Another Miami success story! (Sunrise, Pinecrest: middle-class, to rent, insurance)

[tallrick]

A Friend I met in Miami through work originally moved there from Boston in 2003. He was offered a job in marketing, at a good salary. I met him while surveying the company to recommend a DVR camera system. This is a guy who was so infatuated with Miami and like all newcommers was telling me how affordable and beautifl south Florida is. Of course I was telling him how it REALLY is and got the "negative thoughts bring negative results" lecture. Despite this he still kept in contact and we did things together, especially bowling. In the last year we kind of fell out of touch though.

At 11:30 this morning he calls me, and sounded extremely depressed. The company he worked for went bankrupt and he had lost his job. A frrantic search left him with only temp work, which could no longer cover expenses. His home will not sell and the payments ate up his meager savings. Of course he had refinanced so there's no "equity" even if he does sell. He's packing up and moving back to Ma to live with his PARENTS!! This guy is 35 years old and has to live with mom and dad....SO SAD! Oh yes and his car was stolen so I he was asking for assistance moving some stuff he had in the mini-storage. Miami will break any honest hard worker, you either become a ***** or leave a broken man. I know of a few more "success stories"

[Tjam]

Originally Posted by tallrick

A Friend I met in Miami through work originally moved there from Boston in 2003. He was offered a job in marketing, at a good salary. I met him while surveying the company to recommend a DVR camera system. This is a guy who was so infatuated with Miami and like all newcommers was telling me how affordable and beautifl south Florida is. Of course I was telling him how it REALLY is and got the "negative thoughts bring negative results" lecture. Despite this he still kept in contact and we did things together, especially bowling. In the last year we kind of fell out of touch though.

At 11:30 this morning he calls me, and sounded extremely depressed. The company he worked for went bankrupt and he had lost his job. A frrantic search left him with only temp work, which could no longer cover expenses. His home will not sell and the payments ate up his meager savings. Of course he had refinanced so there's no "equity" even if he does sell. He's packing up and moving back to Ma to live with his PARENTS!! This guy is 35 years old and has to live with mom and dad....SO SAD! Oh yes and his car was stolen so I he was asking for assistance moving some stuff he had in the mini-storage. Miami will break any honest hard worker, you either become a ***** or leave a broken man. I know of a few more "success stories"

lighten up man. that kind of stuff happens everywhere, businesses shut down and let people go.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by tallrick

His home will not sell and the payments ate up his meager savings. Of course he had refinanced so there's no "equity" even if he does sell.

Well, to some extent, at least, it's his own fault.

There was a time when people living in the US were frugal, they produced more than they consumed and had resources left over to save and invest.

Now we have dip-***** stuff like HELOCs so we can consume what we don't produce, borrowing from those who live far away.

Is that the way of the good economist?

[FLPL75]

I agree with what bale002 said
Thats why they say you should have 4 to 6 months cash reserves in the bank
Too many times I have heard people that have been laid off say "I can only find jobs that pay $X amount per hour not what I was making" Something is better than nothing. I'd get 2 jobs if I had to or a temp roommate to help pay the expenses. Also why couldn't he get another car from the insurance, most insurance companies pay stolen car claims pretty quickly.

[tallrick]

How many people do you know that have cash reserves in the bank? Personally I have not bought anything other than food and neccesities for the past two years, and will not buy anything else until my income picks up to at least past levels. My friend got caught up in the miami mentality and wasn't ready. Sure there's unemployment, but that's just not enough to cover expenses. In south Florida insurance companies are terrible, as many "stolen" cars are just dumped to take the burden of payments away. Some companies stall payment for months, hopint the car will be found in a canal with the keys in it. As for me, I am still driving my 300D with free oil from the fish house.

[Need_affordable_home]

Wow that is sad! Could he have at least rented the first year? People have told me to rent and this depends on how cheap buying is vs. renting. When something costs $400k to buy and only $2k to rent, definately rent. But when rent is $400 and buying is just $30k, its a much better deal to buy. I could always just rent that house out and make money while relocating elsewhere if I wasnt happy!

I worry for others who post about moving to Florida and everyone says "dont" yet they ignore advice and move anyway. I wish them luck!

[CiXeL]

amen tallrick.
this place is screwed up
i may have to move back in with mom and dad too

[radiocat]

I'm looking for a old friend that lives in Miami and works as a caddy. If anyone down there can help it would be greatly appacated.

[tallrick]

I forgot to mention that he got REALLY lucky. Some one from California (of course) is supposed to come up with the 310K to buy that dump. There seems to be a renweal of interest in properties as people cash out from places like NJ and CA. The insurance company is still stalling but he's been encouraged by his lawyer. The weather did cooperate with his move and it seems that as soon as the place was empty and the price reduced on his home things fell into place. I am thinking that south Florida will experience yo-yo ups and downs in RE prices till a nice hurricane pops the bubble.

[Miker2069]

Well I grew up in Miami, we moved there in 1979 and I left in 1992 after getting out of college. I've been coming back every year for visits. Obviously things and areas change, but Miami really has changed. It doesn't feel friendly (not that it was ever very friendly in the 80s), and it seems that there is a lot of superficial behavior (more so than before). It seems (to me) to really have changed after hurricane Andrew. LOTs of people took their insuruance money and started to "profile" big time. It then became a race of keeping up with the Jones's.

I'm here for Christmas, and I took my daughter to the movies the last couple of days (Sunrise and the Falls) and I had the experience where parents (mostly women) would knock down your child to make a movie time (to save maybe 30 seconds). I did notice many of the older folks would say thank you if you held the door open, but it seems if you're younger than 40 it's not even considered.

Probably the most disheartening aspect of life here is the taxes and insurance (again ever since hurricane Andrew, everything seemed to change). My parents have several properties including their primary residence (in Pinecrest (these little cities inside of Miami I'm sure is a totally different discussion)) and the home costs for resales is through the roof! Even in a depressed RE market it's through the roof, a house in that neighborhood sold for nearly $900K.

It seems as though you have to be either very rich, or, heavily in debt to make a middle-class life here.

Maybe I'm wrong, I don't live here anymore (although like I said my folks have been here ever since), and maybe I evaluate an area in terms of raising a family (vs. the old days when I single) so possibly my view is jaded.

I've always wanted to talk to friends that I grew up with in Miami about the way things are now.