Hello, new to the Board

Hello. Found the site the other day and have found it quite informative. My husband and I are from New York State, and found SoWal over 2 years ago trying to escape the winter blahs when every carribean island was booked!

My sister told me about the area. We headed down for 5 days. When we got off the plane in Feb. 04, we immediately fell in love with the area. Spent 5 days with a realtor traveling up and down 30A. We eventually are considering living there full time. We have a couple of townhomes, and one land lot.
Being a mortgage broker and in the business for 20 years (I am only 41) I have been able to observe the real estate trends. Having looked at beach homes up and down the East coast for 2 years, we knew SoWal was special.

We have made quite a few friends in the last 2 years. We always feel like we are home when we get off that plane in Okaloosa, and a sense of relaxation,even though all we have done is work, work, work on our rental homes. We didn't buy and flip, although there were some properties I wished I had :cool: and sometimes get fustrated about my purchases since we bought from a developer who held the properties for years and didnt have a clue. Joined the Board immediately, and we have had major changes to our property for the better, but it was long hard work and time consuming. Have low fixed rate 30 yr mortgages, so I am in for the long haul.

I notice some negativity about the market in the threads. I do agree with the fact that there were investors who are now up to their necks in properties they never intended to hold with ARM mortgages coming due soon.

On the whole though, looking at the big picture, I feel that the addition of the PC airport going international, the lack of buildable land eventually in SoWal (lets hope some politicians dont allow building where it is state forest preserve) will bring buyers to the area who will see what we saw when we first got off the plane. Pristine beaches, controlled commercialization, and the home town feel we felt immediately driving around with our realtor who we were introduced to on the beach.

With rising interest rates, there also comes more employment, better returns on stocks and investments, etc. I am no economist, just noting some things I have seen in the 20 years procuring mortgages for people.
The prices will go up and down, but on the whole, real estate is like the stock market, in the long term rises graphically.

We are looking at a 3-5 year time line to move to the area. My husband operates laundromats for owners, builds them, manages them. It's a specialized profession. We know that if we move to SoWal there is not that type of employment there (Could never find a laundromat, except bumped into one on airport road in Destin) Not to mention that the pay rate is much lower. I can work anywhere as long as I have a phone and internet access.

In light of the above, we are considering opening a management agency for private homes, since my husband can fix or build just about anything and do it well. We have been told that that type of work is in high demand. The fact that someone shows up makes people happy, and have seen a different work ethic than we are used to here in New York (fast paced).

My only concern for moving full time is 1) setting a business for him 2) fustration of getting groceries and essentials during peak rental months. My husband tells me that we will be going to Wal-Mart super center at 5 or 6 am before the crowds, which is ok with him since he is an early bird. (Is there any fresh food out at that hour? or will I have to become a professional fisherwoman?)

I have 1.5 year left on my low rate ARM lot loan, so another concern is will I be able to afford the lot if I dont build in the next year or so. I did'nt buy it at peak, but paid more than my townhomes! In order to build, short of getting a loan, we planned on using the proceeds of our house in New York to build our beach dream house.
So with all this in mind, I am considering the possibility of selling the lot, (would hate to) but I don't think now is the time. Its a great 75 by 150 lot with unobstructed gulf views from the 2nd and 3rd story when built.

Hope hurricane season is kind to us.

Welcome any responses and new friends.......
Donna (a/k/a Mango)