A friend of mine has a 2/2 condo in Vero Beach that he's owned for about ten years now. He's a retired postal worker on a small pension, and his condo association fees went up in June from $660.00 a month to $ 1,350.00 a month. Because he's in a first floor unit and there's a lagoon behind his place, his homeowners/flood insurance has risen to over $ 400.00 a month. This appears to be happening all over Florida, especially in the coastal communities, and ity's not just a problem here in Florida. Gonna be interesting to watch how this plays out.
There's a story explaining some of the problems here.
I have had a condo at Crescent Beach the past 30 years. I did private rentals and had a Snowbird couple rent it out 5 months every winter for 14 years. It paid for itself and all profits went into repairs, upgrades, and extra loan payments. I had 9 years with no monthlong winter rentals and I had to dump money into it. I paid off the loan on it about 5 years ago and had to dump about $30k back into it over the last five years. I turned it over to a leasing agency 16 months ago and I am at a slight profit right now but there is a 3 month Snowbird reservation out there. With what is on the calendar I expect to make a $6k to $12k profit on it by next May.
ReplyDeleteI am off the beaten path just south of St Augustine which is great for those that like a quiet beach experience. My unit in on the 3rd of a 4 floor building so there is no flood insurance. I have a great view of the beach and the morning sun will wake you if you don't close the blinds and bedroom door. I keep tabs on what units are selling for. I bought it at $144k and I think I could sell it for $435k. I bought it as a retirement investment when I received a huge bonus back in 1994. I have been fully retired for over a year and I would like to make $10-12k a year off of it for the next 7 years and then cash out. We will see...
Shakespeare was right.
ReplyDeleteAt 1,350 a month, you don't own the condo. You rent.
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