Buying a Condo in Panama City Beach

Panama City Beach Condo Buying Tips

Our team sells a lot of condos in Panama City Beach, 30A and Destin and we wanted to post some tips and strategies to buying a condo whether it is a gulf front condo, gulf view condo or a condo a few rows off the beach.

How do you envision yourself using your condo?

This is the most important question to ask yourself and will ultimately help guide you and our team to finding your dream condo. Is this purely an investment property or will this be your second home that you will frequently use? Oftentimes, the properties are bought with the intention to be purely an investment property for the first three to four years and then turn into a primary residence after retirement. There are many factors to look at when purchasing a condo for investment versus personal use and location and amenities have an important role in the decision process. For example, a condo one row back from the beach may have stellar gulf views and give a bit more solitude and privacy during the peak season. Being off the beach will likely have reduced rental income but will enable you to purchase a larger condo versus one directly on the gulf.

What is more important Cash Flow or long term ROI?

This is not as simple of an answer to find, however, it is extremely relevant to our current market condition. Gulf front condos in Panama City Beach are at historic lows and many are priced below new build construction costs. For example, if you can buy a 2 bedroom gulf front condo for 280K and to build that condo new would price it at 375K you can be assured to have long term equity in the property. Do you buy the bank owned condo for $250K with no rental history or buy the same unit with a history of 30K gross rental income for the past 4 years for $280K? At first glance the $250K REO may appear to be the better deal, but by the time you paint and furnish the condo and get onto a rental program and built up the rental business, the condo for $280K has been generating consistent income from the moment it was purchased.  Team Baranowski offers it clients access to our Investment Analysis Worksheets to help guide buyers through the investment options.

Are amenities really important?

Amenities are really important if you are willing to pay for them. Amenities are expensive to build and are expensive to maintain, however they add significant value to your property and have a positive impact on rental income potential. A condo development or community with an extensive list of amenities does not always mean high home owner fees. Large condos such as Tidewater Beach are able to offer a luxury amenities and keep the HOA fees to a minimum due to the costs being spread across a larger owner base. Another important item to look at is the amenities themselves and how they will impact your use of the property. For example, if you are looking for a quiet condo to retire to, amenities conducive to families and young children may not be the best option for you.

Team Baranowski Can Help

There are many more tips and strategies to buying condos including offer tactics and strategies for short sales and REOs. We have extensive experience ensuring you can get the best possible price for your gulf front condo purchase. Give us a call and we can show you how using Team Baranowski can be the smartest investment you make.

Call Craig Baranowski @ 850-259-1788 or Tracy Baranowski 850-259-4270 or email us @ info@teambaranowski.com.

For Destin or Miramar Beach Condos call our teammate Danny Margagliano @ 850-830-4747 or email @ danny@teambaranowski.com.