CDD Fees in the Saint Johns County Communities (Jacksonville, Golf: short sale, real estate) - Florida (FL) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

deadpool328 · 03-08-2010, 02:11 PM

Awesome Info
Karla with a K!!!

and no im not sold on WGV
The area appears nice and i like the ruralness of it
but not sold on wgv by any means

i'm definately open to suggestions

twoeckarts · 03-08-2010, 04:42 PM

I live in Sandy Creek off CR210. Many people are not aware of where our neighborhood is. It is on the east side of I95. Where the waffle House is make a right and go back about a mile. Nice Community, quiet with many kids. Builder is SEDA Construction, and there are no CDD fees. They are also not one of paid by builder concept. HOA fees were and still are $600 annually. There are 2 planned phases currently, and phase 1 is 99% sold. They are currently building in phase 2. I also do know that SEDA will not sell their lots and will not allow other builders to come in. Just a thought.... Their website is www.sedaconstruction.com if you would like to look.

Also-
I have some friends that live in Glen St Johns by DR Horton, and they have a no CDD lot, but are unsure how that effects them. They are saying around April their ammenity center should start constuction. However, DR Horton did sell all the empty lots late 2009 to an investor and just recently bought them back. Not sure if that is a wise decison to buy in there with a struggling builder.

Robyn55 · 03-08-2010, 05:08 PM

An important thing to look into is whether this is a developer promise - or whether the bonds have actually been paid off. If simply a promise - and the developer doesn't pay - the homeowner is probably still on the hook. If the bonds (and these are municipal bonds which are usually sold to the public) have been paid off - then everyone is off the hook.

FWIW - I don't think there's any guarantee that if you move "here" in St. Johns County - that your children will necessarily go to this high school or another. OTOH - I think Nease - Ponte Vedra and Bartram Trail are pretty much the same in terms of what I've heard about them.

I know a lot about condo law - and HOA law - but not a lot about CCD law. I do recommend that anyone buying a house spring for the 500 bucks or so to get a lawyer to represent them during the home buying process - and to explain things to them. Florida is a title insurance state - you have to buy title insurance - and someone will get the commission. So the question is whether you let someone who doesn't do anything for you - an insurance company agent - collect the full premium - or whether you let a real estate lawyer - who's also an agent for the title insurance company - collect the premium (and - for a few dollars more - or perhaps no dollars more considering the current economic climate) - represent you and explain to you what's going on. Sometimes there are conflicts of interest between a lawyer as a rep of the title insurance company - and the lawyer as your rep. I assume any honest lawyer will disclose any conflicts. Robyn, Esq.

beaming323i · 03-09-2010, 06:25 AM

We just purchased a new house from Holder Johnson in Durbin Crossing and will move from Charlotte, NC in June, not only has the experience been awesome they paid off half of the CDD which saves us about $100/month. Several of the builders we originally looked at either payed off all or half of the CDD depending on the deal you negotiated...Providence Homes and Taylor Morrision. If you go with Holder Johnson please be sure to see Cheryl, she is great and will bend over backwards to help your family!

Good Luck!

deadpool328 · 03-09-2010, 10:11 AM

Great information ALL!!!!!!

so when you say they paid off either All of half of the cdd fee BOND
does that mean then you have No cdd fees at all - Just the HOA fees? (in the case of the cdd fee bond being paid in full) or - do you still have a cdd fee just a lower amount?

Im from illinois and contemplating a move
There is just no such thing as a CDD fee up here.

And i realize the school zones can change - i see that they all seem to have really good reviews in stjohns county for the most part.

beaming323i · 03-09-2010, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadpool328

Great information ALL!!!!!!

so when you say they paid off either All of half of the cdd fee BOND
does that mean then you have No cdd fees at all - Just the HOA fees? (in the case of the cdd fee bond being paid in full) or - do you still have a cdd fee just a lower amount?

Im from illinois and contemplating a move
There is just no such thing as a CDD fee up here.

And i realize the school zones can change - i see that they all seem to have really good reviews in stjohns county for the most part.

Correct, if they pay half, you will pay the remainder each month plus HOA or if they pay it off you're done and just have the HOA fees.

As far as the schools, my research has found that St. Johns county is the best in Florida and 14th in the country...check out Durbin, I think you'll like it.

Best of luck!

donisanasfan · 03-09-2010, 11:04 AM

Is it my understanding that from what beaming323i said that the cdd fees are $200 a month in Durbin? If that is the case (actually even if it isn't) I strongly suggest you come check out Nocatee-Coastal Oaks in particular. I mean for that kind of money you might as well get the best amenities you find any where in north florida. Also, we (I say we as I am a home owner in Coastal Oaks) are zoned for PVPV elementary school which is the best school in St Johns County. You would also be much closer to the beach. I moved here from South Hampton which is a community close to Durbin and I can tell you from my perspective, you would do yourself a big favor in choosing to relocate here and not there. Happy to provide more info if you like.

deadpool328 · 03-09-2010, 11:20 AM

how does home owners insurance fluctuate though?
i thought i read where insurance was cheaper depending on what side of the interstate you were on.
West of I95 vs east of I95

beaming323i · 03-09-2010, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donisanasfan

Is it my understanding that from what beaming323i said that the cdd fees are $200 a month in Durbin? If that is the case (actually even if it isn't) I strongly suggest you come check out Nocatee-Coastal Oaks in particular. I mean for that kind of money you might as well get the best amenities you find any where in north florida. Also, we (I say we as I am a home owner in Coastal Oaks) are zoned for PVPV elementary school which is the best school in St Johns County. You would also be much closer to the beach. I moved here from South Hampton which is a community close to Durbin and I can tell you from my perspective, you would do yourself a big favor in choosing to relocate here and not there. Happy to provide more info if you like.

Nocatee is beautiful and we looked there also but because it is a twenty-thirty year build out, if you need to sell you house shortly after buying(we have had to do this several times) you will have a difficult time selling against all the new construction in Nocatee. Also, to me it seemed really far away from everything but I'm sure you'd get used to that. The amenities are second to none and like I said it's beautiful but slow progress. Either way I think you will love both neighborhoods. Just my opinion.

Robyn55 · 03-09-2010, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadpool328

how does home owners insurance fluctuate though?
i thought i read where insurance was cheaper depending on what side of the interstate you were on.
West of I95 vs east of I95

Windstorm insurance is a big deal issue in Florida these days. If you're buying an average house - you will probably have 2 choices. Citizens (the state pool) - or one of the newer small undercapitalized companies (guaranteed to go broke if 3 houses on a block burn down in a fire - much less if we have a major windstorm). As between these - I'd go for Citizens if posssible - lesser of 2 evils. Note that windstorm deductibles range from high to very high (think the lowest possible is 2% of replacement costs). Cost of insurance varies not only on the basis of geography - but on the basis of the construction and architecture of your house. We pay $1700 a year for homeowners (including windstorm) for a structure valued at about $400k in Ponte Vedra Beach (from State Farm - no longer writing new policies). We get a very substantial discount (like 40%) because we have a block house with no gables (we went through Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in Miami and knew what we were looking for when we were building).

If you're not familiar with the area - why not rent for 6 months to a year? Explore all the neighborhoods in this huge geographical area - and see what you like/don't like about them - what you can afford - etc. The real estate market still stinks - and it's easy to rent. And I don't think prices are going up in a big way anytime soon. This might be an especially attractive option if you are a corporate transfer - and might only spend 2-3 years here. We had lived in Florida for about 25 years before we moved here - and still rented for a year before we built to see which areas - if any - we liked. Robyn