FL Housing Crisis Opens a Unique Job Market
Posted Feb 09, 2012 06:30 am
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TALLAHASSEE , FL - Florida real estate developers were selling houses as fast as they could build them until the bottom fell out of the market. Now, hundreds of new homes and condos stand empty, threatened with decay and vandalism.
What can property owners do to preserve their
investment until a house is sold? Some are turning to a
unique publication, Gary Dunn's Caretaker Gazette.
Link:
Caretaker Gazette
CNN Money
"And so we're getting more and more advertisements from
real-estate investors who are stuck with a home they
can't sell someplace, and they just want even a
trustworthy house-sitter to live in this empty home."
It's
a
win-win for anyone wanting a free place to live and a
property owner with an unsold empty house. Dunn has been
publishing the Caretaker Gazette since 1983.
Dunn says Florida is a booming job market for
house-sitters, where real-estate speculators can't find
buyers and just want someone to watch over their
investment.
"We've had some of our subscribers take one of these
house-sitting positions in a spec-home a few years ago,
like a brand new home. They have to keep it in nice
shape for the Realtors, but they get to live there
rent-free. This way, there are no more break-ins since
they have someone living there."
The Census Bureau revealed that 18 percent, or 1.6
million, of the Sunshine State's homes are sitting
vacant. That's a rise of more than 63 percent during the
past 10 years.