St Johns Area (Plantation, Fruit Cove: real estate, waterpark, HOA fees)

[Beach Ball]

Hi. I've been looking at the St Johns area and found all the schools to be rated 10. We have young children and would like to settle in a nice, safe neighborhood. I looked at a few real estate sights and found some houses between 150K - 160K. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of short-sales.


What subdivisions would you recommend for a family with HOA fees, CDD (if any) and taxes with a total of $3,000 or less for a house around 150K - 160K?

• Do they have a community pool?
• How long is the commute to the Baymeadows area from there?
• Also, is there any opinion on whether Creekside is better than Bartram ?

I lived in Jax for a number of years. Switzerland and Fruit Cove was mostly woods when I was a child. When I left, the Dames Point Bridge had just been built. We thought it kind of looked like "Batman" if you looked at it just right.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[SoccerFam]

Have you looked into Julington Creek Plantation? It is a fantastic neighborhood for kids, the pools are both like resorts, and the schools are some of the best in the state. They do have houses in your price range too (I just checked).

Best of luck!

[Beach Ball]

Thank you for that information. Does anyone know what the HOA fees are there? Or the CDD fees (which I'm not really sure what they are)?

Thanks.

[Hound9p]

Julington Creek Plantation CDD fee is currently $829 annually (a bargain compared to many other developments), paid to St. Johns County with your property taxes. HOA fee is $425 annually, paid directly to the Property Owners Association. For more info on the CDD, and a look at the amenities:

Julington Creek Plantation CDD

[hlauburn]

Originally Posted by Hound9p

Julington Creek Plantation CDD fee is currently $829 annually (a bargain compared to many other developments), paid to St. Johns County with your property taxes. HOA fee is $425 annually, paid directly to the Property Owners Association. For more info on the CDD, and a look at the amenities:

Julington Creek Plantation CDD

In the grand scheme of CDDs, that is a bargain. We live in Nocatee, and I think it varies from neighborbood to neighborhood, but we pay over $1800 for our CDD in addition to HOA dues.

We still feel like it's worth it, but I can understand someone who doesn't.

[Beach Ball]

Wow, that's a big difference between Julington Creek Plantation and Nocatee's CDD fees. Why is there such a difference? Is it the amenities or the neighborhood?

Thank you for providing us with a starting point. I'll continue the research.

[hlauburn]

Originally Posted by Beach Ball

Wow, that's a big difference between Julington Creek Plantation and Nocatee's CDD fees. Why is there such a difference? Is it the amenities or the neighborhood?

Thank you for providing us with a starting point. I'll continue the research.

I don't know much about the facilities in JCP, but I hear great things about them and people I know who live there are very happy.

But, in my opinion, Nocatee's amenities are amazing. We have a new waterpark with a lazy river, 2 huge waterslides, resort-style pool, kids splash area, volleyball, Subway, clubhouse, gym...it's definitely worth taking a tour if you think it's something your family would take advantage of. Nocatee also has a ton of community parks/playgrounds, tennis courts, dog parks, and the Greenway trail system that connects several of the neighborhoods and the waterpark. I also really like the community activities - there is always something going on.

Anyway, if someone felt like they wouldn't take advantage of the amenities, I would understand why they'd want to avoid CDD fees, but we've lived here almost 2 years and don't regret it at all.

[fsquid]

It is the amount of the bonds plus the operations and maintenence divided by households, roughly

[Beach Ball]

To have all these amenities in your neighborhood is such a wonderful idea. Why are they CDD fees and not a higher HOA fee - is there a tax advantage?

How is the commute to the Baymeadows area from here?

Thanks.

[kyle19125]

Bear in mind Nocatee was stalled by the housing crunch but will continue to build out, which will lower your fees.