How can people afford to buy houses in FL?

Question

I am a teacher and I live in FL. ofcourse Im not even close to buying a house but the other day I was passing by and seeing that old tiny houses from the 1970's and the price was $ 350,000! I saw a tiny one from the year 1990 and it was 450,000. They say its a buyers market but I just wonder how people afford to buy these amazing new huge houses. What do they work in???? Could I ever afford to buy a house in Florida?

Answer 1

Knowledge as you know (being a teacher) is power. To that end here is the knowledge you need to accomplish what you currently think you can not accomplish
Affordable Housing opportunities: http://www.flhousing.org/
Teachers Housing opportunities: http://www.teachinflorida.com/jobCenter/housing.asp
First time home buyer programs: http://www.floridahousing.org/home/
Down Payment Assistance programs: http://www.floridahousing.org/home/homebuyersrenters/fthb/downpaymentassistance.htm or http://www.americandreamdownpaymentassistance.com/state.cfm?code=FL
Real Estate Buyer’s Agent organization http://www.naeba.org/
Cities Web sites: http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=34
STATE’S WEB SITE: http://www.myflorida.com/
In addition the federal government has hundreds of programs available to you allowing for the purchase of a property if you qualify
List of all available Federal programs http://www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits_en.portal;jsessionid=FX2KrmkSYpQNWvJT5M5bCT8d6NfrbMGL2kWh01jgmGKD5HYmGYyj!-1747634320?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=gbcc_page_locate_federal&_nfls=false
Finding out what benefits you are eligible for with the US Government
http://www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits_en.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=gbcc_page_questionnaire&_nfls=false

Buena Suerte

Answer 2

People get interest only mortgages, where you actually never pay down the principle and just are paying the interest.

They are banking on the fact that in a few years (5, 10 or more) the value of the house will have gone up high enough you can refinance and start actually "buying" your home.

Many foreclosures are due to people using this strategy and then the housing market dropping values. They can't refinance because they owe more than the house is now worth and they were dumb enough to take out an adjustable rate mortgage where the interest is going through the roof.

If I were in your shoes, I would look for a small house in need of fixing up. Then you can increase the value by remodeling/restoring the house. After a few years sell it, take your equity (difference between what you owe and what it sells for) to use as the down payment on the next, better house.

Good luck.

Answer 3

It's never a good idea to buy a house with someone you are not married to. There are things that will go wrong--property damage, wear and tear, desire to "fix it up," etc. and that all costs a lot of money and before you know it, now there is another negative in the relationship. Utilities are costly, taxes, insurance, etc. People NEVER estimate correctly on living expenses. It's always way under the actual costs. If you're living there, what happens when you break up and he wants the money NOW? What if he wants a home equity loan? It's half his. What if he wants a re-fi? What if he wants to move in and you can't stand each other under the same roof? The list of negatives goes on to infinity. This is a tremendously bad idea all around and as you said you can't afford a house on your own, just find some place to rent, save your money, and get an appropriate place on your own or after you are married.

Answer 4

I think alot of the people who can afford those big fat houses are retired and have played the real estate game for years...buy low, sell high...I don't understand how they can even afford the insurance at this point...I guess the really rich ones don't need it, they just pay to rebuild every few years after their house gets ruined again...
If I were you I wouldn't want to buy a house in Florida...there are other warm places that are much safer, and much more affordable..they need teachers everywhere...maybe start checking on line for a new place to live...unless there is some reason you are really tied to Florida...good luck..I know most teachers are way under paid, I am not disssing you, I think it is horrible that teachers don't get more pay...but affording a house there, and then the insurance is gonna be real tough..if you can't leave, best to rent, if you can...alittle to the west or north and you can do much better!!!! Good luck...owning a home isn't all it's cracked up to be anyway...esp. if you are single...I mean someones gotta fix the toilet!!!!!

Answer 5

I know what you mean. In the 70's my Grandfather bought a brand new house in Port Orange for $14,000 . That was top dollar then, but now it looks like a silly price and not even enough for a down payment.

I've found that buyers of houses like you mention have various backgrounds. A lot of them have their own business and make very good money. Some of them have had other real estate to sell and roll in to the new home. Some have inherited money and some are in debt up to their eyeballs.

When the prices get way out of line people start looking at longer term loans, interest only loans, and other ways to juggle the numbers and get in a house. It's sad that a person making a decent wage can not afford the average priced house in a area.

Answer 6

I know what you mean. We lived in Jacksonville for 4 years. The house we sold when we moved, we purchased in July 2000 for 155K, we sold it in August 2001 for 174K and in December 2003 that very same house sold for well over 300K!! If our jobs were to relocate us down there again, even with us both having good jobs and having a HUGE amount of equity in our home, we'd have a real problem finding an affordable house that we liked in a good area of town. As for the person saying the jobs paid twice as much as anywhere else, I can tell you that is certainly not true. As for how folks can afford such high priced houses, it's still a mystery to me. I suppose there are some that are just well to do, and some who have bought low and sold high, but there are a lot of young people who have these fine, lavishing homes so all I can say is either they've got wealthy parents who helped them out or they're up to their eyebrows in mortgage and are house poor...they've got the fine home, but by the time they pay for it, the insurance, taxes and to run it, they don't have much else!

Answer 7

Yeah and how do they afford those Yachts? A lot of people move down there after retiring from well paying jobs. School teachers who educate our children should be paid better. You'll get your house. Paying for it is the problem. Have a nice week-end. Why don't you go look at some houses?

Answer 8

The truth is the jobs there pay double the price for a job so the houses will be affordable. You might not have a luxorious house, but you'll be able to buy when.

Answer 9

Well mabye they have good jobs and they work hard to get there money. Im going to florida this year and staying in a villa and the villa was about £3000

Answer 10

ummm...
well most people who live in florida are rich
but a lot arent
you can find some good houses there for cheap
but if you want the best..
well your out of luck
so usually if youre not filthy rich
your just plain lucky...
or ur living in a normal house.. like urs is probably