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What part of St. John's County are you looking at? If it's the St. Augustine area then the Property Mgt. company I use would be good for you. PM me if you'd like the name.
You might have a problem finding a rental that would want to sell to you in a year...I believe that my current tenants mentioned the same thing to the Prop. Mgr. when they signed the lease. My take, on reading between the lines, means that after a year they might want to offer an under-market amount to buy the place & stay in it...Not gonna happen, in my situation. Market value is currently about $40,000 less than what I paid. And my guess would be that they'd offer quite a bit less than that since there wouldn't be all that bother of listing it, etc. In my case, I really don't have any interest in taking a big loss - it's not underwater because I put a huge downpayment on the house, but I have no interest in flushing $40,000-50,000 down the sewer to sell the house...
Absoultely. I totally understand what you are saying. I have a few friends here in the same boat. But you never know - a girl can dream! I'm PM'ing you for that name
We are headed home to Chicago from St. Augustine tomorrow.
Well it has been fun. Florida's weather is beautiful. We've been here in St. Augustine for about a week, we have had a wonderful time. We actually rented a condo, just south of St. Augustine In Cresent Beach. The condo was very reasonable, just $800 for the week, right on the beach with a nice pool. Very clean quiet place, we would stay here again. As you head down south from the city to Cresent Beach their are plenty of smaller restaurants, liquor stores, grocery places and convenient stores along the way. We stocked up on the necessities and were good to go. If we were purely vacationing, we would not have left the area of the condo it is very peaceful. Nice people, a few families, but mostly senior citizens. Great area down A1A south of Cresent, you can watch the guys fly across the ocean while wind surfing, so very cool.
I'll check in a bit later and comment on our house hunting trip. It was an eye opener to say the least.
mcallahan: I was surprised to learn that you stayed so far south of the area where you seemed interested in looking, but it was good to hear that you had an enjoyable experience in Crescent Beach, which is just beyond where I live. I'm very curious to read your post about your househunting experience. Hope you have a good trip home.
Continuing on with our trip to St. Johns, we visited downtown St. Augustine.
In St. Augustine, in the smaller down town area specifically, Is an absolute tourist's heaven if your looking for a touristy atmosphere. Everyone is very very nice. Everything is localized, the shops are all situated in a neat little square and the downtown neighborhood is very safe. There are hundreds of little shops and many restaurants to visit. On the surface it looks great.
There are a few actual historic places that catch your attention while your in the square and the place looks old timey and it feels authentic. You will come across an authentic old bulding or two. You'll find a greek shrine and the oldest schoolhouse in your travels. The downtown shops however, left some things to be desired. I found that many of the shops were filled with cheap china made summer dresses and costume jewlery. There were typical t- shirt shops, ice cream shops and pizza places. Very few of the shops offered an original St. Augustine flair but I will say that the hat shop is fabulous, my boys found the weapons shop to be fantastic and the actual "period" clothing, trinket, and weapons shop was cool. The cigar shop had an authentic Cuban shopkeeper and offered up excellent hand rolled as well as other well known good cigars. The prices were very reasonable. Within the square was the Columbian Restaurant, one of the few finer diner places; the service was good and the food was good too. Take advantage of the experts when you visit. I would strongly suggest a trolley tour, in addition to walking the area, this will take you around the expanded downtown area. The tour will get you all the history and will bring out the speciality of the town. You can't miss the fort, I recommend going on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday when they shoot the canons off every hour or two.
Their is much more to St. Johns County and St. Augustine as you spread out - and get out of downtown. I felt much more comfortable out of the downtown area as my travels continued. It does get better. I'll check in again later and add the details of my great shopping trip, my eye opening house hunting trip, and my visits with my son to the area schools. Stay tuned.
I'll check in a bit later and comment on our house hunting trip. It was an eye opener to say the least.
I think I'd like to say first that we looked at rental homes within a specific dollar range. $1300-$1900 per month. We did not do an exhaustive search. This trip was meant to give us an overall feel for the place and we said if we got lucky we might find exactly what we wanted and would jump on it. That did not happen. Also, these are my experiences and yours will be different. These are my feelings and may or may not be in agreement with yours. Don't be a hater and post how I am wrong, I can't be wrong, this is how I feel.
We looked at 10 homes over a period of 2 days, 5 on one day, 5 the next. Overall, this was a very small sampling of the homes that were available. We could have looked at 30 homes in this price range. I chose not to, and I ruled out homes that did not meet my specific requirements.
I'd also like to say that I have a heightened taste level. I'm a bit spoiled. I have owned my own homes over the past 20 years. I have totally gut and rebuilt two homes to my own liking. Ive been a surburbanite, a city dweller, a historic land owner, even an apartment dweller. I have bought and sold homes, and have been a landlord.
I went looking for:
3+ Bedrooms
2+ Bathrooms
Living Room/Dining Room Combo
Kitchen/Family Room Combo
Must allow Dogs
A larger fenced yard
Amenities or a home with A Pool
2+ Car Garage
Upgraded Kitchen - Tile, Counter tops, Cabinets, etc.
This was my must have list. I only found 1 that met all my requirements. I'll talk about that in a bit.
I took the whole of St. Johns County into account in my search, but I stuck to the north east and north west of the area. I Only went as south as World Golf Villiage and did not look at inner St. Augustine or the island at all. We focused on the areas that would give us access to Creekside, Bartram, Nease, or Ponte Verde High Schools.
As you go west and north from St. Augustine, the area itself is vast and wide open. You feel surrounded by forest and country as you drive down the county roads. It does not feel like city at all and of course it is not the city. You can not survive in this part of town without a car. There are no sidewalks and you wouldn't want to bike down these roads either, the traffic moves like lightening and when it gets dark, it's black. You drive down the roads and then towards an intersection a mini mall will pop up that has the bank and the cleaners. Then you drive through more roads with trees and you find the publix grocery store and little shops around that. It's trees and country then a mini mall or a business, more trees and then the opening to a sub division. More fast roads with trees and another opening to a sub division. No small town feeling at all until you go inside the sub divisions - then you find yourself in a surburban dream, cookie cutter, one house after another on cul de sacs off an ever winding road. You can see the amenities from the road as you enter the bigger developments.
I only looked at ten homes in total. Eight with my real estate agent and two from Craigslist. I did cover a lot of territory. I will mention those things that stood out to me, and again I did not do a full evaluation of each area. I will say however, that there is not much difference between homes in the same sub divisions in the same price ranges. I was blown away by how similar they all were.
I will give you these general impressions (and this is how people get in trouble with their generalizations, but here I go) the houses are all the same, centralized around one big great room off the kitchen, with probably a dining room (and if your lucky a front room) and then small bedrooms branching off of one side, and the bigger master branching off the other. That's it. That's the truth.
Most of them had linoleum in the kitchens and bathrooms and low pile beige carpet in the bedrooms and great room. In terms of the kitchens, most had solid surface countertops or Formica. Granite is not the norm here but I did see one with marble. Ceramic is not the norm in this price range either, nor is hard wood flooring. Some had laminate floors made to look like hardwood. They have either linoleum or carpet. The homes had some ceramic in the front hall, but it was limited to about ten tiles as you walk in the front door. They all have metal sliding doors to the back yard off the great room and all the interior doors are the hollow white ones. Most dont have crown molding around the rooms but the walls are all painted in pretty colors in the main areas. The cabinets are standard hard wood fronts. Most were 42" but some still have the shorter ones. Most had more modern looking cabinet fronts but some were stuck with that 80's golden square look. Crown molding on the cabinets was rare. The appliances are all electric, most are in white matching the other pieces. The better ones had stainless. A few had built in microwaves, but not all. They all had double top mount sinks of various colors. The faucet hardware in both bathrooms and kitchens were all standard issue. The bathrooms all had double vanities in the master, most had separate shower with metal encasements (the rarer find was all glass) the tubs are plastic and on the shorter side. Most master bathrooms had at least one huge closet (the better homes had two)and again, most were linoleum. The 2nd bathrooms were purely standard issue with plastic tub surrounds and white wooden cabinets. No ceramic on the walls, tub or floor. The garages are all great' with 2 car slots. Most had water softeners and all but one had sprinkling systems. Most rentals in this price range do not come with a washer and dryer. They all have hookups, but it was rare to get the appliances already there. Yard space is at a premium here, I was surprised by this. Most have very small yards that back up to either a man made pond, or your neighbor, or the forest. Fencing is also at a premium, a built in pool in this price range is rare. Screened in areas, like linais were rare too but I saw a few. Most were uncovered right out the back door to either a bit of concrete or grassy areas. Most were all standard builder grade.
The differences come with the finishes that you find inside each of the homes. Ceramic tile, glass showers, 42" cabinets, cast iron tubs, crown molding, hard wood floors, granite countertops, french doors, screened lanai, covered openings, built in microwaves, stainless appliances, screened lanais, yard space, or even laminate floors; these are all upgrades to what I saw and were either done by the owner or by request to the builder.
Ok, don't get me wrong here. These houses are nice. They are clean and open and modernish. If you are looking for a standard builder grade home to rent you will find one and get one on your first day looking. I could have rented any of these but I am very picky and definitely looking for an upgraded home. On my next trip I will either have to increase my budget or get the stick out of my butt and remember that I'm renting for now (temporarily for a year) and not buying these homes. I will have to make some serious compromises to stay on budget.
Although most had minimal or no upgrades, the nicer homes I saw had a combination of the upgrades I've talked about. The other premium is land and as I mentioned I was a bit taken a back by this. There seems to be a trade off at this price range with amenities and land. In the bigger developments (I will mention World Golf Village here) the yard space was very tiny. (Again, at this price range in this development) You literally open your back door and you are 25 feet from your neighbor straight across and 15 feet from one on either side.
I did not expect this, in terms of land there seems to be so much of it, but when you get inside this sub division you are on top of each other. One house right next to the other with 50 foot wide lots and maybe 25 feet to the back of your neighbor. The exception to this is and other developments is when you back up to the forest (which I would highly recommend) or if you back up to the man made lakes. Then you get the space all the way to the water or to however far back it is fenced to the water and it feels eternally better in terms of space and PRIVACY. Privacy being a very big concern for us, I believe it is essential to ones happiness In a sub division.
I'll check in later and give you some play by play action on the different homes we looked at. Stay tuned.
Not sure where your going with this ... but ... thats what you get in that price range. A standard suburban home nothing overtly ostentatious but not a mobile home either. Either raise your rent limit, or lower your expectations!
I think I'd like to say first that we looked at rental homes within a specific dollar range. $1300-$1900 per month. We did not do an exhaustive search. This trip was meant to give us an overall feel for the place and we said if we got lucky we might find exactly what we wanted and would jump on it. That did not happen. Also, these are my experiences and yours will be different. These are my feelings and may or may not be in agreement with yours. Don't be a hater and post how I am wrong, I can't be wrong, this is how I feel.
We looked at 10 homes over a period of 2 days, 5 on one day, 5 the next. Overall, this was a very small sampling of the homes that were available. We could have looked at 30 homes in this price range. I chose not to, and I ruled out homes that did not meet my specific requirements.
I'd also like to say that I have a heightened taste level. I'm a bit spoiled. I have owned my own homes over the past 20 years. I have totally gut and rebuilt two homes to my own liking. Ive been a surburbanite, a city dweller, a historic land owner, even an apartment dweller. I have bought and sold homes, and have been a landlord.
I went looking for:
3+ Bedrooms
2+ Bathrooms
Living Room/Dining Room Combo
Kitchen/Family Room Combo
Must allow Dogs
A larger fenced yard
Amenities or a home with A Pool
2+ Car Garage
Upgraded Kitchen - Tile, Counter tops, Cabinets, etc.
This was my must have list. I only found 1 that met all my requirements. I'll talk about that in a bit.
I took the whole of St. Johns County into account in my search, but I stuck to the north east and north west of the area. I Only went as south as World Golf Villiage and did not look at inner St. Augustine or the island at all. We focused on the areas that would give us access to Creekside, Bartram, Nease, or Ponte Verde High Schools.
As you go west and north from St. Augustine, the area itself is vast and wide open. You feel surrounded by forest and country as you drive down the county roads. It does not feel like city at all and of course it is not the city. You can not survive in this part of town without a car. There are no sidewalks and you wouldn't want to bike down these roads either, the traffic moves like lightening and when it gets dark, it's black. You drive down the roads and then towards an intersection a mini mall will pop up that has the bank and the cleaners. Then you drive through more roads with trees and you find the publix grocery store and little shops around that. It's trees and country then a mini mall or a business, more trees and then the opening to a sub division. More fast roads with trees and another opening to a sub division. No small town feeling at all until you go inside the sub divisions - then you find yourself in a surburban dream, cookie cutter, one house after another on cul de sacs off an ever winding road. You can see the amenities from the road as you enter the bigger developments.
I only looked at ten homes in total. Eight with my real estate agent and two from Craigslist. I did cover a lot of territory. I will mention those things that stood out to me, and again I did not do a full evaluation of each area. I will say however, that there is not much difference between homes in the same sub divisions in the same price ranges. I was blown away by how similar they all were.
I will give you these general impressions (and this is how people get in trouble with their generalizations, but here I go) the houses are all the same, centralized around one big great room off the kitchen, with probably a dining room (and if your lucky a front room) and then small bedrooms branching off of one side, and the bigger master branching off the other. That's it. That's the truth.
Most of them had linoleum in the kitchens and bathrooms and low pile beige carpet in the bedrooms and great room. In terms of the kitchens, most had solid surface countertops or Formica. Granite is not the norm here but I did see one with marble. Ceramic is not the norm in this price range either, nor is hard wood flooring. Some had laminate floors made to look like hardwood. They have either linoleum or carpet. The homes had some ceramic in the front hall, but it was limited to about ten tiles as you walk in the front door. They all have metal sliding doors to the back yard off the great room and all the interior doors are the hollow white ones. Most dont have crown molding around the rooms but the walls are all painted in pretty colors in the main areas. The cabinets are standard hard wood fronts. Most were 42" but some still have the shorter ones. Most had more modern looking cabinet fronts but some were stuck with that 80's golden square look. Crown molding on the cabinets was rare. The appliances are all electric, most are in white matching the other pieces. The better ones had stainless. A few had built in microwaves, but not all. They all had double top mount sinks of various colors. The faucet hardware in both bathrooms and kitchens were all standard issue. The bathrooms all had double vanities in the master, most had separate shower with metal encasements (the rarer find was all glass) the tubs are plastic and on the shorter side. Most master bathrooms had at least one huge closet (the better homes had two)and again, most were linoleum. The 2nd bathrooms were purely standard issue with plastic tub surrounds and white wooden cabinets. No ceramic on the walls, tub or floor. The garages are all great' with 2 car slots. Most had water softeners and all but one had sprinkling systems. Most rentals in this price range do not come with a washer and dryer. They all have hookups, but it was rare to get the appliances already there. Yard space is at a premium here, I was surprised by this. Most have very small yards that back up to either a man made pond, or your neighbor, or the forest. Fencing is also at a premium, a built in pool in this price range is rare. Screened in areas, like linais were rare too but I saw a few. Most were uncovered right out the back door to either a bit of concrete or grassy areas. Most were all standard builder grade.
The differences come with the finishes that you find inside each of the homes. Ceramic tile, glass showers, 42" cabinets, cast iron tubs, crown molding, hard wood floors, granite countertops, french doors, screened lanai, covered openings, built in microwaves, stainless appliances, screened lanais, yard space, or even laminate floors; these are all upgrades to what I saw and were either done by the owner or by request to the builder.
Ok, don't get me wrong here. These houses are nice. They are clean and open and modernish. If you are looking for a standard builder grade home to rent you will find one and get one on your first day looking. I could have rented any of these but I am very picky and definitely looking for an upgraded home. On my next trip I will either have to increase my budget or get the stick out of my butt and remember that I'm renting for now (temporarily for a year) and not buying these homes. I will have to make some serious compromises to stay on budget.
Although most had minimal or no upgrades, the nicer homes I saw had a combination of the upgrades I've talked about. The other premium is land and as I mentioned I was a bit taken a back by this. There seems to be a trade off at this price range with amenities and land. In the bigger developments (I will mention World Golf Village here) the yard space was very tiny. (Again, at this price range in this development) You literally open your back door and you are 25 feet from your neighbor straight across and 15 feet from one on either side.
I did not expect this, in terms of land there seems to be so much of it, but when you get inside this sub division you are on top of each other. One house right next to the other with 50 foot wide lots and maybe 25 feet to the back of your neighbor. The exception to this is and other developments is when you back up to the forest (which I would highly recommend) or if you back up to the man made lakes. Then you get the space all the way to the water or to however far back it is fenced to the water and it feels eternally better in terms of space and PRIVACY. Privacy being a very big concern for us, I believe it is essential to ones happiness In a sub division.
I'll check in later and give you some play by play action on the different homes we looked at. Stay tuned.
While your post is an interesting read and definitely helpful to someone coming into the area looking to rent, it simply comes down to the fact that in the price range you mentioned, you are going to have a hard time finding the "upgrades" you want in the area you're looking in.
With the housing market the way it is and a lot of people moving into the area either not able or wanting to buy right away, the rental market (esp in SJC) is pretty competitive from what I can tell. For instance, the house across the street from us would meet all of your criteria (plus some) and it rented out within days for $2400 a month.
Maybe you could get in touch with a realtor who would be able to find more homes with the things you're looking for. I'm sure there's something out there you could "live with" for a year even though it might not be the prefect fit. Hope you have better luck on your next search.
IMO, you accomplished a lot in your first short 'introduction" visit and your description of the NW St. Johns County landscape is quite accurate. I especially smiled at your "fast roads" comment. You have now seen what your beginning price range will get for you and can adjust accordingly for your next visit. Rental prices have risen everywhere in St. Johns County since foreclosures escalated and finding a nice rental house whose landlord will accept a dog is becoming more of a challenge. Your next trip will be a more knowledgeable one. Looking forward to hearing your school visit comments.
We were house-hunting for a rental in your same price range a couple of years ago. Our experience was exactly the same as yours. What we finally learned was that many of the homes in this area were built during the boom in the '03-'06 timeframe, when people were building houses fast with essentially no upgrades---because they were already paying so much just for the house. We are now building a house in Durbin Crossing and since it is "post-bubble" we are getting all the upgrades we've ever dreamed of and more, for an incredibly low price.
Also keep in mind that home prices in this area are elevated because of the school system. I know many people that moved here because the public schools are even better than the private schools they had been sending their kids to.
If you are planning to eventually buy, try not to get too depressed by the rental market. It is not representative of what's out there that you can buy or build when you're ready. In Durbin Crossing I don't think there's a single house on our street that doesn't have granite.
By the way... Our current home in Julington Creek Plantatin will be available for rent in August when our new house is finished, in case you're interested!!
Also, I meant to mention that in Julington Creek Plantation, $1900/month should be able to get you what you're looking for, but I don't know about other areas.
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We are headed home to Chicago from St. Augustine tomorrow.
Continuing on with our trip to St. Johns, we visited downtown St. Augustine.
