sell vs. rent near eastern lake

[llsnd98]

Hi to all of you who think south walton is heaven on earth! I was hoping for some advice on whether, in the current market, it would be better to sell outright , or just rent and use that income for awhile until the market comes back. We have a house south of 30A (between 30A and eastern lake road) and now we have found a very attractive piece of property that we believe someone is trying to "unload"(south of 30A, below $400K). Our house is fairly new, completed in Jan '05, 2 bdrms, 1 bunkroom, 2 full, 2 half baths, and just a very short stroll to beach. We don't rent it, but we are there quite a bit (10-12 wks/yr). We would like to obtain this other piece of property and build when the time is right. Of course, that's another question, what is everyone's opinion on the price of building right now. Too high, too low, or prices that are here to stay?
Thanks in advance!

 

[TooFarTampa]

Hello and

If you love 30-A as much as most of us do, and see yourself there in the long term, either as as secondhomeowner or permanent resident, and you find a piece of property at a great price that you can reasonably afford to purchase that you know you will hang on to, then jump on it! I think putting your current home on the rental market is an excellent way to increase income to make it happen.

However, a few words of caution:

1) Should a hurricane come and wipe out your home, God forbid, make sure you can stretch enough to afford the costs of both places for awhile because no house (or damaged house)=no cash flow.

2) Step back and take an unbiased look at the rental potential of your home. It sounds like with a 2BR 2BA place south of 30-A, you probably have a very good market, but do you have a view? Access to a private or community pool? Both are very important to renters.

3) Search the forums for others' management company experiences and steel yourself for the hassles and challenges of opening your home up to others. If you have special items you are really attached to in your beach home, consider removing them to save your sanity. Rather than just handing your keys to a management company, consider ways to market your property yourself and/or take on some of the workload to reduce commissions.

All in all, it sounds like a sound strategy if you can take all these things into consideration and know you can live with your decision. I wish you lots of luck!

 

[Rather B Paddlin]

TFT,

Great advice. :clap_1:

1. Ditto
2. Ditto
3. Ditto

RBP

 

[llsnd98]

Thanks for the great advice TFT, we are supposed to have access to a community pool that was just recently completed in the spring, but apparently our HOA is embroiled in a dispute of some sort with the county, which makes us unable to use it. Hopefully that will be cleared up soon and we can use that as an attractive option for renters or potential buyers. I do know that the other rentals on our street have constant traffic during the times we are down there, so I feel like we would have great rental potential. However, as you mentioned, there are many hassles that come with rentals. I would rather just sell, but ours would be just among the thousands in that case. I just wonder what most builders are charging these days to build. Is it cost per square foot, or cost plus a percentage. I guess we'll just keep weighing our options, but I'm just afraid of missing out on that price.

 

[Franny]

Builders are charging approx 200 sq ft, but my hubby always replies that you have to look at the house plans to determine an actual price. That price is based on many factors, flooring, floor heights, number of floors (tower), etc. Check your PM.