All Forum Posts by: Mark D.

I actually live out in Newberry which is just a quick drive into town. Most residence who live here work in Gainesville or surrounding cities so it's a great location. Prices can be lower than Gainesville but unless your looking at one of the new construction neighborhoods you've got slim pickings especially if your searching only the MLS and not able to go driving for dollars. Rentals do go very quick as there is none available. It is completely different to the Gainesville market as you would have families or individuals renting and not college students.

Newberry overall is pretty small and there are only a handful of subdivisions and more options for land with a mobile or to build. 

1. On the surface the economy is pretty stable. Gainesville is known for medical and also the U of F. Residential housing and new construction continued to have a hard time keeping up with demand. This is mainly fueled by record low interest rates. *What I'm not sure of is the long term prognosis of the student market. This past year sales were down for student housing due to there only being online classes. Also like Jennifer said, there was unusual vacancies for student housing due to students not being in town. I've noticed so far, parents are buying for students again. It looks like demand is picking up for 1 and 2 bedroom units. Sales of 3 and 4 bedroom units have continued to remain a bit stagnant with student housing but may pick up as prices have dropped a bit.

2. As to crime, I'm pretty sure there are sites online you can visit to check the stats. The short answer, there is always trouble to be found if you look for it. There's not anything going on however that is significantly affecting the investment aspect of the housing market.

3. If you visit the Alachua County Property Appraiser site, you'll find that the assessed values they have are often less than what the true market values are. To add to Jennifers feedback about the University of FL and the city of Gainesville passing on the tax responsibilities with higher rates to home owners: of note, decades ago this was necessary due to there being significantly less of a tax base. It's interesting however that even after all of the decades of residential growth and a significantly larger tax base, the tax rates have not gone down.

Hi Mark,

What is your overall goal? Are you looking for rentals or to flip in Gainesville? It seems like the rental market has taken a big hit due to COVID and UF/Santa Fe classes going online, causing a mass exodus of students, so vacancy rates seem to have increased substantially. There is fairly low inventory of homes under $250K so they are snatched up pretty quickly with multiple offers, but if you're a cash buyer and okay with few contingencies, you still have a good shot of snagging one. With so many jobs going remote this year it seems like families are leaving apts/condos/townhomes in favor of detached SFRs with more space, but I'm sure that's a national trend, not just local to Gainesville. 

From what I understand, Alachua County property taxes are the 2nd highest in the state, and will likely always be high, due to the fact that so much of the land around here is owned by the University and hence can't be taxed, so the local government is sustained by taxing the surrounding homeowners. If you are looking into rentals, it is also important to note that there is now a local Landlord Permit Fee required to be paid annually for each unit you own, and the city has a right to inspect your properties to make sure they're being maintained up to code. I no longer have any short-term rentals here, so you'd have to fact check this, but I have also heard rumors of an increase in short-term rental taxes here.