Austin, TX · Member since 2017 · 30 posts · 26 votes
We are moving to Florida, near Miami, in about 2 years, it could definitely be more time. We want to buy and hold unless another strategy makes more sense. I live in Texas right now, Austin area. Would you buy here in Texas or would you buy in Florida already? I did live in Florida for a while, so I know the place a bit. Mind you I was not really looking at the place with all that I know now.
If it is an "either/or" decision I would say if you could find a master lease scenario in Florida that could be nice. Lock in a purchase price for a small fee in say 5 years and try to rent the property out for now and pocket the cash flow. If you find you aren't going to move in 2 years you still have flexibility to decide on whether you will be moving and can still have the option to continue the agreement as is at that time. If you don't end up moving to Florida you could assign the contract, back out completely, or buy the property.
If you are set on buying in Texas I'd suggest a buy and hold that will become a rental when you leave. Put enough down now so that you can cashless later on down the road when you go to rent it.
I would say though that if you are definitely moving to Florida that looking in that area and assessing the situation as far as whether the market could continue to go up or possibly cool down would be the number one priority.
If it is an "either/or" decision I would say if you could find a master lease scenario in Florida that could be nice. Lock in a purchase price for a small fee in say 5 years and try to rent the property out for now and pocket the cash flow. If you find you aren't going to move in 2 years you still have flexibility to decide on whether you will be moving and can still have the option to continue the agreement as is at that time. If you don't end up moving to Florida you could assign the contract, back out completely, or buy the property.
If you are set on buying in Texas I'd suggest a buy and hold that will become a rental when you leave. Put enough down now so that you can cashless later on down the road when you go to rent it.
I would say though that if you are definitely moving to Florida that looking in that area and assessing the situation as far as whether the market could continue to go up or possibly cool down would be the number one priority.
Thank you so much to both for your take on this. The answers have definitely open up options for me. If you were my neighbors I would cook some stuffed potatoes for you as a sign of gratitude.
Either really. Probably lean towards TX as you can get some skills in management and when it comes time to move, you will know what you are looking for as far as what a management company should do for you. Then take that skill set and apply to FL while keeping your TX portfolio growing and managed.
The general rule of thumb is that it takes 5 years to make your money back on closing costs (although we all know how well rules of thumb work), so keep that into account. There are plenty of exceptions, of course. For example, if you're planning on getting a sweet subsidized 30 year Fannie/Freddie loan and keeping the house as a rental, it could make sense if you can make it cash flow.
Hello, I didn't want to bore anyone with the details because I know your time is valuable. I figure if someone would ask then I would expand. The suggestions so far has help me a lot because it mentions other options. I want to buy, hold and cash flow yes. Now that you mention that closing cost alone is hard to get back it has given me yet one more thing to keep in mind. Thanks for keeping me in my toes.
By the way, are you Brazilian? Your last name is interesting.
@Dimitri Lopez don't worry; if our time was actually valuable we wouldn't spend so much of it answering questions on the internet. The more information you provide, the more specific the responses will be. You'll still need to decide for yourself what your best avenue for you is, however.
As far as the last name is concerned, it's a long story, but since my time isn't that valuable, I'll go into it. My actual last name is Rodrigues Pereira, but in informal settings I just stick with Pereira because the full name tends to confuse people. I was born in the US, but both my parents are from the Netherlands. The reason I have the Portuguese last name is because one of my ancestors fled to the Netherlands from Portugal in 1540 during the Portuguese Inquisition. Huh; not that long of a story after all.