IT definitely sounds to me like you want Palm Beach county or south as far as your diving requirement goes. The more you are willing to bend on that, the further north you can go and if you want to get into the 2 hour range or so, you can expand your search to the Ft Myers area. Realtors are free to you until or unless you buy something. I'd make contact with some in various parts of SE Florida, maybe one in Palm Beach, another in Lauderdale, and another in Dade. Tell them what you want, what and how much you are willing to repair on a FC, and have them do leg work for you. In the current housing market, a realtor will likely bend over backwards, inside out, and upside down to help you-especially if you tell them you are a potential cash buyer. Remember, there is a credit crunch and people are having a harder time getting mortgages. Cash buyers bypass that which will make realtors very happy! As far as Homestead, I'll tell you something. Like you, when I drove through there it appeared to me to be pretty crime ridden. But, I was driving to a bed and breakfast that the dive shop lined up for us. When I got outside of the city limits and in Orange Grove country, I felt like I was in a different world. IN a short period of time, I forgot I was anywhere near Miami. I'm not going to say that crime was better, I honestly don't know, but the point I want to make is that you cannot and will not know if you like an area until you spend time there and do some hard research. You may be surprised to find a section of Dade that you are pleased with and can afford and then again maybe not. But, if you mark Palm Beach county as your North boundary and South Dade as your South boundary that is a lot of territory with a lot of options and every last one of them are within a short drive of many diving paradises!!!! Something else to consider... You are an Instructor. Instrtuctors don't get rich but they are able to make a decent living. If you are willing to do some Instruction, that may bring in enough income to boost your price range a bit AND get some free diving and tank fills and info on the best dive sites! If you are like the instructors I know, you barely consider instructing to be work... Good luck with your search!