SouthWest or SouthEast?

My Girlfriend, My Buddy/business Partner , and Myself are going to be moving this summer to southern Florida. Im Wondering what do you guys here on Fchat think about the areas?

We were looking at areas like Ft. Myers, Cape Coral, Homestead, Ft lauderdale, Miami.

My Gf is attending school at Nova South Eastern, (a slight commute is alright but they have several campuses; Orlando, Ft Lauderdale, Miami, Palm Beach)

My buddy and I are starting a small business, where we are targeting everyone from little kids, Families, Teens, Young Adults, and Adults- (a business geared towards fun and fitness) So demographically we are trying to stay away from the Retirement cities, and get more of the family, young couples, Singles market.

Now i know first remarks are going to be " Visit the areas and see yourself" Well we are. Just not able to YET. (after to wait till after May- when i graduate College) Then we have made room for several trips to different areas. I'm just trying to get a good idea of where to start.

Thanks

 

Good to hear, some of the demographics, fortunately I do speak a fair amount of spanish, and have spanish relatives in Fort Lauderdale already ( as well as Orlando and kissimmee)

Ill be sure to Check out Palm Beach and Ft Lauderdale first since we are trying to target a large market, the comfort setting of not HAVING to speak spanish is a plus. (also Considering my buddy and my gf do not speak it)

You guys have been a lot of help and I will be contacting a real estate agent via another Fchatter, (thanks Dominick)

 

we are pretty much open, our only requirements are:

3 or 4 bed rooms (theres 3 of us )

a garage with a driveway or offstreet parking (we have a total of 4 cars coming down, a 964 911 Turbo, a b5 S4, a Blazer and a Subaru Legacy thats being tuned for daily/track use)

and low to mid 200k's (which we've seen and feel comfortable at that range while still giving room to play a bit if we see something we like)

thats it, so either a home or Condo/townhouse works.

 

like i said, we left ourselves some room.

I have to say i was on the phone talking to my buddy and going over stuff for a meeting tomorrow, and we are all really excited about moving and getting our project underway. We are both people who need to be busy doing something, and so far things have been going well getting all the details ironed out.

 

Wow, is it really that kind of choices, We dont need to be in the heart of Miami or Palm Beach, we were actually looking at a commute to avoid high prices of being RIGHT in the major cities. 4 bedrooms a plus we only need 3 though. the blazer perhaps can go, but the 911, S4 and Legacy have to stay.

This just tells me we need to start searching out places and getting the details alot sooner than expected.

So then what are your opinions on how much we're looking at, for a 3 bedroom, the parking can be worked out, Even if we can park 2 of the cars (the 911 and s4 are our main concerns) and have to look for parking for the other two its fine its not a necessity to have all 4 in a garage.

Some Cities Suggestions? price ranges we can expect? Also Im 21, my buddy is 24, and my girlfriend is 24...we don't need the nicest house or apt on the block but we do need something that is acceptable to live in.

hows Davie, Pompano Beach, Port St Lucie (which is actually 1.5hrs from both areas where my family resides ; Orlando and Ft Lauderdale)?

Something that I just did a quick search on:
http://www.floridamoves.com/property/propertydetails.aspx?pool=0&mls=&thumbs=1&sort1=listprice&lux=0&sort2ord=A&PType=SFAM&vt=0&wf=0&MinBed=3&sqft=0&MaxPrice=240000&CityIDList=&show=1&sort1ord=D&sort2=city&Zip=&sid=906&Street=&CountyIDList=328%2c364%2c365%2c369%2c372%2c378&rpp=10&nc=0&nl=0&mp=0&cc=0&PropSearch=0&MinPrice=0&MinBath=0&page=3&propertyguid=a4c19fc3-f27b-43a5-9668-b9e5a531f78a

or

http://www.floridamoves.com/property/propertydetails.aspx?pool=0&mls=&thumbs=1&sort1=listprice&lux=0&sort2ord=A&PType=SFAM&vt=0&wf=0&MinBed=3&sqft=0&MaxPrice=240000&CityIDList=&show=1&sort1ord=D&sort2=city&Zip=&sid=906&Street=&MinPrice=0&rpp=10&nc=0&nl=0&mp=0&cc=0&PropSearch=0&CountyIDList=328%2c364%2c365%2c369%2c372%2c378&MinBath=0&page=4&propertyguid=7378f139-a8a9-44e8-94da-d3ddbeb48221

or

http://www.floridamoves.com/property/propertydetails.aspx?pool=0&mls=&thumbs=1&sort1=listprice&lux=0&sort2ord=A&PType=SFAM&vt=0&wf=0&MinBed=3&sqft=0&MaxPrice=240000&CityIDList=&show=1&sort1ord=D&sort2=city&Zip=&CountyIDList=328%2c364%2c365%2c369%2c372%2c378&Street=&ncm=0&rpp=10&nc=0&nl=0&mp=0&cc=0&PropSearch=0&MinPrice=0&MinBath=0&page=9&propertyguid=70f1b422-ce87-4989-bbd5-cde30faacc2c

Im not familiar with those areas, but visually they look OK from the one photo they show (haha). Itd be an area i would Look at at least. This house is really to get us there, and allow us to start our things (our project, and my gfs grad school) We'll maybe live there 2-4years. realistically before deciding to either rent or sell and move on. Our Second purpose for the house is to build a little equity (in the time frame i know it really will be a LITTLE equity) to borrow against to help us fund some of our project. (thus we really dont want to rent).

 

I do have a very good credit score (thanks to my father's ethics of pay your bills ahead of time and dont wait if you have it today to pay it) My parents also allowed me to start establishing credit at a young age, by co-signing loans, and credit cards (of which we had arrangements on, they kept them, and would allow me to use them if i wanted something only if i showed them prior to purchase the ability to pay, and i could never charge anything more than half of what i could pay for in cash) as far as a dp, I have enough to have a good dp not including my buddies portion. Work has been nothing new for me, I always had to work for the things i wanted and wasn't really given anything so, Savings and good money choices i learned quick. but ill agree with you, I can say NONE of my friends are in any position to be on their own, and in fact they are plan on moving back home after graduation. They spent their time partying and waking up hung over... i spent my time in school and making money.

Plus i dont have the option to go home again HAHA. my parents always told my brother and I we are welcome to stay home as long as we want, but when we decide we want to be adults and move out...well we were going to be adults and work hard to make it work, there was not an option to " oh give it a try and if it doesnt work out, you can come back" (although we know they would let us if it really came to that).

I dont need to be in the "hot Spot" in fact i would almost prefer something a bit outside of that, the lack of respect in areas like that just drive me nuts sometimes ( i had a little kid take a Sharper marker to the side of my Honda S2000 to write "cool Car" on it ). a family oriented or residential area with young couples and new families would work perfect.

We could drop our search to 2 room, and if that is what it takes to get the job done we'll do it.

And hey If i end up single i end up single. but (heres the sappy part) my gf and I love each other, and have been through some real tough times already and have always stuck by each other and saw each other through whatever it was we were dealing with. We've lived together for 1.5 years and have been dating for a little over 2 years.

This house budget is also based solely on my buddy and I and what we can afford to mortgage and make payments on; I can tap into other outlets of capital we need to, The excess of automobiles being one, neither one of us have a problem selling for the right price. Also we could bring in a relative of mine who would put a % in to help fund and then would get that % back of the total resale value when we move (which has been discussed and thats the deal- i would just rather not if i dont need to ). the Two of us have also Cleared all debt. Leaving me just with my car payment and him with Zero debt (maybe $200 on a CC if he didnt pay that off this month- and yes we keep tabs on each others debt because this is a big thing for us right now). Now i can transfer/refinance my s4 loan to my mother (as a graduation gift to clear my debt 100%-not to pay I would pay it, the gift would be the name change- to make it so i have nothing out when we do a mortgage). So there are other positives to the money situation.

 

Girl is behind me right now, and shes saying Lauderdale is the main campus and is where she will be...

And i would give you a pat on the back too if i could, Thats a good idea. Lease with the option to buy.

You guys have been a HUGE help. I just want to say thanks right now to everyone.

Where to find lease to purchase option houses though ? Just through the realtor ?

 

Lauderdale campus is at,

3301 College Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314-7796


So pretty much im looking for a motivated seller and/or a house that has been listed for a longer period of time.