T-Minus 179 Days: Good Progress

 Some great progress was made in several areas. First, we wired our deposit to KB Homes and signed the Intent To Purchase. We will be building the Plan 3016 at Lake Ridge in Minneola. Next step: by mid-January, we will select our lot and sign the building contract. 

In other news, my parents live in an in-law apartment attached to our New York home. We offered to take them to Florida with us, but they want to stay in New York. After many many months of searching, they found a place that meets their needs and agreed with them on an open apartment. 

We continue to purge and sell items on Facebook Marketplace. We have a gym in our house and I've sold some items from there. I organized some sports cards to sell, a guy agreed to buy them, and then he contacted me and said the cards are worth 5 times what I am selling them for and he wouldn't feel right buying them. He agreed to give me the names of a few people who would give me a fair price. And then he never provided those names. So... was he just trying to back out of the purchase? Or is he right? I don't know.

Moving to Florida is very expensive. I have a goal for how much I want to contribute toward that expense by selling our stuff. Here is the progress: we are 50% of the way there!

 As we close out 2020, we are happy to report this great progress!

T-Minus 182 Days: Back To Purging

 We are back to purging!

Video Link

T-Minus 184 Days: The New York Window

 I have a 32" TV in my office that I call my Florida Window. It loops video of beaches and Florida neighborhoods. Some of the video is live webcams and some is video that I have taken from our many trips in Florida. Anytime during the day I can gaze out my Florida Window and imagine I am in the warm sunshine state.

I imagine that once I have moved to Florida, I am going to want a New York window to remind me about the many years spent there. So, I created the New York window, a snowy scene looking out at the farm field across the street from my house. 

If you have already left New York? Perhaps this window will help bring back some memories for you.

T-Minus: 187 Days: Crazy Florida Real Estate Market

 1000 people per day are moving to Florida and they need a place to live as millions of people are leaving states like New York. In fact, a recent study suggested more than one third of all NYC residents are considering leaving. Helping to drive this is the historically low interest rates and opportunities to work from home due to COVID. Florida isn't only a great destination for New Yorkers, it is also the number one destination for international buyers. 

You can imagine what this is doing to the Florida housing market. I watched one house get listed at midnight, first showing was at 8am, and it was sold at 11am. The inventory for existing houses is very low because Floridians have no place to move to. When a house does come on the market, it will often get purchased site unseen within just a few days. 

We didn't want to buy a house unseen and we can't react fast enough to house sales when we are 1200 miles away. We decided to, instead, build a house so that we could have a little more control over location and move dates. 

What we found is that home builders are challenged with keeping up with the demand. We went to one community and the seller told us the current phase was sold out. We asked when the next phase opens up and she said "that phase is sold out too". We looked at Ryan Homes on Grassy Lake: they can only build 4 houses per month. They have a waiting list of people who want to sign contracts. Haines City has capped builders, such as Highland Meadows, to submitting only 11 houses for approval per month because Haines City can't keep up with the demand.

Our plan is to go to a KB Homes site in Minneola. Before KB Homes has even nailed one board, 25% of the community is already sold! KB Homes raises the base price of the home every time they sell 5 houses. That means we can expect to gain $50K in equity by the time the community sells out! And that timeframe might be in just a year or two.

How long can this boom continue for Florida? Many people remember the housing crash in 2008 that wiped out Florida home values. Will that happen again? 

My uninformed prediction is that Florida is going to continue to see growth. Even before COVID, an average 376 people were fleeing New York City with 3.57 million leaving just New York City in 2020. There are many more people choosing to trade winters and skyscrapers for beaches and sandals. 

T-Minus 188 Days: KB Homes Delay

 If you have been following along, you know that we picked the KB Plan 3016 at Lake Ridge in Minneola. We met with our real estate agent yesterday to strategize our next steps before informing KB Homes. 

We learned that the Lake Ridge Development had some problems passing its inspection and needed some additional work done to it. That was going to delay the first home construction until December 15, however, because it was so close to the holidays, they decided to delay it until January. As a result, they are taking deposits but they are not writing any more contracts until they get the site passed inspection. 

Because KB Homes has to do additional work to Lake Ridge, KB Homes has to take on additional expense. KB Homes doesn't do a CDD, instead, they recoup their costs in selling houses. As a result, the additional expense going into this additional work will cause a price increase. At this stage, they don't know how much the price increase will be.

So... that is disappointing. If KB Homes doesn't work out, our Plan B in the Lynn Haven by Ryan Homes at Grassy Lake in Minneola (it is actually on the other side of Grassy Lake compared to Lake Ridge). The lot we want at Grassy Lake becomes available in January. The house is smaller, the lot is smaller, but the location is better. I think we'll "win" regardless of which one we get.

T-Minus 190 Days: House Decision Made

 We decided on the KB Homes Plan 3016 at The Reserve At Lake Ridge, which is located to the west of Grassy Lake in Minneola, on Rt. 27. We are getting the three car option and extended lanai on an upgraded lot.

It has been a long road to make this decision. We did a lot of analysis. In fact, we are still doing analysis (I am on page 40 of a 110 HOA contract). This will get us the most house in a good area for what we can afford. The cost is actually on the high side of where we wanted to be which means the pool might get delayed three to six months. 

Now that we made the decision, our next step it to talk it over with our Real Estate Agent. Then we'll discuss it with the builder's agent and get the paper work rolling. We hope to lock in a price before the next increase (increases seem to happen monthly). 

According to the estimated time tables, that should get us into the house at the end of August. We need to be in Florida by the end of June, so, we'll be renting for two months. It also means we'll have to load our stuff into PODS and pay to store them for an extra two months. There are many unknowns and it can be scary, but we are trying to deal with that with ample research and ample planning to reduce the number of surprises.

T-Minus 195 Days: Re-Evaluating KB Homes

 We had previously looked at the KB Homes 3203. When we started adding upgrades the cost became insane. We could afford it, but, I don't want to be house poor. I still want to go out to dinner whenever we want, go to Disney, and live comfortably. 

We decided to downgrade to the KB Homes 3016. It isn't all that much smaller but its base cost is $13K cheaper. While the 3203 had a cost per square foot (after upgrades) of $122, the smaller house unfortunately has a higher cost per square foot ($126), but overall it is cheaper. 

We considered going even smaller: the KB Homes Plan 2716 and Ryan Home's Crescent. The 2716 is significantly smaller than the 3016 yet only $9K cheaper with a very high cost per square foot ($137). The Crescent is a massive 25% smaller than the 3203, had a cost of $158/sqft, and had a layout I didn't really like. As a result, both the 2716 and the Crescent were crossed off our list.

We are now left comparing the KB Homes 3016 versus the Ryan Homes Lynn Haven. The 3016 is 219sqft larger and (estimated total monthly payment (including HOA and everything)) around $50/month cheaper, and $13 per square feet cheaper. 

We talked with a seller's agent about our plans to commit to a build soon, then put our house on the market in April, move to Florida in July, and (hopefully) have the house construction completed in August. She warned that we might not get approved unless we can either prove we can afford both mortgages, or, we say we will be using the New York house as rental property (not happening). That was unfortunate to hear. We had been warned several months ago by our sales agent that a builder might require our New York home to be listed. We can't list the house that early - the house isn't ready to be listed and we can't afford to have the house sell and leave us homeless. 

That news was a bit of a set back and we'll have to explore this issue with our real estate agent some more to understand it. I can't imagine we are the only people in this situation and I don't believe it will be a problem.

T-Minus 196 Days: A Move Story

 The following story was posted by Jojo Fisherman in Moving To Florida.

Ok here is our story of moving to Florida........

  *Sept 11 2020... we flew to Florida to find a home, put a offer in riverstone with lennar home, due to close nov. 4 th, 2020

  * Sept 30, 2020.. we loaded just my Jeep and hubby Hyundai sold the rest and hit the road to Florida..from SEATTLE

   * Got to Flordia 4 days later had reservations at the “wood springs” in Lakeland, upon arriving at this hotel, there is no one to check is in and only a garage door at the reception desk...

   *Booked a different hotel, stayed there for 30 days! Yup 30 days in a hotel....

   * October 4th, lennar financing says we can’t get the loan due to a overdraft on our bank account over a year ago....

    * October 5th put a cash offer on a new build in Belleview due to be completed Dec 8th..

    *October 11th,  I flew back to Seattle for our dogs and to close on the house..

    *Nov. 3rd we fly with 5 DOGS yes in carriers with us from Seattle to Florida, now we MOVE to a Airbnb...

    * Nov. 17th we MOVE to a different Airbnb...

    * December 8th, house still is not done and have to wait another week......

  *Dec 9th MOVE to another Airbnb!

 

FYI, Airbnb are hard to find with 5 DOGS.....

 

TODAY house is SUPPOSED to be ready but it has no power!!

PLEASE PRAY TO THE POWER PEOPLE!!

T-Minus 200 Days: House Search Update

 Check out this update on our house search

Video Link

T-Minus 205 Days: Selecting our house

 We started off with 35 possibilities, then narrowed it down to ten, and this weekend we arrived at our selection. What you'll see now is our top ten selections with #1 being what we will probably do.

10. Sand key by Taylor Morrison at Canyons at Highland Reserve in Clermont

This is an amazing house but it is too expensive for our budget.

9. Avalon 2 with Bonus by Dream Finders at Adamore Reserve in Minneola

Adamore Reserve is a beautiful area at the south east portion of Grassy Lake. The community has Dream Finders and Hanover builders. Unfortunately, the Avalon 2 with Bonus has a price that is very misleading. For the bonus, they add a second floor. The basic bonus is just a small room at the top of the stairs, and that is what the base is. Anything more than that is terribly expensive.

8. Bonair by Taylor Morrison at Lakeside in Apopka

Lakeside is located in Apopka with easy access to two expressways. The neighborhood though is industrial. The Bonair had a small master bedroom, the bedrooms were small, and there was an open area over the living room that went all the way up to the roof. That was wasted space. And there is no option to turn that open area into a room. The house is 2600 sqft feet and felt crammed for what we need. 

7. Carlisle by Maronda Homes at SolTerra Springs in Davenport

The Carlisle had a bedroom where we anted the lanai to be. We didn't like the dinning room and felt the owner's bedroom was too small. When I made the video and thought about this house, I liked it. However, when I saw the house I made a note that said "House wasn't spectacular". I don't remember why I wrote that, but, I need to trust my initial gut feeling. Also SolTerra's location would require us to drive I4 to get almost anywhere, and I4 is a highway to avoid.

6. Elle by Dr Horton at Sereno in Loughman/Davenport

Loughman is way out there. It is east of Davenport and south of Kissimmee. It is serviced by Rt. 17, a busy 2 lane road that badly needs to be expanded. Dr Horton has other locations, and their house bases usually have more features than other builder's bases which causes DR Horton prices to have a higher base price. The issue with the Elle is that DR Horton has decided not to make it anymore. And they don't have another design within our price range that could serve as a replacement.

5. Wayfair by Highland Homes at Highland Meadows in Haines City

We both love the Wayfair. However, we don't like Highland Meadows being way out in Haines City. Getting anywhere would require a trek up Rt. 27 to the busy and dangerous I4. Highland Meadows looks like it was once a large sprawling orange grove that is now getting cut up and built out as fast as possible. We were concerned about the CDD fee, and the requirement of a non-refundable 20% down payment up front. Never the less, if the Wayfair was being built anywhere closer to Orlando, it might have been our #1 choice.

4. Caladesi by Taylor Morrison at Canyons at Highland Reserve in Clermont

This house comes with a 3 car garage and a master bedroom whose size was... just OK. 

3. Amelia by Taylor Morrison at Canyons at Highland Reserve in Clermont

Both the Caladesi and Amelia appeared to be great contenders, in fact, the Amelia made it to our top three. The Amelia is a 1 story house with a tandem garage (the tandem could be a workshop or finished to be a room of the house). We were disappointed to find that Canyons is full, and the next phase for large houses won't open until August 2021.

2. Lynn Haven by Ryan Homes at Grassy Lake in Minneola

The Lynn Haven was a final contender. We love Grassy Lake and this community was on the east side of the lake with a nice overlook. The Lynn Haven had less square feet than KB Home's Plan 3202, but that was mostly due to the Lynn Haven having a tandem garage. That garage could be used as a workshop or finished off to be another room of the house. Many of the Lynn Haven rooms were larger, and it has more kitchen cabinet space. Unfortunately, they are only building 4 houses at Grassy Lake per month, and there is a long waiting list of people to get in. We were very disappointed when we heard this because we would be at the bottom of the list waiting for months for our turn. 

1. Plan 3203 by KB Homes at Reserve at Lake Ridge in Minneola

The Reserve at Lake Ridge is a valley just off Rt 27 to the south west of Grassy Lake. Most of Florida is flat, but Minneola has rolling hills. The lots at Lake Ridge are large (70'x135') that would easily hold our house with a 3-car garage and a pool out back. The house has a spacious first floor and a dinning area that pushes out into the pool deck. The house includes a mudroom and a laundry room that is larger than the Lynn Haven. The bedrooms are smaller than the Lynn Haven, but just by a little. And the master bedroom is larger than the Lynn Haven.

The decision comes down to the Lynn Haven versus Plan 3202. Do we wait on the waiting list to get into Grassy Lake? Or do we move forward with Lake Ridge now? We will be talking with the buyer agents of each place in the coming week, but as it stands right now? Plan 3202 is in the lead.