Tips on Buying a New Build in an HOA Community

Considering moving to a sun belt state and purchasing a new build? In this video, I interview Mary (Momma Herrera), a retiree from NJ that is purchasing a new build in the wider Tampa Bay area. We cover the process and tips for purchasing.

Ariel Herrera 00:00

Are you looking to move to the Sunbelt areas specifically Florida and you're considering purchasing a brand new property a new development in an HOA community? Well, in this video, we're going to go over how that process works with no other than mama Herrera, she's going to give us a deep dive of her experience over the last six months, dealing with the community and being able to select her own property, as well as pros and cons. This is going to be relevant, whether you are looking to move for yourself or if you're considering your development as an investor to have tenants in. My name is Ariel Herrera with analytics erielle channel we bridge the gap between real estate and technology. If you enjoy this type of content, then please subscribe as well as like this video. So I want to make more of it. Alright, let's get started. Today on the analytics area channel, we have a special guest. It's no other than mama Herrera, welcome to the channel, mom.

Mary Herrera 01:00

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. Yeah. So

Ariel Herrera 01:04

for the audience who hasn't met you before? Can you give a brief overview of who you are? And what did you do before being retired? And what do you do today?

Mary Herrera 01:14

Well, my name is Mary Herrera, and I am so happy and so glad that I am retired, and do whatever I want, like getting up at four o'clock in the morning like, so when I used to work. And yes, I worked for 31 years, the New York City Department of City will administer services. And I was a budget analyst there. i It was a very enjoyable job. I like what I did. Now dealing with the people who also cannot Google story, but there and many what I had to keep the budget of the 51 buildings that public buildings that we used to mean that women would maintained back then. And then I will maintain back then. And I would just

Ariel Herrera 02:12

be working a lot in Excel spreadsheets to write Yes,

Mary Herrera 02:15

I did. I worked a lot on aspects, the Excel spreadsheets, I used to keep the track of 51 buildings, that all the supplies and equipment that were needed within those 51 buildings, that we have the money for it and that we will purchase the supplies.

Ariel Herrera 02:36

So it sounds like in your job, you are indirectly working with real estate type buildings.

Mary Herrera 02:42

Yes, I was I was we had to make sure that within the 51 buildings, we also had caught square footages in them. And we had to make sure that the the area, the space, the square spaces were all clean. They had to be really, really make sure that they were clean.

Ariel Herrera 03:05

Right. So budget analysis world you were able to retire in your 50s. And what have you been doing since since retirement?

Mary Herrera 03:14

I retire 55. And right after retirement, I have become a full time. gym member every day. I go every day, except Saturdays and Sundays, but I go the five days of the week. And I go live for two hours. Sometimes two hours and a half, sometimes even three hours. I'm at the gym. And I take classes I love the classes. I am so much more relaxed right now. I really enjoy retirement.

Ariel Herrera 03:52

Good good. And I've learned a lot from your work ethic as well. Like you said waking up at four in the morning and even after retirement you putting in the effort to work out which is excellent. So I'd love to transition over to what your next move is. So you've been in the same home for 30 plus years, and you're going to be moving down to Florida and in that process. You've been looking at new builds selected one. So I'd love to hear an overview from your perspective of how has that process been?

Mary Herrera 04:28

Oh this process has been very exciting. I'm very excited about it. We have this we have decided to purchase

Ariel Herrera 04:40

a new construction. And where is this located?

Mary Herrera 04:43

It is located at Palmetto middle Florida. We are very excited is going to be a four bedroom right now where I live now here in New Jersey. We've been here 30 years now. We have a three bedroom this one's gonna be a little bigger we do in the opposite manner. splitting out instead of instead of downsizing, we are upsizing.

Ariel Herrera 05:05

So one of the reasons for that is because you're able to get some much more with your money down in Florida currently in 2022, correct?

Mary Herrera 05:13

Correct? Yes, well, you're right, because in New Jersey, the homes are more expensive. So I could sell this home. And with the money I get from here, then I could go over to palmetto, and buy a bigger space with the same amount of money,

Ariel Herrera 05:30

which is what a lot of people have been doing over the last two years with the pandemic trends, realizing they could work from home, they can work anywhere in the world. And I'm one of the cases of that of moving because of it. So if someone wanted to go into new construction, one of the things that we learned together was that on Zillow, for example, we'll see the price of a property. So say $300,000. But in reality, that's not actually the price that you pay, because it doesn't include the lot.

Mary Herrera 06:03

Correct? Yes, that wishes a little bit like misinformation, because they have the price, but then you think that's the price. And then when you go, it's an extra 50,000 balance for a lot. So with this new home that I'm going to purchase, it includes the law, since the beginning, it had a lot in there. And it's going to be such a good price, I think, for four bedroom house with 2112 square feet. And everything is going to be brand new, I get to select, select the countertop, the cabinets, let's

Ariel Herrera 06:52

dive into some detail there. So someone wants to go into an HOA community, and they want to have a brand new build, you're saying that you're able to select different parts of the house before it's built? So say for like you just said the cabinets? How many selections? Do you get

Mary Herrera 07:09

two selections of each selection to the cabinets to selections of the countertops, to selections of the flooring? Right and those selections for the carpeting, because the bedrooms are going to have carpeting in them.

Ariel Herrera 07:27

Got it. Okay. And then you are also offered to either have the fourth bedroom as a bedroom or as a flex room.

Mary Herrera 07:37

Correct? Yes, they could have just decided just to keep it as a flex. But my husband and I decided that we rather have it as a bedroom with classes, right? The extra amount, because you never have enough closet space.

Ariel Herrera 07:55

That's true. And I think that's important for those who are thinking about getting new builds, is to take the option of the fourth bedroom if you can. Because in the future, that helps when you're selling it because you'll be able to say has an extra bedroom floor with the closet. And also if you want it to have extra people stay maybe on Airbnb to have some visitors or something, you'd be able to fulfill their needs with having a full bedroom.

Mary Herrera 08:24

Right, right. And selecting the full bedroom was only like $3,000 more.

Ariel Herrera 08:30

Oh, wow.

Mary Herrera 08:33

Just for them to put the classes in there. Made it made it $3,000 More, which is great. And

Ariel Herrera 08:41

good. Yeah, I think that's great. And I think there's actually a lot of not just people who are looking to move for themselves, but also investors who are looking to purchase properties in these communities as well and rent them out. And for them it could be a good opportunity to select not have too many selections for what the poll is gonna look like just a couple and have something brand new even though there are HOA communities like the one that I have, that they're looking to actually put a cap on how many investors there could be.

Mary Herrera 09:15

Oh, really?

Ariel Herrera 09:16

Yes. This Yes, it's pretty recent. It was in the Facebook group or the community that currently renting out a property and and they're looking to have a 10% cap for tenants. But I don't think it's going to pass because the communities mix. So we have single family homes, townhomes. And this cap isn't regulates which one so we could have if they do it, it could be just be all townhomes that wouldn't be fair for the single family owners who may want to run out their properties. As of right now that hasn't been in effect, but it could be in effect for you when your community is finished which How long does it take before the your house specifically to be completed.

Mary Herrera 10:03

Well, my house is not going to be I already signed the contract, I gave a deposit. And it's not going to start being constructed until August. And then it won't be completed until a end of April, beginning of May.

Ariel Herrera 10:20

Okay. So, through this timeline, we had looked at the neighborhood in January. And then you contacted the management team of the HOA community in February, where you went on a list, correct? Yes, a waiting list. And how was that communication process between February and May finally getting like a lot and a house that was that you'd be able to sign on? What was that middle period? Like? How are you communicating with the managers of the community?

Mary Herrera 10:56

Yes, well, I'm purchasing the home from MI Homes. And the financial person that I spoke to, she told me, we will be calling you like around the end of spring, beginning of summer. And it was right under that, because they call me on May 5, to tell me that yes, that they wish my name. And if I was still interested, for me to sign the contract, and for me to get the deposit and to get out the process, as soon as they call me. And they told me all of us and yes, because I still want to get this home. Right. So it was good. It's been so far, it's been a very good process, like,

Ariel Herrera 11:47

excellent. And when we were looking at these HOA communities, which ones to decide, let's go back into why we selected this location. And what were some things we're looking for with an HOA community. So location wise, why Palmetto?

Mary Herrera 12:05

Or meadow? Because it is 20 minutes from the beach? Yes, 20 minutes from the beach. And it is 40 minutes from my daughters and 10 for the city. Yeah, for the city. Right. And it's also the price. I mean, if I were to buy something in Riverview, it would be a lot more money, and then it will be maybe about the same, but then I will have to make renovations. Exactly. Out of the homes that are being sold in Riverview because review was the my choice. I want to really to move to the review. When we started looking at Riverview the homes were 2008 to 2000 and then the prices were the price of this new home was gonna cause Yeah, there we go. And you look at the kitchen and you look at the bathrooms then you have to renovate the kitchen in the bathroom because it's it's a kitchen, and then the bathrooms are from the year 2000.

Ariel Herrera 13:09

Right. And that's a great call that you're making that yes, you can purchase property much cheaper, you could renovate it. But ultimately if the renovation is going to come out to more than a brand new build, sometimes a brand new builds the way to go. And specifically for palmetto, like you said it close access to the highways you could get to and from Tampa, the city, you guys to St Pete Bradenton, so it is a really good area not just to live in because it is family friendly, but also for investors to think about for other areas in the Tampa Bay area to invest not just Tampa city, there's a lot of other suburb towns around

Mary Herrera 13:50

right Correct. Yes. Now for

Ariel Herrera 13:53

the HOA community specifically. So requirements and let me know if I'm missing any of that you had it was to be dry, easy drive to Tampa the city. So if you could see us i 75 straight highway driving easy. Correct was that Ken was making sure that the community is not right up against the highway. Because if you see on the highway, there's some houses that don't even have that much separation. So you probably would hear traffic noise and you didn't want that. Right. Third, being close to a Publix which is a grocery store. So being five minute driving distance.

Mary Herrera 14:37

Right? Yes, that I liked that a lot. When we went to see this. The area with the house is going to be built. And when I saw Publix I got very excited.

Ariel Herrera 14:49

And this is huge because it's not just for you that's going to be living there. But also if there anyone who's looking to move you always want to see how close you are. Whether You're moving yourself or you're getting a rental property, how close are the supermarkets? How close are the convenience stores? The someone had to drive for 10 minutes? And then because it becomes so much less desirable if that's the case, right?

Mary Herrera 15:13

Correct. Let me tell you, it makes a big difference when you have the supermarket next year. Yeah, yeah. My mom was every day the supermarket buying milk by you know, so it was a big plus for me.

Ariel Herrera 15:27

Do you think you'd ever use Instacart?

Mary Herrera 15:32

Maybe yes. In the future? Maybe? Yes.

Ariel Herrera 15:35

Yeah, I thought about it to save time. But we have concerns with like, the vegetables aren't like picked out like the best things like that.

Mary Herrera 15:43

Right. That's my concern, too. That, you know, you do that. And then when they come with the groceries, then you're like, you know what they picked?

Ariel Herrera 15:53

Right? So yes, I deviated a little bit. But my last parts that I love to capture are your thoughts and mindset. So it is a big change. Even if you tell yourself up until retirement, oh, I'm gonna be moving to the south. At some point when I retire. When it's actually coming to fruition. It might be a little bit scary. So what would you say to those who are thinking about the move? They're a little bit undecided. How do you go through those feelings?

Mary Herrera 16:28

Okay, for me, I have been it's like, like they say, bittersweet. Yeah, like little sad because I'm leaving behind my mother my my my brothers. I left up here since I was eight years old. And yeah, it's so so is one side of me is very sad about it. Another side is very happy as excited to go in like venture out there. Yeah. Yes. Go to a different live in a different place. A place where that is always warm. That is tropical. The sun is always out. You don't have to shovel snow you don't have Yeah, you don't have to put a coat on or sweaters because the cold weather. And the way that you and Jessica describe it. The weather is beautiful from November all the way through this through February. Yes. Beautiful weather in the in this 6570s is I love it. I love I love it. I love it.

Ariel Herrera 17:44

It does drop below 50 feet and you need to cover your plants with a blanket. What really some of the palm trees you have to be aware of that when? Yeah, so you're if you're your property is done. And you have no one like living in it at that time. Then in the wintertime, if like your palm trees if it's under 50 degrees they could potentially own are so certain plants that needs to be covered seem to make friends with neighbors that way they could do that for you.

Mary Herrera 18:15

But how am I make friends? Well, let's see. Because I'm not ready when the house is going to be ready in 2023 is when I'm moving into 2024. So

Ariel Herrera 18:26

now that we know have some other family members within that area, so yeah, excellent. But you're the one thing going to be sad about I won't have my New Jersey property manager anymore.

Mary Herrera 18:39

That is so true. I don't want to be in New Jersey. Do you have a place to come?

Ariel Herrera 18:48

Yeah, I have a lot of friends. extra bedrooms, couches,

Mary Herrera 18:52

but nothing like you know when you

Ariel Herrera 18:56

originally veteran where you're sitting right now?

Mary Herrera 18:58

Yes. When you were born when you grow up? You have Cassandra and Nicole right across the street. Well, they're not there anymore. But yeah, the parents are there and yeah, it's gonna be everything's gonna change gonna be different. Yeah. Another thing when I come to visit my mother, you know, I don't have a place like our stay was her appointment. But it's gonna feel strange.

Ariel Herrera 19:23

Definitely. Great. So is there any last headbutts you'd like to leave the audience with before we close out,

Mary Herrera 19:29

just go follow your heart. If you are already retired. Just go to wherever it is that you want to spend the last years that you have, you know, the last one gates that you have. Just follow your dream. Just Just do what? What your gut tells you to do.

Ariel Herrera 19:53

Excellent. Thank you so much for your time and it's been a pleasure. Looking forward to it. seeing you next week

Mary Herrera 20:02

you're welcome sure anytime yes it was this was great thank you so much