Thinking about retiring to Ft. Lauderdale Area (Miami, Coral Springs: for sale, real estate market)

[denniswilson]

Hello everyone....Haven't been on the forums in quite a while. Need Y'alls expert opinions.

I worked for a major airline for 33 years. Senior Citizen recently retired. In my career with the airline it was customary to transfer to work in different cities. I lived in Sunrise for many years when I worked in Reservations. Then transferred to suburbs of Atlanta and lived there 20 years. Then transferred to NY for a special project for the last few years.

Thinking now to move back to Tamarac area, or further north. I have family in the general area. I am on budget, so looking for a condo in a nice, quiet safe area around 150k or lower. I've seen some 1 bdrms online for below 100k. Not interested in nightlife or excitement. Looks like the prices skyrocketed !! Two years ago 60k condos are now 150k. My condo value here in NY increased quite a bit as well.

Wondering if the Ft. Lauderdale / West Palm market will stabilize or drop a bit...Thinking of waiting. Homeowners Insurance may go up too I imagine since the tragedy.
Any advise or suggestions on areas, condo communities or timing on the market?

Thank you very much for your kind and considerate replies.



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[RowingFiend]

I would wait a year or two for sanity to return to the real estate market. In fact I am renting while waiting.

[denniswilson]

Originally Posted by RowingFiend

I would wait a year or two for sanity to return to the real estate market. In fact I am renting while waiting.

Thank you. I did notice this past week or two that a few condo prices did come down a tiny trickle 1% or 1.5%....not by much to speak of. The other thing to think about is if there are assessments or if the condo financials are in good shape and managed well. The financials at the condo I live in now are very well managed and always has cash surplus for many new projects. Never had an assessment, but they do raise the HOA every year 5% for this reason.....which I don't mind. Hope to find a place like that. Otherwise...Its just too expensive here for a retiree. Often wish I could have stayed in Sunrise/Plantation when I lived there in the 90s....but unfortunately my company involuntarily transferred me.

[wizrap]

One of my clients recently moved to Lime Bay in Tamarac and loves it. It is a 55+ community. I really liked her floor plan. Very roomy and the development is maintained really well.

The ones for sale are well within your budget. There are even a couple for rent by owner listed so if you want to sell your place first and spend a year checking out the area while you rent you can do that too.

There is not a w/d in the units though. There is a laundry room on each floor (3 stories). You buy tokens from the HOA.

Good luck!

[chefcurry91210]

Wait until a hurricane hits. Everyone will be clearing out of South FL real quick lol. No but really, the market is stupidly over inflated down there. Its a natural disaster zone and lots of insurance companies plan to not pay out on a bunch of destroyed homes, so at some point the bubble will burst hard and property will be cheap again. Its just a matter of when a major hurricane hits and screws up the area like it was during 2006-2007.

Id check out Boca Raton, Coral Springs or Delay too. Lots of 55+ condos that will be dirt cheap. I almost rented one with my mom in Boca near Federal, but they didnt like dogs so we couldnt make it work. Also warning you that traffic west of i-95 has gotten really bad, so if you plan to ever go out east, it makes more sense to live east. Also, if you have any large dogs, a condo cant be an option since they dont like dogs down there for some reason.

[denniswilson]

Originally Posted by wizrap

One of my clients recently moved to Lime Bay in Tamarac and loves it. It is a 55+ community. I really liked her floor plan. Very roomy and the development is maintained really well.

The ones for sale are well within your budget. There are even a couple for rent by owner listed so if you want to sell your place first and spend a year checking out the area while you rent you can do that too.

There is not a w/d in the units though. There is a laundry room on each floor (3 stories). You buy tokens from the HOA.

Good luck!

Yes...Thank you. I was looking at Lime Bay online.

[denniswilson]

Originally Posted by chefcurry91210

Wait until a hurricane hits. Everyone will be clearing out of South FL real quick lol. No but really, the market is stupidly over inflated down there. Its a natural disaster zone and lots of insurance companies plan to not pay out on a bunch of destroyed homes, so at some point the bubble will burst hard and property will be cheap again. Its just a matter of when a major hurricane hits and screws up the area like it was during 2006-2007.

Id check out Boca Raton, Coral Springs or Delay too. Lots of 55+ condos that will be dirt cheap. I almost rented one with my mom in Boca near Federal, but they didnt like dogs so we couldnt make it work. Also warning you that traffic west of i-95 has gotten really bad, so if you plan to ever go out east, it makes more sense to live east. Also, if you have any large dogs, a condo cant be an option since they dont like dogs down there for some reason.

Agree....The market is over inflated...seems like that everywhere reading the news with the current housing market. Hope it neutralizes. Thank you.

[City Guy997S]

Market won't correct anytime soon..........WHY? The other markets are feeding the frenzy, sell your home up north for crazy money and buy in Flariduh with the profits!

I'm looking at a new community right now, they just put up a new sign last month yet this weekend's email bumped the prices $390,000 over what the sign announces as the base line pricing! I was ok with the sign pricing, figuring they might actually start 100-200K more plus your options/extras but now they bumped that baseline almost 400K!

400K bump makes me reconsider how bad I really want to live there and the builder wants 20% down so that is a significant chunk of money if something goes wrong and you can't close (and you lose the down payment)! 20% doesn't bother me for a down payment but as a deposit for something they haven't even broke ground on it makes me think about it.

[chefcurry91210]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Market won't correct anytime soon..........WHY? The other markets are feeding the frenzy, sell your home up north for crazy money and buy in Flariduh with the profits!

I'm looking at a new community right now, they just put up a new sign last month yet this weekend's email bumped the prices $390,000 over what the sign announces as the base line pricing! I was ok with the sign pricing, figuring they might actually start 100-200K more plus your options/extras but now they bumped that baseline almost 400K!

400K bump makes me reconsider how bad I really want to live there and the builder wants 20% down so that is a significant chunk of money if something goes wrong and you can't close (and you lose the down payment)! 20% doesn't bother me for a down payment but as a deposit for something they haven't even broke ground on it makes me think about it.

Yeah, run away lol. I lived in South FL for 20 years. Another hurricane will destroy the area at some point and insurance companies are going to screw over a ton of people. Its so disgustingly overpriced down in South FL. It will not correct, it will legit crash. The Miami condos collapsing is just the beginning.

If you want a condo down there, seriously wait. They will bottom out so hard its not even funny. No area thats in a major natural disaster zone can ever have high property values due to it always being at risk. So many people will get robbed and its kind of sad.

[denniswilson]

Originally Posted by chefcurry91210

Yeah, run away lol. I lived in South FL for 20 years. Another hurricane will destroy the area at some point and insurance companies are going to screw over a ton of people. Its so disgustingly overpriced down in South FL. It will not correct, it will legit crash. The Miami condos collapsing is just the beginning.

If you want a condo down there, seriously wait. They will bottom out so hard its not even funny. No area thats in a major natural disaster zone can ever have high property values due to it always being at risk. So many people will get robbed and its kind of sad.

I think I might wait a bit and keep an eye on it. I was surprised to see a few foreclosures pop up (not many) which I haven't seen happening before.