Florida Property: A Second PageRank10 Article - 2007

Florida Real Estate: The Right Time To Buy?

If you’re interested in Florida real estate, you’ve probably seen many, many news stories recently, because there are lots of opinions out there about the state of the market. So if you have some thoughts about investing, what should you do? Is now a good time to buy or not?

Well, before you go any further, make sure you’re clear about your reasons for buying. For example, if you’re looking for your dream home in the sun and plan to hold it for personal use over a number of years, now may be an excellent time to buy because:

There is a wide choice - it's a buyers' market right now, there are many homes for sale and not many buyers, so your bargaining position is strong.
The exchange rate (£ to $) is at the best level for years.
Prices have come down from the highs a year or two ago, so value-for-money is good.

And if you're looking for an investment to take advantage of the current exchange rates, you can also find some good deals (but make sure you've done your homework first).

So if you've figured it all out and you're ready to jump right in and search the MLS, click here: Florida real estate MLS search Florida real estate MLS search

On the other hand, if you're looking for a short-term gain, maybe you should look elsewhere:

There is almost a full year's inventory of resale homes on the Central Florida real estate database (the Multiple Listing System, "MLS") - so the buyers' market won't disappear very soon! A couple of years ago there was about one month's inventory.
Prices are unlikely to rise by any great amount very soon. Some pessimists foresee further price reductions (but there are early signs of a pick-up in activity that suggests this may be overstated).
Selling costs are high, compared to UK levels, so you're likely to need a year or more just to break even!

This is of course only an overview of current conditions. For free help and guidance tailored to your own individual plans for buying Florida property, visit our Florida property website.