TooFarTampa
SoWal Insider
I agree with you that the market has softened. It doesn't seem like it's a bad thing, though; these kinds of gains could not continue and eventually the investors were going to go away. Meanwhile, nearly every property owner in the area who bought a year or more ago is looking at significant paper gains and a staggering number are looking to cash in. So everyone put their house on the market at once (or it seems like it). Some may have had to, many were testing the market, some just thought some quick cash would be nice.
Those paper gains aren't real. It's not going to hold up in the short term. There are too many sellers and not enough buyers at those prices, especially given the multiple, nationally publicized warnings of a bubble. Most of the sales along 30-A are second homes or investment properties. People can wait a couple years for the second home; they want to see what the prices end up doing. As far as investment -- well, you can't usually cover costs with rental income, and if the prices aren't continuing to climb, where is the short-term investment?
So of course it is a buyers' market. And it needs to stabilize.
Only those who are pure investors and can't really afford their property are the ones who should be scared. It might take two or three years to weed all those people out of the market. Predictably, they will lower their prices to make their homes more attractive in a huge sea of listings so they can get out.
I'll admit it -- we are investors. But something funny happened while we were watching the prices rise. We fell in love with the area.
Absolutely fell in love with it! We have a house (on the rental program) and also a lot 50 yards from a walkover in Seagrove. We are now emotionally attached and instead of thinking of selling either of them, we are dreaming of long-term involvement. Fun family gatherings, vacations in the summer and long weekends when we can. We are thinking of, eventually, building our own retirement home in Seagrove. SoWal has that kind of effect on people.
This devotion is a lot of work and for now means a negative cash flow. But that's OK. Because once we get out we know we won't be able to get back in.
That's the inherent value in the area -- it's a winning combination of the beaches, the emerald water, the small-town feel and most of all, the people. As long as it is not allowed to become another Destin (let's hope the county understands this) and we don't have a 20-year devastating cycle of hurricanes, I think we'll be OK in the long term. The baby boomers are not a myth and neither is the new airport. I am looking for prices to stay fairly stable for awhile but rents to go up. Those who absolutely have to sell now will have to lower their prices, but unless they just bought they should still walk away with some nice profits.
Those paper gains aren't real. It's not going to hold up in the short term. There are too many sellers and not enough buyers at those prices, especially given the multiple, nationally publicized warnings of a bubble. Most of the sales along 30-A are second homes or investment properties. People can wait a couple years for the second home; they want to see what the prices end up doing. As far as investment -- well, you can't usually cover costs with rental income, and if the prices aren't continuing to climb, where is the short-term investment?
So of course it is a buyers' market. And it needs to stabilize.
Only those who are pure investors and can't really afford their property are the ones who should be scared. It might take two or three years to weed all those people out of the market. Predictably, they will lower their prices to make their homes more attractive in a huge sea of listings so they can get out.
I'll admit it -- we are investors. But something funny happened while we were watching the prices rise. We fell in love with the area.
Absolutely fell in love with it! We have a house (on the rental program) and also a lot 50 yards from a walkover in Seagrove. We are now emotionally attached and instead of thinking of selling either of them, we are dreaming of long-term involvement. Fun family gatherings, vacations in the summer and long weekends when we can. We are thinking of, eventually, building our own retirement home in Seagrove. SoWal has that kind of effect on people.This devotion is a lot of work and for now means a negative cash flow. But that's OK. Because once we get out we know we won't be able to get back in.
That's the inherent value in the area -- it's a winning combination of the beaches, the emerald water, the small-town feel and most of all, the people. As long as it is not allowed to become another Destin (let's hope the county understands this) and we don't have a 20-year devastating cycle of hurricanes, I think we'll be OK in the long term. The baby boomers are not a myth and neither is the new airport. I am looking for prices to stay fairly stable for awhile but rents to go up. Those who absolutely have to sell now will have to lower their prices, but unless they just bought they should still walk away with some nice profits.
) as much as anyone, but that's clearly not sustainable. Skier's numbers don't suggest doom and gloom, just a sense of reality.
