You better believe the laundering is still going on, but, I'm going to leave that alone, I prefer not to sleep with the fishies.
A lot of the realtors that are doing the first buys and selling off the properties are a tinsy bit more savvy this time around, they waited till the bottom dropped out to purchase these properties, snapping up foreclosures selling many of them to foreign interest who are paying cash. But also, with many of the Boomers retiring and a lot of them to warmer climates, mainly the ones coming this way, meaning to this part of FL, have the means to afford the homes without worrying about their finances. It's usually the top percent flooding this market, the ones that aren't well off, learn their error fast and have to sell fast. This isn't an area to look to if you want an affordable retirement for the average non 1-percenter. Much of Florida isn't affordable, for those looking for low cost retirement, at least not like it once was considering more and more people are crowding the market here. I certainly can't afford this particular area for too much longer I'm in the bottom percentile, just very frugal and can squeeze jc out of a fig. There are affordable areas, but, there's often little room for newcomers..