If it’s your dream to live in Florida, this seems to be a good time to find an affordable house or condo in an area you may not have been able to afford years ago.
It appears that the Florida housing market is still having problems, which is good news for buyers. A three bedroom, two bath home with a pool, in a location near the Intracoastal Waterway can be purchased for around $200,000. I was looking at one on the Trulia.com site which had over 2800 square feet of living space, and a yearly insurance rate of around $1100. It had three bathrooms and a nice looking pool. Definitely doable, but would I want to live there full time? I have not forgotten what living in Florida is like. There are good aspects, of course, but it’s not paradise.
In New Hampshire, where I presently live, there is no sales tax, but our property tax rates are ridiculous. I could live in a fairly nice home in Florida for what I pay each month in property taxes alone. But there is always a trade off. I left Florida because of the high rate of crime and overcrowded conditions. Jammed highways and classrooms just got old after all those years and I missed the change of seasons. I found myself wishing for a rainy day just to get a break from all that sunshine! And do I really want to go back to breathing only muggy, stuffy or air-conditioned air?
One thing I know is that the only water I’d want to live near is the ocean / ICW. Fresh water holds too many nasty creatures, and small ponds and lakes have a habit of drying up and disappearing. That happened to a friend of ours who still pays taxes on “lake front” property, but it’s only a grassy hole behind their house.
If you are looking to move south, this might be a good time to look into buying a home, condo or trailer in the Sunshine State. And it doesn’t seem like things will be getting better any time soon. The house I mentioned is selling for $199,000 but it’s assessed / market value is only a little over $105,000. In a few more years, I have have no choice but to move to a more affordable location. I don’t believe I will have trouble finding a nice home I can afford.
Related articles
- Fishing in Florida For Redfish (seashellsbymillhill.com)
- Florida Vacation Rental House Review, Part 1 (seashellsbymillhill.com)
- Positive developments in Florida’s housing market (lexingtonlaw.com)
- New flood insurance rates spark anxiety in Gulf (newsherald.com)
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Thanks for reading Jody.
Great info!