Want To Buy Property In Florida for investment/retirement

[HAKUNAMATATA]

Hello all, I need some advice and help from all those that live in the US, I was looking to buy a property, preferably a 4 bed house. Considering the prices of properties were down and with the dollar so low, i was looking for a holiday home, or maybe even a permanent one.
Now, I would be looking for Florida as it is the sunshine state and with disney world around the corner and a place where mot people retire in the US. Any hint ,advice on what areas of florida would be good would be greatly appreciated. Also, if one would want to migrate to the US, with kids of the age of 10 and 4 would it be sensible from the UK ? Any advice on schooling and the system there would be appreciated.
Further, i would want to live as a retired person with most income coming from off shore sources. What would be the yearly expenditure, roughly.
Can a person live as a retired person in the USA? although it would be possible on grounds of educating your kids.

ALL ADVICE AND HELP GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

THANK YOU.

[Ace Novice]

With respect to Florida RE, there are two problems:

i) property taxes
ii) insurance

Property taxes are high because of inflated property values. Insurance is a pain since the 2004 hurricane season, especially if you buy near the coast.

Schooling can be done at a public or private school. The ten year old will need to adjust to different spellings, etc. The four year old should find it easier to adjust. Private schools use the Montessori method and build on that. Public schools accept kids five years and older (five years old by Sep 1 in the year the kid starts schooling). Transportation, school fees, and lunch are provided by the school district. You are assigned a school district based on your area of residence. There is also a Florida Virtual School which allows for internet based education. This is funded by the state government.

Private school fees run upwards of $6000 per year. If you rent, housing will cost you about $1000 to $2000 per month and utilities (water, phone, internet, electricity) about $350 per month. If you decide to buy, housing costs will depend on your house value, area, credit rating, etc.

There are many places for leading a retired or semi-retired lifestyle in Florida. Your choices would depend on what activities you would like to pursue. I suggest looking at areas in Central or Southern Florida. Note that May through August is hot, and hurricanes, when they do strike, can cause misery. Also, Florida has no state income tax.

[Desi_by_Nature]

With global warming expected to become incrementally worse every year, there are going to be a lot of climatic changes.
Some scientists have suggested that incidence of hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region will increase in the coming years. Florida seems to especially vulnerable.

I think it's somewhat risky to own a home there and can be a big hassle to travel overseas and sort of the mess if something bad happens.

[APGUY]

With the kind of sunshine you get through out the year this is one of the best palce to live as far climate is concerned. Property values have skyrocked within last 4 yrs, But now they are correcting, If you decide to buy home in florida now, you will get good bargains and sellers are willing to negogiate with desperation to sell their home. If you plan to work its better to stay close to the cities like miami,tampa,orlando..etc. I am not sure of schooling but my freinds who's kids are going to school has good feedback about schools in florida.As stated above insurance and property taxes are high here but state is working on a way to reduce the property taxes. If you work here there is no state tax in florida which is kind of good in a way. If you buy property near orlando or tampa i think the insurance rates are comparatly low there, since the chance of hurricances affecting those areas are slim.

[HBHCHM]

If you are looking into vacation homes, then Florida is good right now. Lot of inventory in condos and you can get a great deal anywhere you want. Not much on the single family homes. Yes, there is a correction, but not as much as in condos. The single family homes come with strings attached...if you want to be in a good school district, low-crime, access to highways, etc.

I know of places where you can get a 4BR, 2.5 Bath (about 2500 SF) for $200K, and also the same house costing $600K. The funny thing is it is only 1.5 hour drive between the two. You pay for services (schools, libraries, police, water, sewer, garbage pickup, etc). Obviously, the cheaper homes need potable water wells and septic tanks. Do not forget about hurricane, flood, and fire insurance, and not the least...taxes. The escrows could almost equal your mortgage payments.

So, hire a realtor and ask the right questions, especially if you plan to move in with kids who are in school. Very few schools in Florida make it to the national list. So, with good schools few and far between, the price of homes have a coorelation to that. If you can afford to send your kids to private schools 30 miles away, then you buy a cheaper place and spend the money in tuition fees. I hope this helps.

[vijay]

I hear Jacksonville has plenty of professional desi's. Ft lauderdale is expensive but worth looking at. I wouldnt bother with miami unless you are into urban city culture. only Jacksonville is close to Disney.
Also florida has two coastlines and i hear from americans they prefer the western coastline, pensacola etc.
do a search for the community of Seaside, florida, its a very well designed community on western coast http://www.seasidefl.com/

[HAKUNAMATATA]

Amazing!!! thanks alot for the information that has come in. To be very honest i am in a position where i was looking to return to India, but everytime i go to Bangalore I return more bitter as a person, although i have an apartment there, but life out there without infrastruture seems too hard to adopt. Simple things like a walk is impossible.I think i have put my thoughts of returning to India for a long rest , hence USA.

I thought of US as there has been alot of advertising going on in the UK, with home sales down out there they are targeting UK buyers,with sterling being so strong houses and assets look relatively cheap. Even now with $250k dollars u can barely buy a one bed flat in the outskirts of London.

At 36 i care for my wife and have a net mothly income from investments of $10k per month, and the house paid up which if i were to sell would fetch me atleast about $700k(all conversion done at£1=$2 ). Would look to buy something in the region of 250k-400k in the US and put the rest into bank or maybe start a family based business.

This would just give us all a change of environment and probably a better standard of living , lower living costs, better weather conditions and prolly better private schooling. What scares me is the hurricane and severe weather conditions that have recently hit the state of Florida. Would anyone recommend other places besides florida?

There is nothing wrong with London,every thing is great all the amenities are available, but the same is available anywhere in the US at probably half the price. Yes, i realize there is medical insurance, which we don't have here unless one chooses to have it, but i feel that is better atleast you know you will get the attention when needed and not have to wait for an operation or condition. The property taxes are high here too and we call them council tax, i pay about $3400 per year again converted into dollars for your convienience.

None, of you mentioned anything on the residence issue, if i were to retire there, would that be ok??or i'd need to start a business. Would the kids be eligible for state schools? or i'd be able to stay only if the kids went to private schools? We are all British citizens and no Americans.Anyone has any info on that subject?

Once again i thank you all for all the effort and information.

[Ace Novice]

....Would anyone recommend other places besides florida?
.....
None, of you mentioned anything on the residence issue, if i were to retire there, would that be ok??or i'd need to start a business. Would the kids be eligible for state schools? or i'd be able to stay only if the kids went to private schools? ....[/quote]

If you list your criteria for choosing a place of residence in the USA, you might get more definitive information on this board.

For a UK national, I believe you still need to go through immigration, whether employment or family based. There is an investment based option too which might tie in with your capability and interest (?) in starting a business. Here is a link to the govt. website on GCs:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=4f719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=4f719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Eligibility for public schooling is not dependent on type of visa or, I believe, duration of residence. It is tied to the area of residence and age of the child.

[HAKUNAMATATA]

Ace i do realise that by not being precise i close alot of doors for myself, the only place i have been in the US is New York, so i surely can't be precise with a place i would want to live in,in such a vast continent.

Florida, came up as a good choice for obvious reasons . Easy research online gives good information on property prices, good lifestyle etc et. But there is no substitute for real experience and comments from people living the life, especially from your own.

I think i realise shifting there would be quite difficult on a retirement basis as there are immigration restrictions. The way forward here would be to get a home and spend time there as a holiday maker initially, study the situation and then go into a business. The buying of a home cannot be wrong, with 2000-3000sqft for $200-400k at such low dollar levels should be a long term bet profit.

I also realise Florida being prone to hurricanes, would you guys say central florida is safer?? places such as tampa or orlando.

[Old-Spice2]

#9 Take a look at Malaysia as retirement destination. I have not analysed it but there is no fear of hurricane like FL.

http://www.mm2h.gov.my/