I've been to Venice, Batgirl. I'd rank it's "cuteness" factor right up there with Carmel, CA. But what do I know? I'm a west-coaster who hates the humidity...

Hehehehe......

You don't want me to have to figure out how to unlock the bridges and raise them with you, do you?

KD, When it's time, I sure would.

Is Carmel cute? Never been there. Its not humid here in the winter, but I'm so cheap, I never turn on the air unless I'm about to pass out, so I'm probably not a good judge. (that's a lot of "I'ms", isn't it?)

I googled Carmel images and got a pic of Doris Day holding a puppy. Carmel MUST be super-cute!

It's the classic California beach town. Lots and LOTS of money, some of the world's finest golf courses, no chain stores or electric signs, imminently walkable. And off the map expensive.

But 'way cute! (And once upon a time, Clint Eastwood was Mayor!)

Batgirl,
We stopped at Venice a few years ago traveling down that part of the IWC...loved the area. This was in 2007 so prices were still high. But the town was very nice and easy to get around on foot.

From Clearwater all the way down to Napels was a neat area to cruise.

BTW...76 degrees here today in Indialantic. Surfs up and surfers out in numbers as well!

George, your town looks nice, too.

Quote:

My tax assessment is about $72K with homestead, and my taxes and all insurance is about $3500

Whoa - is that supposed to be reasonable?

My house was assessed at 160K, and my taxes and insurance is $900 /yr. And I can see the Rappahannock River.

I'm in Indialantic myself, defenitaly surf year round, and the water is still warm as of today. Been bouncing around between staying put here and buying(prices have gone down, but are kinda in limbo right now-just flat and not really declining) and packing up and moving to Hawaii-(where I would rent)

I love the area, and there is a metric **** ton of stuff for sale. See lots of foreclosures and older homes that need some work. Brevardmls.com has a good public search page for the area.

As for surf, I do--all the time. kinda stop when the water requires a full suit, but in trunks by March. Shameless plug my Video surf report---

https://sites.google.com/site/centralflo....


love this place

Quote:

Whoa - is that supposed to be reasonable?

NO!

Billy...thanks for the link...you put that out each day? We just took our first surf lessons up in Coco. 9' soft board...not to hard. I regularly watch the folks off Paradise Beach on the short boards...ah to be young and limber again!

We don't regret escaping D.C. and plan on "making our stand" in Indialantic. Taxes are bound to creep up (they did this year) but that is the case with most communities. My guess is there is at least one more leg down in the RE market...but what do I know as my wife says.

Yep, check it everyday at Canova(walace ave actually)live just off Eau Gallie.
at 42 I ain't s limber as I should be!!

Thanks all for the input!

I am starting to realize the areas around Cocoa Beach / Indialantic probably work best. I booked a flight to Orlando for this weekend and rented a convertible to tour the A1A.

Galveston - Spoke with a few people and they said there is nothing there for me.

Nags Head - I checked the temperature and it was in the 40s this past week. I have no interest in going from 40 degree Boston to 40 degree Nags Head in the winter.

I am even starting to think about moving my stuff to Florida, renting a room in Boston and doing a long distance commute. The prospect of living on the water in warm weather is just so appealing right now. Mind you it is 30 degrees outside.

I'll keep you all updated.

Would like to see the updates Nutz.

I am more of a boating person and prefer the calm waters on the gulf side. My next road trip (after the Cali roatrip) will be from Destin to Ft. Myers.

I hear there's some really nice sandy beaches in the gobi....

Back from Central Florida. Took a drive from Indialantic all the way up to Daytona Beach. Caught some head high waves off 5th in Indialantic on Saturday sharing them with like 4 other people. Amazing.

My assessment by area (worst to best):

Daytona Beach - Spent a Friday night in a hotel here. Basically a narrow island off the mainland populated with 30 stories hotels all bunched up. Mix a healthy dose of NASCAR and Harley Davidson lifestyle with high rises and beaches. I don't think I will be back anytime soon. Properties on ocean were expensive Condohotels all above $250k and tiny. Houses inland were from low $100s and up but nothing really special or appealling. Driving around at night and watching the locals put the nail in that coffin.

Cocoa Beach - More tacky than Daytona Beach. What was Ron Jon thinking? Same idea in terms of prices but clearly an out of towner vacation spot.

New Smyrna Beach - It had parts that reminded me of Monterey, CA. It also had parts that reminded me of Daytona Beach. I can sense it was an up and coming spot about 10 years ago with a neat, quaint downtown area. It is trending towards over-built like Daytona and Cocoa.

Winner - Indialantic - Whoever suggested this place knows what they are doing. While there is a Wal-Mart on the island, the southern parts have a friendly, community element with nice homes and well-kept neighborhoods. I would drive the streets and people are checking you out and waving. Places on the beach start at $400k but inland is from around $100k for a not so nice condo to $175k for 3bd, 2bth SFR to $300k for something you would want your friends and family to come visit. Indialantic is a real gem.

My latest thinking:
I am heading home to California for X-Mas. I have been talking to friends who are amazed that I am actually interested in buying RE. I have been a pretty outspoken bear on the matter (proven right also doesn't hurt). Two friends separately came back and mentioned buying a joint place in San Diego. Apparently, the downtown is -50% vs. 2006 for condos.

Over X-Mas, I am going to drive down there for two days and check out some of the areas. From what I can tell, 800 sqft 1bdrm condo in downtown for $180k plus $400 HOA (or $100k capitalized). If you go by 3x income, this assumes about $90k income which is not as crazy as it once was.

I am also going to check out San Clemente. This is the most like Indialantic I can think of in California. It is also one of my favorite places to surf. Prices for 2bdrm condos in the $175k range.

I plan to think about it for the month of January then organize in February. Probably reach out to one or two brokers in two or three selected areas with bidding criteria and see what happens.

Thanks again for the input. I'll be sure to continue providing updates.

Yeah Indialantic is petty damn nice . I have friends who surf in SD and they want to move back here. Prices here are half of Cali. Nasa taking a **** has hurt real estate real bad here in Brevard county because of it. Strangely the restaurant at which I work is still busy as hell. I don't know where the money is coming from but I'll take it while I can.

Surf wise, Sat was damn good!!!!! and the water is still warm,(won't get that in SD) and the air temp is almost 80 right now.

I STILL CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND,buy here or go to Hawaii......damn decisions.....

Is this good value anyone?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Orlando-Florid....

Jubber no one in their right mind would buy real estate in FL via Ebay.

RE fraud is an old florida tradition, going back to at least the 1920's.

Quote:

GOM almost never has reasonable surfing waves. If that's on the agenda this is not the place

Corpus Christi near Port Aransas Mustang Island a person can surf. Some days the waves can get pretty big. Aransas Pass is the slightly inland part of the area which is nice. From here like in San Diego you are only a small drive to Mexico to buy anything that is over priced in the United States. Also from these locations San Antonio or Houston are a short distance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Aransa....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aransas_Pas....

http://www.texasoutside.com/surfing.htm



Galveston at one time was a very desirable destination. This has changed over the last decade. Alcohol consumption is only allowed on one small public beach unless on a private beach which will get a person ran off unless proof of living or renting a beach house.

While looking in the Indialantic Area, pay attention to the city boundaries as the barrier island here is unevenly divided from my observation. Melbourne, Indian Harbor, Satellite Beach,and of course Indialantic...share this 20 miles of the island below Patrick AFB. There is also some that is unincorporated which lets one deal just with Brevard County for taxes, permits etc. Not a big deal but one to be mindful of. All these areas are getting more affordable by the day but beach front should always have some value level above non-beach front from past history. Again, insurance will always be an issue to keep in mind. Good luck

Nutzy,

You'll get the deals right now in more vacation type areas if a deal is what you are looking for.

Baby boomers are selling off their property for retirement income and theres a lot of them and a lot of sellers piling up in a short time span.

Just an FYI.. area's that are near a beach but are also regular residential areas like San Diego aren't going to give you as good deals as areas in Florida or the Carolinas that are primarily vacation areas with a smaller local crowd.

That real estate has a lot of baby boomer ownership that will all be pulling out.

Just a point to consider.. nothing more.

So Indialantic / Melbourne Beach is the decided location. I went back down there this past weekend to start looking at places.

Dear Lord do Florida Realtors live up to the name. Not sure everyone was aware but apparently "Now is the time to buy... seriously." Every single one of them told me this. I also had several "guarantees" that I would not lose money. The best was the Seller's Agents basically signalling for me to make bids 25%+ below the asking price. All expected and smirked at.

I only got a little*****ed at one when he said "Get in now because rates are going up." I challenged on the recent Fed statement which was met with confusion. They are Realtors. When all you have is a hammer, all you see is a nail.

I honestly would have bought this weekend if only they would listen. I told them a cap at $200k so naturally we looked at places in the $300k range. I was told I could lowball these down to $200k. Then when I liked something I was told maybe 10% to 15% below asking is the best I could expect. Or "Hi I am a single guy with no wife and kids. I only need 1,200 to 1,500 sq ft." In Realtor speak, this means let me drive you to 2,500 sq ft places.

I could outsell these people all day long. I actually know how to listen to people. But I got time (no urgent need to buy) and money so I am happy to have them cover gas while I tour the houses of Indialantic. The pressing urgency is that I want to surf and both surf shops had rented out their long boards for the weekend. So I got to stare at ocean with decent waves :-(

I need a long board down there soon.

I'll be back again likely the last week of February. Now that I have the lay of the land, it should be a quick buy.

Living in Boston, you Floridians have no idea how lucky you are from a weather standpoint. It was simply perfect.

Lots of shops in town, now to rent a board that would be new to me as I got a decent 3 board quiver. Check 2ndlight.com for area info on the surf-man the forums are entertaining!!!!! Myself, I haven't been in the water for about a month cause I refuse to wear a wetsuit, and the older I get the warmer the water has to be!!!

Been some damn nice beach days lately with air temps in the mid 70's and a couple of low 80's days!!!Nice Pompano Fishing lately also, when no waves fishing is the way to go (or get a Stand up paddleboard)

Thanks for the update Nutz.

Find a broker that is wearing flip flops, a Hawaiian shirt, and shorts with the smell of scotch or beer on his breath and is driving a pickup truck. Thats your guy. (which describes my broker)

Skip the blonde in the convertible Benz.

Generally, I hate realtors and find them to be less than useless. That being said, if I have to deal with a new one, I start the conversation like this:

"I am looking for a 1600 sq/ft or smaller house close to beach for under 200K. Don't waste my time, or yours, showing me anything outside of those parameters"

Also, have them prepare a list of properties for you to see so you may discard the ones you don't want to look at.

Also, you will learn a lot more about local real estate you are not familiar with by going out and having a few stiff drinks with the broker.

Good luck!