Property Free No More

[ATeam]

I have written many times over the years about the property free lifestyle that Diane and I live as expediters. For people reading the older posts as a way of researching the industry, I feel compelled to post now that we are property free no more.
We bought a house in Florida yesterday. It is a stretch to call this a house in the sense that most homeowners understand. Details are in my May 14 and May 15 blog entries.

This is not place that we consider home. There is nothing in it that we care about. It is more like a vacation cottage that will be used for breaks from winter driving and layovers when the freight takes us close.

The truck continues to be our home and the nation our back yard. Our legal residence (rented space in a relative's home) continues to be in Minnesota. The few goods that we care about (business records, keepsakes, canoe and camping equipment) are kept there.

 

[jjoerger]

Welcome to Florida.
My wife and I are both natural born natives and think it is a great place to live.
You need to look into the Florida Homestead Exemption for your property tax breaks.
Also, if you decide to buy a new truck and use that address you will have to pay 6% sales tax. Florida does not have a rolling stock exemption.
Good Luck.

 

[layoutshooter]

Good luck Phil, I hope it all works out for you. We would love to sell our place be we could not at this time. Nothing is selling were we live. We would take a beating on it.

Are you going to be at Expo this year? If so, we need to remember to talk about Ft. Devens, we forgot to last year. I am looking forward to that some day.

 

[pelicn]

Congratulations! Hubby and I also grew up in the Orlando area, and have a son down in Naples. Although personally we wouldn't like to live down there anymore, I can see the appeal to the FL winters

 

[pelgrn]

Congrats to the Ateam,nice to hear about expeditors who enjoy prosperity.

 

[Lawrence]

Congratulations! Everyone needs a ZIP code or a POSTAL CODE.

 

[davekc]

Had no idea Phil wanted to be a neighbor down here.

 

[guido4475]

Had no idea Phil wanted to be a neighbor down here.

Success likes company of the same.

 

[greg334]

Success likes company of the same.

Yea, right ... sure

 

[ATeam]

I want to reiterate that the place we bought will serve as a vacation cottage, not as our home. While the price made it attractive, lot rent must be paid. We did not buy this 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,300 square foot house as an investment. We view it as a consumer good that gives us a place to go when I hit my limit with winter driving and a comfortable and peaceful place to work on my currency and futures trading.

Last winter was for us mild as winters go but it got harder and harder for me to take as the season wore on. I have never been a fan of winter. As we progress financially as expediters, I find winter on the road harder and harder to take. I kept asking myself, if we don't have to drive in the winter, why are we driving in the winter? And as I continued driving in the winter, I got madder and madder at myself for being the idiot that is doing something he does not have to do.

That does not mean we will stop winter driving. It does mean the experience will be vastly different because when I hit my limit, we now have a place to go where I can put away the long underwear and get what I call green therapy. It may mean that winter driving will become more tolerable, since I now have the ability to get out of it at will. That's why we bought the house. It is a winter retreat, not an investment.

This house would have sold for $80,000 or more in 2006. We picked it up for $30,000 in 2010 but not with the idea that it will increase in value. We are fully prepared for the possibility that it may decline to $15,000 in the next year. As I have learned as a wannabe trader, nothing is so high that it cannot go higher, and nothing is so low that it cannot go lower (look at the houses in Detroit that were once worth a pretty penny that are now worth less than zero and will soon be bulldozed down).

The price trend in our new Florida community is down and nothing in the recent house sale prices suggests that the downtrend is over. The same applies to vacant lots in the area. Lots listed for sale for over a million dollars not long ago are now listed at $300,000 and there are no takers. "Real" homes (not trailer houses) have suffered the same plummeting-price fate.

See Housing Crash Continues for an informative discussion on Florida property values. The author suggests that this is a terrible time to buy and I agree. That is, if you are buying a place as an investment.

This house is not an investment for us. It is an expense, added to our budget for the quality of life enhancement it will provide. The gated community has a secure RV storage area in which we have a spot for truck parking. The clubhouses include all the amenities we could want. We are looking forward to having a warm place to go in the winter and a comfortable and secure layover location year-round when the freight takes us to Florida and the Southeast.

We do not call this Florida house home. Our home remains in Minnesota.

 

[greg334]

This is too funny, it looks like you didn't buy property but a mobile home.

Lot rent?

Maybe it is a Florida thing?

 

[guido4475]

Yea, right ... sure

Good morning, Greg!! I was trying to be positive, being as Dave Kc lives down there, and now, Phil and Diane, Two successful people, living in the same state.But I did find youre comment very funny, and am still laughing.

You check your pm messages lately?lol.

 

[greg334]

Guido,
You missed it. I think you really missed it.

Phil said he isn't moving there, it is another investment (which I think is a GREAT idea) but not moving there. He will continue to consider his truck home, he will continue to make Minnesota the address of his operation, all which works for him.

By the way have you seen the deals out there for property?

PM?

Where?

 

[MissKat]

Hi. Congratulations on the purchase, as a Florida real estate broker for 30 years, now expediter, be sure your agent reviews the homeowner association declarations and rules as far as:

Minimum Age to Live in the Community (most are 55)
Ability to park your Fedex Truck in your driveway - some will not allow this.

Get a copy of these - I believe in Florida you still have 30 days to review the rules of the community before agreeing to proceed with the purchase.

It would be an additional expense to have to park you rig in one part of the community and rent a car to get to your "home".

I'm just sayin.

 

[davekc]

Good morning, Greg!! I was trying to be positive, being as Dave Kc lives down there, and now, Phil and Diane, Two successful people, living in the same state.But I did find youre comment very funny, and am still laughing.

Just imagine. We could sit on my porch trading high dollar expediting stories while watching the tar balls come in from the oil spill.

 

[usafk9]

This is too funny, it looks like you didn't buy property but a mobile home.

Lot rent?

Maybe it is a Florida thing?

I was thinking the same. You're still property free. Property owners pay real estate taxes; not rent on dirt.

No offense intended. It's chattel.

 

[davekc]

Might have been better to just rent a RV spot when you are there. 30k for a used mobile home seems a bit over priced.
If you are paying lot rent, I guess you would be still property free. Even the RV parks have clubhouses and all that stuff depending on which one you choose.

 

[guido4475]

I'll have to go with the rv idea.Look at it this way, if youre neighbors pizz you off, just start it up and leave!! hurricane? drive away !!

 

[guido4475]

Guido,
You missed it. I think you really missed it.

Phil said he isn't moving there, it is another investment (which I think is a GREAT idea) but not moving there. He will continue to consider his truck home, he will continue to make Minnesota the address of his operation, all which works for him.

By the way have you seen the deals out there for property?

PM?

Where?

Yes, my girlfreind works for a major real estate firm, and the deals are unbelieveable right now. Been looking at southern property.Yes, I sent you a pm in your mailbox, re-sent it awile ago also.

 

[davekc]

I'll have to go with the rv idea.Look at it this way, if youre neighbors pizz you off, just start it up and leave!! hurricane? drive away !!

That would be my plan unless you have direct ocean front property and own it verses renting. Doesn't matter what prices are now, I go with the thought of "there is only so much land on the ocean". Downside is the insurance is high and taxes can be depending on the county. We are in Flagler county which is much cheaper than the surrounding ones.