Sun City Center (Tampa: sale, HOA, condo)

[bluskyz]

Best or Beast? Good things were frequently heard about this 55+ retirement town in the past. Now, the rumors are less than flattering with concerns about the effectiveness of the many HOA's to valid worries about declining property values. Sure, the place looks O.K. but The undercurrant is present for those considering this town for retirement.

Your thoughts and truthful observations will be appreciated. Comments please.

[BucFan]

I think it's a great community. If you search the forum, you'll find several comments (by me) about SCC. I really like the King's Point section of the community (the gated side). I agree that there are several sections of the community of nearly 10,000 that are looking run down. Also, the rumors of WCI's (the developer) problems are accurate - but the HOAs are still strong. I'd say their association is very well run and in good shape.

A reason I don't live there is that I'm under the 55+ age.

[BucFan]

But you're right, SCC has subsections of HOAs that appear to be ineffective (as evidenced by poorly maintained homes - elderly can't keep up).

Also, home prices are no different than the rest of the state/nations - declining.

Some buyers find that affordable, declining home prices to be a good thing.

When I bought my retirement home, I didn't buy it for it's valuation potential -

[dlhanson]

We plan to move to SCC in about 6 months (pending sale of our current home). One of the problems is that some of the homes are not in a HOA (maybe up to 1000?) so they are only subject to Hillsborough County code. If a home is not in a HOA, the owners can let their grass grow to 10", put a tall fence in their backyard (a family recently complained about their neighbor doing this which caused them to lose their lake view), change house colors to anything that meets their fancy, etc.

Also, some of the areas have numbers of homes with gravel lawns (apparently Florida law lets them do this). It looks terrible to us and think that it reduces the value of the neighbor's homes. The owners that do this are selfish in my opinion. Graval lawns may be environmentally friendly (don't require watering or chemicals) but these owners are changing the character of an established community and hurting their neighbors at the same time. IMHO, they should move to another community with other environment whackos -- like in Califorina or the NE states.

We are avoiding areas built before 1980 (these are the most run down) and areas where there are a significant number of homes with Chinese drywall (they decrease the value of the homes in the nearby area). When WCI went bankrupt, they left homeowners that have Chinese drywall to fend for themselves. These are mostly located in the far southeast side of SCC (we are not looking at Kingspoint so I don't know if there are problems with Chinese drywall there).

[Innertuber]

Originally Posted by dlhanson

Also, some of the areas have numbers of homes with gravel lawns (apparently Florida law lets them do this). It looks terrible to us and think that it reduces the value of the neighbor's homes. The owners that do this are selfish in my opinion. Graval lawns may be environmentally friendly (don't require watering or chemicals) but these owners are changing the character of an established community and hurting their neighbors at the same time. IMHO, they should move to another community with other environment whackos -- like in Califorina or the NE states.

Whoa Nellie! Have you studied the multi-year drought conditions, sinkhole issues, runoff, agricultural usage of water, etc for Florida? I'm not trying to advocating an environmental position, but to think St Augustine grass can continue to be the norm is optimistic. Hybrids maybe.

Just look at Tampa's recent flap over water bills. It may be due to a variety of causes but the cost of water in Florida is increasing and grass will be the first to go when the $ become punitive. Let's not forget that St Augustine barely grows with one day a week watering (think fines for over watering).

I work in an industry that is water dependent so I'd like to think I'm not one of your whacos, but there is less and less water to go around. Who do you think will pay more for it? You to water a green yard (think your pocket) or a farmer to supply food (think your pocket again)? Gravel Rocks!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[dlhanson]

Originally Posted by Innertuber

I work in an industry that is water dependent so I'd like to think I'm not one of your whacos, but there is less and less water to go around. Who do you think will pay more for it? You to water a green yard (think your pocket) or a farmer to supply food (think your pocket again)? Gravel Rocks!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Actually, I think that gravel looks fine in Tucson or the Sun City developments in Arizona. It doesn't look find in Sun City Center, Florida.

There must be better ways for SCC homeowners to conserve water than to tear out their lawn and put in gravel. Apply hydrotane (not sure about spelling but it is advertised to reduce the water need of turf grass by 50%) and/or install a nice green grass that needs less water woud be fine.

[Innertuber]

Weeds work pretty well.

[ems2158]

We sold a house in Sun City Center last year but are thinking about coming back and getting a condo to use for the winters since the prices have dropped so much.
I haven't heard anything about chinese dry wall. Can anyone be a bit more specific about where and when it was used?

[dlhanson]

Originally Posted by ems2158

We sold a house in Sun City Center last year but are thinking about coming back and getting a condo to use for the winters since the prices have dropped so much.
I haven't heard anything about chinese dry wall. Can anyone be a bit more specific about where and when it was used?

Hopefully, someone knows more than I do but here is a little information:

1. Some of the homes in SCC including Kingspoint have Chinese drywall. They were most likely built between 2004 and 2007. Also, homes remodelled during this time could also have Chinese drywall (I haven't heard that they were any).

2. There is a SCC Chinese Drywall Coordinating Group (now called Contaminated Drywall Coordinating Group). Their webpage is: cdcg. There are email addresses for the leaders of this group. I am not sure that they would tell you anything though.

3. If you want to get an idea about some single family homes in SCC with Chinese drywall, look at the houses on King Leon drive on the Hillsbourough County Tax Appraiser's website (Hillsborough County Property Appraiser). Click on Property Record Search and then on Address search. Then enter King Leon as the street name (you don't need to enter a number). A list of all the homes on King Leon should appear. Click each one. Look at the listed market value versus what the owner paid for the home. Appraised values for the dwelling are being set to zero, I believe, for homes with Chinese drywall. If there is another reason, I am not aware of it.

5. If I were buying a home built between 2001 and 2008, I would definitly have it inspected for Chinese drywall by an inspector who knows how to find it. Since we are only looking at homes built in the 80's or early 90's it does not apply to us, unless the home was remodelled and new drywall was installed in the 2000's.

My impression is that there is something like 30 to 50 homes with Chinese drywall in all of SCC. Since homeowners don't have to tell anyone (other than the tax appraiser if they want greatly reduced taxes and, if they know about it, when they try to sell their home), it is impossible to know how many there are there.

[ems2158]

dlhanson
Thanks for the info.
I took a look at the Hillsborough County Appraiser site and saw the market values for those houses in the $50,000 range. One agent we spoke to told us "those houses were selling so low because of the traffic noise from 301." I believe the drywall is more of a problem than traffic noise.

A good home inspection will certainly be needed.