Moving to JAX in January, need some advice! (Jacksonville, St. Augustine: real estate market, apartments)

[JeannieW]

Hi guys, I have read alot of your posts on Jacksonville and found them very helpful. I just have a few questions....
I am moving to Jax after graduating Texas A&M this December. I am following my Navy sweatheart! We will be looking at houses within this next year. But the problem is this... I have been riding horses all my life and he is a surfer. He wants to live by the beach, I want to live more inland (where I assume most of the horse barns are.) Is there any parts of Jacksonville you could reccomend that is affordable (we are just starting out, need something in the 200k range or less!) and within 15-20 from the beach?
Also this is probably a stretch, but does anyone know of good horse boarding facilities? I need to find a place for my horse.
Also, I will probably be working in down town jax, I am concerned about traffic.
i am very excited about Jax, it sounds great... just need some guidance since I am in college still and can't go and visit to figure things out myself!

Thanks
Jeannie

[David in JAX]

Fellow Texan here. I don't know where the people keep their horses, but I see people riding near the beach all the time. There appears to be riding club on A1A in Ponte Vedra (right by the beach) and Jacksonville has a lot of riding clubs throughout the city. The good news is that you can get to the beach from any part of Jacksonville fairly quickly. So, if you aren't living at the beach you should be able to visit with ease.

Don't worry about the traffic if you will be working in downtown JAX. The traffic here is nothing compared to DFW, HOU or Austin. I work downtown and I can get in and out every day without hitting any traffic. One of the greatest things about JAX is the absence of traffic congestion.

The bad news is that the cost of living in JAX is absolutely shocking compared to Texas and the jobs here pay much less. Goods and services including groceries, cars, medical visits, etc. are about 25-50% more and houses are about double what they cost in Dallas & Houston. $200k doesn’t get you much in JAX. Right now, I don’t think you can get a home for $200k within 20 minutes of the beach, but home prices all around JAX are dropping VERY fast. If you rent for a year you will see home prices move much more into your favor.

Jacksonville should be a very easy transition from College Station. They are VERY similar, though Jacksonville is obviously much, much larger. Please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions, but I probably can’t answer questions about your horse.

[titaniummd]

If he is willing to have a long commute, there a lot of places in Green Cove Springs (Clay County) that is near St. Augustine (the beach). It is very rural.

[mawipafl]

I don't know the quality of boarding facilities, but this link gives a few to take a look at (some are located on the wrong side of town for you however):

Jacksonville Horse Farm, Jacksonville, Florida Horse Stables, FL Boarding Farms Showcase

Certainly it's not an exclusive list - I'm sure there are other places - but at least it's a place to start.

You could also contact large-animal vets and farriers for some advice. Two farriers are Mark Chesser [904-289-7632] and Charlie Gay [904-783-4689 or
800-601-1560]. Equine vet: MANDARIN EQUINE VETERINARY SERVICE; 3230 LORETTO ROAD; JACKSONVILLE, FL; phone: 904-292-4744

[riveree]

I think the picture above about horse boarding facitlities is pretty clear - while there are some spread throughout the city here and there (you'll have to search them out), in general, most horses live waaaaaay out from the city in the rural areas - you'd have to live significantly inland and away from most everything.

I think the better choice is to live near the beach and commute out to the horse facilities if you need to.

You'll be able to find a house within 20 minutes or so to the beach for $200k, but it will probably be an older home that needs updating. If there's anyway (family help, etc.) that you can go a bit higher - to $240k, $250k - you'll see a significant difference in the housing stock (better neighborhood, better condition home, etc.). Try searching online in these zips to get a feel for what you can buy within 15-20 minutes of the beach: 32225, 32246, 32224. There are other good zips in Jacksonville, but these will get you started and you can come inland from these if need be.

If you'll be working downtown, you might want to check out the neighborhoods just south of downtown. There are some adorable houses here and many of them would be suitable as starter homes for a young couple (cute little bungalows). $200k range will buy you a small, modest home that might need a bit of updating. You'd be about 30 minutes from the beach in these zips, but super-close to downtown: 32207 & 32217.


Jacksonville recently built an Equestrian Center that you might want to check out:

http://www.jaxevents.com/jacksonvilleequestriancenter/ (broken link)

[JeannieW]

Thank you all so much for your replies.
Thank you David for the info about the real estate market. I have heard that the market is dropping. Maybe it would be better to wait. Unfortunatley, the military calls for us to move every 3 years. My bf is dead set on buying. I am still on the fence... He wants to rent out the house after we leave. Any view points on this? I'm just a baby, I don't know anything about buying houses and such. He is older, knows alot more than I do, but I am still worried about taking a risk- allowing a stranger to live in my house, and tear it up.... and then what if we cant keep it rented out? eek...
I also heard it is not smart to buy a house unless you will be there atleast 3 years....
Thanks again
Jeannie

[riveree]

Originally Posted by JeannieW

Thank you all so much for your replies.
Thank you David for the info about the real estate market. I have heard that the market is dropping. Maybe it would be better to wait. Unfortunatley, the military calls for us to move every 3 years. My bf is dead set on buying. I am still on the fence... He wants to rent out the house after we leave. Any view points on this? I'm just a baby, I don't know anything about buying houses and such. He is older, knows alot more than I do, but I am still worried about taking a risk- allowing a stranger to live in my house, and tear it up.... and then what if we cant keep it rented out? eek...
I also heard it is not smart to buy a house unless you will be there atleast 3 years....
Thanks again
Jeannie

For higher-priced homes, especially BRAND NEW homes just being built, yes, in some parts of Jax they are dropping in price and MAY continue, but:

1) That's not true for all of Jacksonville - it changes from location to location, some of the more desireable areas are not dropping much at all.

2) You're not talking about a higher priced home, you're talking about a home in the $200k range - houses in this price range are barely dropping in price at all. It is hard to find a decent home in a decent area for $200k or less, so it's simple supply and demand, and the demand is still fairly high.

Should you wait? No, I don't think so. There is no guarantee that homes will drop any further but there IS a likelihood that rates will go up. The best time to buy is when you can afford to buy. Take your time, shop around well, make an offer for less than the asking price, but if you find a home you want to buy, buy it !

What if you're moving in 3 years? That's another issue. Ideally, you want to be able to hold onto a house for more than 3 years to ride out any dips in the market. You certainly don't want to overbuy or overextend yourself if you think you'll be selling again in 3 years. You also want to be sure you don't buy an "oddball" house - buy on a quiet street in a highly desireable location that will be easy to unload when you move. Be prepared for just breaking even - it could happen. Don't invest in a lot of upgrades expecting to make more money when you sell, it doesn't always work out that way.

Rent it out long distance? No way. If you're going to move, sell. Being a landlord is a j-o-b, and it's tough enough to do as it is, trying to do it from a distance is asking for trouble. Renters will ruin your house, they can't help themselves, they often don't know better (most have never been homeowners and they don't know how to care for a home). Renters will stop paying rent because their girlfriend moves out, or they just bought a car they can't afford or a million other reasons.....I speak from experience, being a landlord is not as easy as it looks .

[David in JAX]

I will give you several reasons why you should wait. I have lived here for just under two years, am a landlord, and am currently looking for a home. My wife and I bought our first home right before we got married and then sold it right after we moved here. So, I feel I can answer your question very soundly.
1. It's going to take you six months to a year to get to know the city. I found neighborhoods that I was in love with within three months only to find neighborhoods that I liked more later on. It took me about one year to really get the feel of where we want to live.
2. Being a landlord is tough and the profit margins are slim. Being an out of town landlord is even tougher. Jacksonville is just entering a rental recession where the vacancy rate on rental homes, rental condos and apartments has moved from about 5% to around 10%. You don't want to be in that 10% with a mortgage and I believe you will have a mortgage after just three years.
3. I disagree with Riveree on where prices are dropping and what price ranges. I received four flyers in the mail this morning of homes that "investors" are trying to sell ASAP. All were originally priced at just over $200k and all four are now priced below $100k. Now, these are not the best areas of town, but the "best" areas of town are being affected. In our personal search, we have seen prices drop from around $200/s.f. to $170/s.f. in the historic area of town. Where will it end, who knows. But, this "correction" is just getting underway and should really get started in October of this year. If you wait it out until the end of 2008, you will probably be in a very different RE market where you can take advantage of some fantastic deals.
4. I also don't think you should buy a home with a boyfriend until you are at least very close to being married. I'm not speaking from a moral perspective, but from an economic perspective. I wish you all the best, but what happens if you break up? Who gets the home? Who makes payments? Whos name is on the note? If you are both on the note, do you sell? It gets to be very sticky and complicated issue.

Hope this helps. Gig 'em.

[JeannieW]

Thanks David for the advice on the market. I def. think we will be looking into that more.
As for buying house with a bf. don't worry. we will def be married before I move in! As of now, The current status is bf....


I am glad to hear that we should wait. It seems unrealistic to think we could move there and find a place so soon. Especially a place that we can sell easily.

[JeannieW]

Thanks David for the advice on the market. I def. think we will be looking into that more.
As for buying house with a bf. don't worry. we will def be married before I move in! As of now, The current status is bf....


I am glad to hear that we should wait. It seems unrealistic to think we could move there and find a place so soon. Especially a place that we can sell easily.