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Vacation Property

cedars

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We are 50 something year olds from Canada and wondering if you were going to purchase a vacation home (in a sunny locale) and also thinking of it as an invesment-where would it be and why???? My husband has friends that are suggesting purchasing in Naple Florida is a good investment now that their market seems to be undervalued and the Canadian dollar is almost at par. Thanking you in advance for your responses. MaryAnn:)
 

PStreet1

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I'd buy where we did: just south of San Diego in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. We're 30 minutes south of the border; we're right on the water; they are constructing a new Home Depot and movie theater; they're making the road 4 lanes; we have San Diego weather all year long--and we didn't pay California prices.
 

Timeshare Von

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I'd buy where we did: just south of San Diego in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. We're 30 minutes south of the border; we're right on the water; they are constructing a new Home Depot and movie theater; they're making the road 4 lanes; we have San Diego weather all year long--and we didn't pay California prices.

Yeah but you have that corrupt Mexican government and "law" enforcement system down there.
 

charford

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I went through the same decision in the past 18 months. I'm originally from T.O. BTW.

I decided against Florida because of the risk of hurricanes. I know there's not much risk to life and limb, but I just don't want to deal with them. However, I have a friend who's owned property in Florida for quite a while. His recommendation is the Sanibel area. It's suffered quite a downturn recently.

I made my decision to buy in the South Kohala area on the island of Hawaii. Although it's farther than FL, and you can't drive here :rolleyes: , the weather is perfect. I love it here. I'm now on my fourth visit in the past year. You also have the comfort and amenities of living in the U.S.

There is a wide range of prices, but I think the prices compare quite favorably to FL. IMHO, it's a relatively undiscovered area as far as second homes go. If you'd like more info, you can pm me.
 
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Nancy

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Florida condo

After many years of hubby saying he hated FL, he changed his mind and we bought a condo in the Tampa area about 6 years ago. At the time I was still working, but within a year decided I didn't want to work anymore, so I retired. (Hubby was already retired.) We love our place. It isn't too large and it isn't new and flashy, but it is all ours. We split our time between VA and FL and are going back to FL in a couple of weeks for the rest of the summer.

I always recommend the book "Where to Retire in Florida" by the Foxes if you are seriously considering FL.

Nancy

ps. Not totally sure of title since my copy is in Florida!
 

caribbeansun

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Before you get too far down this road you really should be considering the income tax issues with property ownership in a foreign country. The US is a particuarly difficult country to own property in for people that aren't American and there are US tax implications as well.

For my money I'd think twice (or four times) about buying any property in the US and consider somewhere like Grand Cayman which is much more friendly to non-resident owners.

Why not just rent for the winter months in a preferred location in Florida - once you consider the hassle of ownership and the costs, particularly in light of the fact that it will sit vacant for at least half the year I suspect renting for $3-$4k a month will look pretty darn attractive. You won't have any of the issues of maintaining a property while not in attendance, no US tax filing issues, etc, etc.
 

bogey21

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I'd also check and see what Medical Facilities were in the area. If you are older, you just never know.

GEORGE
 

PStreet1

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"Corrupt government and 'law' enforcement" are not the problem they are made out to be. We've owned here 9 years, and we've never had a problem. We have many friends in the area; they haven't had problems. We've in Mexico 7 mts, or more, of the year, and we would notice or hear about problems from our friends.
 

charford

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Before you get too far down this road you really should be considering the income tax issues with property ownership in a foreign country. The US is a particuarly difficult country to own property in for people that aren't American and there are US tax implications as well.

For my money I'd think twice (or four times) about buying any property in the US and consider somewhere like Grand Cayman which is much more friendly to non-resident owners.

I owned property in the U.S. for over a decade as a non-citizen. My first house was purchased as a non-resident. I've never had a problem. What difficulties are you referring to?
 

caribbeansun

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The integration of the Canadian and US tax acts is anything but simple and ensuring that you are on-side with the tax treaty between the two countries can be a pain in the behind not to mention that the US filing requirements can be quite onerous. It's an additional cost of ownership that many aren't aware of and even more simply ignore - it's a function of whether you want to do it right or not. In practice I'm sure there are plenty that simply don't report the US property to either taxation authority.

One example would be the manner inwhich the two countries handle death taxes and the tax on the disposition of the property. In situations like this were there is a tax levied by one country that the other country imposes them in a different manner you can get double taxed. Where the treatment is consistent (ie. tax on dividends) you can usually get a tax credit but when it's not you're just SOL and out-of-pocket.
 

geekette

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FL is too hot and humid for me, I'd choose the Carolina's or maybe in/near Knoxville, TN.
 

Maz

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2nd Homes In Mexico...

"Corrupt government and 'law' enforcement" are not the problem they are made out to be. We've owned here 9 years, and we've never had a problem. We have many friends in the area; they haven't had problems. We've in Mexico 7 mts, or more, of the year, and we would notice or hear about problems from our friends.

Pat,

I couldnt agree more. We bought our first home in Punta Mita (Near Puerto Vallarta) around 8 years ago...We now own 9 . One is our primary residence and the other 8 are rentals.

We have not encountered any corruption worth mentioning. Real estate costs in Mexico have soared over the last 5 years but compared to many of the high demanded coastal areas in the USA, its still a good deal and you get warm water! :) Maz
 

JoAnn

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Something to be on the look out for...especially here in Florida, is whether you are a 'resident' or 'non-resident'. As a Florida resident (like those of us who live here year around, or like others who live here 6 months and 1 day and have declared Florida your legal residence...have FL driver's license) your property taxes will be lower than someone who is a non-resident. As a 'legal' resident, we file for the Homestead exemption (taking $25K off our appraised value of our house every year) and our Save Our Homes legislation, which limits our taxes to not go up more than 3% in a year.

Our next door neighbor is from Austria. She comes over every year for exactly 6 months a year (all she can legally stay here). Her taxes went from $6K per year to over $9K per year. There is no limit for her, and, as she said, if this keeps up, she will have to sell her house. This would apply to anyone who owns a house in Florida who has not become a Florida resident...and who does not rent their house out. If I'm wrong...hopefully someone will correct me, but that is how I understand it.
 

taffy19

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International Living

My husband subscribes to this magazine and reads it from cover to cover. The only problem is that they email you a lot of junk mail too and that gets annoying but there has been some very good information in their letters over the years. They let you subscribe to a lot of freebies too but that starts the SPAM mail going and it will never stop. :(
 

gmarine

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We are 50 something year olds from Canada and wondering if you were going to purchase a vacation home (in a sunny locale) and also thinking of it as an invesment-where would it be and why???? My husband has friends that are suggesting purchasing in Naple Florida is a good investment now that their market seems to be undervalued and the Canadian dollar is almost at par. Thanking you in advance for your responses. MaryAnn:)


Naples is one of the more over-valued areas in the country right now. I wouldnt touch that area or pretty much any area in Florida any time soon.They are experiencing a downturn in values that is expected to last several years. You also have the high cost of homeowners insurance due to the hurricane risk.

I would consider San Antonio and some other areas of Texas.
 

taffy19

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international Living follow-up

I spent some time reading the general web site of "International Living" this afternoon and noticed in the IL "Retirement Index" that Panama has a very high rating as it has many perks for US retirees and the cost of living is still low and the beaches are beautiful but prices are going up rapidly, now this area has been discovered. Read the article here and it may be interesting to the OP too.

When our boat neighbor retired, he sold his house and moved to Panama. He did this about two years ago but he kept his boat so he has a place to stay when he comes here. His house in Panama, on this beautiful beach, has gone up so much in value and he raves about the area as it is so incredibly beautiful and there is clean air. You can't say that for the Puerto Vallarta area as we cannot believe how smoggy it can be there especially in May. This was our second visit in May and it couldn't get worse than it was that week. The Los Angeles area has clean air in comparison and we have the smoggiest city in the USA. It are the dirty cars that are allowed to drive in Mexico but I heard that the new cars will have smog control too but it will take many years to get the dirty ones off the road.

However, we found out that there are many Canadians living in the Puerto Vallarta area or spend their time here during the winter renting a condo or stay multiple weeks in timeshares too.

International Living also has a "Quality of Life Index" now. I need to spend some more time in this web site when I get the username and password from my second half. I know that he enjoys reading the magazine. It comes in hard copy too. These two links may not stay active very long but you should find them in the index part.
 
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