Pros and Cons for Retiring in St. Augustine (Jacksonville, Orlando: real estate, foreclosures)

[Caladium]

We currently live in Virginia and will be retiring in the next year or so. I thought we were headed towards Rehoboth Beach, DE but now my husband wants to look at a few other beach areas, too. St. Augustine has been suggested, and I realize I know nothing at all about that part of Florida. So I hope you guys can give me a basic idea of the area and help us decide if we should head down there to take a look.

1. In your opinion, is St. Augustine a good place to retire? What would be pros and cons to this idea?

2. What parts of town would you recommend? We want to be within a mile or two of the beach, preferably in an area where we could walk to the beach. We are avid walkers, but would need a neighborhood with sidewalks or trails. Housing budget would be $350,000-400,000 (with some leeway if needed) and we're fine with a condo. Right now I love gardening but I don't need a big yard anymore--a big patio with potted plants would be fine too.

3. Low crime rate is probably the most important concern. Also, a relatively quiet place. We don't want to be on a street with lots of late night parties.

4. It would be nice to be near other seniors, or near a good senior center, but we don't necessarily need a 55+ community.

5. OK, this is kind of a weird question--but where do the people who live in St. Augustine come from? Are they mostly people who were born there, or is it a transient population. If transient, is it mostly people from New York or from all over the US? I like New Yorkers but I'm not sure I want to live in "NYC South."

6. A really good library is also important, and we'd like to be within 5 miles of a good hospital.

7. We are avid kayakers. Where are the good kayaking spots?

8. How cold is it in the winter? How hot in the summer?

7. Is Jacksonville the nearest airport?

[ssclulow]

My husband and I moved to St. Augustine 12 years ago after retiring. We have have loved every moment of being here. Our best asset here is friendly, caring people. We are a laid back, small town with much to do if you love beautiful, safe beaches, great music, drama, opera and thought provoking conversation. Our ampitheater offers top notch entertainment in a small venue. The local Flagler College always ranks near the top of private coleges. The public school system is tops in the state. The local hospital is also highly ranked. Libraries seem to be fine (I don't use them very much). The senior center in St. Augustine is awesome! It's a beautiful, new facility right on the river and offers a lot of activities. Kayakers paddle on the Matanzas River. There are many public access points and several places to rent kayaks. You definitely should look in zip code 32080 (Anastasia Island) for a neighborhood that will suit you. You will have no problem finding a very nice home in the price range you mentioned. If you enjoy volunteering, there are many active civic, faith-based and philanthropic organizations that are well supported within the community. Crime and traffic congestion are very low here. Jacksonville airport is a very nice traveler friendly airport that is 1 hour 15 min. from Anastasia Island. Orlando Airport is 2 hours away. I was born and riased in Baltimore and still have family in that area. In my opinion, Rehoboth is nowhere near as desirable as St. Augustine for retirement. You must come visit here for a week to see what the area is like.

[centauri]

Originally Posted by ssclulow

Jacksonville airport is a very nice traveler friendly airport that is 1 hour 15 min. from Anastasia Island. Orlando Airport is 2 hours away.

It is not that far, more like 45 min w/o traffic... if that.

You might want to try Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and around that area, Palm Coast is more for retirement than St. Augustine. It is also good middle ground between Jacksonville and Orlando. The schools are good, and your just south of St. Augustine.

[Caladium]

Thanks for some great replies!

Our biggest concern about Rehoboth is that it's not really a place people live year round. Every neighborhood we've looked at seems to have multiple properties that are rented to tourists. Also, properties that are only used seasonally, so there's always a worry that someone's nephew who's coming out of rehab will crash there for a few months (which might be just fine or might lead to some crime issues, endless partying, that sort of thing).

Is this a problem on Anastasia Island? We want a fairly quiet neighborhood with neighbors we can get to know.

Also, how bad is the foreclosure problem there? We've heard that Florida has a real problem with foreclosures, that it's easy to be in a neighborhood where 1/4 or maybe even 1/3 of the homes are vacant. Is this an overblown myth or reality?

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by centauri

You might want to try Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and around that area, Palm Coast is more for retirement than St. Augustine. It is also good middle ground between Jacksonville and Orlando. The schools are good, and your just south of St. Augustine.

Yet another area I know nothing about. What's the appeal of Palm Coast as opposed to Anastasia Island?

[madcapmagishion]

Palm coast was originally designed as a planned retirement community by ITT. It has 5 or 6 golf courses(some private some semi private) and a small shopping area with a couple of places to eat. Plus I-95 goes right through the middle of it.

Where as St Augustine wasn't really designed by anyone. Unless you count the vagrancies of the Spanish, French, British and American military forces who were stationed and occupied the area throughout history.

The one person in here you should listen the most to is Peter the Brit who contributes regularly in here and is a Realtor in St Augustine, If I were moving there I would seek his advice. And ssculow is also quite knowledgeable about the St Augustine area.

Another little known fact is Palm Coast has just a couple of public beach access areas where St Augustine has miles and miles of public beaches. And St Augustine has many many more dinning establishments befitting a well known tourist destination.

[Caladium]

Thanks! Also, I'd love to get some links to sites you think might be helpful. Is there a local newspaper you recommend we start reading?

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by madcapmagishion

Palm coast was originally designed as a planned retirement community by ITT. It has 5 or 6 golf courses(some private some semi private) and a small shopping area with a couple of places to eat. Plus I-95 goes right through the middle of it.

Where as St Augustine wasn't really designed by anyone. Unless you count the vagrancies of the Spanish, French, British and American military forces who were stationed and occupied the area throughout history.

The one person in here you should listen the most to is Peter the Brit who contributes regularly in here and is a Realtor in St Augustine, If I were moving there I would seek his advice. And ssculow is also quite knowledgeable about the St Augustine area.

Another little known fact is Palm Coast has just a couple of public beach access areas where St Augustine has miles and miles of public beaches. And St Augustine has many many more dinning establishments befitting a well known tourist destination.

Thanks! We're not into golfing, so it sounds like it might be more interesting to be in St. Augustine. But I'm going to look into Palm Coast, too.

What's a realistic budget for a townhouse or condo that would be about 1300 or so sf, about a mile from the beach, and a nice quiet neighborhood? I walk 2-3 miles every day so I figure if we're 1 mile from a beach I can still walk there fairly often.

[ssclulow]

There are neighborhoods on Anastasia Island where the economy has hiot hard and many house sit vacant. This is the situation in communities that were new construction at the beginning of the housing downturn. There is a very upscale neighborhood named Sea Colony wher this is a huse issue but the prices of housing there are very attractive for what you get there. The other neighborhood that comes to mind with this situation is Sea Grove. Some sections of Sea Grove are very vibrant with many full-time people living there and others are not.
Anastasia Island has a huge variety of neighborhoods with a lot of character (not one look alike box after another) , mostly occupied homes and friendly people who have moved here from all over. Many have come from Chicago, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, and the Northeast U.S. Yes, we have New Yorkers, too, but they don't fit the stereotype obnoxious image people think of when refering to people from New york City. Many of them are from upsate and central New York.
I live in Marsh Creek with is a very nice gated neighborhood where there are homes in your price range. It is a country club neighborhood but most people who live here are not active golfers and do not belong to the club. Other neighborhoods on Anastasia Island to consider for single family homes would be Island Hammock, Sea Palms, Sea Gate, Lions Gate and Anastasia Lakes. There are there are also a lot of very nice established neighborhoods with houses that are older than 20 years.
If you want a condo, you will have to be careful to select a complex where the condo association is well managed so that assessments for repairs and upkeep of common areas do not become a burden and there are stipulations in the condo docs prohibiting widespread short-term renting to vacationers.
Vacationer parties, etc. aren't anywhere near the problem at our beach as you have in Rehoboth as our beach is a family oriented beach. These issues are non-existant in the single family neighborhoods that prohibit vacation renting.
In my opinion, and the opinion of many others (see references to Palm Coast in other strings here by doing a search of the forums) Palm Coast is definitely not where you want to be. Palm Coast has numerous neighborhoods with many foreclosures, numerous homes lived in part-time, has no community core identity and is just a sprawl of strip malls. It's a great place for retirees and families who want a bargain place to retire in Florida as their real estate is very inexpensive due to so many houses that have flooded the market. A huge number of homes that are occupied there are occupied by renters. The low real estate prices is the only appeal I can think of to retiring there. The north end of Palm Coast is 40 min. from the city core of St. Augustine in average traffic, going the speed limit.
In my opinion, there is no way Centauri can get to the JAX airport in 45 minutes from the middle of Anastasia Island at St. Augiustine Beach. The quickest I have driven there is 1 hour and that was in the middle of the night going 10 miles over the speed limit. If you lived north of the city core of St. Augustine, you could possibly drive to the Jacksonville airport in 55 min. If you use Mapquest, plug in St. Augustine Beach as Anastasia Island will not show up.
www. St. Augustine.com has a link to homes search where you can search by neighborhoods. I strongly recommend you take the time to come to St. Augustine for 4 - 5 days to take a look. Come looking through the eyes of a resident, not a tourist. Check out the senior center, library, beach, St. Augustine downtown, shopping areas, restaurants, drive the neighborhoods, Take a kayak out on the river (kayak rentals can be had at on the river at Crescent Beach which is on Anastasia Island).

[Peter the Brit]

There is little I can add to the excellent information already posted.
Palm Coast will be a great area to live when it is built out but that will be many years and it lacks the proximity to good beaches which is the advantage of SA
Sounds like Anastasia Island or Crescent Beach would meet all the OP needs. With their budget I would be looking in Marsh Creek a gated community well loacted on the island where if you do not want golf you do not have to pay for it but have the advantage of looking at the greenery and wildlife abounding you.