Thank you again for your replies! I was wondering if anyone knew what the average HOA or monthly condo fees were? I'm trying to get a better idea of what my monthly expenses would be. Would the fees include utilities and cable for my unit as well? Thank you again.

I am a realtor & mortgage broker. FHA has a 203k program, which will incorporate repairs costs. The thing w FHA though, is that the building has to be approved, it takes a little longer, and your debt ratio has to meet their requirements...a lot of if's, and a lot of research...

if you're serious about purchasing, it's best to get a realtor & mortgage broker to help you set up a customized search. At that price, it's going to be an older building, and sometimes these don't meet the FHA requirements...but we can see. Or, you can go to our website and search preliminarily...

Catherine kim Owens P.A., 954-536-0648; cjkowens@aol.com

I am a realtor & mortgage broker. FHA has a 203k program, which will incorporate repairs costs. The thing w FHA though, is that the building has to be approved, it takes a little longer, and your debt ratio has to meet their requirements...a lot of if's, and a lot of research...

if you're serious about purchasing, it's best to get a realtor & mortgage broker to help you set up a customized search. At that price, it's going to be an older building, and sometimes these don't meet the FHA requirements...but we can see. Or, you can go to our website and search preliminarily...

Catherine kim Owens P.A., 954-536-0648; cjkowens@aol.com

For the regular FHA loan as long as the work is cosmetic you will be fine but if it is much more than that it will need to be repaired. You will get an appraisal by an FHA appraiser that will detail if everything is up to their standard. If not then there are still option, sellers can repair items and you could re-appraise but it would be better if you had an agent that knew about the process so you wouldn't have to pay for the appraiser to come back.

If there you need to finance the work the there is a rehad loan through fha.

Thank you so much for your replies. I was also wondering since many of these units would need some work would that qualify me for a FHA 203K loan in order to do the work necessary within the unit? I don't mind having to do some work because the location is the most important aspect for me, but the ability to finance the work needed would be ideal.

Thanks again!

Hi Yanique,
I work in the Sunny Isles area and knwo the status of most buildings. A few of the older buildings may qualify for fha such as Plaza of the America's, The Isle, Winston Towers and Coastal Towers. Things in this market change by the minute so th best thing you can do is have your pre-qualification readyto go nd do a comrehensive search when you are ready to buy. Tho get the best deal you must act immediatly becasue th bank owned and short sales that are priced right do get multiple offers quickly.
B
ut we do expect the foreclosure rate to be high for several years to come so you should not have a problem finding a decent place, you will just need to understand that many of the units in the lower price ranges and that have been foreclosed may need a little work, they may have been beat up!

It is a little early to do any shopping for a unit of course, but the short answer is you should be able to finance a unit at that time.

Feel free to contact me as you get closer to the time you wishe to purchase and I would be glad to assist.

Beth Jenkins
South Florida Brokers
786-374-4778

You can view my blog for some financing options: http://www.trulia.com/blog/david_chamberlain/2009/08/what_fi…

If you go FHA the condo will need to be approved by them, check their status here: https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm This might not be updated fast enough so double check with your mortgage broker

if not fha then you might need 20% down for a condo.