Thursday 27 March 2008

Article: I Like To Be In America

Yesterday's edition of the Evening Standard, in its Homes and Property supplement, featured an article about purchasing property in North America titled "I Like To Be In America". Covering locations such as Florida, New York, Canada and the Carribean, the article didn't really mention anything particularly new about purchasing in the U.S.

A few points of note, however: author Cathy Hawker states that, although bargains are certainly to be had, buying in America isn't a way of making a fortune but more suitable for investing in long-term. With respect to Florida, she advises a certain amount of caution because of the sub-prime property disaster. Nevetheless, Hawker identifies (unsurprisingly) the areas of South Beach and Palm Beach as places where sales are strongest. She also mentions Naples, calling it a "very grown-up part of Florida". Finally, she quotes agent Nic Brennan of Knight Frank, who says the golf-resort market in Orlando above £745,000 is steady, and above £1.2 million is strong. Seems like very high prices to me!

I unfortunately can't seem to find the same article on the Web, but here's a slightly different online version: Snap up a dollar deal.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this!

Heinz

Anonymous said...

In June 2005, I purchased a small studio condominium in Miami Beach to use as a getaway four or five times a year. The taxes at the time were about $2,200 a year. Not great, but doable. This year, the taxes were raised to $3,500. I just got next year's bill -- it will go to almost $4,200.

Now, before all you homesteaders cheer and say, ''Let the other guys pay,'' here is what you will miss because I plan to sell my condo. You will miss the revenue that I provide because I eat most of my meals out; rent a car and buy gasoline; go to the Jackie Gleason Theatre and shop in your stores. (By the way, the furniture stores benefited twice, because I had to redecorate after Hurricane Wilma destroyed the condo.)

The airlines will lose my revenue, too. I do not use the school system. The amount of garbage I generate is maybe one 30 gallon kitchen bag per trip. I can't think of anything else with the exception of electricity and water that I pay for.

Your homestead exemption is sheer stupidity. It unfairly puts a burden on people not using your local services. So now, instead of a glut of 65,000 condos on the market, I guess it is going to be 65,001.

You lose.