Latest / Florida Homebuyer Weekly / What Does It REALLY Cost to Own a Home in Florida? | Greg Wood

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What Does It REALLY Cost to Own a Home in Florida? | Greg Wood · Florida Homebuyer Weekly

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Florida Home Buyer Weekly.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Joel Benson.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Each week I'll be joined by local realtors and other Florida professionals to talk about what you really need to know when buying a home, moving to Florida, or simply just trying to better understand home ownership here in the Sunshine State.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm joined by Greg Wood with Sirius Realty.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Greg, thanks for being here.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm uh the broker owner of Sirius Realty when we are located in Venice, Florida, and we're part of the community.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Our big goal is focusing on educating our clients to make sure they're getting the best moves for their situation.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: And to that end, we're one of the few brokers that will offer single agency representation, which means we're going to act as your fiduciary during your real estate transaction.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm the kind of guy who's actually told people not to buy a house because they didn't think it was going to be in their best interest.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: And they still buy it, and that's good.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: But it's having that time to make sure that we're trying to protect them.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you you act as a true advisor.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's great.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So what what I want to talk about today.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: So many people may not know I've uh started the you know relocation process earlier this year to Florida.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of uh still looking uh for my my final destination, but it's gonna likely be somewhere in the Lakewood ranch area.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: But as I started that search, you know, coming from the Minnesota market, there was just a lot of things that I found were you know sort of operated a little bit differently, were unique to Florida and the market.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to kind of touch on some of those things, get your insight, and uh just see what uh what you have to say about these things.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: So the first one I wanted to touch on that was a real kind of a surprise to me, I should say, was property taxes.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um up here it's pretty straightforward.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Each county has you know a rate that they charge, you know, the mill rate they they call it.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's pretty standard.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Florida is is a lot different.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I guess, Greg, when you're showing people homes, how often do you find that buyers look at the current property taxes of a specific home that they might be interested in and just assume that's about what they're gonna pay?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it goes kind of both ways.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, generally people are gonna see what was being paid and say, oh, that's my taxes, but that's that's not how it always works.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also get a mix of wow, your taxes are so cheap, and the other is wow, I can't believe you pay so much in property taxes.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: So it's you kind of get the whole gamut with that.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the one of the good things that we have is homestead extensions and homestead portability, which can really help out on that tax bill.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: So the the the one thing that that shocked me the most, or there was the biggest surprise to me, is that and and I don't know what the name of the legislation was, but we're we're basically um you're you're when you own a home, your property taxes can only go up a certain amount each year.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: But that resets uh anytime there's a sale or transfer of ownership.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, like for example, if I look at a home and the current taxes are you know$4,500 a year, that's what that owner is paying.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm gonna be paying.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: How do how do I how do we, I guess, know that the amount's gonna be yeah, it can change.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: And when you sale the home can trigger a reset or looking at that assessed value a bit differently, the property appraiser could use your sales price.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: In Florida, which is definitely different than other places, there's not uh it's public record, what you paid.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: We can figure that out from the dog stamps.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: And the county, if we know as a public, the county certainly knows what you paid for your property and they can use that contract amount and say, hey, we're gonna base our taxes on this.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Do they always do that?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it it could happen.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: One thing that definitely I don't think everybody always thinks of, let's say you're gonna put in a pool in your house, you're gonna get taxed on that too, because that's gonna increase your property value.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: But the biggest thing is once you get your home and the deed is recorded, go down to the property appraiser office and talk to them and say, hey, I just moved here, I moved from whatever state or whatever other place in Florida.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: What can I do?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: What exemptions am I eligible for?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's the best way to do it.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can do it online, but why not take that extra couple of minutes, go down and talk to the person, make sure you're gonna get the best benefit.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So is that something that you recommend uh uh somebody does prior to purchasing a home?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Say this is a home I'm interested in, let's go find out what what I mean.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Can they find out ahead of time then how they're gonna start with the city?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Not really.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: I I wish they could.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you're kind of playing a little bit of a guessing game.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I I know you're not gonna figure out exactly what your taxes are gonna be prior to buying, but you can kind of get a best guess.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Your taxes are gonna vary based on the county budget and how they assess your property to get that.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: So you get something called a trim notice in April, and that's gonna give you an idea of what they're looking to tax you, or in November when you have the first option to pay your taxes.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: And pay your taxes in November if you can.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: You get a 4% discount, and then it it changes every month.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: So the next thing I want to touch on, again, this was a little bit of a surprise to me, or maybe not a surprise, but it's a little more complicated.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: But homeowners insurance and flood insurance.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in Minnesota, where I'm from, that's again similar to taxes.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty straightforward, you know, because we don't have, for example, there's really no floodplain.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are floodplains here, people are on the lake or on the live on the river, but it's pretty rare.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously, most of Florida is in some level of floodplain.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, depending on the flood zone, that'll impact, for example, you know, whether or not you have to actually carry a flood insurance policy.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: But when when you talk to prospective buyers or your clients that are either you know moving from out of state or even just different parts of the state, um are they usually prepared for what insurance is going to cost, or is it a little bit of a surprise to them as well?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: And for the most part, I think it's a surprise.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I think uh a lot of people are surprised at how expensive insurance can be, especially if you're in an unfavorable flood zone and you have no elevation certificate, that can really be a sticker shock.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: And case in point, there's a roughly$300,000 house and it's in an AE flood zone, which is the the worst if you want to use that kind of language.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um and the flood insurance policy is almost$5,000 a year.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's more than the homeowner's policy, right?
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it can be a big shock.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: But then also if you're in the more preferred, again, if you want to call it that, the flood area would be a zone X, you don't have to buy insurance, and it might be 200 bucks a year.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's gonna be very variable based on the flood zone.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then if you have an elevation certificate, that can be like a almost like a discount coupon on what your flood insurance would be.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's yeah.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you mentioned the the different flood zones, the most favorable be being X.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um from a lending standpoint, from what I do, um, typically if you're in flood zone X, there's not a requirement that you carry flood insurance.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't mean that you shouldn't carry flood insurance because it is Florida, after all.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, even flood zone X, there's you know, there's a chance.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, they say like a 1% chance each year or something like that.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: You could experience flooding, and it's always good to protect yourself.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I I think the overall for me, the thing or the that was sort of like new information was just how complex it can be.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and where, you know, like in Minnesota, I've got clients that you know, they want they're looking at a home.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: I can give them a pretty good estimate of what their homeowner's insurance is going to cost.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not an insurance agent, I'm not licensed to sell insurance, but I have a pretty good idea of a range, right?
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Florida, I think it's completely different.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where you know getting getting that process started and putting together a team ahead of time.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we've obviously uh have a little bit of knowledge, you know, you and I, on the insurance piece, but we've also got contacts that our insurance agent that you know that can give you know better advice.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's a great idea to kind of start that process early rather than being surprised on closing day.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: I would I would strongly recommend as soon as you're you have a house under contract during that inspection period, make sure you have all your insurance books in hand.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um just another quick example.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: I've recently sold a home that was a little over 200,000, and then another one that's about 700,000.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Their insurance was similar, and the difference is the roof typing, the type of roof, how old the house is, all of the systems.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, for the$700,000 house, it was like$2,900.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then for the$200,000 house, this one happened to come back at$2,400.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And there was similar coverage, just you know, hurrying for the house.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it really is dependent on the house.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna need a wind mitigation certificate and a four-point inspection.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Those are gonna be required to get insurance.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Another topic that I'd like to just chat about briefly is one that uh, well, two of them that actually HOA and CDD fees, right?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: So the first thing I'll say is that coming from my market in Minnesota, HOAs, which is Homeowners Association, um, very rare.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: We don't we don't see them very often.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um obviously, or Minnesota's a completely different market.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Florida is full of you know these master plan communities where you know developers come in, that's where CDD fees come in.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: But it seems to me that almost every property I've looked at in Florida has HOAs and and a a big majority also has CDDs.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: What are you seeing when you talk to buyers, particularly from out of state?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, are they surprised as much as I am by both the HOA and the CDD fees?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: That definitely can be a surprise.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of people probably did some research ahead of time and they're like, I do not want to be in an HOA.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: So that just negates a big part of Florida.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, CDDs definitely come as a surprise as a community development district.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: So basically, the the builder who did the entire community, the developer, said, Hey, you as the homeowners, you're gonna pay for infrastructure and the super nice amenities and all that, and that's what that is, and that is actually paid on your tax bill.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: So some of these homes might have a$4,000 tax due to the county, but then there's another$4,000 due for your CDD.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: So now tax season comes around and you have a new thousand dollar bill.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: And these are just made up numbers, but they are not unreasonable to have that.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then the HOA specifically typically, and the and these I've noticed vary quite a bit too.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them will cover your landscaping.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, some of it's going to be for, you know, if your community has, you know, an amenity center, clubhouse, pools, you know, pickleball courts or tennis balls, tennis courts.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, those are the kind of things that you see.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: But and again, because I've I've spent a lot of time looking at communities in the Lakewood ranch area, which tend to be all, you know, master plan communities with amenities and things like that.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: If we if we go out a little farther, say Venice, where where you're living, um is it as common to see HOAs?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, or is it just because I'm looking at these communities?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's it's definitely around.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And one thing to keep in mind with the HOAs is they every HOA when you're going to the real estate transaction, you have to disclose that there's an HOA and put out the fees.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them might be$60 a year and voluntary, and others might be thousands of dollars a month and part of the deal.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: And other ones might even have a capital contribution that you're essentially buying into the community.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: So there's lots of layers and options and complexities with some of the HOAs around.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to pick on any in particular, but there's some that'll have a$20,000,$30,000,$50,000 buy-in.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then you still have fairly large monthly fees.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: So other costs of Florida home ownership.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: So when you I guess when we we, I mean, obviously, these are the kind of things that that I think that are really important to sort of do research on and know about before you, you know, enter a contract.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: But what are some of the other expenses that you find that people don't necessarily think about until you know, because they've never owned a home in Florida?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the things I think of are things like pools and you know maintenance and landscaping and you know things like that.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: But what what do you see as as a big surprise to a lot of people?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's a lot of options that are surprising.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if you're going from renting or living with somebody else, right, making that transition into true homeownership, there's definitely, oh wait, I need to buy different furniture and whatever else.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: So they might not factor that in all the time.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you're already moving from another house, probably not as big of a deal.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: But that first-time home buyer can be a little shocked with, oh, wait, I have to buy all of these little things that I never thought of because it's my home now.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I want to put a painting on the wall.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: All that stuff adds up to a lot of money.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the other ones, you mentioned pool, which is a good one.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: You have that beautiful pool.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: You really want it to stay crystal clear and blue, so it's inviting.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you're either going to learn how to do it yourself, which honestly is not too hard.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: We have some great resources in town and of course online, or you're going to pay 150 bucks a month for somebody to come maintain it once a week or whatever, and potentially more if you have a problem.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then a pool is going to run you on your power bill, it's going to run you at least 30 bucks a month to run that pool pump.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: So these, you know, it all adds up in little layers.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody really thinks of that in particular.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: I would say, since we mentioned HOAs, some of them cover exterior pest control.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe you don't have to worry about that.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a way of shifting the money you would spend, but it's already covered in an HOA.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Pest control.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's one that I didn't hadn't thought about.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: We don't really have to worry about that in Minnesota.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: The pool thing I'll mention, I have a pool in my backyard here too.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I did learn how to maintain it myself.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And without fail, once a year I'd end up with like just murky water after whether it's after a party or whatever.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: So a few years ago, I just gave up and just hired the pool company to do it.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: And they actually charge us like 90 bucks a week here.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one thing where I'm gonna save a few dollars in Florida, is my pool maintenance.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um obviously Oh, go ahead.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: I would say another one to think about is your utilities.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: So some of the homes, especially in South County, are on well in septic.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not paying for county water or city water and the sewer, so that's gonna be less, but you are then gonna be buying salt or maintaining a septic system.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the other thing that'll come up, of course, is power bills.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you know this.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Florida gets hot.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: We don't get cold, but we get hot.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: And some people like to crank their AC down to 60 something or low 70s, and then you get a power bill that's$500, and you're wondering what happened.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, right.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: You might have to keep that in mind as you're learning how to do it the summer.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: The power bills can be bad unless you have great windows and insulation.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's how you're gonna fix that problem.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's interesting because uh whenever I visit Florida, and I've been, you know, I've been in Florida, you know, probably uh basically a week every month this year.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: And as I visit people, I I notice I I mean at home I keep my thermostat at like, in fact, I have a I have an ongoing battle with my wife.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: I can always I I like it at 71.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And as soon as I walk in the door, I can tell if she's bumped it up to 72 or 73.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: When I visit people in Florida or Arizona or California or whatever, I I often notice that their thermostats are set at like 75 or 76.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I just get angry at those temperatures.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm just gonna have to live with these high, high utility bills, I think.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: I've always lived on the coast, so hurricanes are something to be acutely aware of in Florida.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: And just be prepared.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: Hurricane season is a good chunk of the year.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Generally, our portion of Florida is the September through the end of November, is where we have our excitement, we'll call it.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: So just be prepared.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Have a plan to get out if you're if you're worried about it or if you're near the coast.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Have things stored in your house, and there are endless amounts of lists that can get you prepared for a hurricane.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: But just do all that, and then you don't have to worry about the hurricane so much.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and also pay your insurance that way or something.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that'd be a hard lesson to learn right there, right?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it is, yeah.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, real quick, I want to just go back because it's something again that I have not had to experience or or think about in Minnesota.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I know pest control is a thing down there, like you have it, like everybody has it.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: What first of all, what sort of pests are we are we protecting ourselves against?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: And how often are these, you know, how often do they apply whatever treatment it is that they do?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm a bit of the odd duck.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: I we in our yard have a food forest.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: We planted a lot of plants that they produce fruit or vegetables or whatever that you can eat.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: So we actually don't do much in the way of pest control.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: It hasn't been that bad.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't really had any issues.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: What you do find is when it's super wet out in rainy season, it doesn't matter how much you put around your house, the cockroaches or palmetto bugs, because that doesn't sound as scary.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um they will come in your house.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think that's just what it's gonna be.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's part of living in Florida, it's part of the charm, we'll call it.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, people will come quarterly and spray, and there's all kinds of options.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'd say, just like anywhere else that I've lived, always be aware about the termite potential.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And if you keep water away from your house, all the better.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: If you keep a clean house inside, you're not leaving boxes and whatever sticking around, you're gonna have a better experience overall because they don't want to be in your house.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing to offer, right?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't keep plants and stuff shoved up all the way against the house, they're not gonna go get curious.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm probably not the best guy to ask about pest control, but uh it's a thing.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's a thing.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: It is absolutely a thing.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And the the amount of posts you see on social media saying, What the heck is this bug?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Florida.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: We have memes.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I love that you said so.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: The palmetto bug is the same thing as a cockroach.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's a cockroach.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: There's all kinds of different varieties of cockroaches, but they're all the same thing.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: So the last thing I wanted to touch on here was kind of ties all these things we've been talking about together is really just the purchase price versus the true monthly cost of a home.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's I think what like you know, a trap that people can fall into.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, my my pre-approval letter says I I can afford a$600,000 house or a$500, whatever the number is, right?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: But like we talk about that$500,000 house in one location versus another might be vastly different.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's really important, I think.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: But from like the real estate side, um, I mean, I guess, do you find that people have a, you know, coming into it when they first start their process, do they have an understanding of that fact that, hey, look, your purchase price is not the actual cost of your home?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I think that's why it's important to work with a good lender and a good realtor.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Because everybody thinks it's fun to go search for a home.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: You're looking at these three million dollar homes, like, oh, what if I live there?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're really down in the weeds looking for a home, do you want to spend all your time looking at these homes that are right at the limit of your purchase power?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then you realize I can't afford it because my operating costs are an extra thousand dollars a month.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Or do you want to spend the time and look at something that you can actually afford and you're gonna be comfortable in and meet that payment?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm the kind of guy who would rather sit down, talk to the lender, talk to you, kind of get an idea of what it actually is to live in this community and look at three to five homes that you can afford and you're gonna be happy with versus looking at the what I would call a dream home of where, yeah, you got approved for that 600,000, but really it's an inexpensive HOA.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: It has a CDD, the insurance is outrageous, and now you can't actually buy that home.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's frustrating for everybody involved.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: So let's save that hassle and factor in these big things and be like, all right, cool, we can look in this neighborhood or we can't, based on your your purchase power is that how I look at it.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it's important too.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like I always talk about how we're, you know, whether it's me, my client, their realtor, we're all kind of a team, you know, the insurance agent, inspectors.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's really important just to work together.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the the first thing, like you say, is is just really analyzing what the actual cost is.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, obviously you've got your your standards, the property, um, you know, the purchase price, but you've got you know what your mortgage payment is made up, right?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: You've got your taxes, insurance, but then you've got HOAs, CDDs, potentially some other costs.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: And again, they can vary greatly.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's important, like you say, to you know, put it on paper.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, as you say, maybe look at three or four different homes that you like and just Put it on paper and see what the actual monthly cost is of each one because you find that it might be vastly different.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that, you know, there's nothing worse than a buyer walking into a home, falling in love, and then realizing I can't afford this house, you know.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the other thing I see a lot, Zillow Realtor.com.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: They've always got these little price calculations at the bottom, and they're wildly inaccurate, you know, because they just I don't even know where they get the numbers from sometimes, but you know, it'll have just some random number in for taxes and HOA, but you'd never see a CDD in there.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: I rarely have seen where the tax number has that reflected.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: So just don't get lulled into thinking you can afford a house.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, just be sure, you know, like like just you know, take it, take the time to to educate yourself on the on the different factors that really make up the true cost of your home.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, obviously lean on on the uh your advisors.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's what we're always looking for is a happy client in the end.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want you to get into a house where you're like, oh, this guy put me in a house that I can barely afford, and you're all stressed out.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's not what it's supposed to be like.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're all advocating for you to get the best feel for your particular situation.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so Greg, in closing, I have a question for you.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody watching this this episode here today, thinking about buying a home or moving to Florida.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: What is the number one expense that you think they're most likely to underestimate?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'd say from the buyers that I talked to, it probably is going to boil down to that insurance discussion.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think that one's the that one's the one that's hardest to find because you have to go consult another expert.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's easy enough to look at and figure out what that HOA fee is and calculate that.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: But until you have that wind mitigation form, that four-point inspection, you're really not going to know what your insurance is going to be.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: And the last thing I'll share about that is when I bought my first home in Florida, it was in a, it was the house was fine, but the roof was old.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: It didn't have the third nail, which is part of the wind mitigation.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: It didn't have your secondary water resistance, which is again part of your roof.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: My insurance for a$250,000 home came out to like$7,000, which is awful, right?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, how the heck can you afford that?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I went in knowing that if I changed out the roof, which was gonna cost me at the time, I think, like$12,000.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: It was gonna save over$4,000 a year on my insurance.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I paid for the roof in three years.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's doing that kind of math and figuring out how do we make the insurance work.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And one other thing about the insurance is there are lots of new insurers moving into the Florida market, which is good for everybody who's looking for insurance.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: So my recommendation to all multiple agents because they all different, they all have access to different insurers, and that could be um the difference between a$5,000 quote and a$2,500 quote for the same coverage.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it really is insurance, I think is the biggest.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Whoa, I didn't expect that in Florida.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's great.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is exactly why we created Florida Home Buyer Weekly.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Each week we'll take topics like these and go deeper, bringing in local realtors like yourself, other Florida professionals who can help us understand what it's actually like to buy an Oma home in Florida.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Greg, thanks so much for joining me today.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate your time.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was a pleasure.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we'll see you next week on Florida Home Buyer Weekly.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you found any information here useful or you want to follow along, please subscribe to the YouTube channel.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, we'll see you next week.