OneBadZ06

Hello fellow vette guys,

I live in Chicago and will be relocating down to the Miami/Coral Gables area by the Summer of 2008.

I have no idea were to look for housing in surrounding areas. I have heard that its a major buyers market in Florida and yet the prices in the Coral Gables area seem crazy. They are asking for $500+ for a 2 bedroom condo and yet there seems to be hundreds on the market.

Therefore, I would greatly appreciate the names of some "NICE" surrounding areas of Coral Gables. I am looking for a majority white, upper-middle class area where the prices are not crazy. I am open to a Condo/Townhouse or single family home in the $500k-$750k range. I do not care about schools as its only my wife and I, no kids.

Thank you in advance.

OutKlast

Miami has one of the highest cost of living in the area. That "buyers market" is kind of a misnomer. There are tons of homes on the market but many of the sellers are holding onto "boom" prices. Also I don't know how likely it is you'll be able to get "majority white" area in the Miami/Coral Gables area unless you're in a very exclusive gated community which would be in the 1.5+ million dollar range. Also Miami's official language is pretty much spanish probably seconded only by creole. That whole area is heavily heavily diverse only northern more rural florida is majority white anymore but then its hick town.

Other then that I don't know to much about specific areas that far south I'm about ~100 miles north of Miami. But on the bright side there are tons of Performance shops nearby and throughout Florida.

1bdvet

Let be first to welcome you to south Florida. I really can't help about your area, I live in Broward County which isn't to far from where you want to live. I can tell you it is a nice area, and there is lot of thinks to do with corvettes. Lets face it we have the perfect weather for cruises and car shows. There are local corvette club in the area. One night you need to drive up to the towers in Davie on Friday night cruise, it's every Friday night. It's biggest cruisin, and it's free, and about three hundred car show up. We have are own area we park our corvettes, bring chairs. Oh yes if your hungry there is about dozen places to pick from to eat.
Here is link to a awesome website from our local DJ for the car shows we all attend. It's loaded with past car shows pictures, so you can see we here love to show the off our wheels. He also has up coming shows, and lot more. What you missed this year so set your calender for next year is called the NCRS in Kissimmee which corvette venders come from over to sell nothing but corvette stuff.
Sorry couldn't help you in where to buy.
Link below.
http://www.scottthemusicman.com/

65coupe

You are leaving one of my favorite cities and going to one of my less favorite (Miami).

beachcat

Are you going to be working in that area? How far or how much time would you mind commuting? I include time, because, even if its only a few miles, depending on where you have to go and what time of day you need to travel it can have an effect on how long it takes you to travel a short distance.

OneBadZ06

Thanks all for the input. Very helpful!

Mr. Wonderful

It is becoming more and more difficult to find a majority white neighborhood any longer.
The rule of thumb would be, the farther north from Miami you go, the better your chances. Even here in Broward it is quite mixed.

1bdvet

When you finally get here, be sure drop by the Towers in Davie and say hello. Just look and you find all of us in the parking lot, just or ask for corvette parking.
Have safe move, stay warm.

OneBadZ06

Will do!

I have done a lot of Realtor.com homework so far. I have dropped the idea of a Condo in Miami/Coral Gables as the pricing is crazy for what you get. I got a referal from a member here in Pembroke Pines and that appears to be a GREAT spot. Only 20 miles from Coral Cables (where I will be working), really nice size houses with 3 car garages for $500k-$750k with water views! They all also appear to be "Gated type community" settings. Other close areas like Cooper City or Miramar also seem to offer alot for the $.

Just one new question stikes me;

Why so many listings in the area??? For example, where I live there are 150 listings. In Penproke Pines there are over 7,000 and Miami has 45,000 listings. As a comparison, LA California only had 15,000.

So....Whats up with the Area, why is everyone selling?? Mortgage issues, Insurance to hard to find...your thoughts please.

It was -6 earlier in the week here in Chicago, so needless to say, I will not miss winter!!!

Thanks

FEAR

do you need to be in miami? try palm beach county, nicer than miami

86_Vette

Its mainly the homeowners insurance and I would say the second reason is property taxes That is why you are probably seeing a lot of homes in this area for sale.

OneBadZ06

Thanks, but to far north. I will be working in Coral Cables. I would like to be within a 30 mile radius of the office, if possible.

Mr. Wonderful

First of all, do you know about the traffic in this area ? A 30 mile commute may take an hour or longer.
About Pembroke Pines.... my sister lives there. True, nice large homes with 3 car garages, but if you're looking for a mainly white area, that's not it. Many hispanics from the Miami area are moving there.
Have you looked into property taxes and homeowner's insurance yet ?
If not, you may want to do that before too long.
It is absolutely insane down here.

OneBadZ06

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the area other than I will be working in Coral Gables and I would like to get the best house possible in the nicest area possible within a 30 minute commute to the office with a range of $650k-$850k. I dont mind hispanics. There is a big hispanic population here in Chicago also. I assume if they can afford to live in a $700k house, they must do OK.

Right now I pay around $15k a year in property taxes so I cant imagine they would be higher in FL? I imagine homeowner insurance would run in the $2k-$3k range?

These unknowns are the very reason I appeal to you fine vette brothers for some southern FL wisdom. Based on my current age, I would like to retire in 10-15 years so this house will most probably be the retirement house. Based on all of these factors, I greatly appreciate all of the suggestions for locations you guys have been providing. Keep them coming and please educate me to the ways of your area.

Thank you again,

Mike

Mr. Wonderful

Well, I think your prop. taxes should be a little less than that.
BUT.... homeowner's might be anywhere from $5 - $10k on a house that price.
My sister's house in Pembroke Pines has over 3k sq.ft. with 3 car garage. There is a development near her (Silver Lakes) which is very nice also. She lives in Chapel Trail. These are out west near highway 27. They are within a few miles of I75 which is good, but I don't think it will be a 30 minute commute to CG.

OneBadZ06

Thank you!

OutKlast

Insurance will probably run you more then that on a house of the value you're looking at. Also something to keep in mind is the closer to the beach you are the harder it is to get homeowners insurance. I think our insurance is around $2300-2500 a year on a home much less then what you're looking at.

OneBadZ06

Wow! That would certainly explain why there are so MANY listings in the Pembroke Pines/Miami area. Between insurance and property taxes I assume you have a large number of retired owners that simply can't afford to live there anymore on a fixed income.

Are there any A rated carriers other than Citizens (which is state backed) writing property/windstorm insurance in the area?

Mr. Wonderful

Consider yourself lucky that you can even get insurance. A lot of us have Citizens... there's nothing wrong with it.
One thing you have to understand about a home in Florida. If you've lived in it for a long time, your taxes are much lower than someone that just bought the house next door to you. When a house sells, the county is allowed to "catch up" and raises the taxes to current market value. For instance, someone living in a home for the past 20 years might be paying $2k in taxes, while the new owner next door may be paying 3 or 4 times that
If that 20 year owner sold his home and moved into the house next door, he'd be paying that new high tax also.
The trick is to find a home you like, and stay in it (forever).
The is a referendum on the ballot this month to allow residents to vote for "portability" which means if they sell current house and move into a higher priced home, the taxes won't go up nearly as much as before.
The Florida legislature, in all their wisdom, to help homeowner's afford to stay in Florida, came up with a lame plan to save each owner about $240/yr. Governor Crist, while campaining for gov. before he was elected last year, promised to SLASH taxes. Our lame representatives could not hash out a plan to save us more than $240. That's insane.
The vote has to be approved by 60% of voters this month. I will be voting against this plan as I hope many others will be doing, thereby sending a message to those that represent us that we are not satisfied with these "crumbs".
I moved to Florida from New York, and I often feel ashamed to be a Florida resident when you look at all the crap that goes on down here. Politicians say they care, but they don't prove it with their actions.
But, I am retired, and can afford to live here in comfort. Not everyone is as lucky.

OneBadZ06

You know Florida does not have a lock on that. No better here in Chicago. Hell our last governer is now in Prison! The feds are now investigating the current one!

Still plenty of positives in FL for us car guys.

No state auto inspections.
Laxed window tint laws.
No front plates.
Cheap auto insurance.
Year round driving weather!!!

Thanks mr. Wonderful for the insights. Seems like the property tax issue would be illegal on several levels.