Average price reductions on Florida Real estate are now 10%. Did the mystery buyer of Florida's most-expensivist $300MM home get a $30MM discount?

Photo above – Florida real estate brokers say that just one potential buyer has toured this bespoke property, and no further tours are scheduled. The asking price is $300 million.

Caveat – I’m not personally seeing “10% off” home signs in the part of the Florida housing market I can actually afford ($300-$400K). The Zillow link (below) seems more interested in hawking homes in the $2 million to $150 million price range. It’s an unashamed sales promo which the Daily Mail willingly embraced as actual news.

With mortgage rates still well above 5%, and the Federal Reserve set to raise them even higher, a 10% price cut might not matter to me. A $300,000 mortgage at 5% is $15,000 a year in interest alone. Plus homeowners' insurance, which now runs another $5,000 a year for a property like that. More if you live in driving distance of the Atlantic Ocean, the “Gulf of America”, or the Okefenokee swamp. That’s comes to 2 grand a month, before I start thinking about lawn mowing, maintenance and repairs, and gator/rattlesnake prevention measures.

Soaring hurricane/flooding insurance rates are the reason so many retirees are bailing on Florida, even if the Bezos/Musk/Zuckerberg crowd is dying to live near Mar a Largo. Will prices there crash too when Trump leaves office?

Those retirees already migrating from Florida are reported to be rushing to Asheboro (NC), Cary (average home price $600,000), and Mt Airy, site of the fictional town of Mayberry, in the Andy Griffith show.

I cannot move to North Carolina, South Carolina, or Georgia. My job is in Tampa, and it’s not WFH. Even if I could work remotely, I’m not sure I’d be a good fit for Mayberry, NC.

Back to Musk. He famously brags that the only real estate he owns is a 375 sf manufactured home in Texas. Which nobody has ever seen him spend the night in. That’s evidently about to change in a big way. Florida real estate brokers believe Elon is about to close on a $300 million new construction mansion. The home is “17 feet above flood zone” and has a 31-car garage. Final fit out will of course depend on the whims of the buyer.

17 feet above flood zone does sound safe, until you check Florida’s historical records and see routine storm surges above 12 feet, and occasionally above 20 feet. And that 5 of the last 6 hurricanes had wind speeds over 130mph. There is no reliable data on what venomous snakes, alligators, and sharks do during a 12-20 foot storm surge in Musk’s future neighborhood. Become Tik-Tok and You-Tube sensations, I suppose?

If I’d have to pay $5,000 a year in homeowners' insurance for a $300K house, I’m guessing a mansion that costs $300 million would run $5 million a year to insure. Probably extra coverage will be needed for the 31 cars in that garage. And if any of them are powered by Lithium batteries, watch out. Those things burst into flame instantly if they even get a whiff of salt water.

I’m just sayin’ . . .



Zillow listings show just how desperate sellers are getting in Florida as real estate crash begins | Daily Mail Online

https://www.dailymail.com/yourmoney/article-15768045/zillow-listings-florida-real-estate-price-cuts-crisis-begins.html

Rumors swirl among Miami brokers that Elon Musk toured this $300M under-construction mansion

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/rumors-swirl-among-miami-brokers-that-elon-musk-toured-this-300m-under-construction-mansion/ar-AA22aYOg