re: Destin Condo Math

quote:

---

Todays price, todays rates, and if the numbers add up, you get other people to basically buy your retirement property.

---

That's the thing, we are not there yet. This would be a 15 years down the road type purchase.

There is just no telling what the future will bring, but it's a dream we have. We only have 1 kid , so we want to live near her when she grows up and we are retired.

However, having that beach house could be great. We could have a condo near the kid and a beach property to escape to for a lot of the year.

You should consider looking into emerging markets opposed to already developed ones like Destin.

For example, you can find condos in Belize for around 200K that pull in 35K in rental a year. Property taxes and management fees are much less also. Obviously your risk is higher in a foreign market, but so is the upside.

I like my little unit over there. How long have you been in that building?

I'm #306. It has been a good first run at this. I think I've missed the boat on buying another one

quote:

---

It’s all about timing and getting in at the right price. I don’t think now is the right time

---

100% correct. Wait till after a hurricane and find a place that is contracting with FEMA for their employees to stay there. Search GSA Per Diem sites and pick an area with higher per diem cost. You will get 12-18 months of solid longterm rental if you get a nice place and provide good service.

My sister has a house on 30A and I can tell your that they probably come in just under break even. Not sure how that math works for a condo.

I think the real questions are this. Do you want a place at the beach? Could you afford it even without renting it?

If yes to both then buy it. Then you basically can let renters subsidize your beach property. But don’t expect to make good money off of it.

quote:

---

My sister has a house on 30A and I can tell your that they probably come in just under break even

---

I don't know about the condos under $300k, but I can tell you that over 80% of the properties in the Destin/ So Wal area over $500k are paid for in cash. It maybe over 90%.

Most people are looking for an asset diversification. They have a couple mil or more, and they just want to pull some money out of the stock market and bank.

6% really isn't that HARD to get, but its not traditional either. You get 2% from inflation apprecation, 2% from personal use (donation, business partners, etc.), and 2-4% in income. Outside of the stock market and bonds (which have been shite on returns the past 10 years) where are you getting over 2% anyway?

The key is always to sell it for more than you bought it though. Real estate return always goes to shite if you don't, and it can be fantastic if you can make decent money or better on selling.

How much time do you have?

Scheduling cleaning crews for turn over

Collection of rent

Maintenance

Dealing with problem renters

Going after renters who damage or steal

Issuing parking passes



All of this is taken care of for me for 15%. If you aren't local then multiply the difficulty level

quote:

---

Dumb question here. Why pay someone to manage it for you, with the internet, couldn't you do that yourself?

---

Yeah its not making the actual reservations that is the hard part. Though it can be decently time consuming. Plus people ask a lot of questions after the actual reservation.

But its holding your housekeeper responsible, making sure maintenance is done properly, and more importantly being available for an emergency. Most arrivals are weekends, so do you really want to be available every Friday or Saturday evening in case the door code you gave them was for the wrong week? Also, you get a lot of dumb calls for things like stopped up toilets or jammed garbage disposals.

ETA: Ideally a property management company should be able to get you MORE reservations/ income. Most say that you can get more individually but that's hard to determine. But if they can get you MORE gross income than you can on your own, that reduces their gross cost. If you add that in with the fact you likely will have to pay more for things like housekeeping, maintenance, etc. because a large company can do those things more streamlined and cheaper, then your total expense should be closer to 10% than 20%. That's where the convenience of not having to do much is more beneficial than the cost.

Double your money in less than 2 years. Not a bad idea.