Moving to Florida?

[mazworld15]

Not sure where to put this so hope it's ok here. We want to live in Orlando. Lokked at it a couple of years ago and decided too much hassle, villa upkeep, only being allowed to say 6 months, but the idea wont go away! Has anyone bought recently, do people still do this?
Does anyone rent their property long term eg for the full 6 months they can't be there?
Can anyone with a villa give us an idea of the costs for maintainence, monthy pool, management co etc
Do people spend the full 6 months there?
Sorry about all the Qs , we so want to do it but scared of a very costly mistake so any comments will be gratefully received.

[LIZH]

We only go on holiday there but in the future I would look at going for 3 months at a time once we have retired, but that is still a good 10 years off. With regards to costs I suppose it depends on the size of the Villa, but I find everything more expensive than in the UK, our insurance is around $1700 and the equivalent in council tax is $3400, then on top is water rates, electricity, pest control, cable, the list is endless.

I hope you realise your dream, but you are right to get an idea of a the costs because it is an eye opener.

[Cloverlady]

We did toy a good few years back now with having a villa but decided against it after we'd looked into everything.

We changed to hoping to do long-rental trips when hubby takes early retirement (now in about 5 years - all being well! )

[Endeavour]

Originally Posted by LIZH

We only go on holiday there but in the future I would look at going for 3 months at a time once we have retired, but that is still a good 10 years off. With regards to costs I suppose it depends on the size of the Villa, but I find everything more expensive than in the UK, our insurance is around $1700 and the equivalent in council tax is $3400, then on top is water rates, electricity, pest control, cable, the list is endless.

I hope you realise your dream, but you are right to get an idea of a the costs because it is an eye opener.

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I wish my council tax in Scotland was only $3,400!

[Gryff]

We spend as much time as possible at our villa would spend more if tax implications etc
We’re not an issue
As Lizh says utilities HOA fees pool garden care property manger and property taxes are expenses
Happy to answer any questions if you want to pm me

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by mazworld15

Not sure where to put this so hope it's ok here. We want to live in Orlando. Lokked at it a couple of years ago and decided too much hassle, villa upkeep, only being allowed to say 6 months, but the idea wont go away! Has anyone bought recently, do people still do this?
Does anyone rent their property long term eg for the full 6 months they can't be there?
Can anyone with a villa give us an idea of the costs for maintainence, monthy pool, management co etc
Do people spend the full 6 months there?
Sorry about all the Qs , we so want to do it but scared of a very costly mistake so any comments will be gratefully received.

See more...

Purely my opinion, as a former Cape Coral owner I'd chew both arms off before investing in Fl again. Costings are high, between $20k to $35k a year depending if one has a mortgage and you need somebody reliable to caretake your property when you're not there - when this question was asked a few years ago a Dibber advised his Fl property cost him circa $34k a year. We bought in 2004 when rates were $1.85 to the £, when we sold in 2009 our property taxes [$5k], home insurance [$2k], utilities, gardener and friend who cared for the home/pool were circa $12k a year, that was with no cable tv, no internet, no MC, no bells and whistles, the $12k didn't include repairs/replacement. Roofs take a pounding from the sun/humidity and shingle last circa 15 years, clay tiles a bit longer, air conditioning, white goods, decorating all need to be considered against the age of any property one is interested in.

I appreciate this will sound rude, but we've seen some rush on in with rose tinted glasses only to discover the reality of Fl property ownership is hugely expensive, involves a lot of self DIY and may take money away from their main home in the UK - I think you may be some costings aware Maz, hence why you've procrastinated. Currently, in Fl, it's a sellers market, adding in $ to £ goes some way to explain why many Brit/European owners are selling now.

As retirees we have B2 visa and spend 6 month over the winter on Bokeelia, renting a friends home. It's the only way we'd consider our SW Fl time and this option would be my recommendation - you don't need to worry about repairs, property taxes, home insurance et al. We also own an old Fl motor which massively reduces car hire costings. In 2012 we were approached and offerred an extremely cheap modular home on it's own plot, we immediately turned it down, didn't want all that goes hand in hand with Fl property ownership again, we want to know the next time a hurricane hits it won't take out/damage a property we own!

[mazworld15]

Originally Posted by ChrisS

Purely my opinion, as a former Cape Coral owner I'd chew both arms off before investing in Fl again. Costings are high, between $20k to $35k a year depending if one has a mortgage and you need somebody reliable to caretake your property when you're not there - when this question was asked a few years ago a Dibber advised his Fl property cost him circa $34k a year. We bought in 2004 when rates were $1.85 to the £, when we sold in 2009 our property taxes [$5k], home insurance [$2k], utilities, gardener and friend who cared for the home/pool were circa $12k a year, that was with no cable tv, no internet, no MC, no bells and whistles, the $12k didn't include repairs/replacement. Roofs take a pounding from the sun/humidity and shingle last circa 15 years, clay tiles a bit longer, air conditioning, white goods, decorating all need to be considered against the age of any property one is interested in.

I appreciate this will sound rude, but we've seen some rush on in with rose tinted glasses only to discover the reality of Fl property ownership is hugely expensive, involves a lot of self DIY and may take money away from their main home in the UK - I think you may be some costings aware Maz, hence why you've procrastinated. Currently, in Fl, it's a sellers market, adding in $ to £ goes some way to explain why many Brit/European owners are selling now.

As retirees we have B2 visa and spend 6 month over the winter on Bokeelia, renting a friends home. It's the only way we'd consider our SW Fl time and this option would be my recommendation - you don't need to worry about repairs, property taxes, home insurance et al. We also own an old Fl motor which massively reduces car hire costings. In 2012 we were approached and offerred an extremely cheap modular home on it's own plot, we immediately turned it down, didn't want all that goes hand in hand with Fl property ownership again, we want to know the next time a hurricane hits it won't take out/damage a property we own!

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Cheers Chris, more or less confirmed our thinking unfortunately, DH will retire within the next 2 years, renting from your friend sounds ideal, I think I'll start looking at that option too

[EssexSue]

Maybe Cape Coral is a more expensive area but I can honestly say there is no way we could sustain that sort of loss every year.

Last year was - obviously - our worst year on record and we lost about $10k. We turned off/down every thing we could and our MC charged us caretaker rate. Obviously if we decided to not rent out again we would save a lot of money on advertising and continual upkeep and replacement of consumables.
Our gardens and grounds are all maintained by the professional landscapers so that comes out if our HOA fees as is out watering and pest control.

Luckily we have been renting out to American guests since February 2021 and the future is (fingers crossed) looking good. That said I would not advise any Brit to buy at the moment given the very high house prices and poor exchange rate.

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by EssexSue

Maybe Cape Coral is a more expensive area but I can honestly say there is no way we could sustain that sort of loss every year.

Last year was - obviously - our worst year on record and we lost about $10k. We turned off/down every thing we could and our MC charged us caretaker rate. Obviously if we decided to not rent out again we would save a lot of money on advertising and continual upkeep and replacement of consumables.
Our gardens and grounds are all maintained by the professional landscapers so that comes out if our HOA fees as is out watering and pest control.

Luckily we have been renting out to American guests since February 2021 and the future is (fingers crossed) looking good. That said I would not advise any Brit to buy at the moment given the very high house prices and poor exchange rate.

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Hiya Sue... CC was no more expensive, our 2008/9 c$12k costs included $7k of property taxes and insurance, I note property taxes reduced to $3768, whereas many Floridians report large home insurance increases. The upkeep figures I quoted came from a previous thread a few years ago asking about Orlando costings - I don't remember who the chap was who stated his property cost him circa $34k a year. At time of our 2009 selling, an Orlando owner advised her base costings were in excess of $24k.

You'll have seen a good reduction by turning off/reducing some services, but buyers could add another possible expense, HOA fee's, I know they can differ, is circa $400/$450 a month an average figure?

[Gryff]

ChrisS we had a bit of huffing and puffing in here earlier the lecky bill arrived $430 which I thought wasn’t bad we’ve had guest in and AC going and pool heat for 10 days
But him indoors who used to work for a major electricity supplier had his usual huff and puff but does he complain about the $220 for TV cable internet nope cause we’ve a full sports package and knows fine well I’d cut the sport off tute suit if he did and oh heck I need new sod on the strip of grass I own between the road and the side walk and got a $25 fine because the trash can was out earlier than it should have been as trash pick up was Friday not Thursday due to Memorial Day weekend but so did most of our estate it seems
The joys the joys