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Buying real estate in Florida (or other states)?

McKillian

McKillian

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Hi,

I´m currently pondering to buy a house in Florida. I´m not a US citizen (Swedish), what are the do´s and don´ts regarding buying real estate in the US or more specifically Florida. Which particular areas in Florida would you recommend?

Help me guys!!
 
It depends what you are looking for in a home and what your interests are for that home. Golf Community? Beaches? Theme Parks? Price range will dictate a ton of where you will be looking as well.
 
I´m Thinking something like 3 bedrooms. Friends of mine speak highly of Sarasota and go there once a year.
It doesn´t have to be ON the beach but we´ve discussed buying someplace near Fort Myers.
Price range would be between 50 - 100k. We would probably try to rent it out to fellow golfers and such, when we´re not using it ourselves. So it would be nice if there´s some golf courses near the house. Theme parks would be nice for the Kids (We have three), but not a must have.
 
We live just south of Sarasota and finding 3 bedrooms for that kind of money (assuming you are talking US $) would be in a VERY scary neighborhood. Ft Myers has some possibilities but again, for that kind of money, not really going to be close to the beach or a golf course. Theme park living leaves Orlando and Tampa as your best options.
 
I'm not a resident, but have been in FL quite a bit over the years. My personal favorite area is SW FL, Naples, Ft Meyers, Venice, Sarasota. I love the Gulf beaches.
 
When you say not close to the beach you mean?

We could probably go a little higher than 100k us dollars.

The problem is we know nothing of the neighborhoods around Ft Meyers or Florida other than we´d like to take our 6 weeks vacation during the Swedish wintertime (Which sucks bad btw). A friend of ours said he was looking in Lehigh acres, but I read on another forum that it was a "distressed neighbohood" - don´t really know what that entails.

we´re not talking of a permanent move for which we would need green cards and stuff. at least not until we´ve tried it a couple of times:)
 
McKillian said:
When you say not close to the beach you mean?

We could probably go a little higher than 100k us dollars.

The problem is we know nothing of the neighborhoods around Ft Meyers or Florida other than we´d like to take our 6 weeks vacation during the Swedish wintertime (Which sucks bad btw). A friend of ours said he was looking in Lehigh acres, but I read on another forum that it was a "distressed neighbohood" - don´t really know what that entails.

we´re not talking of a permanent move for which we would need green cards and stuff. at least not until we´ve tried it a couple of times:)
Click to expand...

If you are looking to buy a small condo you could find something in your price range for maybe a 1 possibly a two bedroom place but a three bedroom house anywhere near water is going to be a little more expensive. Check out http://www.realtor.com/ you can put in all the things you want and even pick one area and expand the search to X amount of miles away and you will be able to see what your options are.

Just remember that anything near water or a golf course will almost always be more expensive because you are paying a premium for the location.
 
I have to agree with GG. 100k US dollars in the gulf region will not go very far. But check out the link she provided and that may give you a better idea of things.
 
Thanks for the tip GG, I´ll check it out. We need at least 2 bedrooms and we could consider condos too. no more than 20-30 minutes by car to the ocean.
 
McKillian said:
Thanks for the tip GG, I´ll check it out. We need at least 2 bedrooms and we could consider condos too. no more than 20-30 minutes by car to the ocean.
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I would definitely check out the link. It will give you everything that is for sale through a realtor in the US. It's our multiple listing service (MLS). You can also get an idea of what these places rent for too so you can see what kind of rental income you can get. If you can maybe find a friend to invest with you then you could open up your search some more and maybe have a great income property where you can rent it out furnished by the week or by the month. Vacation rentals have a huge market over here.
 
Tried the MLS, and it didn´t work. Hope its a temporal problem:blob:
 
It might be? I can´t even access the site right now. Lot of Americans browsing for a new home right now?!
Yesterday it worked a little while right until it started to get interesting......
 
Sarasota is really beautiful! Was there a couple of years ago when i visited some friends in Orlando and Bradenton.

Lycka till i husjakten! (Good luck with the house hunting!)
 
flix said:
Sarasota is really beautiful! Was there a couple of years ago when i visited some friends in Orlando and Bradenton.

Lycka till i husjakten! (Good luck with the house hunting!)
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good thing you translated that, looked like something different. ha
 
Are all the enclosed pools due to bugs or maybe rain? Any feedback on those? Wouldnt it kinda ruin the whole sitting by the pool with a beer in the sun if the pool is enclosed?
 
ripper said:
Are all the enclosed pools due to bugs or maybe rain? Any feedback on those? Wouldnt it kinda ruin the whole sitting by the pool with a beer in the sun if the pool is enclosed?
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Golf balls. haha, but sometimes I wonder.
 
ripper said:
Are all the enclosed pools due to bugs or maybe rain? Any feedback on those? Wouldnt it kinda ruin the whole sitting by the pool with a beer in the sun if the pool is enclosed?
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Neither. It keeps your patio clean of leaves, and other things. Keeps things cleaner overall and also adds some light privacy. Of course it also keeps any bugs away as well. Just a very nice way to keep things neat and tidy of anything.

And you wont have any problem getting sun. They are not opaque by any means.
 
One-T said:
good thing you translated that, looked like something different. ha
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hehe, didnt want to keep you guys out of the loop
 
McKillian said:
It might be? I can´t even access the site right now. Lot of Americans browsing for a new home right now?!
Yesterday it worked a little while right until it started to get interesting......
Click to expand...

might be something with your isp.

it's not blocked due to you being Swedish, i can access the site without problems.
 
ripper said:
Are all the enclosed pools due to bugs or maybe rain? Any feedback on those? Wouldnt it kinda ruin the whole sitting by the pool with a beer in the sun if the pool is enclosed?
Click to expand...

JB said:
Neither. It keeps your patio clean of leaves, and other things. Keeps things cleaner overall and also adds some light privacy. Of course it also keeps any bugs away as well. Just a very nice way to keep things neat and tidy of anything.

And you wont have any problem getting sun. They are not opaque by any means.
Click to expand...

I want to add to this that keeping bugs out is a huge part of it. During the summer time we get a lot of mosquitoes and the screen really helps to keep them out. This was you can sit out on the patio and enjoy a beer or a BBQ with friends at night and you don't have to worry about being eating alive by bugs. It also keeps other animals out, such as Alligators if you live on a lake. this is very important, especially if you have animals or kids. The screens are really expensive (some are over $25,000 USD and many even more than that) but they are honestly worth every penny.

As JB said they do not stop the sun from getting in but they do offer a bit of a barrier which is needed when it's really hot out. This is the first house I have ever lived in where we don't have a screen and I hate it. If we ever have a yard with a pool again, which I am sure we will being that we live in Florida, we must have a screen.
 
If you want to be near the beach, you do not want to buy in Lehigh Acres. You will be a good 50 minutes to an hour away from the beach. Also, all new homes (I believe it is homes built after 2000) with pools must have a pool enclosure by law or an appropriate child fence around it.
 
bkyle said:
If you want to be near the beach, you do not want to buy in Lehigh Acres. You will be a good 50 minutes to an hour away from the beach. Also, all new homes (I believe it is homes built after 2000) with pools must have a pool enclosure by law or an appropriate child fence around it.
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Not in our area.
 
What about the Pompano Beach, Margate area which is Just north of Fort Lauderdale I believe. My grandma just checked out property there last week with your similar Price Range and she found Alot but it took 2 weeks of hands on looking and getting buddy buddy with a real estate agent. She found something (that im trying to talk her into actually getting) on the intracoastal waterway/Canals in that price range thats been on the market for over 465 days and prices dropping by the month. She also found 2br condos about 20min inland on Oriole Golf & Tennis Club(an Okay course http://www.oriolegolfclub.com/oriole/home.asp) for between 29k and 65K depending on age of the unit.

She was actually just in Stockholm looking at property so we have a place to stay when we visit family in Sweden but it didn't pan out so well haha.
 
Now that area I am very familiar with. At one time Pompano and communities such as Palm Aire were just incredible. It is very different now for many. It is MUCH older and there are quite a few bad areas and areas that are just completely run down. Im sure there are some great bargains to be had if you looked around. It wont be for everybody, but in the effort to go as cheap as possible, it may be doable.
 
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