Drove through some northern New Hampshire towns last year looking at real estate. I thought the bargains were exceptional, especially in some of the mill-based towns that were hit hard by lumber prices. Some of these places have a lot of potential and are so close to wonderful recreational opportunities I was tempted.
Ok all the Miami Bashing is forcing me to step up. If you have decent money and like the water Miami is the place to be. Fishing in the Keys, waterfront properties, great residential neighborhoods with actual land around your house. Worldclass nightlife and eating at half the price of NY and Cali. International Airport can take you anywhere in the world. Casual lifestyle. The main thing that sucks about Miami right now is the influx of out of towners buying properties here. Traffic has become a bit of grind and real estate has shot up about 80% in the last three years. Actually the secret to the good life in Miami is Coral Gables, Pinecrest, South Miami and some parts of Coconut Grove. FYI. Ft. Lauderdale is not MIAMI it's like saying I live in the San Francisco area cuz I live Oakland. You can still buy some amazing properties for 600K - 750K. You can get waterfront condos for 200K-400K. Everything is pretty close by. I love San Fran its a great place but I couldn't deal with Quakes and the freaking bay is freezing in the middle of summer and 600K will get you crap. Gimme the Caribbean lifestyle on U.S. Soil, another corona please.
Here's a link to a thread at Appraisersforum.com talking about RE appreciation, scroll down to see some posts on CA real estate. http://appraisersforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14478&st=0
YOU LATE TO THE PARTY,in Miami........Miami is no longer as HIP as your trying to state.......WORLD CLASS CLUBS my ass. Miami went from being cutting edge in the late 80s to early 90s, now its home to the trash and the wana be trendy....PERIOD. The only time Miami is WORLD CLASS is during the WMC at that last about a week. The rest of the time its 22 inch rims, gold teeth, and cars with stero's louder than SPACE( the club). So, when you step up....please step up proper.....Miami is played out, has been for a long time its just goten worse. Hell even FORD and ELITE moved their main modeling talent out of Miami... LOL
If the traffic was not so bad and the weather was not so hot and sticky....it might be habitable. But I cannot defend Los Angeles either....except the weather is better. The rampant crime and my inability to speak spanish is also a problem...both in LA and Miami...... I prefer California however.......even smoggy LA....I guess its home to me.....and I can't imagine living anywhere else. Michael B.
Hi Waggie, Yeah Kirkwood has those awesome rocks around sentinel bowl and rabbit rocks. I grew up skiing Heavenly NV side and spent time lots of time at squaw with patrollers. Carson Pass is one of the nicest places and the wild flowers are wonderful. A tonopah storm works wonders for the powder at Heavenly. I just can't handle the crowds even on weekdays. Now I ski BC weekdays. I will ski all day without anyone else on the run and can pretty much hunt fresh powder all the time. Can't do that in CA anymore. Also the price of a ticket is too high. I can't justify $70 range for a ticket when I get my season pass for $250. BA is paradise lost for me although I spend time there regularly with family and friends. I hear shasta will finally open up a new mountain that will be welcome. Northern CA weather is great, but everyone else thinks so too, and you know what to do when the crowd is going one way.... Cheers!
I have never had a problem with crowds when skiing. Of course I dont't use ski poles. I find a couple of golf clubs (nine iron and sand wedge for instance) seem to work best. One run down the hill and the slopes are mine for the rest of the day. Yee Haa!!! Best Regards, Steve46
I never said World Class CLUBS! I hate the trendy aspect of miami and South Beach is not Miami. I very happy that crowd stays in South Beach. I do hope Miami Trendiness is played out. Like I said I enjoy the casual aspects and nice life. Year round golf and nice weather. I am extremely happy the modeling ho's are gone and that the armani xchange crowd is looking for another place to play.
Sure, thats the great aspect of FL...if your 80 and older FL is the place to be. I have never seen so much grey hair in my life. Fl. is def. for the retired community, even in the nice suburbs of Miami. However, when one speaks of Miami, they usally mean Sobe and the Grove and maby Star Island. Anything Southwest of that is SHIT. The non-english aspect of South Florida is actually a plus if you understand or wana learn to speak spanish. But its not as bad as many make it out to be......speaking more than one language is not a bad idea but if you dont, the latin community does speak english....just not in Havana or the shit zones of Miami. But i must agree, CA did impress me and I have been back many times. LA is a whole nother thing...LOL.....sunset is cool as is the Playboy Mansion and the Hills....but the smog is disguesting, but drive on down pass beverly hills on sunset and you run right into the ocean....take a left and the coastal highway is breath taking. I dont think i will return to florida to live again.......i will let the AARP and the criminals have it.
I just moved from NH to San Diego, CA last spring. I got rid of my snow shovel, snow blower and mosquito magnet. I can't stand the weather there anymore, despite of the low tax advantage of NH. The weather of NH is decent only from August to September. The rest of the year is either too rainy, snowy, too muggy, or too cold for me. I pity those of you who lived through this past January in the Northeast! I did a lot of research into where I want to move to. I considered moving to FL. The winter in FL is nice, but the long, hot and muggy summer is not very pleasant. When I saw the tropical environment full of insects and bugs, and the flat terrain there, I was not impressed at all. On the other hand, CA is truly a beautiful state. Driving down the Pacific coast from SF to SD, the ever changing scenary is just breath-taking. The weather is just as amazing, especially from LA to SD. No muggy weather, no mosquitos. Then I realize just how precious the California land is: There is no place with a better climate in the entire continental USA! Furthermore, there is not much coastal land to build on anymore. All new homes in southern CA are now pushing ever further east into the inland valley and desert areas. I chose to buy in SD because I didn't want to deal with the traffic problems and smog of LA, and SD is a nice-sized metro like Boston. I am so happy about the move, and the subsequent six digit appreciation on my house that I am buying another one just for investment. For those of you bragging about the weather in the Bay Area, I have been there many times also. Just come down to SD in the winter. The weather here beats the rainy Bay Area. I believe the supply and demand inbalance is going to drive the entire southern CA real estate to insane levels like the Bay Area. Therefore, right now you still can get a bargain. The nicer weather alone is a sufficient justification for higher rate of return here as reflected in the latest CAR report http://www.car.org/index.php?id=MzMzNDA= Just wait till when the baby boomers begin to retire in droves in the near future. The rest of United States will likely see housing decline, except FL, while CA will soar to new heights. TraderC