Buying a house in Oakleaf Plantation area? (Middleburg, Orange Park: cul-de-sac, for sale) - Jacksonville - Florida (FL) - City-Data Forum

bethanygm · 09-03-2010, 04:49 PM

I am looking for advice on buying a starter home (possibly a short sale or foreclosure) in the OP area, or possibly Mandarin.

There seem to be a lot of houses for sale and in foreclosure in the Oakleaf Plantation area and a lot of them are new...
Does anyone know of problems with this area, besides the obvious foreclosure problem? I also am concerned about the cost of the association fees, etc.
I am also seeing some other subdivisions listed... Brittany Bluff, Cutters Point, Cannons Point... They all look like they are by Oakleaf?

We are looking to buy our first home... maybe a starter home or maybe a permanent home. My husband may be working at NAS Jax. We are thinking we will stay in this home for at least 5 years, if not longer. We'd like to eventually turn it into a rental property, perhaps for other military families.

I am wondering how long the commute is and if it is too far away to get military renters.

I also have been doing research on neighborhood scout trying to find neighborhoods that would have good schools, families, and low crime within about 15-20 minute drive to NAS Jax. Oakleaf Plantation fits the bill, it seems, though there are other good neighborhoods in Orange Park area.
We don't want to spend more than $150k, and there are lots of newer starter homes within our budget in the Orange Park area right now.

Thanks!

jdjax · 09-04-2010, 07:27 AM

I belive Oakleaf is a tremendous value now if you can find the right house. We live a few miles from there and had considered buying in there back during the peak of the housing market (sure glad we didn't). Back then some houses were going for $300k+ - they are now around $200k or less for the same house. Looks like those nicer houses are getting snapped up quickly when they hit the market compared to the lesser expensive homes.

You'd have a brand new, state of the art, high school that just opened this school year. You have lot of ameneties - pool, parks. Shopping at Oakleaf Town center and 2 Publix supermarkets as well as a Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot just a few miles away. You also have the Orange Park Mall about 15 mins from you along with all the stores and restaurants in Orange Park.

I kind of think of Argyle/Chimney Lakes/Oakleaf as north Orange Park. You have a lot of the pluses of living in the Orange Park area but since you are virtually on the county line, you can sneak into Jax without having to fight all the traffic from the other Orange Park and Middleburg residents.

In Oakleaf, you will have fees added on to your mortage - association and CDD. That could amount to around $300 more per month. But at the firesale prices on the houses - that will be a lot more tolerable than if you paid "full sticker".
The area still looks very nice - good landscaping, well maintained. You may have some trouble with the foreclosed houses going downhill. I guess one question is "have the prices bottomed out yet". I think they must be close because how much lower could they possibly go? You may want to look at teh trending on zillow.com for homes in that area.

Access to NAS Jax should be pretty good - just go down Argyle Forest to Collins and then Collins takes you to Roosevelt where NAS JAX is. Probably a 20 minute trip depending on traffic. The infrastructure (roads) around Oakleaf have been considerably beefed up in recent years - more lanes on the main road (Argyle Forest), Branan Field Road, Old Middleburg Road freshly paved, etc. Those folks who have terrible memories of the Arygle area probably remember it from a decade or more ago when it truly was road constricted.

I guess to sum it up - it just depends on on your tastes and needs. Some folks prefer Fleming Island or Mandarin. We lived in Mandarin for 7 years and didn't like it - too congested. Those areas are more popular - and hence the prices are higher and the commutes are generally worse.

mawipafl · 09-04-2010, 07:48 AM

When we were house hunting in 2007, we eliminated Oak Leaf because of the terrible roadway conditions and the lack of retail. That is all different now! If we were looking for a home today, Oak Leaf and Eagle Landing would be on the list. jdjax sums up the area extremely well and I fully agree.

wb3690 · 09-04-2010, 05:37 PM

we live in Oakleaf and there are a TON of military people out here. (we are one of them). My husband gets to work quite fast actually and doesn't even use argyle. i think he shoots down Collins or 103 which is faster coming from NAS.

We are very happy with our choice out here. It's a good community, one that we'll stay in for awhile.

bethanygm · 09-04-2010, 08:17 PM

Thanks! You all have been very helpful.

Jdjax- thanks for the thorough explanation... that definitely will help us with our searching.

mawipafl- where is eagle landing? Are there any keywords I should be searching for when it comes to the subdivisions in the area? I am trying to get a feel for how things are laid out, and I am seeing houses near those listed as oakleaf plantation that say they are in cutters point, brittany bluff and other names...Is oakleaf plantation a whole area of subdivisions, or is oakleaf plantation one specific subdivision of several in that area? All the houses were built in the last 3-7 years so it seems they are all a part of the same boost in new construction in that general area.

wb3690 - Awesome! That is good to know.

cyrece · 09-05-2010, 01:01 AM

Alot of military personnel purchase in Oakleaf Plantation. If you like the feel of a master planned community--they have everything! I tell all of my customers, as long as you plan to stay in your home for 3-5 years, you can expect to atleast break even. Imagine, most homes in Oakleaf were purchases around 3-4 years ago (typical time to stay in a home) so those sellers are beginning to get transfered, sell, etc. but their values are not available in the current market so you have Short sales and foreclosures. No one has a crystal ball, but the market values are definitely at their lowest right now-we just don't know how much they will increase. You can bet that if you purchase now with interest rates the lowest in a decade as of today--its a great investment. Best of luck.

mawipafl · 09-05-2010, 07:42 AM

Officially it's called Eagle Landing at Oakleaf Plantation. It's actually a separate development with its own set of amenities. I'm not certain how all of the Oakleaf area intertwines and shares, if it does. wb3690 has a better handle on that since she lives there.

Here's the community map for Eagle Landing:
Eagle Landing

This link shows the siteplan for all of Oakleaf:
Oakleaf Plantation | Drive the streets (http://www.oakleafplantation.com/site-plan - broken link)

Essentially, these master-planned communities fall under one name and within the communities are neighborhoods or sections that have some sort of name. Usually there is some sort of sign as one enters a section. Fleming Island Plantation in Fleming Island is a master-planned community that demonstrates this concept well. There's a main road, Town Center Blvd., that runs through the middle, and off this main drag are individual streets with a neighborhood sign such as The Links or The Woodlands, etc. Once entering such a neighborhood there are a variety of streets, most of which end in cul-de-sacs.

Brittanys Bluff, Cutters Point, etc. are not part of Oakleaf Plantation but are separate developments and different than a master-planned community such as Oakleaf.

wb3690 · 09-07-2010, 09:24 AM

Eagle Landing is in Oakleaf Plantation but is it's own area. It has a really good set of amenities and if you golf it's the golf community. We have alot of friends who live up there and if we could afford it I would have loved to live there. They have their own gym, pool, bar, golf course with restaurant etc. I can't use their amenities unless I am sponsored by their resident and they can't use my amenities unless someone in Oakleaf Plantation (that doesn't live in eagle landing) sponsors them.

E.L. is tucked away in the Phase 2 side of Oakleaf Plantation (where I live) and it's less crowded.

La Nopalera (mexican restaurant) just opened by us and Panera Bread opens on september 15th.

For your price point you could buy a house out here......

If you need help with the area just message me! We plan on being here until my oldest graduates from the high school which is in 4 years, maybe longer.

Amy

mawipafl · 09-07-2010, 05:10 PM

wb3690 -- great explanation of Eagle Landing and Oakleaf Plantation (can't rep you again until I spread the wealth elsewhere a bit :-)

wb3690 · 09-08-2010, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mawipafl

wb3690 -- great explanation of Eagle Landing and Oakleaf Plantation (can't rep you again until I spread the wealth elsewhere a bit :-)

LOL thanks.......

Eagle Landing is so nice. I would LOVE to live there.....Their pool is really nice and they have a cabana there with alot of resident events...concerts etc.

It's a very nice community.