Posted on 08/09/2024 6:57:44 AM PDT by Red Badger
Condo listings in Florida have skyrocketed as desperate owners attempt to dodge a costly new law requiring increased safety checks.
The legislation was brought in following the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Tower South in Surfside, which killed 98 people.
It later emerged that the condo association had postponed crucial repairs to avoid increasing costs, prompting lawmakers to introduced new regulations which take effect at the end of the year.
As a result, the number of condos on the market has soared, especially in southern Florida, prompting warnings of a 'mass exodus.'
There were 20,293 condo listings in the Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties in the second quarter of 2024, ISG World reports.
The figure is an 143 percent leap from the 8,353 in the same period last year. Almost 90 percent of those for sale are in buildings more than 30 years old.
Under the new guidelines, condos older than 30 years or more than three stories will require increased inspections from December 31.
Read More REVEALED: The cities offering the most apartment space on a $1,500 budget article image The cost of insurance and Homeowners' Association fees to cover the special assessment requirements has also jumped.
'Condo costs are shocking,' said Juan Castro, a Redfin Premier agent in Orlando. 'Condos that used to have a $400 monthly maintenance fee may now have a $700 fee. It's causing buyers to rethink their plans.'
Arkadiy Kats, 71, already pays $340 a month for a special assessment and $897 a month for monthly condo HOA fees.
Starting next year, he is expected to contribute an additional $731 toward reserves.
He has taken the decision to return to work as a real estate agent to help cover the costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
If I read this correctly, the guy in the story is down $1968/month BEFORE mortgage, taxes, and insurance, utilities.
LOL
And FWLIW I was invovled in non-coastal local government of a suburb built 40-50 prior. Guess what type of pipe was used back then for stormwater?
You guessed it! Galvanized CMP, Corrugated Metal Pipe. Which has a life span of 40-50 years.
We were newly municipalized and took over from an incompetent county. We put a really good civil engineer on staff and started an inspection and replacement/upgrade process. In many cases we were able to to polymer linings, which is quite a good system and quite a bit cheaper and less disruptive to the community than digging stuff up and putting in new.
“My kids (Gen Z and millennials) will soon be living on the streets or at home with their parents. It’s too expensive to buy a house and way too costly to buy or rent a condo!!
This entire market is BS-—this generation needs to vote all this crap out now!!!”
There is no way any young couple starting out can afford a home. Heck, middle-class couples in their 50s can’t afford a new home unless they are very wealthy and having very secure employment.
Over 40 years ago, hubby and I decided to purchase land and skimp a bit on the actual house itself. We started out in a mobile home and waited to build our house. Our reasoning was that we always wanted to have a place for our children or grandchildren to live. We have room here for all of them without us living on top of one another. They are all doing fine right now, but if the country keeps on its current path, before too much longer, we may find them all moving back here to the “home place”.
I’m in several HOAs for many years... zero issues.
As for HOA’s being of the devil...
We have two communities of single family homes, literally across the street from each other. Both communities were developed at the same time. One has an HOA, the other does not.
The community with the HOA pays $35 a month in fees. They have 3 parks with playground equipment. The yards are all well kept. The landscaping in and around the community is beautiful. The average home in the community is selling for $425K-ish.
The community without the HOA has no monthly fees. They have no parks or gathering areas. The few “pocket parks” scattered around are now bare ground, some with weeds, since no one takes care of them. While there are some well kept homes, there are also many homes with large weeds in the yards, cars on blocks in the driveways and yards, peeling paint on the homes, and other eyesores that drive down the property values. The homes in that community are selling for an average of $365K.
Both communities are part of a larger Public Improvement District (PID). There are a total of 9 HOA’s in the PID, and this one non-HOA community. Homes in the HOA’s sell about 50% faster than those in the non-HOA community.
HOA’s are from the devil if you are STUPID enough to let jerks be elected to the board. I am on my HOA board and the PID board. I joined both because I wanted to make certain that they didn’t do anything dumb. I lowered the monthlies in our HOA. I kept the PID assessments level now for 12 years. We have MULTIPLE violation warnings before fines kick in.
Whenever someone bitches about the HOA or PID I ask if they would like to be on the board. We almost always have a vacancy or two we would like to fill. They NEVER take me up on it.
So those complaining about HOA’s...unless you are willing to be involved, and you don’t have to be on the board, just attend the meetings (ours are quarterly), be quiet, sit down, and pay your dues.
Guess it’s my imagination.
First step is a moratorium on immigration. Included in that will be deportation of the 100 million or so illegals since jorge busho was in office.
I have owned 3 houses since 1966.
Single family swellings.
I NEVER have had a monthly mortgage (PITI) payment that high.
5 acres & 2353 SQ ft house was payment of $640 or so.
I’m sure it’s a race to the bottom on price for 30+ year old condos. When there are no owners left and no buyers, the buildings will become worthless and will get torn down.
The 2nd trick is to have the “right board” OUTLIVE YOU.
A local town here has discovered that all the culverts they put in 40-50 years ago are now rusted out and corroded and have to be replaced soon...........
Stainless still rusts and degrades. My mom’s stainless steel 38 special revolver rusted something awful. She kept it in a nightstand in her beachfront condo at Redington Shores, Florida.
Exactly. And too damn hot. And now anytime I visit it is so crowded everywhere. Lines at every eatery, traffic. No thanks.
I just finished repiping an entire parking garage. The HOA fees were $1700 a month before this kicks in.
“Stainless still rusts and degrades.”
It does but at a much slower rate than carbon steel.
Good for you!
I had a place in Destin (Tops'l) in a high-rise several years ago. I loved it, and it was a beautiful place. I sold before the market went zoom. I left a lot of bucks sitting on the table (from then to now), but these new laws, along with insurance, make me quite happy not to have that to worry about.
There are lots of good reasons not to own beachfront.
Part of the problem was they installed a bunch of planters with trees on the pool deck without considering the load.
But it looked nice
P
Highrise condos will be like EV’s where no one wants an old one. The condos in the two new highrises going up near me, right on the bay, are over 97% sold and they start at $3m. They sold fast, too.
Salt water intrusion into reinforced concrete degrades the structure over time. The rebar begins to rust, then the rust expands and cracks the concrete until eventually it cannot withstand the load pressure and the building collapses. Time scale: 50 years approximately.
—
Interesting. Yet, there are structures the Romans build over 2000 years ago still standing (and in some cases still being used today).
Perhaps it is time to rethink how structures are built.
Maybe using a metal that rust near an ocean is not the best idea. I don’t know, I am certainly not an expert but it would not hurt to see if there is another way.
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