I think your right here. I bought a 3/2.5 coop on the upper west of of manhattan jan 06. I needed to buy and i figured I could loose 20% and still come out ahead over 5 years. Rents are really high. I wouldn't believe it if you told me a year ago but the price has actually gone up. I think it's that strong euro. I see a ton of europeans around and people in nyc are saying they love it cuz it's half off London prices. I was in San Diego recently looking for a home in Bonita, it is pretty crazy there. You can almost smell the panic. Listings with things like "please bring ALL offers". I put a 400k bid on a zillow = 800k house seller asking 599. The guy came back saying he wanted to stay in the 500's, I told him to call me if he changes his mind. Going down to Florida for a month in Feb to see what I can get in some good areas, maybe Boca Raton. Throw out a few low ball bids and see what happens. Anybody have suggestions for nice areas in Florida?
When you are not in a hurry to buy but know their are sellers who are it is a perfect time to buy and ride it out. I am also lowballing offers for shiggles and if one hits I will take it since before any offer I am doing my due diligence, just local for me. As for Florida, you can look between Boca and Ft. Lauderdale and Miami for golden strip or go off the beaten track but I am just a visitor of family in Florida so might need more local expertise than what I say of course.
Anywhere south of here in Tampa and on the water is safe bet. If you are serious about coming down you're going to want to look on both coasts. While Ft. Lauderdale-Westin/Miami/West Palm Area is very nice and prices are plummeting, you're going to feel like you're in Central America. It's real bad. If you're looking to meet some hot latina women then I'd say look no further. If you want the same deal with better neighborhoods look into Naples/Bonita Springs Area on the east coast. They have some great deals near golf courses and marinas. The beaches are immaculent. http://www.naplesrealestate.com/golfcourses_local.php I wish I wasn't so broke, I see a handful of houses I'd love to buy. Have a great weekend!
whether the house price is sinking or going up, if you are able to afford it, then this question makes no sense to you. I am a renter. since I hate yard work and home maintanece jobs, I like to work whereever I want to go. I like the flexibility of my living styles. I consider the costs of sheltering as a " must pay", not " a windfall from price apprication or price depreciation", or a trading game ( actually if you trade houses, that is unrealistic, the market is so illiquidit). most home owners buy the house for the wrong reason! houses are for living not for trading! but the realty is most people can not hold their jobs permanently, they may change jobs and be relocated frequently. so they need trade their houses frequently. recently I am shopping around houses, I find some guys who just built their house around 2005/2006, even 2007 several months ago, they bought houses and put up for sale sign with price lower their entry price 20k~30K, I just wonder why those guys throw money away like that? they better rent and save them lots of headache " to buy a house and sell a house with big loss"! materially a house is like a car, with time going on, lots of things will go bad, like roof, windows, painting, wall, carpet,....until worth nothing, the older the less value functionally a house is like software version, the older the worse, do you think those old grandpa style toliet/structures worth somthing? I bet not, you may like the hot popular mordern ones! someone said Location Location Location! but you never know which location will be the hot spot in next 10yrs or 20 yrs, that is a gambling. the reality is today's hot spots always will be tommroow's abandoned spots. do anyone watch the "decline of spread" ? the human being always like something new to excite hemself! to rent can serve you this purpose!
Having to relocate because of a job is the bain of a lot of people's existence. Both my wife & I have portable professions, and as we live in a huge metro area, finding a new job within commuting distance is not as hard as it would be if we lived in a midsize city in the Midwest. Which makes what happens to the RE market not terribly important. Eventually, the big cities are going to get a lot bigger, and the mid and small sized ones are going to wither and die, as this reality sinks in for more and more people.
thanks for the info. Someone told me Naples is popular with the retired crowd. I'm in my 30's, married with kid so I would be looking for good school district and a family oriented area. I've heard Boca and West Palm, but I really have no idea.
some places near the Orlando MSA are nice....further south you can check wellington or boca in west palm beach......plantation, weston, davie are nice spots in broward county near fort lauderdale...Good luck!
Where exactly are you located? I'm over here in St. Pete, aka heaven's fixed-income waiting room. You should hear em over here bitchin' about the gas prices.