My wife’s job is moving. She will be working about 30 minutes farther away from the house than she is now. She wants to move closer to her new work location. I have been working on changing hospitals. If I want to do that, it would be easier if we move. If we move about 30 minutes south of where we are now, it would put us closer to my wife’s work and would make it easier for me to find a new hospital.
So we have been looking at houses. We had a few must haves, and some wants.
- We want a one story house.
- We need at least three bedrooms and three baths. This is so we have room to care for an aging parent if it comes to that, plus room for a guest.
- I would like natural gas service
- We would like a pool.
- We need more storage space. Either a bonus room, a large garage, or room to build a storage structure on the property.
So we began looking.
The first community we looked at wanted $400k for a 2000 square foot house. Hidden costs included a $45,000 bond. A bond is an invention here in Florida that requires each owner of a residential property to pay for roads, fire stations, and other infrastructure costs that are not part of the property. In other words, it is a cost of building a neighborhood that is passed on from the builder to the buyers of the homes. This raised the cost of the house to $455k, or about $225 a square foot.
The second and third builders did not have houses and floor plans that we liked. We went to a late lunch out in the country. While we were there, I happened to see a nearby community that looked interesting, so we headed out there. They had 2950 square foot home plan that they think we can get built with custom options for $525k, and no bond. That brings the cost to $178 a square foot. Admittedly, it’s at the upper limit of what we wanted to spend, but it’s a really nice house with a large kitchen. The best part is that it is within a 30 minute drive of 5 different hospitals, which gives me a lot of flexibility in changing hospitals. It’s one of those small Florida towns that only have a population of about 2,000 people, but still have stuff nearby.
The only real catch is the current lead time for construction is 12 months, meaning that we will be in late 2023 or early 2024 before we can move. We are looking at all of the numbers and facts, but we will likely be paying earnest money within a week or two. That means when the school year starts next fall, my wife will have to commute a bit. It also means that I can start looking for new work, expecting to start somewhere in July or August. There is a hospital that is only 15 minutes from the house we are looking at that is a good place to work and is offering a $10,000 bonus to work there. By all reports, the pay is good and I hear lots of good things about them. There are other hospitals that offer larger bonuses, but there is a reason for that.
So change is coming. It will be easier working where I am, knowing that my days there are numbered.
18 Comments
McChuck · January 26, 2023 at 6:04 am
We went through something similar just a few years ago. Ended up going with a brand new 5 bed, 3 bath double-wide in a gated resort community. We got a deal, as it was a prototype and was built at the beginning of Covid, just before the prices skyrocketed.
Miguel GFZ · January 26, 2023 at 7:44 am
Rethink the pool. You will use it less than you think you will and they will require maintenance that can get annoying.
Plus side, they are an attractive shinny object if you sell the house in the future.
Divemedic · January 26, 2023 at 8:19 am
It’s funny you should say that. For the same cost, we can either add a pool or add a second floor bonus room that can serve as a 5th bedroom. We are leaning towards the bonus room because a pool can be added later if we so choose, but the extra room cannot.
The bonus for this neighborhood and floor plan is that our house will be one of the smallest/cheapest for the neighborhood. Better for resale to be the cheap house in an expensive neighborhood than the expensive one in a cheap neighborhood.
We don’t need larger, because my kids are grown and gone. So we would rather have a smaller/nicer house than a larger one with fewer luxury upgrades.
Henry · January 26, 2023 at 10:48 am
My $0.02 worth: I’ll second the suggestion to rethink the pool. I don’t know if you’ve had one previously (or presently) but they are a lot of work unless you pay a service and my experience is that every year something related to the pump/filter/robot/plumbing required repair. If you and your wife will use it daily then it’s worthwhile, but if the only usage is, for example, an occasional visit by grandchildren I’d rather put the money towards extra space in the house which will likely be more beneficial to you.
SmileyFtW · January 26, 2023 at 8:42 am
Don’t know anything about Florida real estate but why aren’t existing homes in your search?
Divemedic · January 26, 2023 at 8:55 am
The area where my wife’s job is relocating was open fields and swampland two years ago. The existing houses that are within a short drive of it fall into two categories:
– Homes that are small, more than 20 years old, and are sorely in need of repair. Even with that, they are asking as much for them (if not more) than new construction.
– Newer homes, but are selling well out of our price range. We are talking $700k or more.
We also looked at buying land and having a home custom built but all of the contractors that do that are very expensive, busy for the next 2 years, or both. Florida real estate is unlike any other place I have been. Almost all builders are building within HOA controlled neighborhoods. That is why more than 85% of all Florida homes are within an HOA.
JaimeInTexas · January 26, 2023 at 11:08 am
Intrigued by that bond you mentioned. Is that on top of annual ad valorem property taxes?
Divemedic · January 26, 2023 at 5:05 pm
Yes, and the deed can’t be transferred unless the bond is paid off, or unless the new owner assumes the bond.
joe · January 26, 2023 at 5:48 pm
that sounds like a big no go… no way I would pay that… glad I don’t have to go house hunting right now… good luck DM
JaimeInTexas · January 26, 2023 at 5:58 pm
Ouch! If the bond was the property’s only tax, it would make sense.
Elrod · January 26, 2023 at 11:58 am
RE: Pool. I’m with Miguel…sorta. I’d put today’s money into the bonus space and consider pool options over time, meaning “evaluate – harshly – how it will be used, for function and time.” Had I stayed in FL I – probably – would have sprung for a half in-ground endless pool; they can be in-ground, half in-ground, or above ground, and come in various sizes, none of which are so large they take over the whole yard. Want to swim? Turn on the pump. Want to relax? Use it as a spa with jets. They’re also available with 2 pumps and wide enough so 2 people can swim at the same time. Anything from Central Fl to South FL doesn’t need a heater except, maybe, in January.
RE: Natural Gas. Consider propane instead. I have NG and plan to convert to propane within a year.
Pro: Propane is the only gas service available when no NG piping is close enough to connect to. Propane has 2550 BTU/cu ft, NG is 1040, so by volume you will use less propane than NG, but the overall usage cost will be very close. You own your energy supply and you are in control of it.
Con: Large dollar cost up front to fill the tank. Do not rent a tank, buy your own and it should be 250 gallons at minimum. Local codes usually require anything >100 gallons be >10 or 15 ft away from structures so trenching for the connection pipe will be required. Local stuff – like HOAs – may prohibit above ground tanks.
Pro Tip: Whether NG or propane, have whomever does the installation work do it with a multi-port manifold. Mine has 5 ports, each 6″ long 1/2 NPT (3″ nipples below and 3″ nipples above the valve) with one regulator on the incoming line to the manifold, each manifold port has its own valve and is capped (capping is a code requirement . Adding appliances i ssimple – run a line to the next port, connect to appliance, open valve.
If I have NG why convert to propane? I was paying $.97/therm (1 therm is 100 cu ft, = 100,000 BTU), now it’s $1.40.5. Propane costs more now, too, but…if I own my tank I’m notlocked in to byng from whomever owns the tank (no dealer will wouth another dealer’s tank, for anything) so I can call around for the best refill price, and a large tank provides the “cushion” to not need a refill in Feb, I can wait to July for the lowest price.
Even if you don’t go NG or propane, put gas piping in the walls during build, and put it EVERYWHERE. Propane mantle lamps, used for house trailers and RVs, in strategic places provide light when there’s no electricity, each bedroom would probably benefit form having the ability to add a small unvented propane heater for those rare cold days, and a medium through-wall vented heater (about 20-30K BTU) in the “common spaces” (family/dining/kitchen in open floor plan houses) can keep it warm (my NG furnace is 90K BTU and it handles 1950 sq ft just fine, we were down to 4 F at 0530 Christmas day and it maintained 69F indoors without even working hard.
If you have a choice, specify 2X6 walls instead of 2X4 and pay the extra for a 2″ lift of 2-part closed cell foam in each stud bay against the outer sheathing and mineral wool batts instead of fiberglass on top of the foam. Insulation is designed to provide “dead air” but to have dead air you have to kill it first, and mineral wool batts do that much better than fiberglass; the MW batts are mfg to fit the stud bay space as a press fit on all 4 sides. If you’re doing stucco exterior put 1″ rigid fiberglass sheets on top of the housewrap under the stucco, and use 3 coats of elastomeric paint on the raw stucco when it’s COMPLETELY dry. Elasto is way too thick to spray – watch out for painters who thin it so it can be sprayed, they’re destroying the purpose of using elasto which is total waterproofing and being resilient enough to hide the tiny cracks that show up in stucco after a year – and the best way to put the first coat on is with a 4″ brush working it into the “nooks and crannies” to make sure th entire surface is completely sealed. Damn, damn hard work and a royal PITA, but do the first coat right, let it cure for 2 weeks and you can roll the next 2 coats with a 1″ nap roller, 2 weeks apart. (Or, you can do what I did – brushed worked the first 2 coats to make absolutely sure all the nooks and crannies were completely sealed and rolled #3).
joe · January 26, 2023 at 5:50 pm
average pool in DFW area right now is something like $50k… or more
Elrod · January 26, 2023 at 12:01 pm
“no dealer will wouth another dealer’s tank” should read “no dealer will touch another dealer’s tank
%@#$ keyboard……
Muh Fweedom Fwies · January 26, 2023 at 1:58 pm
Avoid deed restricted places. Grammaw on dad’s side lived in one not too far from the Buccaneers stadium and it had a guard shack that changed codes monthly and you couldn’t make any renovations or upgrades to the place without consulting the HOA.
HOA always attracts Karens and other wannabe apparatchik busybodies who know what is best for you.
Divemedic · January 26, 2023 at 5:07 pm
To avoid an HOA, you either have to buy land and then find a contractor, or find a house that is already there and those places are like hen’s teeth.
The existing houses that are within a short drive fall into two categories:
– Homes that are small, more than 20 years old, and are sorely in need of repair. Even with that, they are asking as much for them (if not more) than new construction.
– Newer homes, but are selling well out of our price range. We are talking $700k or more.
We also looked at buying land and having a home custom built but all of the contractors that do that are very expensive, busy for the next 2 years, or both. Florida real estate is unlike any other place I have been. Almost all builders are building within HOA controlled neighborhoods. That is why more than 85% of all Florida homes are within an HOA.
JaimeInTexas · January 26, 2023 at 7:46 pm
Been under an HOA for over 20 years. Hate it. For a number of years it was particularly bad. A lot happened including legal stuff. It got so bad that the Texas legislature got involved and my Community Assoc. under open meetings/records law.
Bought land in Miss. with no HOA. Will probably move, retire?, there in about 3 years.
Jonathan · January 27, 2023 at 11:56 am
Sounds like you have a good plan, keep in mind what the others have mentioned.
I’ve had a pool and enjoyed it, but it was A LOT of work – I was farther north, so I had more issues with cold and winterizing.
I would quibble on propane tank ownership. – if you own your own tank, you have to keep up on regulators, rank inspection, etc.
Where I’ve lived with propane (3 states), using your own tank only saves $0.10 a gallon and it’s very easy to change between companies; they do it all the time and are used to it.
Do NOT use Amerigas – they are MUCH more expensive (here currently, $2+ a gallon more) and their billing and contracts are a pain and very much tilt in their favor.
Good luck, house prices there are as bad as in Texas, I avoid HOAs like the plague, but it sounds like you don’t have a choice…
CelticGirl424 · January 30, 2023 at 3:47 pm
Will you be closer to your kids and grandchildren?
How is your grandson doing?
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