# Buying cheap condos somewhere warm (under 50K)?



## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

For those who have purchased a condo, or other property (house etc) in a warm local with the intent of retiring there or semi-retiring there or snowbirding or what have you - how did you determine that was the place to buy? Did you travel and just find a place you liked? Or did you research places then travel there with the intent to scope it out as a possibility?

My husband and I are trying to decide what we want to do when we retire (in about 15 years). We are focusing on our finances and are confident we will have more than enough to retire comfortably, but we are wondering if we should start doing more travelling now well in advance of retirement, or simply retire and travel on a modest budget. It would be nice to have a home base in a warmer climate to spend at least a few months of the year at.


----------



## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Do you do any travel now? If it's something you like to do, then I would try to do some now.


----------



## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

The trouble is that to buy something in a safe area, you are going to pay more. My wife and I have a condo in perhaps one of the safest parts of Mexico (southern Baja) and while prices might be slightly cheaper since the U.S. downturn, you are still going to pay 300k and up for something decent. 

If you are willing to buy in lets say, a more "rustic" area, you might find a bargain.

The southern U.S. could be an option, but prices appear on the rise and while prices are still cheap compared to big Canadian cities, 50k probably won't get you far....


----------



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

We got serious about buying a property in Caribbean about 4 years ago ,we just got back from two weeks visiting our top two destinations but before we buy we plan to spend at least 2-4 months at each place before buying. I would recommend you travel a bit before settling on one place .I don't think $50,000 will get you much anywhere these days ,you would probably be better off renting than owning.The upkeep of even a simple one bedroom place would probably set you back $5000+ a year .


----------



## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

+1
Good advice. When we retired, we tried Florida for 2 years. We have had holidays in Arizona and SOCAL. We had experienced over 2 dozen warm places before buying in 2007, including the Caribbean and the Riviera (Italy, France and Spain). Make sure to assess the social aspects of any prospective place. Drinking on the beach only works for short vacations.


----------



## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

marina628 said:


> We got serious about buying a property in Caribbean about 4 years ago ,we just got back from two weeks visiting our top two destinations but before we buy we plan to spend at least 2-4 months at each place before buying. I would recommend you travel a bit before settling on one place .I don't think $50,000 will get you much anywhere these days ,you would probably be better off renting than owning.The upkeep of even a simple one bedroom place would probably set you back $5000+ a year .


I agree it is necessary to do enough travelling to ENOUGH places to determine WHERE you might want to be more permanent, and to rent for a few winters first for 2-4 months to help determine IF snowbirding is right for you. Even 'park models with arizona rooms' in the resort parks scattered around Phoenix cost in the range of $40-50k and annual park fees are in the $5-6k range. 

My SO and I have tested both AZ and SoCal for 1 month stays, and we will start testing more destinations this coming winter for longer 2+ month periods to see what we might like. We will not buy in Mexico under any circumstance given the general lack of 'law and order' there now, and other ex-USA places such as Costa Rica or the Caribbean can be too expensive for family to 'visit' for 'vacations' - which in itself is a key question. Do you want to be 'on your own' in such places? Or do you want kids and grandkids to visit, and if so, can they afford too?


----------



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I have been reading much on the Short term rental markets in Florida and current owners say they have $20,000 -$30,000 a year in expenses.I thought it was excessive but just figure that you have $200 a month for pool and garden fees ,$350 management fees ,avergage $200 a month property taxes plus another $400+ a month for insurance and utilities.There is no mortgage considerations in this yet so they are not far from this number.My brother in law has a modular home in Florida that he paid $80,000 for and it costs him $6000 a year park fees plus insurance and utilities and insurance.If you buy in USA Currency you also need to keep a balance in USD to protect yourself against the possible appreciation in USD as well.


----------



## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

Thanks everyone, great and informative responses. We have not travelled much due to not wanting to spend the money, but really, that is a silly way to look at things - we can afford to travel, as long as it's not lavish. We're thinking of Belize as our next trip. Unfortunately hubby only gets his holidays during our summer months, so we will be travelling there in July, but it will still be an interesting trip I'm sure. We're also curious about Chile and Argentina (we have friends in both countries who have either stayed with us long term as room mates or that we've worked with).

It sounds like renting may be a good option for us vs being so bent on buying a place. I think the general advise to travel to places then see what we like makes sense... we may just decide not to have a home base outside Canada and just travel often, if we can.


----------



## Ihatetaxes (May 5, 2010)

marina628 said:


> I have been reading much on the Short term rental markets in Florida and current owners say they have $20,000 -$30,000 a year in expenses.I thought it was excessive but just figure that you have $200 a month for pool and garden fees ,$350 management fees ,avergage $200 a month property taxes plus another $400+ a month for insurance and utilities.There is no mortgage considerations in this yet so they are not far from this number.My brother in law has a modular home in Florida that he paid $80,000 for and it costs him $6000 a year park fees plus insurance and utilities and insurance.If you buy in USA Currency you also need to keep a balance in USD to protect yourself against the possible appreciation in USD as well.


Our Florida rental property (3 bedroom house with a pool in an upscale gated community) has TOTAL expenses (electricity/water, insurance including extra liability coverage, weekly lawn maintenance, property taxes, weekly pool service, cleaning lady, property manager, pest control, online advertising, phone/cable/internet, bank fees, legal and accounting fees, $5k annual maintenence/repair allowance, HOA fees, etc.) of $25-$30k and rental income of $40-50k+ (plus we use the place a lot and have family using it as well). I track every cent spent with a good spreadsheet and have the costs for the past three years. Property manager pays all the bills and looks after any issues renters have so its pretty stress free. Plus we bought at what I perceive to be the bottom of the market and in a neighbourhood with almost zero forclosures and new listings sell in under 30 days most of the time if reasonably priced. I love it there and renting makes it realistic to own a nice house there instead of a small condo.


----------



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

These numbers you(Ihatetaxes) posted are around what we looked at in Disney area but we decided to go to Cape Coral and spend a bit more and probably will see about $65,000 a year in STR but have to rent it out less nights to achieve this.I got my VRBO account set up and we are under contract with June 15 closing .This is purely Business for us ,my Caribbean Home will be 100% personal use and I hope to live there 5-6 months a year.


----------



## Ihatetaxes (May 5, 2010)

I would never buy anywhere near Orlando. The south gulf coast is a hell of a lot nicer and better winter climate.


----------



## none (Jan 15, 2013)

Addy said:


> Thanks everyone, great and informative responses. We have not travelled much due to not wanting to spend the money, but really, that is a silly way to look at things - we can afford to travel, as long as it's not lavish. We're thinking of Belize as our next trip. Unfortunately hubby only gets his holidays during our summer months, so we will be travelling there in July, but it will still be an interesting trip I'm sure. We're also curious about Chile and Argentina (we have friends in both countries who have either stayed with us long term as room mates or that we've worked with).
> 
> It sounds like renting may be a good option for us vs being so bent on buying a place. I think the general advise to travel to places then see what we like makes sense... we may just decide not to have a home base outside Canada and just travel often, if we can.


Belize is great but if you are going here make sure you pop over to Guatemala to see Tikal. It's not Ankor Wat but it's pretty damn impressive (and Guatemalan coffee is great!).

Belize isn't that cheap relative to other countries around it.


----------



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

There are some nice resorts around Disney like Formosa Gardens , some of these homes can get $10,000 a week rentals .I am 99% sure we will be buying in Antigua for ourselves but before we do that I want to spend more than 2-3 weeks there at a time,I love the fish cakes there too lol


----------



## chloev (Nov 26, 2012)

seems to me that Florida is a hot place for snowbirds. here's an article i recently read: http://metronews.ca/news/world/6296...oreign-purchasers-of-florida-real-estate-bmo/


----------

