Lots in Mill Creek Cove, Bolivia (St. James: real estate, affordable houses, buy)

[Dregg]

Is it me, or are the lots in Mill Creel Cove smaller than what they were in 2009 ? Did a developer buy most of the lots and had them rezoned smaller??

I remember driving through there in 2009, up until 2016 and the few homes that were in there are bigger than the houses they're putting up now. The bigger homes that were there are sitting on larger lots as well.

That development is booming now but the homes look like cookie cutter type homes (smaller, closer, and pretty much all the same) compared to existing homes.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Dregg

.....
That development is booming now but the homes look like cookie cutter type homes (smaller, closer, and pretty much all the same) compared to existing homes.

I don't know if that development was rezoned. It now looks like it has a mix of lots. There are skinny, long lots available which have less road frontage.

Some developers, like ours in Mimosa Bay intentionally planned large lots for semi-custom homes in 2007. That was partly the optimistic boom mentality and partly because public sewers were not available. Later when sewer service became available they planned to offer quarter-acre lots and allowed the building of smaller 1800 SF minimum homes.

Of course with the price of lumber and concrete, the big builders like DR Horton are among the few able to offer more affordable houses. All builders seem to be cutting corners these days by offering simpler elevations, less crown molding, LVT flooring in place of real wood, and so on. I am not happy with the trend, but that's the way it is.

[goldenage1]

I see the current builder, Century Complete, is offering only 1600-1700 square foot homes. Their starting prices is under $300K. I assume the builder got a package of lots from the developer for a bargain price.
It certainly lessens the appeal of the existing homes.

[Mr. Purple 2]

I use to live up the road in Winding River Plantation and use to ride my bike through Mill Creek. Mill Creek had gone under years ago and they were only 3-4 homes built along with a very nice community pool and POC building before the real estate crash. I guess it was around 2020 when I last went through and a builder purchased a lot of the lots and was building homes. I can't remember the name of the builder, but he specialized in inexpensive and very small homes like the DR Horton divisions Express or Freedom Homes. I felt sorry for the original homeowners since they had quality, larger homes. The cheaper homes would really drive down their property values. I haven't been back since that time so I don't what is going on there now.

[Dregg]

Originally Posted by Mr. Purple 2

I use to live up the road in Winding River Plantation and use to ride my bike through Mill Creek. Mill Creek had gone under years ago and they were only 3-4 homes built along with a very nice community pool and POC building before the real estate crash. I guess it was around 2020 when I last went through and a builder purchased a lot of the lots and was building homes. I can't remember the name of the builder, but he specialized in inexpensive and very small homes like the DR Horton divisions Express or Freedom Homes. I felt sorry for the original homeowners since they had quality, larger homes. The cheaper homes would really drive down their property values. I haven't been back since that time so I don't what is going on there now.

I agree with your assessment about feeling bad for the older home owners. One of the original homes is over 3300 sqft and would be valued higher if it were sitting in Winding River or St. James. The houses being put up there now kinda cheapens the original idea/plans for that community.