St. Augustine PV neighborhoods - need advice (Jacksonville, Country Club: for sale, real estate market)

[cclovis1]

My husband and I are moving to the area in 3 years. Currently, we live in Reston, VA – a suburb of Washington, DC. We are very spoiled in terms of the convenience to things like Home Depot, restaurants, shopping malls.

We do not have kids, so schools are not an issue. However, we worry about resale value and I’ve noticed many postings about Duval/St. Johns County and – from a resale standpoint, we would like to stay in St. Johns.

Not worried about “cookie cutter” neighborhoods in that the outside elevations of most of those homes provide enough variety in appearance for our taste. Plus the openfloor plans are just wonderful!!

We are looking for:
- Convenient – we want to be close to big box stores such as Home Depot, restaurants.
- Price of a home less than $350k, with 2,500+ square ft.
- A newer home (no more than 10 years old) so that the construction is safer against hurricanes.
- A safe area
- Distance to the beach is not a huge issue…1/2hour to 40 minutes is acceptable.

We are very active, about to retire but not “retirement community” types. Plenty of young kids in the area is just fine.

Nocatee, while lovely, seems priced high compared to someother neighborhoods…plus the prices are rising at such a crazy rate; I can’t even imagine what they will be in 3 years!! We would like some amenities – but don’tneed “over the top” – especially since we don’t have kids.

I have read wonderful things about Murabella, Palencia and Heritage Landing – in terms of a strong sense of community and lovely neighborhoods. Unfortunately, all ofthem say they are a bit remote in terms of big box stores, etc. We are sooo spoiled in that way; I don’t thinkwe would be happy having to wait years for our Home Depot, Michaels/HobbyLobby, etc.

I’m feeling a bit like the combination of convenience now (not 8 or so years in the future), sense of community and price are a bit like Mission Impossible! Alas, like everyone else, I’m looking for location, location, location while not paying an arm and a leg. ;o)
(In Reston, our townhome which is about 2,500 sq. ft and a superb location in terms of convenience is going for about 800k!!)

We are willing to pay up to $200/month for a combined CDD/HOA fee but not a lot more than that. We DO want to live in a place with a strong HOA so that the neighborhood is well kept up. Really would like some amenities in the neighborhood.

Neighborhood suggestions are appreciated!

[Robyn55]

Three years from now is an eternity when it comes to Florida real estate. We could be in a boom then - or a bust - or something in between. There will be new developments coming on line in that period of time as well. Also - areas which are ok in terms of traffic now may not be in 3 years (or traffic might improve in other areas due to road improvements). I suggest coming down here for "scouting trips" at least once or twice a year to check things out yourself.

This area has tons of big box stores. E.g., I have 5 Home Depots within 20 miles of my house. Note that most of this didn't exist when we moved here in 1995. The big box stores came after tons of houses - mostly along the Butler Blvd./Beach Blvd./Atlantic Blvd. corridors between about Southside and San Pablo - went up.

The only big box store I frequent which has only one location is Costco - right near the Town Center (a second Costco in/near Orange Park has been discussed - but I think it's still "on the drawing board"). Don't know if you're a Costco fan. But - if you are - I'd draw a circle X miles around that location (X miles being the distance you're willing to travel). The Town Center is the largest newest mall in the area (Nordstrom opening this year).

The area in St. Johns County that is closest to this shopping is Ponte Vedra Beach. JAX Beach in Duval County (and Neptune and Atlantic Beach to a lesser extent) are close as well. $350k is doable but very difficult in these areas today (who knows in the future?). A minimum of $400-500k is more realistic (there's a new relatively large for the area single family home development going up in JAX Beach with prices starting in the $400s). Nocatee isn't the only part of the metro area where prices have gone up in the last few years. I'd say our prices here are up a minimum of 25% since the real estate market bottomed. Robyn

[cclovis1]

Thanks Robyn...what neighborhood do you live in or near?

Just 1 Home Depot will do nicely! LOL

[Robyn55]

I live in Marsh Landing in Ponte Vedra Beach. You won't find anything here for $350k today. Cheapest house on the market today is one of the old small original Marsh Landing dwellings built in the early 80's - listed for $479k. This is one of the dumpier areas in Marsh Landing (which has about 1100 houses built over the course of 3+ decades) - at least in terms of the houses - and I really wouldn't recommend it. In my (medium priced spread) part of Marsh Landing (the high priced spread stuff is well over $1 million) - built in the mid-90's - the houses originally cost about $350-500k. Prices of many went over $700k during the last boom. Then backed down to about $500k (or even less in a few distress sales) during the bust - but are now over $600k again.

Similar wild price swings occurred just about everywhere in Florida. Florida real estate is a real roller coaster ride. And prices don't always go up in a straight line. Since you're talking about 3 years down the road - I'd just keep my finger on the pulse of what's happening. Robyn

[Robyn55]

BTW - it's very hard to predict when and where shopping and other amenities will pop up. I think it's fair to say we had almost nothing here 20 years ago. Just about all the places I go to today went up over the years in places/forms I couldn't have predicted. Like the Town Center. Or the expansion at the Mayo Clinic (which has been on steroids the last 10 years or so). Even our golf club - which had an ok semi-dumpy 70's clubhouse when we joined - now sports a clubhouse that more closely resembles the Taj Mahal. Still - I can appreciate your desire not to wait for things to come to you when you're about 60 or so (we moved here when we were in our 40's). Robyn

[Leaving4Ca]

OP I live about 10 minutes from you, in Fairfax... right by Fair Lakes! I am heading to JAX in 2 weeks to look around - meeting with a friend of a friend - who lives there and is going to show me the places to be in terms of proximity to all of those wonderful amenities we are used to! And one day with a Realtor to look a little more in depth, as well.

Living near all of the amenities is a big concern for me, too - I want to be close to downtown and shopping... Fair Lakes is about 8 minutes from my house, Costco about 3, and Fair Oaks mall about 5. It makes life so much easier when things are closeby. I have also hear that the traffic is much less than what we are used to! I can't wait to see it for myself!

We are not even considering anything in PVB or Nocatee, it is too close to the intracoastal waterway for my personal peace of mind. Not to mention the prices look a bit on the inflated side, from what I can see online. We are looking to stay at between $350-400K, (we are mid fifities, not retiring but dialing it down a notch. My husband will be working, I might work part time or start my own little biz).

I am going to look at the following places - hopefully all in 4 days! Mandarin and Southside in Duval, and JulingtonCreek Plantantion, Durbin Crossing, and a few other areas in St. Johns County, but not as far south as St. Augustine. I was thinking of looking at Fleming Island, but have been told by several people that Blanding Blvd - the main drag into the the city is very congested. (however, I don't think the traffic can be anything like 66 east in the morning - THAT is congested...). If I have time, I wll probably drive over there too.

After living here in Northern VA (20 years - give or take - we were overeas for quite a while) I have learned that living in the newest place is not always best (I lived in Reston 20 years ago when Northpoint was just being built!) - you pay more in taxes for the schools and roads that are not built yet. Case in point, Loudoun County. So our strategy is looking to buy a home where the basic infrastructure is already in place.

[SaintCabbage]

I'm banking on 9B to solve all our travel time woes!

Home

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by Leaving4Ca

...I am going to look at the following places - hopefully all in 4 days! Mandarin and Southside in Duval, and JulingtonCreek Plantantion, Durbin Crossing, and a few other areas in St. Johns County, but not as far south as St. Augustine...

That's a huge amount of ground to cover on your own. I would get a realtor to take me around for at least 2 of your 4 days. The realtor can narrow things down for you a lot in terms of what you're looking for.

One place you might take a look at if you want to be west of the ICW is JAX Golf and Country Club. It's a community about the same age as Marsh Landing. Also Deer Creek (similar age community) and Deerwood (somewhat older community). All of these communities have houses at various price points (the lows and the highs are lower than those in Marsh Landing - but you're still talking about houses from the $300s to over $1 million. Glen Kernan is nice - but I don't think there's anything there < $500k. These neighborhoods are all pretty much in the "thick of things". Robyn

[cclovis1]

I am going to look at the following places - hopefully all in 4 days! Mandarin and Southside in Duval, and JulingtonCreek Plantantion, Durbin Crossing, and a few other areas in St. Johns County, but not as far south as St. Augustine. I was thinking of looking at Fleming Island, but have been told by several people that Blanding Blvd - the main drag into the the city is very congested. (however, I don't think the traffic can be anything like 66 east in the morning - THAT is congested...). If I have time, I wll probably drive over there too.

Best of luck on your search! How exciting!! We live in one of the townhouses at Reston Town Center. We have our fingers crossed that metro coming to town center in 3 years will be a huge boost in prices.

I've been reading a lot of the city data forum postings re: St. Johns County neighborhoods. People frequently mention Heritage Landing and Murabella as neighborhoods that are really friendly. I cannot BELIEVE how low the prices are in Murabella -- you should check that out. You can get a fabulous home for under 300k there. Also, something I consider a major plus, it is not far from I-95 for when you decide you need to visit friends or family in Northern VA.

Once you've chosen a neighborhood - you can do a web search by that. For example "murabella homes for sale" and you will find listings just for that neighborhood. Several real estate agents have them arranged this way and it is very helpful (IMHO).

You mentioned an interest in Mandarin. Check out this flood map of the Jacksonville area. It looks like Mandarin might be susceptible:

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-05-08/story/hurricane-surge-most-first-coast-homes-wont-be-insured

Best of luck on your search!! We are 52 so will be 55 when we move down to Northeast Florida.

[cclovis1]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

I live in Marsh Landing in Ponte Vedra Beach.

You are fortunate to have locked in when you did. PVB is my favorite location.