How much does it approximately cost to buy a decent house with 3 bedrooms in a pretty nice place. Also, how much are the running costs per year on something like that including taxes and whatnot? Also, is it recommendable to buy a 'used' house or have one built? What places are nice, I've only been to miami and ft. lauderdale..

I've been browsing the net looking for something and the prices vary so much it's not even funny, also I see $200k houses that look like crackjunkies live in them..

I'm pondering whether to see the trouble of getting a visa and greencard and get a nice place in Florida, or just move to southern spain. :)


:yowsa:

you think South Fl;orida can handle you?

you have one BIG mouth to add to my dinner table
;-)))

tell me what is your budget and I'll tell you what and where you can get

Actually I don't know what my budget is. :(
That depends when I can leave finland, I'm pretty much window shopping for now. But something between $200 and $250k I'd think.

I'm thinking of another place down there also. I llike the weather in south fl a lot and it seems there's good people down there :)

for $250k you can get a decent house in Tampa. I'm not so sure of south Florida... I guess it depends on how close you are to the beach:-)

Beach don't matter. Gonna buy a ferrari or 2 to transport me there, and of course I will have a massive pool.

..and also the Broward county has airconditioned buses if I fail to make enough to buy them ferraris.

You can buy some lovely houses for $200k in Southern Spain.

It was a pleasant 70-75 degrees here today,
the beers only cost $1.50 for six, the ladies are sexy and don't wear much clothing and taxes are low, . :biglaugh:

I live east of Federal hwy next to Fort Lauderdale beach. 200k will buy you the dog house in the back yard in this section, but if you go just a bit west you can find something nice. Advoid anything within 4 or 5 miles of I-95 unless you don't mind living in the more deprived neighborhoods.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/classified/rea...homes_home_left

actually the houses I've looked at cost €250,000 which is a LOT more than $200,000.
But I have yet to decide what to do. Spain would be the painless solution, no unnecessary paperwork.. but then I'd have to learn yet another language.

Are you looking at the real estate sites for foreigners?
They always put the price up on them, hehe.

Yeah, I know that. But I'm not going to underestimate the prices either.
:)

My intentions is to first rent an apartment for about an year and see if I like the place, and then possibly have a house built if I do. I would like to have a new house for the simple reason that it would be MY house. That way I can be sure that no asshat has lived there before me. :)


Also is there a website for used cars/with prices for spain? I'd like to get a rough idea. Like autoscout.de but for spain?

http://www.anuntis.com/
Houses and cars on here.

Renting is a good idea for a while, I've been here 7 years apart from a couple of 1 year breaks in Holland.

I've lived all over Spain so I knew the country
well before finally settling down.

Housing prices in Florida depend on which section.

South Florida is pretty expensive - but central Florida is pretty cheap.

Serge's house and mine are pretty similiar in size, and I am sure mine cost 1/2 as much as his did just because I am in Tampa.

Serge - I think he would make good dinner company!

I eat a lot. :)

I eat a lot. :)[/b][/quote]


Come on we live in America - the original home of SUPERSIZE, and BIGGIE fast food!

I know. The meals ARE a lot bigger, and the steaks were about 5-6 times bigger in restaurants than what we have in finland. :)
I gained 20lbs in 16 days in the us. lol.



Last edited by TeenGodFather at Jan 25 2004, 10:49 AM

I eat a lot. :)[/b][/quote]
my kind of dinner guest!
;-))

eat a lot, drink a lot, the ONLY proper way to do it
;-)))

I know. The meals ARE a lot bigger, and the steaks were about 5-6 times bigger in restaurants than what we have in finland. :)
I gained 20lbs in 16 days in the us. lol.[/b][/quote]
funny, I usually gain when I travel...I don't eat breakfast/lunch at home
;-)))

I don't eat breakfast at home either, and usually I work. But since I was in Florida on holiday, I ate out twice a day. Enjoyed my stay, if I bother to fly over the atlantic why should I eat salad and sprouts? No. :)

I don't eat breakfast at home either, and usually I work. But since I was in Florida on holiday, I ate out twice a day. Enjoyed my stay, if I bother to fly over the atlantic why should I eat salad and sprouts? No. :)[/b][/quote]
my thoughts on the subject exactly...plus I spend more energy on vacation than at home,
my wife knows how to utilize the time I am forced to be away from the computer
;-))))

I checked out the rental houses/apartments too.
Are those per month or week prices? The language ain't all the clear to me. I sincerely hope they're per month..

If you look around the outskirts of the Melbourne area of Florida, the houses are MUCH cheaper than Ft Lauderdale plus they come with nice bits of land.
I've seen some gorgeous houses out there that sold for less than $100k - no mansions, of course, but nothing to sneeze at, either. 4 bedrooms, beautifully open and airy, inground pools with huge screened patios built around them, and good chunks of land to go with them so you're not right on top of your neighbor.

Of course up there you'd be about 2 hours away from Ft Lauderdale... and Serge's dinner table :awinky:

TGF I've lived in Lauderdale and I wouldn't live there again. Too damn much traffic, too many "asshats" as you put it, too many punks making a few hundred a week being the doorman for a club thinking they're God. I'd go north at least half an hour's drive... get out of the rat race and still be close enough to go party anytime you want to.

I checked out the rental houses/apartments too.
Are those per month or week prices? The language ain't all the clear to me. I sincerely hope they're per month..[/b][/quote]
Yep they're per month.

Sold!


Sold again!


And thrice sold!


:D



Last edited by Trev at Jan 26 2004, 11:14 AM

my kind of dinner guest!
;-))

eat a lot, drink a lot, the ONLY proper way to do it
;-)))[/b][/quote]
And hungry refugees to a table suppose? :)

El Pres, where are you? I'm going to be in Spain sometime in the next month.

In Broward, the further west you go, the better prices get. $200 - $250K will buy you a decent 3 bed 2 bath in a decent neighborhood if your out west. Near the beach is very expensive and near 95 sucks all around.

Got to http://www.sun-sentinel.com and click on their homes classified link.

Check out the West Coast of Florida..... not quite as congested.

The difference between Southern Florida and mid or northern Florida is how warm you want to be in the winter :-)

You can still buy in Cape Coral at at very decent price for Southern Florida. (The cape that hangs out in the water west of Ft. Myers) on the West Coast. You still have the winter warm weather, AND the water - cooler breezes in the summer. There is 400 miles of canals here. Nice house without water runs $170s - accross from a canal will run you $200,000 - new house on the canal WITH pool runs $299,000.

Todays high - 80 - Low 63

We were looking in Cape Coral last summer and found some better deals than that :)

Depends on what kind of water you want to be on....... If you need gulf or river access with a big boat, more expensive.....

We found a 3 bedroom place on a canal with a wildlife refuge across the canal, about 300 ft of canal front for 125k, didn't buy it because we aren't ready to move down there full time yet and our condo in Ft Myers suffices for now.

The reason it was low was because you could not get a big boat all the way back there, too many low bridges between the house and the river. But, you could have gotten something up to probably 20foot without a flying bridge back there...

Search www.realtor.com . There are alot of listings there. Much will depend on factors such as how much land do you want, how much square footage, etc etc. Definitely though, $250k will not get you premium housing in South Florida compared to what it would bring you north and even west of Miami/Ft Laud area.

I'm in Alicante, about an hour south of Valencia on the Costa Blanca.

Whereabouts are you going?

Is alicante, and costa blanca cheaper than the area around malaga?
I'm going to move somewhere coastal, but not in a big city.. and not in a tourist trap.

It is cheaper yep.

With Malaga, the expensive parts are nice but cost a fortune and the cheaper parts are horrible.

I'm an hour from Valencia and 4 from Barcelona and Madrid.
There's tourism here, but its a fair size city *275k people*
so it's not swamped with them.

If you go up the coast towards Valencia you've got some nice small towns,
but also some serious tourist haunts like Benidorm.

ICQ me if ya want to chat about anything 110201811.

It's not really relevant yet. We're only moving there in a few years when we both have graduated. :)

I will hit you up in 18 months. :)

It's not really relevant yet. We're only moving there in a few years when we both have graduated. :)

I will hit you up in 18 months. :)[/b][/quote]
:biglaugh: hehe o.k.
I'll be here.