My aunt specializes in waterfront around Ft Lauderdale area, I'm sure she could answer any questions you would have. She works out of Coldwell Banker. 1-954-259-5110 pgr, [email protected].

She's in Georgia for Turkey day but will be back on Monday. Good Luck

Will keep an eye out for you.

Greg

all i can say is that if ya could afford a waterfront house now jump on it cause it's getting ugly really ugly. where my old man lives ya cann't buy a house for less then 850,000 and that's needing to fix it up. but ya would love it right next to tnt and lipship which ya can drive your cig by water to there dock. they are less then 2 min away on the water. the ocean inlet is less then 5 min aways hollover cut

mike

How about a real clean duplex on a 16k square foot lot just a short walk from the LHP marina. Its not on water but it surrounded by multi million dollar waterfront homes in the nicest area in LHP. It also has a real nice pool. I haven't put it on the market just yet but will probably do so the first of the year.

thanks for everyones help.like thedonz says anything on the water is 850 plus, they say it`s going up 5,000 a month... cash bar i got your info thanks for the look around.. will check them out. del sol i`ll call her and zr, pm me some more info if you would. i`m looking... thanks....

In reality is not the basis of the investment but the carrying costs. Total with taxes, insurance and maintenance I am near $35,000 a year on the west coast of FL.

I really think that alot of people are unaware of the tax issue and the problems associated with getting homeowners insurance in a state that has been hammered with hurricanes. Alot of insurance companies are not writing new policies on waterfront right now. In fact they are doing a waiting list for new policies. My homeowners has doubled every year now due to the risk. The legislature is the one that allows the Insurance increases but the companies can raise them first and then ask for permission (which they usually get). The smart thing to do is look at the county property appraisers website for the location you are interested in and see what recent sales are being taxed at. Very often you will find that there are properties that have been owned for a long time and are taxed very little and the next door neighbor just bought and is paying $3000 a month in property tax!! Homestead is the key!! You have to homestead the property or you will get taxed right out of there!!!

For what it's worth:
I moved my wife and kids from just outside of NYC to Marco Island FL this past April.

We were paying just over $24,000 a year in property taxes for our home in NY, we are now paying about one third of that on Marco.
We were paying about $3000 in insurance costs in NYC, now that number has doubled.

Instead of snow removal in NY, that money instead is going towards Truly Nolan and year round lawn care.

All in all, I wish the music industry would have gone down the crapper sooner to force me to make this move a few years ago...

Our house on Marco has gone up in value by 35% since April, and so has the empty lot we bought next door

And it will go up that much next year too. Best investment you can make. The carrying cost to support the investment are worth it!

FL should be good for the next ten year or so in RE, then the same population balloon (baby boomers) that is fueling this boom will start kicking the bucket instead of buying real estate and you might have heirs that will start selling in droves wanting cash from their inheritance instead of the real estate and it's associated upkeep costs.

Brett also brought a good point as it relates to property insurance if FL keeps getting pounded by hurricanes, something similar to catamaran insurance.

Just my stupid toughts on this.