Nocatee Home Builders (Jacksonville: sales, apartment, waterpark)

[Phantom16]

My wife and I are looking to build in Nocatee late this year (likely in Greenleaf Village), hoping that the market doesn't suddenly skyrocket anytime soon. Currently, we live in an apartment in Southside Jacksonville and really don't have an immediate need to move, we just want to get into a house so we can start building equity, plus we are getting sick of apartment living.

We love the Nocatee area and its location and think the CDD and HOA fees are justifiable given the amenities. We are in our mid 20's, and this will be our first house, and one we hope to be in for quite a long time (preferably 10+ years). We have talked with several builders (David Weekly, Providence, and Mattamy) and like floor plans from each. Does anyone have experience with these builders and the quality of their homes? How energy efficient are they? What was your experience working with them? Do they really pay attention to the details of the house?

Specifically, we are wanting to build a 2 story house between 1900 and 2500 square feet, and we hope to keep the price under 250k, so we are looking at the more modest plans for Nocatee.

Any other home-buying advice or thoughts on Nocatee are welcome, since this is our first!

[Peter the Brit]

My advice may seem to be motivated by self gain but that is the burden of my job. Make sure you have representation as the builder will have his agent and he/she will not represent you especially if there is a dispute or delay. You may be able to negotiate a better deal or some improved specification or upgrades.
Go into the sub division where you want to build and talk to residents and ask their experiences.

[bnassau]

We are in almost the same situation ourselves! We live in an apartment in southside and since we are expecting our first child in June we decided to stop throwing the money down the drain on a ritzy apartment and buy a house. We are also in our 20's and this will be our first house. We choose Nocatee becasue of it's proximity to both the beach AND excellent schools. We also choose to build with David Weekley in a newer neighborhood called Kelly Point which seems to be quite nice. We choose KP simply because it is only 3 miles from the area where the "Towncenter" is being developed and where there are currently already some buisnesses including publix established. We are both avid runners and enjoy the outdoors in general so it seemed like a great idea being that we can walk/run/bicycle to any of the above including the gym and waterpark from our home =)
We also choose DW above MANY other builders because they seemed to "Bend over backwards" to help us get not only what we wanted, but at a great price. They have been very helpful and our sales agent, Kevin, has worked very hard to get us any "extras" he could. i can honestly say the house we are building is EXACTLY what we wanted, and for a reasonable price.
One thing i did noticed about Nocatee in general, is that for that budget range, which is what we were working with as well (another ironic coincidence) it was hard to find many compatable 2 story houses, and none with DW. All that we saw in the 2 story floorplan was usually a bit out of that range. However, with anything there are always exceptions. Other than DW, Taylor Morrison was another awesome builder and was the other one we had narrowed it down to to build with ourselves. Good luck!

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by Phantom16

My wife and I are looking to build in Nocatee late this year (likely in Greenleaf Village), hoping that the market doesn't suddenly skyrocket anytime soon. Currently, we live in an apartment in Southside Jacksonville and really don't have an immediate need to move, we just want to get into a house so we can start building equity, plus we are getting sick of apartment living.

We love the Nocatee area and its location and think the CDD and HOA fees are justifiable given the amenities. We are in our mid 20's, and this will be our first house, and one we hope to be in for quite a long time (preferably 10+ years). We have talked with several builders (David Weekly, Providence, and Mattamy) and like floor plans from each. Does anyone have experience with these builders and the quality of their homes? How energy efficient are they? What was your experience working with them? Do they really pay attention to the details of the house?

Specifically, we are wanting to build a 2 story house between 1900 and 2500 square feet, and we hope to keep the price under 250k, so we are looking at the more modest plans for Nocatee.

Any other home-buying advice or thoughts on Nocatee are welcome, since this is our first!

Please see my post on Nocatee: //www.city-data.com/forum/jacks...l#post18185241

This may help you make a decision.

[Phantom16]

Originally Posted by ShakenStirred

Please see my post on Nocatee: //www.city-data.com/forum/jacks...l#post18185241

This may help you make a decision.

Wow, very interesting. Thank you for the reference. I'm leaning towards David Weekly more and more. I hear nothing but good about them.

I hadn't really considered Kelly Pointe due to the cost of the 2 story homes. However, I'm starting to wonder if it would be better to build a single story house there versus a 2-story in Greenleaf. Are the lot sizes larger? I would like being closer to the town center, and I'm not sure how big I am on having an elementary school visible from my house (not that I would care much, but I'm thinking resale value)...

[hlauburn]

Originally Posted by Phantom16

Wow, very interesting. Thank you for the reference. I'm leaning towards David Weekly more and more. I hear nothing but good about them.

I hadn't really considered Kelly Pointe due to the cost of the 2 story homes. However, I'm starting to wonder if it would be better to build a single story house there versus a 2-story in Greenleaf. Are the lot sizes larger? I would like being closer to the town center, and I'm not sure how big I am on having an elementary school visible from my house (not that I would care much, but I'm thinking resale value)...

I think the KP lots may be a little larger than GV, but not a huge difference. KP is a little closer to the Town Center and waterpark, but GV is really accessible to Hwy 1 (to 9A, the mall, Walmart etc). As for the school, it's a loooong way off, so it won't be an issue for awhile, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's never built. (According to St J County schools, the next school to be built in Nocatee is a K-8 near the waterpark). Anyway, that elementary would be right off the main road and since GV is set back off the road, most houses probably wouldn't even be able to see it. While I understand what you mean when you say that may affect resale value, just having an elementary school within walking distance might be a real appeal to a lot of buyers.

Anyway, just some thoughts! I also hear great things about David Weekley. I think you would be happy in either neighborhood, but KP might be considered the nicer neighborhood.

[Robyn55]

Just curious - as a muni bond investor - does anyone know what would happen to homeowners if the CDD bonds defaulted (entirely possible - they're junk munis now). I don't. I think it's a pretty important issue in terms of what a homeowners' future obligations might be. Robyn

[bnassau]

Originally Posted by Phantom16

I hadn't really considered Kelly Pointe due to the cost of the 2 story homes. However, I'm starting to wonder if it would be better to build a single story house there versus a 2-story in Greenleaf. Are the lot sizes larger? I would like being closer to the town center, and I'm not sure how big I am on having an elementary school visible from my house (not that I would care much, but I'm thinking resale value)...

Thats exactly how we felt until we saw the SIZE of the 1 story house we could get as well as the quality instead of a measily 2 story one. There is way more square footage to our home, the "MORROW" floorplan by david weekley. As far as lot sizes, we looked at all the neighborhoods in our pricerange, same as yours, and KP had by far the largest available lot sizes. The houses in greenleaf were basically what looked like only 3 feet apart, haha.
And they ARE actually building that school but it will be a k-8 grade one to be built across from Austin Park.

[hlauburn]

Originally Posted by bnassau

And they ARE actually building that school but it will be a k-8 grade one to be built across from Austin Park.

I'll believe it when I see it! I was told the first school would be a K-8 built near Coastal Oaks and the one across from Austin Park was an elementary. I'd take either one though! I spoke with SJC school directly and at that time, they had no plans for a new school within the next few years.

I hope you're right though! I'd love to have a school so close!

[Phantom16]

Originally Posted by bnassau

Thats exactly how we felt until we saw the SIZE of the 1 story house we could get as well as the quality instead of a measily 2 story one. There is way more square footage to our home, the "MORROW" floorplan by david weekley. As far as lot sizes, we looked at all the neighborhoods in our pricerange, same as yours, and KP had by far the largest available lot sizes. The houses in greenleaf were basically what looked like only 3 feet apart, haha.
And they ARE actually building that school but it will be a k-8 grade one to be built across from Austin Park.

Hmm...something more to think about. Buying a house is hard

Thanks again for your input. Maybe we'll be neighbors someday!