Info request (Spring Hill, Hernando, Brooksville: transplants, HOA fees, homeowners insurance)

[Buckeye Joe]

Hello all - like many who post here, I too am looking for information.

We are retirees and are considering a permanent move from OH to FL and have found a home that meets our needs. We are familiar with many areas in FL from family vacations and being Snowbirds and like the central area of Fl along the Gulf Coast. However, we have never been to the Woodland Waters development near Weeki Wachee and would like any information about the area & recommendations pro and con.

Thanks in advance.
Joe

[gulfer]

I have only been in there one time, but have been around the surrounding areas of Brooksville, Spring Hill a litte more.

It is a out of the way from any part of the city, so a drive to get just about anything (although less than 10 minutes) will be required. Nice, quiet, clean, and very rural looking. Being East of 19, I would think, not sure you would be out of the required flood insurace area. I would recommend checking.

A little curious how you found the Woodland Waters area if you don't mind. There are many other properties outside of that specific area that area priced less. It just really interests me seeing that you are living in Ohio and sound that specific one.

Thanks and GOOD LUCK!!

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Joe

Hello all - like many who post here, I too am looking for information.

We are retirees and are considering a permanent move from OH to FL and have found a home that meets our needs. We are familiar with many areas in FL from family vacations and being Snowbirds and like the central area of Fl along the Gulf Coast. However, we have never been to the Woodland Waters development near Weeki Wachee and would like any information about the area & recommendations pro and con.

Thanks in advance.
Joe

There are lots of retirees and families from the Midwest living in Spring Hill/Weeki Wachee. The area is mostly Northern and Midwestern transplants and retirees, so I'm sure you'll fit right in. We lived there for 10 years before moving down to Pinellas County. It wasn't the right fit for us as we are a younger family, but I can see where it would be ideal for retirees on fixed incomes.

Woodland Waters is a very nice development. The homes are beautiful. Right now, the entire Hernando County area is a huge buyer's market. I'm sure you can find an amazing home for under 200K in that area right now. You will definitely want to purchase sinkhole coverage when you look into homeowner's insurance. We had friends in Woodland Waters who had a sinkhole. Thankfully they were insured and did not have to pay out of pocket for the 300K of damages to their home. It is fine now that it has been repaired, but they had pretty extensive damage. We know of a few other families in that area with sinkholes as well, so I believe the area is prone to them.

Good luck!

[Buckeye Joe]

Thanks for the replys - sounds promising and we are looking forward to visiting and viewing the home. We live at the edge of a small town, a short drive is necessary to do anything, so that should be no problem, and we are used to larger lot sizes.

We found Woodland Waters sometime during several months of online searching, and having contacts with a few realators. We have 2 favorites on a very short list of homes which fit our needs - #1 in WW and #2 in Parrish. I have read about areas east of I75 or SR19 having lower insurance rates and need to confirm that as well as the sinkhole insurance coverage. Something I know nothing about!

Going into this rather cold and having to trust a realator entirely, is there anything specific to the area (other than insurance issues) we need to inquire about? I think we have a good list of questions to ask them, but any more input from eveyone will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again
Buckeye Joe

[HWTechGuy]

I live in the northern part of Spring Hill, just under five miles from the development you are looking at in Weeki Wachee. I just moved here two weeks ago from PA. In regards to the sinkhole issue, I bought an older (1985 built) home. I did not opt for additional sinkhole coverage, just the standard catastrophic coverage that is part of my homeowners policy.

We made a week-long trip down here and looked at more than a couple dozen homes across the tri-county area (Hernando, Pasco, Hillsborough).

I looked at both existing and new construction. I was turned off by the significantly higher costs of new construction (higher HOA fees as well as the existence of CDD fees).

I think there are far better deals to be had in existing homes. So far, I'm very happy where I am. In my case, everything is close enough for my liking in terms of stores, restaurants, movie theaters, etc.

[Buckeye Joe]

Thanks TechGuy - Taxes and fees are something we've always made note of when finding a listing, and are unbelievable in some areas. We are not into golf, and several of the homes we found were in golf communities and had very high fees to support their ammenities. Depending on insurance rates, we hope those expenses will be less then we are paying now.

More questions:

What home owner's insurance companies are in this area? It might be wise for me to contact them before we visit to be a bit more aware.

Does this area have city/county provided water & sewer systems? I'm asking because I did see fire hydrants in the pictures but there was no mention online.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

J

[HWTechGuy]

I have my insurance through American Integrity. I went through an insurance broker, and the other option they had for me was Citizens which is the state-backed company. I choise American Integrity even though the cost was higher. The coverage was more comprehensive (pool enclosure, and other things). There's plenty of info about homeowners insurance if you do a search of this forum. I am paying quite a bit more here for homeowners insurance than I did up north, but there are other areas of significant savings which make up for it in my case,

I have public water but have a septic system. I'm fine with that. I understand what to do and not do in terms of having a septic system.

[Buckeye Joe]

Thanks again Tech Guy - I will definitely check them out.

(on a non related topic, GO BUCKS!)