How much to buy a home in Vero Beach

If you are planning to move to Florida and you want to know more about the cost of living in Florida, We’ve come up with our list of 4 costs you should be aware of when buying a home.

For more information call us today at 772-732-3774!

If you’re thinking about buying a home in Vero Beach Florida and you want to know what it’s going to cost you…then this video is for you. Stay tuned

Hey guys, welcome to our channel, Living in Vero Beach. I’m Zac and this is my lovely wife and partner, Tonya. We run a local real estate team here in Vero Beach and Sebastian, FL. Thanks for tuning in…If this is your first time visiting our channel, make sure to hit the subscribe button and hit the little bell to be notified of when we post new videos every Thursday. We talk about everything there is to know about Vero, Sebastian and the surrounding areas. We get a lot of calls and emails from people wanting to know more about the area, and we Love it!, so reach out to us anytime and we’ll personally answer any questions you have! Our contact information will be in the comments below.

So, this is a popular subject on Social Media, and it’s the most common question I get when people from out of the area call us. ‘What does it cost to Live in Vero Beach, Florida? Yeah, and I totally understand…you gotta know what to expect…So, We’ve come up with our list of 4 costs you should be aware of when buying a home. Yep…and we’ve got a surprise for you after those 4, so stay tuned if you really want to know the numbers…So, let’s get to it…

4 costs you should be aware of when buying a home.

1. Price of Homes

It’s no surprise…home values have increased a lot over the past few years all over the country….especially here in Florida. Cities like Tampa and Orlando….they have exploded with growth, I mean Florida is the fastest growing state by population in America….It’s crazy…… And here in Vero Beach and the rest of Indian River County, it’s no different. Yeah, people have found out about our county and they want to be here…The agents on our team are working overtime to find and secure the homes for our buyers…basically finding homes that are not on the market…not on the internet…I mean, ….the average buyer doesn’t know about these homes…if you want the home, we’re going to find it and our agents are getting it done, but there’s a lot of competition out there…Yeah,  So if you’re familiar with the concept of supply and demand, you know that when supply is low, and demand is high, prices go up… yep, and that’s just what they’ve been doing over the last few years….and we hear the talk about a potential bubble burst, but…I don’t know Zac, what do you think is going to happen?  If you ask me…I don’t see a major downturn in the near future. We’re still millions of homes in deficit…basically, not enough homes built to support the amount of people who want and need them…couple that with the growing popularity in remote work…meaning the ability to work from home, people want to get out of the dirty, cold, high taxed, congested areas and move to here….to paradise. Alright, so what are the prices here in Vero Beach, Sebastian and the surrounding area? If you look at the graph…it should be on your screen here, the average price of a home today is $480,000! Yeah, and that’s up from the previous year..2020..which was $386,000 Two years ago…2019…just two years ago, the average sale price in Indian River County was $342k dollars. So, that’s a $140,000 difference in the average sale price of homes over the last 2 years. What is that, like a 40-41 percent increase? Sounds right….but don’t let this totally freak you out…you can still buy a nice house for $350,000, maybe even with a pool, but there will be competition, so you have to bring your ‘A’-Game…and be prepared for multiple offers…but we can show you how to be the winner! That’s what we do!

2. HOA Costs

There’s more to just the price of the home…especially if you’re buying in a Deed Restricted Community. Now, you’ll have to pay a monthly or maybe a quarterly fee to live in a community..that’s a given…and some communities have really low fees…like $50/month…and others can be $500 or more per month. In some communities, there’s this extra cost called a Capital Contribution. It’s like an entrance fee… yep, and it could range from around $100 bucks to well over $1000, depending on the community. This fee is paid up front…at closing, so we’re looking at that like… an acquisition cost. Yep, you could also be looking at membership fees for some communities…and they can be tiered…one price for the social membership, another for the golf membership and so on…In some cases, you buy the membership separate from the home, and it can be sold to someone else who lives in the community, or a buyer, when you decide to sell later on. So…The monthly fees are prorated too, so that will be an upfront cost to be aware of….So that’s for an HOA community…HomeOwners Association Community…You will not have these costs if you are buying a home that is not in an HOA. You could though…and this goes for a home whether in an HOA or not…you could have a special assessment cost…so if there were some new water pipes put in, or they paved the road recently, the governing body, whether the city, county or the HOA would’ve assessed each home that is affected (positively) by the change, and you’d be on the hook for your share. Yeah, so it’s important to get any assessment disclosures during your due diligence period if you’re under contract to buy a home….Or even before you go under contract.

3. Closing Costs

This is where paying cash really can save you money because most of the buyer closing costs are going to be associated with a loan. If you’re paying cash, you’ll only be paying tax prorations…maybe…You might be getting a credit depending on when you buy the home and whether or not the seller has paid their tax bill,..if you’re buying in an HOA, you’ll have the fees we talked about earlier, and then recording fees…yeah and those are like $30 bucks? You’ll probably have a brokerage fee or closing coordinator fee too…those could range from $300 dollars to over $1000. And we’re also seeing now where buyers are paying a portion of their agent’s commission. If you’re getting a loan, you’re gonna have additional fees on top of those. You will be paying tax on the doc stamps, you’ll pay intangible tax on the mortgage… both combine to just over a half a percent of the mortgage amount…so on a $300,000 mortgage, expect to pay $1650. You’ll have to pay the lender fees and any points on the loan, and if that wasn’t enough…pre-paid insurance too. Now the good thing about getting a loan is that the interest is deductible….and you can keep your cash reserves at the ready…because maybe you might want to buy a motorcycle…or a boat…Ok, Zac….how about an investment property? Better idea

4. Interest Rates and How they affect your buying power

We weren’t going to add this, but it’s important to pay attention to. We all know by now that there will be incremental interest rate increases this year. So, real quickly, I want to show you what that could mean to your bottom line…and how it will affect you over time. And although some would say the prices of homes would correct to counter the rate increases, we’re not going to say that. Demand is just too high. Check out the chart Yeah, so we’re looking at a value increase of 6%, which is much less than it is now…so it’s a modest increase year over year….and only a ⅓ of a percent rate increase…See what the monthly payment increases to…$185 bucks more…and over $66,000 over the life of the loan. So basically, if you wait…you’re going to pay more for the home, and for the loan. Here’s another graph to show you the difference of what you’ll pay on a loan with just the interest rate increase…not the home value increase. So, on a $400,000 loan, with a ¼ percent increase…you’re paying almost $50 more….it adds up.

Alright so that’s our list of what it costs to buy a home here in Vero Beach Florida. There are a lot of variables, but you now have an idea of what to expect to pay to buy a home….Yeah, but what about taxes and insurance and the other costs?? Great question, Tonya. Those are costs to keep a home…and this leads us to our bonus content….you know…someone told me once, ‘Anybody can buy a home….but not everyone can maintain one’. I’ve heard that too. Let’s take a look at the costs of owning a home here in Vero Beach.

Costs of owning a home here in Vero Beach.

1. Maintenance

This is Florida. There is sun and wind and saltwater, and the elements can really take a toll on your home if you don’t keep up with it. Roofs take a beating, paint will only last so long, Air Conditioning condensers and gutters and fences and yards. Nature just wants to take over, and there’s two ways to keep it at bay…..either with your time and your back, or you pay someone to do it. If you’re a busy person…if you have a lot going on, like us, paying someone is definitely the way to go…but what should you expect to pay for the basics? So, let’s just take a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom pool home on a quarter acre lot for example. This will be monthly. Alright- $90-$100 for the lawn care, $80-$100 for the pool, set aside $80 a month for a new roof in 20 years…yep…Set aside $60 a month for a new AC in 15 years. Yep, then you’ll have paint in 5-10 years…there’s another $80 a month…, gotta pump the septic every couple of years…there’s $250 each time..so what…budget $10 bucks a month? Yep…maintenance can really add up. 

2. Taxes

We get this question probably more than any other question when someone’s asking about the cost of living here….what are the taxes? I love this subject…Yeah, that sounds weird, but I do too because we have it pretty good here in Florida. Taxes are relatively low compared to other states…I mean New Jersey…you guys are getting killed. California…what? Yeah..Florida has this tax thing down pretty good…so, when you buy a home, it’s going to get re-assessed. The assessed value is usually less than the actual market value, so you’re not paying on the market value, you’re paying on the assessed value- maybe 70-80 percent of the market value. Yep, that’s called Ad Valorem…latin for At Value. Ok Zac.

So that’s if you’re a new homeowner here in Florida…but here’s where it gets good…if you’ve owned a home here in Florida for awhile, and you’ve benefited from the market increase, you’re taxes won’t increase at the same rate…you will benefit from the Save Our Homes Program and your tax bill will be capped at a 3% increase yearly. 

Yeah, so if your home saw a 30% increase in value over the last year, your taxes will only increase by 3%. Oh, and by the way, when you move, you can take that savings with you….that’s called portability. Also, your primary residence can qualify for a homestead exemption…up to $50k off the assessed value. But if you’re just wondering what a rough number would be for a home assessed at $300,000…well, expect to pay around $5000 per year….and that’s a rough number…an estimate.

Yeah it depends on where the home is located and what exemptions you can take. Like, if you’re a 100% disabled vet…you pay no taxes!

3. Insurance 

So, if you pay cash, you don’t have to insure your home…buuut I don’t recommend that. Yeah and the insurance rates can really vary a lot…like if your roof is older, or if you have old widows, or if your home is made of wood versus concrete or if you’re in a flood Zone. Lots of factors here..so let’s keep it simple…. Let’s use that same 3/2 pool home from before…concrete block….and this is just an estimate…$1500 bucks per year. That could really vary though, so the best thing to do is reach out to us and we’ll put you in touch with some trusted insurance companies. 

4. Storage

What? Why are we including storage in the cost of owning a home? Because you need it….just admit it. And we don’t have basements here. 

Remember that George Carlin skit…about carrying your stuff around. Hilarious….So, what’s the cost of a typical storage unit for that stuff? $200 bucks a month. 

So there it is..add another $200 to the cost of storing your stuff….that is unless you can live like a minimalist 

Alright, so our last cost of owning a home is…

5. Utilities

Funny, cause we were just talking about this today..our bill last month was $293 in December!

Uh, Yeah, shouldn’t be that high….you don’t leave the pool heater on if you’re not swimming in the pool. I’ve learned my lesson, and it won’t happen again. So, this is also going to be subject to your usage and the exposure that your home has to the sun…and of course if you have a pool heater.  And we do….Our home is 2400 square feet, and our bill is about $250 per month, but we know some people that are only spending $150 a month and others who’s bill is $450 a month. If you have solar panels, you could really save a lot of money there. We had a client who was only spending $20 a month and he had solar panels. So, using that same house we’ve been using, expect to pay…what…$200 a month? Sounds good. 

And remember, these numbers we’ve been throwing out are all estimates…but probably pretty darn close. 

So, as you can see, it’s not cheap to own a home here in Vero Beach, but relatively speaking, it’s not that bad compared to some numbers we’ve seen in other places.The tax benefits here in Florida are really the major difference…and the fact that we don’t really have to heat our homes, so you’re not paying to heat your home and cool your home…just to cool your home…and you’re going to definitely want to do that here. Yeah, it gets hot, Yeah, so you just go to the beach…

? Having a hard time purchasing a home and finding the right deal? ?

We are here to make everything easy for you! No pressure, No gimmicks. Take advantage of our Exclusive Home Buyer Advantage System!

For more information call us today at 772-732-3774!

Love The Home You Purchase With Us, Or We’ll Sell It For Free!! Ask about the details!

*Conditions Apply. Call for details.

Visit our website for sellers:
https://zacharycoletti.com

Search homes for sale on the east coast of Florida:
https://searchfloridahomes.net