THE EXPERTS To help Nigel and Louise with their purchase, some words of advice... Gaye Vogel tells us about the Gulf coast: fl
orida-holidayrentals.com
This is like “old Florida”, with little cracker (wood-framed) houses and churches, and plenty of people on the streets. Tarpon Springs is like going to Greece, Old Palm Harbor and Crystal Beach are original Florida, and Dunedin is like the Lanes in Brighton.
THE BRIEF WHO?
Nigel and Louise Weller are looking for a property in Florida. They are in their fi fties, live in the East Sussex countryside near Eastbourne and work as a solicitor and a college lecturer.
WHAT THEY WANT
They want a three- or four-bedroom villa or seaside house with a pool and a garden. They say they would like something more interesting than the classic Orlando villa, with a bit more kerb appeal. A large, open-plan living area would be ideal, and they would be happy if the villa was nicely furnished – but this isn’t a deal breaker. It needs to be hurricane-proof, and reasonably low- maintenance. Their budget is £150,000 to £200,000.
WHERE?
When their children were younger, Nigel and Louise did all the usual Florida sights, especially the theme parks at Orlando. Now, while they would like to be able to visit them for the day, they also want to be near the seaside. So they’ve asked us to research options from each of the two coasts, the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, within a two-hour drive of Orlando Airport. They appreciate that sea views will be pricey, but they want to be within a reasonable drive of the sea. They also want a proper community – not just a holiday area.
REASON FOR BUYING The couple love America, and want to spend several months a year there – as long as a tourist visa will allow. They also believe that prices are likely to increase, so they are buying for a long-term investment.
GAYE VOGEL ESTATE AGENT
The landscape is also older, and more like an English county, but with sunshine all year. We have fantastic state parks, islands, rivers and beaches, including Caladesi Island – recently voted the best beach in America. Traditionally, the prices are lower than the Atlantic coast, with a more varied choice as our homes tend to be older. Prices have stabilised, and, without the huge inventory of recent years, I’ve seen prices rise when two buyers are going after the same home. I have a couple from Cheshire coming in this month to buy three investment homes.
Anne Conklin tells us about the Atlantic coast:
conklinrealty.com
I love the Atlantic breezes of this coast, and the small-town atmosphere of places like Vero Beach, with the amenities of a larger city. Our climate allows the magnifi cent oaks of North Florida and the tropical fauna of South Florida to prosper side by side.
If you like peace and quiet and nature, the beaches here are never crowded, so you can enjoy the sounds of the ocean lapping on the sand or watch the pelicans silently glide overhead.
ANNE CONKLIN ESTATE AGENT
Property prices here are lower than their equivalent in South Florida, including parts of the west coast such as Naples. The market is still pretty fl at, though we often fi nd ourselves in bidding wars for desirable properties in all price ranges. Some properties sit on the market for a long time, but when a desirable property is priced right, buyers are responsive.
Amanda Lamb is presenter of Channel 4’s hit TV series A Place in the Sun
AMANDA LAMB PRESENTER OF A PLACE IN THE SUN
Most of us are guilty of following the herd sometimes, and in recent years there’s been a cliché that if you’re buying in Florida you must to be within 15 minutes of the gates of Disney’s Magic Kingdom, preferably in Polk County so you’re zoned for holiday rentals. But there’s much more to Florida than the theme parks, and you might not want to clutter up your lovely home with rental guests anyway. There was a fl urry of excitement earlier this year when it looked as though South Florida prices were on the rise again. However, this may have been a blip, as prices elsewhere in the state still look pretty stable, and are amazingly low. Now this may be a cliché, but it is true all the same: it’s a great time to be buying in Florida, especially the one-off, architect-designed properties with access to the ocean that Louise and Nigel are looking at.
DID YOU KNOW?
You can barely hit a tennis ball in Florida without it being lobbed back by a professional tennis player. Fred Perry, Britain’s last male Wimbledon champion, retired there – and perhaps Andy Murray was hoping a bit of Perry’s fortune would follow him, when he bought a flat in Miami.
People may head to Florida for Donald Duck, a goofy dog et al, but the real wildlife includes the Florida panther, of which some 100-plus live in the wild, the Black Bear (around 1,500) as well as many large snakes and alligators.
Florida is sometimes criticised for “cookie-cutter” overdevelopment of identical villas around its 1,481 golf courses, but it also has some pretty outlandish architecture dating from its various boom years. Look out for the Mediterranean Revival buildings dating from the 1880s and the Art Deco 1930s beachfront properties in Miami.
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Turn over to see the four exciting properties we found for Nigel and Louise
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