Florida Condo?

[Sharked]

As we are planning to sell our home here north of Toronto and hopefully spend 6 months on our boat in the Bahamas, the thought has come up a few times about buying a condo in Florida to rent out and also have available for us to use.

Originally I was thinking in the Stuart area, as it seems there are lots of loopers in that area and people coming back and forth from Bahamas. When our boat needs to come out on the hard, it would be convenient to have our condo close by.

I think Miami or Fort Lauderdale would be good for rental market, especially if close to the beach, but probably too expensive.

Friends have recommended Naples/Marco Island to buy a condo if our intention is to rent it out, but I am not sure being on the west side of Florida makes sense, if our boat is on the east side.

We have traveled all over Florida but never spent more than a couple weeks, so I would value any recommendations from residents of Florida on where to look?

 

[Blissboat]

For your intentions, the east coast makes the most sense, even though the culture differs from that of west coast communities. Stuart is beautiful and has good boating infrastructure, but for p/t use I suggest you first identify the two or three metros with good airports offering direct service to where you travel most often - in your case, Toronto. Then arrange a weeklong vacation rental in each place and form some more local impressions.

 

[Sharked]

For your intentions, the east coast makes the most sense, even though the culture differs from that of west coast communities. Stuart is beautiful and has good boating infrastructure, but for p/t use I suggest you first identify the two or three metros with good airports offering direct service to where you travel most often - in your case, Toronto. Then arrange a weeklong vacation rental in each place and form some more local impressions.

We have daily flights to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa

 

[DavidM]

For several years we snowbirded between a condo in Ct and another in Punta Gorda on the SW coast of Florida near Ft Myers. Punta Gorda is one of the lowest cost canal front communities. Unfortunately even though most canal front condos come with a slip, most are too small for most trawlers.

But along the Calosehatchie River to the west and the St Lucie canal to the east towards Stuart, there are a couple of yards that specialize in long term haul outs where you can keep your boat on the hard. Punta Gorda is only a couple of hours by car from the western one and maybe 3-4 hours from the eastern one. Of course you could do the same thing with a condo in Stuart, but you would have to pay much more for one in Stuart with a water, canal front view. Zillow says our 1,500 SF, 2 BR condo on the second, top floor overlooking a wide canal would sell for the low $400s.

David

 

[mvweebles]

In 2011, at the tail end of the real estate bust, we bought a condo in St Pete Beach FL that came with a slip (honestly, I bought a slip that happened to come with a condo). It's on the ICW and despite it's small size has been a good income earner for us www.vrbo.com/573876. About 6 years ago, a good friend with a 52 foot power cat decided finding a slip was too expensive and difficult so he bought a house on the water which has proved to be a phenomenal investment. Unfortunately, Florida real estate has a huge run up since Covid. But there may be some condos with marinas.

The east coast has the Bahamas, but there's decent cruising on the west coast too. When we decided to move to Florida, we could live anywhere with af least a semi-decent airport. We looked at Jacksonville (too cold), Miami area (bit out of our price range for what we wanted), Venice/Sarasota, and St Petersburg area. We decided on the west coast because the east coast reminded me too much of when I grew up in New Jersey. Folks say the west Coast is more paid back, but really, the east coast was too much of something. Can't quite put my finger on it. If we were to make the same choice today, we'd still pick St Pete all over again.

Ft Myers would also be a good choice, especially for boating. It's fairly easy to get to Bahamas or the Keys.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Don't underestimate the difficulty of finding a slip.

Peter

 

[Sharked]

In 2011, at the tail end of the real estate bust, we bought a condo in St Pete Beach FL that came with a slip (honestly, I bought a slip that happened to come with a condo). It's on the ICW and despite it's small size has been a good income earner for us www.vrbo.com/573876. About 6 years ago, a good friend with a 52 foot power cat decided finding a slip was too expensive and difficult so he bought a house on the water which has proved to be a phenomenal investment. Unfortunately, Florida real estate has a huge run up since Covid. But there may be some condos with marinas.

The east coast has the Bahamas, but there's decent cruising on the west coast too. When we decided to move to Florida, we could live anywhere with af least a semi-decent airport. We looked at Jacksonville (too cold), Miami area (bit out of our price range for what we wanted), Venice/Sarasota, and St Petersburg area. We decided on the west coast because the east coast reminded me too much of when I grew up in New Jersey. Folks say the west Coast is more paid back, but really, the east coast was too much of something. Can't quite put my finger on it. If we were to make the same choice today, we'd still pick St Pete all over again.

Ft Myers would also be a good choice, especially for boating. It's fairly easy to get to Bahamas or the Keys.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Don't underestimate the difficulty of finding a slip.

Peter

Its not so much the slip that we were thinking about, its to have a dirt home that we can use when we are not on the boat, and rent out while we are on the boat. The Mrs. is apprehensive from cutting all ties to land so to speak, and I think it would be easier for her (and therefore me as well) if we had a property in Florida.

I assumed having a property on the east coast within an hour or so driving from when ever we have the boat docked or on the hard for repairs would make the most sense. However I do like the south west area of Florida best during all my trips to Florida.

 

[PhilPB]

I'm in the east coast West Palm Beach area. You can look inland for less expensive condos, but is of course is based on your budget. As an example, where we have our slip in northern Palm Beach County, you can get a condo for $400's to $4mil. If you look further south in Boynton Beach/Delray Beach, you can get a larger older duplex in the $300's or a well kept home from the $600's to a $2mil. Granted, it depends on what you like and your budget. Luckily for us we own our slip in a livaboard marina. There are some, but few slips for sale in private marinas.

 

[TBill36]

Be aware that most condos restrict how often you can rent it out. Sometime once every 3 or 4 months, so if your intention is air bnb you may be out of luck. Also as you probably know, finding a boat slip is going to harder than finding a condo unless you are specifically looking for one that has a slip which are much more limited.

 

[Slo-Mocean]

We Own one of the cheaper condos in Naples, a updated 1100 sqft 2/2 in a 30 yo 3 story building 2 miles from the beach value is 350-400. They rent for $5000 a month .There is some older condos on the bay with a slip but your looking at 800-900 on the lower end.

I have lived in Naples for 40 years and the traffic is gridlock some days especially when its a non beach day during the 6 months of season , clean safe town sorta uppity.

Fort Myers beach is demolished and it will be 5years before it looks normal again .Traffic in Fort Myers is comparable to the east coast some days. You couldn't pay me to live there .

Spend a fair amount of time in St Pete as one of my best buddies has a house on the water a couple miles from downtown , Love St Pete and prices are less than Naples.

Might want to look at Palmetto its kind of a diamond in the rough yet.

Check on insurance also. My wife is in insurance and has not been able to write for a lot of customers since the hurricane.

Waterfront insurance will be 8-12000 a year for a minimal home and half that for interior insurance on a ground floor condo unit if you can get it .

 

[Comodave]

Check out every angle about Florida condos before you buy one. Check the HOA rules and restrictions. What are the HOA costs, are they going up? Check insurance costs, in Florida they are going up, sometimes astronomically. Go in with your eyes open.

 

[Slo-Mocean]

Any condo building over 2 stories needs a engineering inspection every 4 years ever since the Surfside condo collapse.

 

[Slo-Mocean]

Check out every angle about Florida condos before you buy one. Check the HOA rules and restrictions. What are the HOA costs, are they going up? Check insurance costs, in Florida they are going up, sometimes astronomically. Go in with your eyes open.

Our 3 story buildings have recent roofs and a recent parking lot repave still our hoa has doubled to $875 month the last 2 years due to inflation and insurance costs.

 

[Comodave]

Our 3 story buildings have recent roofs and a recent parking lot repave still our hoa has doubled to $875 month the last 2 years due to inflation and insurance costs.

That’s what I am referring to.

 

[fgarriso]

With all of the Engineering Inspections and, companies leaving the state insurance could be costly.

 

[PhilPB]

If you choose to be full time livaboard, you can always buy just a slip in a very nice private marina.

 

[TBill36]

Many of the condos are in the 30 to 40 year range and in need of expensive repairs for which the residents get to pay with a one time assessment. Many need to have the balconies replaced due to the weakened rebar from salt intrusion as an inference. I know of another local condo that the residents were all told they had to vacate the next day after an inspection and couldn't get back in for 6 months. There was also a local 80 story one that was tied up for 3 years because one of the residents didn't have adequate insurance and was damaged during a hurricane. In addition, I'm sure there are books written about condo commandos and their imposed rules and regulations.

There are many benefits to condo life also. Just be aware of what you are getting into.

 

[Shrew]

We moved to Florida with the intention of being snowbirds, leaving the boat in New England. We thought a condo was the way to go in regards to maintenance.

HOA fees are very high in Condo's

Not all Condo Associations are financially solvent, with sufficient cash reserves. Expect assessments for expensive fixes. I can show you three condo associations that had severe roof damage after a hurricane. They went for over a year with blue tarps because they couldn't afford to replace the roofs and were forced to wait for insurance to settle.

Florida Condo Safety laws are going to make inspection and repairs of existing condo's difficult. (See Assessments).

You're better off finding a small neighborhood that includes landscaping in the HOA or hire someone.

Look around the Space Coast. It has the intracoastal, it is below the frost line. Many cruisers hang out in this area for the winter.

 

[READY]

Perhaps consider North or South Carolina? Further from peak hurricane zone and if you can find something on the ICW with a slip it might be more reasonable and insurable. Taxes are not horrible. There are some privately owned slips in the region. Hilton Head is great but pricey.

 

[HopCar]

When I sold my business, I used some of the money to buy two condos to rent out. That has worked out well for me. Good income stream and increased in value. I bought near the U of Miami so my tenants have been students.
Do your research about renting first. Many condos require you to live in the unit for a year or more before you can rent it out. Some require minimum lease lengths of a year. That might be a problem if you want it available half the year. Of course you could live on the boat for a year then plan to haul the boat after the lease ends. You’ll also have to hire someone to manage the apartment since you won’t be near by.

 

[Shrew]

When I sold my business, I used some of the money to buy two condos to rent out. That has worked out well for me. Good income stream and increased in value. I bought near the U of Miami so my tenants have been students.
Do your research about renting first. Many condos require you to live in the unit for a year or more before you can rent it out. Some require minimum lease lengths of a year. That might be a problem if you want it available half the year. Of course you could live on the boat for a year then plan to haul the boat after the lease ends. You’ll also have to hire someone to manage the apartment since you won’t be near by.

Agreed. We own a Condo in CT. That HOA restricts rentals to a min. of 6 months.

We have a house in Florida. Our HOA in FL has severe restrictions on rentals. You have to live in the house for a year before you can rent. You can't rent for less than 1 yr. You can't have more than two rental agreements over 5 years. So if you rent out for a year, then the tenants move out, then you rent to new tenants for year. If the second tenants move out at the end of their 1 yr lease, you can't rent the house for the next three years.

The AirBnB/VRBO market is invoking significant changes to the rental market.

 

[dannc]

The OP is getting some excellent advice.

Pay particular attention to insurance both cost and coverage. Can you even get house insurance? It is a major problem in Florida.

Also pay attention to property tax which is high in Florida.

I have family whose house insurance is much higher than our house insurance AND property tax. I suspect their property tax is higher than our house insurance AND property tax. Due to the high cost of house insurance, my family is considering going without coverage. Beware.

I moved out of SE Florida decades ago but at the time there was a very distinct difference between people in SE Florida and SW Florida. I had to travel to Naples and Ft. Myers areas frequently, and had friends on Marco Island and the people over their were much more friendly than on the SE coast.

Traffic in SE Florida is horrible. Worse I have ever seen. SW Florida was not bad BUT the SW has grown so much since I was over there the traffic has had to increase.

In Miami, English was almost a second language, and when I left, Broward county was moving that way demographically. I REALLY miss Cuban food. Tampa was where Cuban's first came into the Florida to work in the cigar plants so there used to be some great Cuban places. Tampa has grown greatly since I was there and I hope the Cuban influences are still there.

A family member worked for high end condo developments. These developments had condos, town homes, and houses covered by HOA. The advice I was given was to stay away from condos due to the finances, maintenance, and "social" issues.

Having said that, we looked at a condo in SC that is a CondoTel. Some owners live there full time while others rent out the unit. The building, staff and HOA is setup for this situation and it is really nice. However, we did not like the layouts of the condos, noise, the hurricane risk and I had concerns about the building structure. We were thinking of buying for the same reason as the OP.

I don't know how many CondoTels there are but they are available.

One really should travel to the area one is interested in buying and staying there to see if you like it. The problem with Florida, especially SE and I suspect now in SW Florida, is there are two seasons. The hot, humid summer and Snow Bird season which is in the winter. Some ares that have lots of retires who travel to overwinter and the traffic on roads and crowds in stores and restaurants increases greatly. Summer can be peaceful, sorta, but then the Snowbirds arrive. Course one has to get used to the hot Florida summer and that can take a few years.

Later,
Dan

 

[PhilPB]

With the high costs of building materials as well as the price increases of contractors the reserve requirements are getting higher and many owners are being hit with special assessments. Just do your homework and ask for the financials of the association before you pull the trigger and buy and ask of any known future special assessments. Many realtors will have that available if you request it. Nowadays it isn't just the outright cost of the unit you need to look at. Florida is still a great place to be.

 

[Finally Fun Again]

Strongly agree with all the comments surrounding the potential impact of additional, hidden costs that are looming in the FL market (insurance; reinspections, high assessments, etc.). Additionally be AWARE that as you will not be able to 'homestead' your condo as you are not a full time FL resident, your property tax has no cap. When purchasing, your potential condo might show a low property tax. All property tax is RESET at new purchase and could be very significant increase to you as homesteaded property is taxed at a 3% annual Cap to FL residents. We sold our condos long ago due to that (before all the recent insurance issues) as our property tax went up from $2,000 a year to $12,000 with no end in sight - and property had barely increased in value - and HOA fees went from $200 to $800 over a 3 years due to insurance increases. And flood insurance has skyrocketed recently. A family member, on a small canal with no dock has received a $10,000 annual required premium for FEMA Flood, which is required if you have a mortgage AND the maximum amount one can obtain for coverage is $250,000. You'll soon see a LOT of waterfront and other properties on the market but Buyer Beware. Explore ALL upcoming potential costs before you commit. A lot of people/realtors won't disclose all of this as they want a sale......

 

[Captgary175]

The Stuart/ St Lucy areas are very nice and are boater friendly. I have a Condo in Cocoa Beach. 40 minutes from Orlando Airport, beautiful beaches, 20 minutes to Kennedy Space Center, an hour to Disney. Nice marinas in Port Canaveral, Cocoa and Titusville. Keep in mind the insurance issues in Florida right now though. Our property insurance went from $9800 last year to $23000 this year. It is a statewide issue for waterfront property. Just factor it into your planning.

 

[Slo-Mocean]

Just got our renewal’s for our condo , the 2 cars and the boat. Almost everything doubled but the boat. My Escalade is now 12 years old and my insurance through State Farm as a lifetime insured went to $150 a month for two 60 year old drivers with spotless driving records.

Something to think about is if you are depending on the rental to pay the mortgage. 98% of the high rise condos on Fort Myers beach are still not able to be occupied since the hurricane September of 22.

My buddy owns 3 condos on the fifth floor that we’re not damaged ,across the road from the beach in Bonita that he had for rentals that have been closed since the hurricane and they are hoping to get back in them by October of this year, almost 2 years later plus he has a $42000 assessment on each condo. He only paid between 160 -200 thousand for each of them as they are studios. He has money and owns them outright and the down time isn’t killing him but I bet there is a lot of people losing their savings. .

This last hurricane was a total wake-up for Florida residents.

 

[PhilPB]

We sold our townhouse about 18 months ago. We were paying a little over $9k/ yr in taxes. It was reassessed last year and the bill for the new owners is now $17k/ yr. Our boat slip didn't go up astronomically
for taxes and you don't get insurance on submerged land so that didn't go up since there is no insurance on it. If you just buy a boat slip and move your liveaboard there, it is cheaper than living on dirt.

 

[Seevee]

A lot of good points about condos and houses in an HOA. And regardless, insurance IS and issue.



I've been living and investing in houses on the west coast of FL for some 50 years, and the houses purchased years ago are doing very well. I don't insure them for flood or damage and am WAY ahead.



The market is just now cooling off so one could buy a house, cash flow and have a good rental or living half time and renting half time. You "could" rent it for two weeks a year, with not tax on the profits and homestead it FWIW.


The prices here (St. Petersburg area) are still high, but lots more on the market an longer time to sell, with some reductions in price. If you have the ability to do creative buying, you can make out well.


However, commuting from Canada, I suspect you'd really want waterfront to dock your boat. And good waterfront with a boat dock is hard to find for less than $800K or more, but occasionally there's some deals.

 

[Seevee]

Just talked to a friend of mine to update things. He lives in a condo, that I almost bought into, that has some promise. There are 2/2s, 1500 sq ft units on the water that sell in the $500 to $650 range. They will accommodate a good sized trawler. (He has a 32 ft one with a 50,000 lb lift behind his unit. Condo fees are in the $700 to $900 range. If you rent, it has to be a half a year or more, which could work. And the "gestapo" attitude of the board is not there. Reasonably friendly.


So, there's options.

 

[O C Diver]

One of the big differences in condo associations is whether they are run by companies or the homeowners who live there. I live in an HOA community of about 70 homes from about $500K to $1M+. Very nice gated community in Fort Myers. Condo fees cover road maintenance, the entrance gates, common area maintenance including mowing, electricity for lighting, gates, and common area irrigation. Condo fees are $1,000 per year! Have a high 5 figure "rainy day fund".

Lot to be said for Florida's homestead exception. Last 10 years property tax went up about 1% per year. This year because of Ian it went up 6%. It use to be that you looked at the property taxes, now it's the HOA fees.

Ted

 

[PhilPB]

One of the big differences in condo associations is whether they are run by companies or the homeowners who live there. I live in an HOA community of about 70 homes from about $500K to $1M+. Very nice gated community in Fort Myers. Condo fees cover road maintenance, the entrance gates, common area maintenance including mowing, electricity for lighting, gates, and common area irrigation. Condo fees are $1,000 per year! Have a high 5 figure "rainy day fund".

Lot to be said for Florida's homestead exception. Last 10 years property tax went up about 1% per year. This year because of Ian it went up 6%. It use to be that you looked at the property taxes, now it's the HOA fees.

Ted

I'd love to move to Fort Myers, beautiful area for sure and I prefer the Gulf to the Atlantic. My wife on the other hand wants to stay on the east coast. Guess who wins?