Posted on 01/18/2007 7:32:21 PM PST by Lorianne
GULF SHORES, AL
WHAT: One-bedroom condo
HOW MUCH: $299,000
PER SQUARE FOOT: $610
This 490-square-foot unit is on the fifth floor of the Gulf Shores Surf and Racquet condominium complex. Situated along the Gulf of Mexico, the area is known for its fishing and golfing. The development offers an outdoor pool, hot tub, tennis and racquetball courts, a fishing pier and barbecue area. This unit comes furnished and includes deeded beach access and covered parking. The unit has one bath and an open kitchen. It has a view of Little Lagoon. The annual taxes are $324.06 and the condominium fee is $129 per month.
BAR HARBOR, ME
WHAT: Five-bedroom house
HOW MUCH: $299,000
PER SQUARE FOOT: $186.87
Built in 1930, this 1,600-square-foot farmhouse is near town amenities in Bar Harbor, which is on the east side of Mount Desert Island and surrounded by Acadia National Park. The area offers year-round recreation like fishing, boating, hiking, biking and cross-country skiing. On the main floor of this three-story home is the kitchen, dining room and living room. The second floor has the master bedroom, two additional bedrooms and a full bath; two more bedrooms are on the third level. The annual taxes are $2,041.70.
PORTLAND, OR
WHAT: A one-bedroom loft condominium
HOW MUCH: $299,900
PER SQUARE FOOT: $421.20
This 712-square-foot loft in a 1910 building is in the Pearl District of Portland, a recently gentrified neighborhood known for its shops, galleries and restaurants. The unit comes with one parking spot, but the building is also near a light-rail line. The condo has 14-foot ceilings, with exposed wood beams and posts. The taxes are $137 annually and frozen until 2016, and the monthly condo maintenance fee is $154.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And out of fairness, Lorianne, some respondents might be confusing you with the one or two folks on FR who seem to have a morbid obsession with housing prices and interest rates, and who post doomsday thread after doomsday thread as though the world will end unless we all do......well, something, but they never quite say just what.
I'm a free market advocate. As we can see from this thread alone, some people have made a lot of money on real estate that has gone up in value!
I'm quite intersted in real estate valuation and trends. Some people can make anything into something sinister.
Cross country skiing in Honolulu? :)
Thanks to Uncle Sam. Every home owner in Florida is suckling off big government's teat, after Andrew.
Very true!
Not true. Our biggest customer moved into the Florida market to do Hurricane Insurance a few months ago and is getting customers through the roof.
You got a good deal. My Step Grandparents paid $350,000 for a 2 Br in Frisco. I think that was 4-5 years ago.I think it is worth a little under $400,000 now.
But only because of government loan guarantees and subsidies. There's no shortage of customers in Florida, there's an excess of potential liability, which is why no insurer can afford to insure Florida without Uncle Sam's helping hand.
No reach around?
No subsidies. I believe there is a State Fund that residents can pay into, but that is all the State of Florida offers.
You are mistaken. The Federal Government's National Flood Insurance Program underwrites an astonishing percentage of the insurance policies issued in the state of Florida, as well as in other low lying and coastal areas around the country. If it weren't for the Federal Government's largess, nobody could afford to live anywhere near Florida's coast, at least not if they want insurance.
I beg your pardon? I guarantee I've put a lot more milk in that teat than I've sucked out.
Yes'M.
$300,000 will get you a palace where I live, and I thank the good Lord daily that my part of the country is considered undesirable, may it ever remain so!
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