Condos near everything?

[Guest]

Want to buy a condo in Fort Lauderdale. It would be cool if it was in the middle of all the places where you can get some ass, such as the dark room bars, bath houses, adult book stores, clothing optional hotels and any other cruising place.

What exact area in FTL should I be focusing on? 

[Guest]

Just move to Wilton Manors. You can get all the ass you want and close enough to all else. I actually live between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. As a bottom I don't have to deal with all the "competition" (way too many bottoms) or the stupid nonsense from tops seeing if something better comes along. Plenty of visitors and DL guys in between. 😂😂😂

[poundmyhole]

Fort BOTTOMdale for sure.  Maybe 5 to 1 ratio!  Always thought we needed a mayor who imported tops!  

[AlwaysOpen]

The Ft Lauderdale "gay"area is akin to shit hitting the fan. Nothing is specifically clumped all in one spot- maybe the biggest plop  lands in Wilton Manors, where certainly there is the "Drive" where a lot of the bars and shops and restaurants are focused. Even a few small gay guesthouses a block or two off the Drive. And everything is more expensive in WM (Wilton Manors in shorthand) But WM is not the beach, in fact, it is several miles inland, and not easy to get to using the bus system. The next burb north, Oakland Park, is where quite a few gay men have moved to as the cost of housing and services in WM climbed. You know, gay men move into a run down, affordable area, pretty it up, make it popular, and suddenly it is too costly to live there. OP is all of a mile to 3 miles away from WM, but much more of the residential vibe, city services are great, and the city commissioners have a strong gay representation on it. If you are a beer person, OP Main St is home to Funky Buddah {sp} brewery, some trendy restaurants and shops, and a lot of new condo and lux apartment construction on an old K Mart site. Oh, and OP is also just as far away from the beach, tho there is a slightly easier city bus route out to the ocean . Downtown Ft Lauderdale is exploding with high rises, and the Club Bath building is in the downtown area. 321 sex club is just north of downtown, pretty close to WM but considered Ft Lauderdale. Clubhouse II bathhouse is also in Ft Lauderdale, tho it is east of OP by 3 blocks, or about 3 miles away from downtown. Once upon a time (esp the 90's) Ft Lauderdale beach was swarming with gay guesthouses, but there has been a major buying focus of many of those guesthouses by European money, and they have become mainstream  and the area has become more of a little European holiday zone. Yes, there are still a few guesthouses on the beach catering to gay men, but they are few compared to 5, 10 20 years ago. And  condo living on the beach is expensive- to buy, expensive to maintain. Esp to insure !!And getting over the damned drawbridges is a pain in the ass. And to go bar hopping at a gay bar, you have to drive in to WM  3 or 4 miles to do it. 

If you have not looked, the South Fl coastal area that is inhabited is only 7 miles deep from ocean to Everglades pretty much from West Palm Beach south to the bottom of Miami. And a lot of people have moved here year round. Getting from OP to WM can take 10 to 15 minutes, even tho it is not more than 3 miles, due to traffic, and lights.  A drive from Ft Laud area to Miami, 20 miles away, can be as fast as 45 minutes, or can grind along and take 90 minutes. The nude beach at Haulover is 18 miles south of OP, but it cannot be done in less than 45 minutes, and if it is rush hour or a wreck or rain or a day folk might be headed to malls, it can be 90 minutes or more. Real estate costs in downtown Ft Laud are high, in WM you can expect to pay about $100,000 more for the same house as in OP. And if your house is on a boatable canal, add another $100,000 to the cost. As others have posted it is known as Ft Bottomdale. PigWeek is happening this week as I type this, and BBRT has  27 party ads for bottoms, no tops have an ad up. And right now on the hook up now, 13 bottoms, all looking for as many tops as they can find, and 1 ad for a top who wants to cuddle...

[ejaculaTe]

2 hours ago, AlwaysOpen said:

And if your house is on a boatable canal, add another $100,000 to the cost.

And that's just the purchase price. Depending on location, you'll pay as much as $3000 a year for homeowner's insurance and up to another $5000-6000 for flood insurance (FEMA is in the process of changing its risk analysis and rate structure). But as we are reminded all the time by the legislative whizzes in Tallahassee, there's no state income tax.

[Guest]

What a great post AlwaysOpen, thank you very much for taking the time to write all that. Very helpful.

I was looking at cheap condos to use as a crash pad when I come down to FTL. I am keeping my house in NY. Funny, I was on Zillow and was checking out a condo right behind ClubHouse 2, It was literally steps away, Imagine waking up all horny and walking over there to shoot a load lol.

I am 45 min from NYC and I'm used to driving in traffic to go have fun on a weekend night. So driving a few miles is not a big deal for me, but I thought it would be nice to live local to these places for a change. 

[AlwaysOpen]

Hey Muscledadbod- IF you can wait a little longer you might be a lot better off. Housing here (like all over the country) is bat shit crazy. A 2 br 1 bath house 2 blocks from me just went on the market, after they divided the 2 BR and made 4 !! Crappy yard ( a previous owner actually hung himself in it), and only 1180 sq ft . The flipper used a handyman to do the work, so a lot of "almost got it rights" .They asked $369,000 for it, and it sat on the market for ages, like almost 3 weeks, before selling at the asking price.  The thought is once we have a hurricane blow thru, and new owners from northern cites get their property taxes, and insurance costs ( homeowners, windstorm and flood) , and the move back to working in the office versus from home, a lot of these properties will be fire sales.

[hntnhole]

On 11/30/2021 at 10:06 AM, poundmyhole said:

Always thought we needed a mayor who imported tops

LOL ... we HAVE one now !!!

Thanks, AlwaysOpen, for the comprehensive reply.  I agree with everything you wrote.  

There is a neighborhood you (Muscledadbod) may want to consider, which is in Ft.L., but near WM, the Drive, and it's very convenient to downtown.  Mostly single-family homes either for sale or for rent.  This neighborhood is called Middle River, with a large %age of gay men living in the area.  If you're working downtown, it's very close to NE 4th Ave, which is an arterial that is a 5 to 10 minute drive to get there.  There are numerous condo developments (many on the streets off Dixie Hwy to the east) which are one or two storey, restricted entrance, usually a common area w/pool), but there are busy train tracks over there too.  

There are other potential areas, but I'm outta time ... feel free to message me if you'd like more ...

Good luck !!

 

 

[Guest]

Thank you hntnhole, appreciate your post. What are the number streets may I ask? 

They sound good. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, AlwaysOpen said:

Hey Muscledadbod- IF you can wait a little longer you might be a lot better off. Housing here (like all over the country) is bat shit crazy.  The thought is once we have a hurricane blow thru, and new owners from northern cites get their property taxes, and insurance costs ( homeowners, windstorm and flood) , and the move back to working in the office versus from home, a lot of these properties will be fire sales.

That is exactly what my brother in law tells me. I know the house prices suck right now, I am in no rush, but not far down the road I would like to decide on an area.

[hntnhole]

4 hours ago, Muscledadbod said:

Thank you hntnhole, appreciate your post. What are the number streets may I ask? 

They sound good. 

Of course.  Glad to help, but I'm not sure what the question is.  However ......

In Ft.L., NE 4th Ave is a major N/S street that junctions with US1 (Federal Highway) just South of Sunrise Blvd (major thoroughfare, and where 321 Slammer is at 321 W. Sunrise).  If you google Fort Lauderdale High School, these areas will be immediately South and East of the school property.  Dixie Highway runs on an angle about 3 to 4 blocks East of the HS.   Immediately North of the HS is a bridge over the south branch of the Middle River, which is the boundary between Ft.L. and WM.  Thus, NE 4th Ave becomes Wilton Drive on the northern side of the bridge in the municipality of Wilton Manors.  

One business (storefront) North of NE 4th Ave & 15th St is Ramrod - one of the best cruise bars in town.  While curtailed during the covid mess, neighbors report that guys are Breeding over there again now.  That corner is also an all-night cruising area, with guys hooking up via grindr or maybe other apps - guys cruising over until the sun comes up in the morning.  

The neighborhood I mentioned earlier - Middle River Terrace - starts on the East side of NE 4th Ave, is between the HS on the West, the river on the North, Dixie Hwy (plus a block or two) on the East, and 13th Street on the South.  Most of the condos are East of Dixie, between Dixie and the railroad tracks.  

There is also a neighborhood called South Middle River, from the West side of NE 4th Ave running for 3 blocks over to Andrews on the West, the river on the North, and 13th on the South.  Mostly older single-family houses, with many gay men moving in, renovating, etc.  I don't think there are any condos over there, but then I haven't looked either.  In any case, both of these neighborhoods have cruising areas within a 5 minute walk, and it's maybe a 10, 15 minute walk to the heart of the action in WM.  

A bit farther south, and thanks to the City's notion of gentrification, there is an area of new mid-rise condos/apts on US 1, starting around NE 5th, 6th Aves.  Sadly, one of our more sordid little bars bit the dust thanks to this urban renewal - the Cubby Hole.  It wasn't by any means the classiest of bars, but - you could go in there, get a sandwich and a beer for lunch, and Breed Hole in the john or get sucked off at the far end of the bar for dessert.  Those new mid-rises though seem to be occupied mostly by straight kids.  Whenever I need to drive past those, I see baby buggies with young girls trying in vain to be attractive.  

Ft. L. is laid out on a quadrant system, with Andrews Ave is 0 hundred E/W, and Broward Blvd (heart of downtown) is 0 hundred N/S.  

I'm not sure if the above is what you're asking about - but - there's that much at least to start with.

Welcum in advance to Ft. Breedingdale !!!

[poundmyhole]

On 12/2/2021 at 4:12 PM, hntnhole said:

LOL ... we HAVE one now !!!

Thanks, AlwaysOpen, for the comprehensive reply.  I agree with everything you wrote.  

There is a neighborhood you (Muscledadbod) may want to consider, which is in Ft.L., but near WM, the Drive, and it's very convenient to downtown.  Mostly single-family homes either for sale or for rent.  This neighborhood is called Middle River, with a large %age of gay men living in the area.  If you're working downtown, it's very close to NE 4th Ave, which is an arterial that is a 5 to 10 minute drive to get there.  There are numerous condo developments (many on the streets off Dixie Hwy to the east) which are one or two storey, restricted entrance, usually a common area w/pool), but there are busy train tracks over there too.  

There are other potential areas, but I'm outta time ... feel free to message me if you'd like more ...

Good luck !!

 

 

Yeah, the mayor may be gay, but installing a giant hole for Tesla vs getting tops here to fill our holes isn't quite the same!

Lol

[Guest]

On 12/2/2021 at 10:01 PM, hntnhole said:

Of course.  Glad to help, but I'm not sure what the question is.  However ......

In Ft.L., NE 4th Ave is a major N/S street that junctions with US1 (Federal Highway) just South of Sunrise Blvd (major thoroughfare, and where 321 Slammer is at 321 W. Sunrise).  If you google Fort Lauderdale High School, these areas will be immediately South and East of the school property.  Dixie Highway runs on an angle about 3 to 4 blocks East of the HS.   Immediately North of the HS is a bridge over the south branch of the Middle River, which is the boundary between Ft.L. and WM.  Thus, NE 4th Ave becomes Wilton Drive on the northern side of the bridge in the municipality of Wilton Manors.  

One business (storefront) North of NE 4th Ave & 15th St is Ramrod - one of the best cruise bars in town.  While curtailed during the covid mess, neighbors report that guys are Breeding over there again now.  That corner is also an all-night cruising area, with guys hooking up via grindr or maybe other apps - guys cruising over until the sun comes up in the morning.  

The neighborhood I mentioned earlier - Middle River Terrace - starts on the East side of NE 4th Ave, is between the HS on the West, the river on the North, Dixie Hwy (plus a block or two) on the East, and 13th Street on the South.  Most of the condos are East of Dixie, between Dixie and the railroad tracks.  

There is also a neighborhood called South Middle River, from the West side of NE 4th Ave running for 3 blocks over to Andrews on the West, the river on the North, and 13th on the South.  Mostly older single-family houses, with many gay men moving in, renovating, etc.  I don't think there are any condos over there, but then I haven't looked either.  In any case, both of these neighborhoods have cruising areas within a 5 minute walk, and it's maybe a 10, 15 minute walk to the heart of the action in WM.  

A bit farther south, and thanks to the City's notion of gentrification, there is an area of new mid-rise condos/apts on US 1, starting around NE 5th, 6th Aves.  Sadly, one of our more sordid little bars bit the dust thanks to this urban renewal - the Cubby Hole.  It wasn't by any means the classiest of bars, but - you could go in there, get a sandwich and a beer for lunch, and Breed Hole in the john or get sucked off at the far end of the bar for dessert.  Those new mid-rises though seem to be occupied mostly by straight kids.  Whenever I need to drive past those, I see baby buggies with young girls trying in vain to be attractive.  

Ft. L. is laid out on a quadrant system, with Andrews Ave is 0 hundred E/W, and Broward Blvd (heart of downtown) is 0 hundred N/S.  

I'm not sure if the above is what you're asking about - but - there's that much at least to start with.

Welcum in advance to Ft. Breedingdale !!!

hntnhole thank you so much for this very informative post. You gave me a lot of useful info and now I will modify my search and focus on these areas. I need to get down there and check out these areas. I may just sell my house in NY and buy one down there. Going to wait a while first to see if house prices come down at all.

[hntnhole]

Hey, Muscledadbod -

Glad you found the information helpful !!!  Obviously, there are gay men living everywhere in the area, but those particular neighborhoods of Ft.L. (while not in W.M. proper), are richly populated by gay men. 

If you need any more information, I'll try to help.

Best -

[hntnhole]

On 12/2/2021 at 5:02 PM, Muscledadbod said:

Hey Muscledadbod- IF you can wait a little longer you might be a lot better off. Housing here (like all over the country) is bat shit crazy.  The thought is once we have a hurricane blow thru, and new owners from northern cites get their property taxes, and insurance costs ( homeowners, windstorm and flood) , and the move back to working in the office versus from home, a lot of these properties will be fire sa

I very much agree with AlwaysOpen, with one addition.  

You may have heard about the Zillow financial troubles; they likely won't survive.  They're only one of a number of companies that have been manipulating the housing markets around the country, facing multiple lawsuits, etc.  Here, housing prices have trebled in only a very few years.  However, the crest of the wave appears to be at hand.  Properties that sold for 80K, 90K, 100K 5,6,7 years ago have been selling for 300,400, 500 K and more.  Property taxes have increased as well.* These are not fancy homes over by the ocean - these are "working-class" homes (mostly expanded, remodeled) built 60,70 years ago.  For a while, the realtors couldn't get the signs in the yard before a place sold.  Now, the higher-end places have been sitting unsold for months, as opposed to a day or two.  The point is, the zenith appears to have been reached (or passed), but it will take a while before asking prices come into alignment.

It could be a direct-hit from a hurricane.  We haven't really experienced that for a number of years.  But there's another potential cause - that being the beginning end of the current bull market too.  Lots of people are waaay overextended, buying overpriced real estate, Ferraris, Maseratis, huge pickups, blah blah blah.  I know several realtors that are pulling in their horns lately.  Obviously, the downside of that would be selling your current home, unless you keep/rent it until the next bull market starts roaring.  

In any case, it doesn't hurt to retain a reputable realtor and keep tabs on the situation.

Good luck !!!

*Here, we have what is called a "homestead exemption", a contrivance by which the house we actually live in (as opposed to rental properties we own) carries a hefty exemption from property taxes, comparatively.