History

We thought that finding a piece of land we loved would be an impossible dream, since property on the Atlantic Ocean seems to command prices just a bit out of our range. Hmmm say $20-$40K. So we decided to look elsewhere. We thought we had a modest list of desires:

• Proximity to certain modern amenities such as hospitals, airports, libraries, bookstores etc. (within 50 miles)
• Connection to municipal sewer and water
• Not in a flood zone
• No architectural restrictions

Boy were we wrong!!!!! The search was longer, harder and more frustrating than we could ever have imagined.

First, we considered a more rural setting where prices generally seemed more amenable to our budget. What we found with a rural setting is that none met all our criteria. For most we needed to dig a well and install a septic tank. One slight problem: Lisa has a fear of septic tanks stemming from a childhood trauma (don't ask). Others were in flood zones. One other slight problem: Sean has a fear of flooding also stemming from a childhood trauma (again, don't ask).

Having failed in the more rural settings, we turned to subdivsions. Here we found one major problem: architectural restrictions. Every single subdivision we looked at whether in small towns or suburbs required a pitched roof!!! AAAArghhhh!!!! In addition some required minimum square footage that would put building the house well beyond our means. For example, we checked out a place in Tallahassee, FL that required 3000 sq. ft. At $200-$250 per sq ft., that would put us at $600,000-$750,000!!!

Then there were restrictions on exterior finishes and building materials. We can appreciate the look of brick or stone, but we love concrete, steel, and glass. Lastly, there were stylistic restrictions: either some subdivisions wanted a Georgian, or a Tudor, a Martha's Vineyard cottage or some version of Mediterranean. To make matters worse realtors and developers completely misunderstood that when we said modern we meant MODERN, not a new version of a Tudor.

Finally, we looked at land near to city centers but either they were way out of our price range ($250K in Hallandale, FL in a bad neighborhood!!!!! or $200K in Dania, FL in a good area) or in a questionable area. We looked for land for over four years. We gave up and seriously considered buying a condo or townhouse with the hopes of making the inside modern (furniture, kitchen cabinetry etc.). And then the unthinkable happened.....

Yes you guessed right....the housing crash. We scoured realtor.com and trulia.com and found land in the city with all utilities for less the $40K. No, this was not on the beach and no it was not the greatest of neighborhoods, but we found something in a nice working neighborhood in Broward County, FL. It was a foreclosure with a house on it. With just a little haggling we got our piece of dirt with very little fanfare. The bank paid for the removal of all the structures on the land and now wee are very happy with our little piece of dirt. Land for under $40K in South Florida isn't bad. If not for the housing crash we'd be stuck with a studio apartment dreaming.

Next...the search for an architect.