it allowed me to go and stay as often and as long as I wanted and to run my own business.
 
Florida not looking too hot right now as an investment location, unless you go there and buy privately. Florida was never great though, with a few exceptions when people made a few bob on short term peaks. Good value if you want a very nice lifestyle etc, but otherwise not brilliant
 
woods said:
It is far less than that.
I spent $760K on a business there and got a 10 year business visa. It did not allow me to work but it allowed me to go and stay as often and as long as I wanted and to run my own business.
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So what are the rules then?
Could one buy a cheap restaurant or guest house and get the buisness visa?
It must be frustrating to own a bisness and can`t work.
And speaking as someone who worked illegally in the states in the 80s.my name would probably come up in some computer.
What about someone who goes to buy a holiday home in florida...what kind of visa do they need?
 
sunrock said:
So what are the rules then?
Could one buy a cheap restaurant or guest house and get the buisness visa?
It must be frustrating to own a bisness and can`t work.
And speaking as someone who worked illegally in the states in the 80s.my name would probably come up in some computer.
What about someone who goes to buy a holiday home in florida...what kind of visa do they need?
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I do not remember exactly what the lower limit was (probably available on the net) but I can garantee you that I got it having invested that amount.
When I say that you can not work I do not mean that you can not work at your own business. Nobody is going to check up on you but you can not go out and get a job outside your business.

I got a Social Security Number.
The legalities were not complicated. I gave the job to a lawyer over there and he screwed it up so I got the paperwork off the internet and sorted it out with the embassy in Ballsbridge and they were very helpfull.
Someone who buys a holiday home is only entitled to the same visa as anyone else. Go in on a 3 month visa and get it extended to 6 while you are there (depends on the guy behind the counter on the day) but no work.
I recall hearing on the telly about a lady from UK who bought a house and went for her allotted period but cut it very fine and did not realise that the day she went in and the day she came out were both counted so she overstayed by one day. This is an automatic ban for (I think) 2 years so she could not go back to her house and there was nothing that anyone could do for her.
I doubt that the info from the 80s is on computer unless you were actually caught.
 
First, let me just say that I love Florida. The ocean temperature in Southeast Forida is still 80 degrees right now and the golf courses are quiet and cheap until all the tourists get here in January. I have lived and worked in Palm Beach county for about 4 of the past 10 years, spending the rest of my time in Dublin. Real estate here is now a different story. I have bought and sold two houses over the years and am now a renter. I really feel that prices have to drop another 25-40% on top of the 10% they have already dropped for things to make financial sense again.

Here are a few numbers for you. I'll take the average 3 bedroom home in Palm Beach county (but it could be Orlando, Tampa or any city here as the numbers are about the same.) The median home price is now $350,000, down from a high of $400,000 last year. The median family income is just under $50,000 per year, so we'll say $39,000 after taxes.
The mortgage (assuming 10% down) will be around $1700 a month on that $350,000 home plus property taxes of $6,000 yearly and home/hurricane insurance of $3,500. The carrying cost of that home will be about $30,000 a year before adding on utilities and any home owners association fees. How can a family making $50,000 a year do it? They can't. Even for a family making $90,000 a year would have a hard time affording an average home.

Now lets take another example of a snazzy new condo in downtown Miami. Sound nice? You've probably seen the adverisements for these places, but did they mention that they are about two blocks away from all the homeless people, drug dealers and crack ho's. Anyway, an average two bedroom pre-construction place now runs about $400,000. So that brings your mortgage to $24,000 a year, property taxes to $7,000, insurance to $4,000, and yearly home owners fees will be about $5,000. So that tiny apartment will cost you about $40,000 per year before utilities. Going to use it as a rental? Think again. People come to Miami for South Beach, not the downtown. Even if you could get a yearly renter in for $1800 a month, you've still lost $18,000 a year on you investment. Good luck trying to sell it because there are 15,000 condos just like it on the market and another 20,000 being built. Disaster in the making.

The developers have built way, way too many homes over the past four years. There is a development of nice townhouses near me that is just completed. Unfortunately they are trying to sell at last years prices and have not sold one single townhouse out of the 50 that now completed. Sounds like they need to drop prices drastically. Things are going to get very ugly hear in the near future as prices adjust to where they should be. So for all you specuvestors out there, hold on to your hard earned cash for a while and stay the hell away from Florida real estate.
 
SLAPPY said:
The mortgage (assuming 10% down) will be around $1700 a month on that $350,000 home plus property taxes of $6,000 yearly and home/hurricane insurance of $3,500.
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If it is your home your property taxes will be far lowed than this.
 
Having done the Florida vacation and all the theme parks with the family through April this year I was amazed to see the level of property for sale, there were young people outside all the developments with placards urging passing motorists to stop by, Florida is special and always will be but no one knows the bottom of the market here and until supply evens out I would not be tempted even by the $/euro as it stands, if you are do jump in though ensure you mortgage in $$ to give yourself some protection.
 
Florida is one of the most hyped property markets in the world, but anyone who bought there in the last few years has not done well, and this negative trend looks set to continue. As previous posters have pointed out, location of new developments is often very secondary, and it is usually the out of state or foreign buyers who pay the price. If you want a nice home with a good lifestyle for your own use, and the long commute from Ireland doesn't bother you, some of the waterfront locations in particular can provide a lot of home for the money. As for investment though -- no chance!
 
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