I'm looking into buying a property in FL,  the kind of thing that can be a holiday home, but also rented out, but know the square root of diddly squat at the moment about the stuff that they don't tell you in the property ads..... is it a good time, taxes/hidden costs, areas to avoid, what "short" sale means, what does "pending" mean, so on and so on ?
If anyone can point me in the direction of some info that isn't from the biased point of view of someone trying to sell something that would be much appreciated.

I have a brother in Pensacola that's a tax assessor.
I'll see what he knows.

paulo
I'm looking into buying a property in FL,  the kind of thing that can be a holiday home, but also rented out, but know the square root of diddly squat at the moment about the stuff that they don't tell you in the property ads..... is it a good time, taxes/hidden costs, areas to avoid, what "short" sale means, what does "pending" mean, so on and so on ?
If anyone can point me in the direction of some info that isn't from the biased point of view of someone trying to sell something that would be much appreciated.

I just bought a home (about 8 months ago here in FL) and it was a long tiring experience, but worth the time we put in it. Generally speaking, the best time to buy is after summer as most people like to move during the hot summer months and pirces tend to be much higher. So, between Sept. & Feb. are usually the "off peak" months.
 
Fortunately we had a very honest, ethical, and morally sound realtor to help us......he even went as far as reducing his commission percentage in order for us to get a potential home, but the house didn't work out......our realtor's intentions were certainly present. We actually had gone trhough 2 other realtors before getting refered to him. Anyway, the point is that it was (for once) nice to have someone batting on our side than for anyone else.
 
I would avoid short sales as they're very time consuming for the deals to go through and sometimes after months & months, the deal can just fall off. Usually the bank & owner of the property have to accept offer. A "traditional" sale is the quickest sale as you're dealing directly with the owner and/or his realtor. The prices are also slightly higher in a traditional sale, but everything is negotiable and you'll get a quicker outcome.
 
Pending means that house has a potential buyer who has put an offer on the table and generally the sale goes through (unless there's something found during the inspection process).
 
As far as taxes are concerned, look for house that have "Homestead Exemption". Those homes can reduce the tax liability quite a bit (I just filed for mine and is going through the process).
 
You might find some really good deals on a "Foreclosed home" (homes that were reposessed by the bank as the owner didn't pay the mortgage). Generally, these homes get into a multiple offer situation as you'll have to offer the closest to what the bank is asking and hope they accept your offer. The banks don't like to hold on to these forclosures as they want to get it off their books ASAP. I've been told that banks have more of an urgency during the end of the year (12/31).  
 
Good luck Paulo with vacation home and if you do need a good realtor, I can highly recommend the guy I used.
    

Paulo,
"short sale" means the owner is upside down (owes more than it's worth). The downside for you is that they can take quite some time and the "bank" has to go though an extensive approval process because (in their mind) they are throwing away money since the offer will NEVER be claose to what is actually owed on the loan.
 
"pending" usually means an offer has been extended but it has not been fully approved as sale of their existing home has not taken place.
 
I have three friends who are realtors in California and my sister is a realtor in Maryland. This is what I havce learned from them.
 

As always, Bapu is (the mostest) correct.
 
I was just saying the wittle bit Iz knoze.

Florida??!

57Gregy
I have a brother in Pensacola that's a tax assessor.
I'll see what he knows.

Thanks Greg, that would be most helpful - don't want to get caught with my pants down by a big tax bill.

Mesh

paulo
I'm looking into buying a property in FL,  the kind of thing that can be a holiday home, but also rented out, but know the square root of diddly squat at the moment about the stuff that they don't tell you in the property ads..... is it a good time, taxes/hidden costs, areas to avoid, what "short" sale means, what does "pending" mean, so on and so on ?
If anyone can point me in the direction of some info that isn't from the biased point of view of someone trying to sell something that would be much appreciated.

I just bought a home (about 8 months ago here in FL) and it was a long tiring experience, but worth the time we put in it. Generally speaking, the best time to buy is after summer as most people like to move during the hot summer months and pirces tend to be much higher. So, between Sept. & Feb. are usually the "off peak" months.
 
Fortunately we had a very honest, ethical, and morally sound realtor to help us......he even went as far as reducing his commission percentage in order for us to get a potential home, but the house didn't work out......our realtor's intentions were certainly present. We actually had gone trhough 2 other realtors before getting refered to him. Anyway, the point is that it was (for once) nice to have someone batting on our side than for anyone else.
 
I would avoid short sales as they're very time consuming for the deals to go through and sometimes after months & months, the deal can just fall off. Usually the bank & owner of the property have to accept offer. A "traditional" sale is the quickest sale as you're dealing directly with the owner and/or his realtor. The prices are also slightly higher in a traditional sale, but everything is negotiable and you'll get a quicker outcome.
 
Pending means that house has a potential buyer who has put an offer on the table and generally the sale goes through (unless there's something found during the inspection process).
 
As far as taxes are concerned, look for house that have "Homestead Exemption". Those homes can reduce the tax liability quite a bit (I just filed for mine and is going through the process).
 
You might find some really good deals on a "Foreclosed home" (homes that were reposessed by the bank as the owner didn't pay the mortgage). Generally, these homes get into a multiple offer situation as you'll have to offer the closest to what the bank is asking and hope they accept your offer. The banks don't like to hold on to these forclosures as they want to get it off their books ASAP. I've been told that banks have more of an urgency during the end of the year (12/31).  
 
Good luck Paulo with vacation home and if you do need a good realtor, I can highly recommend the guy I used.
    

Thanks for the info Mesh - I haven't seen any that say "homestead exemption" but just about every one I've seen so far has Pending in there somewhere - D'oh ! I'm not particularly bothered how long a deal might take to go through, but I seem to remember reading somewhere there were other possible issues with short sales, I just can't remember what they were or where I read it - D'oh again !
 
I'm just at the number crunching stage right now, to see if it stacks up, but if I get serious I will certainly take you up on your realtor offer as I obviously don't know the good from the bad. Over here it easier to tell as 99% are bad lol !
 
What area are you in ? I can PM you if you'd rather not put that sort of info on here.

bapu
Paulo,
"short sale" means the owner is upside down (owes more than it's worth). The downside for you is that they can take quite some time and the "bank" has to go though an extensive approval process because (in their mind) they are throwing away money since the offer will NEVER be claose to what is actually owed on the loan.
 
"pending" usually means an offer has been extended but it has not been fully approved as sale of their existing home has not taken place.
 
I have three friends who are realtors in California and my sister is a realtor in Maryland. This is what I havce learned from them.
 

Thanks Bapu.
 
So the distinction between a short sale and a foreclosure is what then ?
 
With Pending then.......could someone who was able to buy straight away still be able to put their offer forward or is it considered to be sold apart from tying up the paperwork?
 
 

craigb
Florida??!

Problem??!