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Buying SFH in Fort Lauderdale
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2011 Oct 5, 11:10am 1,777 views 6 comments
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joshuatrio
2011 Oct 6, 1:03am
Is the 20% down your entire savings? If so, you may want to reconsider. Make sure you have an emergency fund.
Also, can't you buy a nice SFH down there for $150k? Why not buy something smaller and pocket the difference?
FortWayne
2011 Oct 6, 1:33am
If you saved up only 20% you are risking too much. What happens if you lose a job and can't make payments for a year? (You need at least a year of cushion).
350k is a lot of money for a house. But it's your call, I don't live in Florida.
And speaking from experience it isn't good to buy when interest rate is low. Low rates push prices up. You are probably going to pay less if rates go up pushing prices down... and allowing you for future refinancing. Buying now you are basically committing to never refinance the house since rates are rock bottom low.
Thanks for the replies. Besides the 20%, I have about $125K in stocks and bonds, which I could liquidate. So,in that respect I'm OK. 350k for a good neighborhood and schools on the Eastside(near the beach) is not expensive. The avg house in the 2 neighborhoods I'm looking in is above 500k. Nobody knows when interest rates are going up again. Actually rates went down below 4% today, as I understood
Also, rental rates here are rising quick. I rent a 2/2 condo on the beach for 1400(year lease) and the owner is asking 1700 now. But probably will get 1600, since the season is starting soon
What'd you do? We've been looking for a while now and it seems like, right now there's not much available in Bayview district for under $450. Floranada you can get into pretty cheap but my wife has tasted Bayview and doesn't want to leave.
TPB
2012 Feb 17, 3:59am
We have saved enough to put down 20% on a 350k house in a desirable area that we plan to stay for awhile.(Victoria Park or Bayview - East of Federal)
That was about what you would have paid in Victoria Park before the bubble. The lots are faily large there, full of fruit trees, big floor plans and nice big oak trees through out the neighborhood. It's definitely where I would be willing to spend that, all things being equal. It would be 2X the house, you would get in other neighborhoods with the median priced homes, in South Florida. And there's no HOA.
I wrote on the subject of buying a SFH or townhouse 1 yr ago, asking for advice. Luckily I took the advice of most and waited. So my wife and I are thinking again about buying. We have saved enough to put down 20% on a 350k house in a desirable area that we plan to stay for awhile.(Victoria Park or Bayview - East of Federal)With interest rate soo low , we are thinking of pulling the trigger this time. I'm seeing houses in my price range that sold for double or close to, at peak. The rents for the homes I looked at comparativly ,are more than my mortgage, taxes and insurance by 700 to 800 a month..And I can save $10k a yr for 6 years by putting my 4 yr old in in a top K-5 public school. Any new advice this time around?
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