The Times - something to think about!

[Nostromo]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Snapper
If you were to downsize a bit Nostromo you might even be able to rent out your UK place and use the income from this to cover the purchase of a smaller place in the sun. Kind of like buying a villa in reverse.
[/quote]

I agree. But if we retire to Bangalore, India, where I am from, we do not need any capital to buy a house. There will be a family home ready for us to move in and so that any funds taken out of the UK can be channeled into 'housekeeping' right away. We won't have that option in Florida and I am not too sure that we want to grow old in a foreign land, no matter how sunny.

[flyrr100]

House prices in Central Florida rose by a huge amount last year. And with the hurricanes too!
I bought my house in 2003. It's a 4 bed, 2 bath, pool, quiet neighborhood in Seminole County. We paid $185k. It's 25 year old house and needed a roof which we had put on before we moved in. We've put wooden floors in and painted most of the rooms. It's now valued at $260k. Possibly more! Anyone who knows how the property market works (and it's tghe same here as it is all over the world) knows all about false equity. Eventually values will plateau (sp) and eventually fall. Is now a good time to buy? Maybe. For short term investments I'd say Florida is a great place to invest. Long term? Probably not.
I bought and sold a condo last year and made 30k in under a year. I'm looking now for a simular investment but so many investors are looking at the same thing it's hard to find anything.

I know I've strayed off the initial post, but maybe it'll help anyone looking to invest in Florida.

One final point on Florida homes. Like most things in the USA, houses are made to be disposal. What does that mean? If you ever get the chance look at how new homes are constructed here. They rarly use brick. It's wood and drywall. After about ten years you'll be looking at definately a new roof. New siding, new wood (if you have any minute leaks which most homed do). And insurance rates are set to rise again in 2005-2006.

[chrizzy100]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by flyrr100
House prices in Central Florida rose by a huge amount last year. And with the hurricanes too!
I bought my house in 2003. It's a 4 bed, 2 bath, pool, quiet neighborhood in Seminole County. We paid $185k. It's 25 year old house and needed a roof which we had put on before we moved in. We've put wooden floors in and painted most of the rooms. It's now valued at $260k. Possibly more! Anyone who knows how the property market works (and it's tghe same here as it is all over the world) knows all about false equity. Eventually values will plateau (sp) and eventually fall. Is now a good time to buy? Maybe. For short term investments I'd say Florida is a great place to invest. Long term? Probably not.
I bought and sold a condo last year and made 30k in under a year. I'm looking now for a simular investment but so many investors are looking at the same thing it's hard to find anything.

I know I've strayed off the initial post, but maybe it'll help anyone looking to invest in Florida.

One final point on Florida homes. Like most things in the USA, houses are made to be disposal. What does that mean? If you ever get the chance look at how new homes are constructed here. They rarly use brick. It's wood and drywall. After about ten years you'll be looking at definately a new roof. New siding, new wood (if you have any minute leaks which most homed do). And insurance rates are set to rise again in 2005-2006.


[/quote]

I agree that most homes are not built to last in the USA...but they do....most houses are given a life span of 75 years .....that is if built just of wood and drywall.....you could be made to replace your roof every 10 years to get Ins....but most roofs where I live in MA.....which gets heavy snow.......and hot humid summers last 25 years or more.....unless its taken off by a storm.....our Ins in FL went down this year....Ins is a funny thing....it can go up and down like a yo yo.....

[Nostromo]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by flyrr100
Like most things in the USA, houses are made to be disposal. What does that mean? If you ever get the chance look at how new homes are constructed here. They rarly use brick. It's wood and drywall. After about ten years you'll be looking at definately a new roof. New siding, new wood (if you have any minute leaks which most homed do). And insurance rates are set to rise again in 2005-2006.
[/quote]

I always wondered about some of the 'woody' looking houses in the US. But I have also seen older, larger and sturdier looking houses in the more expensive areas of New England that appear to have solid brick walls and seem British/European in style. Are those really different or is it just an optical illusion?

[chrizzy100]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Nostromo
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by flyrr100
Like most things in the USA, houses are made to be disposal. What does that mean? If you ever get the chance look at how new homes are constructed here. They rarly use brick. It's wood and drywall. After about ten years you'll be looking at definately a new roof. New siding, new wood (if you have any minute leaks which most homed do). And insurance rates are set to rise again in 2005-2006.
[/quote]

I always wondered about some of the 'woody' looking houses in the US. But I have also seen older, larger and sturdier looking houses in the more expensive areas of New England that appear to have solid brick walls and seem British/European in style. Are those really different or is it just an optical illusion?
[/quote]

I know real red brick is not common on homes up here....we have a brick house near us....and you can see that the frost gets into the brick......wood is so cheap that we replace the wood on our MA home instead of painting the wood that there.....our house is 35 years old..it still has the same shingles on the side.....apart from the odd repair.....and it only has a new roof because ours was lost in a twister in 97.....