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Old 01-07-2018, 01:41 PM
 
6 posts, read 23,813 times
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Hi all,

Our youngest child is starting college this year so we are finally ready to make the move to a tax friendly, affordable and warmer state! A colleague of mine mentioned Ponte Vedra. We took a trip down there last month and came across Nocatee and absolutely loved it! Clean, new, fun, bright and affordable (at least compared to NJ real estate). I’ve been reading a bunch of these threads and overall the feedback seems pretty positive. I would love to hear anything and everything that you can share.

1 - kids are grown but we’d like extra bedrooms when they visit.

2 - 500-600k budget.

3 - I’d rather not do Del Webb (not quite 55 anyway):

4 - Would love to hear from NY / NJ folks. My wife is still nervous about moving out of our comfort zone - more progressive, socially liberal environment. I’m trying to convince her that Florida is a ‘swing state’ and not complete red LOL. Seems like a lot of northeast transplants in Nocatee anyway but would love some feedback from anyone that made the move.

5 - Toll Brothers does some good work in NJ but I’m reading mixed reviews on these forums. David Weekly seems to have a great reputation. Am I on the right track?

6 - We took a drive through Pallencia and loved it as well but we are leaning towards Nocatee. Anyone have input on Pallencia?

7 - Alligators, snakes, things that attack you in the backyard? Is any of that true or is it just stuff that you see on the Animal Channel?

8 - Tell me about the diversity. We’d like a diverse environment religious, ethnic etc.....I didn’t get that feel at all from hanging out at the Nocatee Town Center.

9- Anyone concerned about resale? Let’s say we live there for a few years and decide it’s not for us. With new housing going up all over the place, is that a concern?

10 - Is Ponte Vedra considered an upscale area? It definelty appears that way but what’s the real story? Any crime, safety concerns?

11 - I am completely confused on CDD, Bond fees and HOA. Here in NJ we pay property taxes and an HOA fee for our townhouse. I saw a few posts that say watch out for CDD (if I’m even using the right term). What does this mean and what do I need to watch out for?

Anything you could share would be great - I’d love to hear it all! Thanks so much.

Last edited by camster99; 01-07-2018 at 02:16 PM..
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Old 01-07-2018, 02:33 PM
 
Location: Ponte Vedra
110 posts, read 144,798 times
Reputation: 222
HI! We are NY natives. We moved here 4 yrs ago to Nocatee and we did end leaving to over the bridge to PV Beach, BUT nocatee is great. You have to want that community feel though and for us, we were not taking advantage of all it had to offer because our kids are still home and we travel a lot for their sports and work.

I would love to chat, give you the pros and cons but often the Nocatee threads here get vicious because people are usually biased one way or the other. My husband however is in real estate so we have to understand all aspects from both sides or we would never feed our family! Lol.

Palencia is another one of my favorite places and the amenities are amazing! CDDs are high though bc even with builders claiming "We pay off your CDD" they are only paying the bond portion and the Opps and Maintenance in Palencia is some of the highest around - I can explain that more in depth, but trust me on this one - CDDs NEVER fully go away and a lot of builders and real estate folks don't explain that well.

Your price range is great for Nocatee - 20 Mile is the big hype right now, but they have launched a few other great neighborhoods just south of Coastal Oaks and if you are not using the St Johns schools, you may want to consider The Palms - it is in the Duval side of Nocatee and way better priced because of it! I have empty nester friends that moved there and love it. It is NOT age restricted but definitely gets you a bit more for your money.

Resale - that can go either way. If you want to buy a resale there are some great deals right now, but understand they will be building there for another 10 years so competition to sell and offer the same incentives will be hard unless you stay that long. The builders offer "incentives" like no closing costs and design center money, but fact is that the $15k floor you do with them could be done after you close with a tile guy for about half! Incentives are merely convenience selling points in my opinion and for the right buyer they are 110% worth it. Most people that buy new are not looking to "re-do" a house so there is that convenience factor.

You will not regret moving here - whether Nocatee, Palencia or even PVB. As a NY native and someone who spent 15 years out west, I can tell you that this is our favorite place. ;-)
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Old 01-08-2018, 09:32 AM
 
Location: Flahrida
6,276 posts, read 4,764,503 times
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NY native as well. First of all you must differentiate between Ponte Vedra and Ponte Vedra Beach as they are totally different. Ponte Vedra Beach, the majority of which is the area between the Intracostal and the Ocean south of JTB and North of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve and is Zip Code 32082. It also includes Palm Valley. Ponte Vedra is across the Intracostal and includes Nocatee and the general area between the Intracostal and Route 1, north of Pine Island Road and South of the undeveloped area. Ponte Vedra Beach has many expensive homes, awesome gated golf communities like March Landing, Sawgrass, TPC and the Plantation and is generally much more established plus it borders the ocean but access is limited. Ponte Vedra is a relatively new area consisting of Nocatee and a few other communities. I strongly recommend you spend a few days visiting the area. Nocatee, which we looked at, is better for families as it is farther from the Ocean. I personally don't care for postage stamp yards and cookie cuter communities devoid of trees. If you must have a new house Nocatee is the way to go. If you don't mind an older house that may need some work but has a large yard and established community check out Ponte Vedra Beach. Nocatee has limited beach access (Mickler Beach) which is packed most of the time. Ponte Vedra Beach gives you the option of Jax, Atlantic or Neptune Beaches.
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Old 01-08-2018, 11:06 AM
 
9,272 posts, read 8,170,071 times
Reputation: 18910
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thundarr457 View Post
NY native as well. First of all you must differentiate between Ponte Vedra and Ponte Vedra Beach as they are totally different. Ponte Vedra Beach, the majority of which is the area between the Intracostal and the Ocean south of JTB and North of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve and is Zip Code 32082. It also includes Palm Valley. Ponte Vedra is across the Intracostal and includes Nocatee and the general area between the Intracostal and Route 1, north of Pine Island Road and South of the undeveloped area. Ponte Vedra Beach has many expensive homes, awesome gated golf communities like March Landing, Sawgrass, TPC and the Plantation and is generally much more established plus it borders the ocean but access is limited. Ponte Vedra is a relatively new area consisting of Nocatee and a few other communities. I strongly recommend you spend a few days visiting the area. Nocatee, which we looked at, is better for families as it is farther from the Ocean. I personally don't care for postage stamp yards and cookie cuter communities devoid of trees. If you must have a new house Nocatee is the way to go. If you don't mind an older house that may need some work but has a large yard and established community check out Ponte Vedra Beach. Nocatee has limited beach access (Mickler Beach) which is packed most of the time. Ponte Vedra Beach gives you the option of Jax, Atlantic or Neptune Beaches.
This post needs to be pinned as so many people don't understand the difference between PV and PVB and think Nocatee is a beach community. Well said.
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Old 01-08-2018, 01:16 PM
 
Location: NE FL
1,555 posts, read 2,123,621 times
Reputation: 1374
We moved from NJ (Bergen county) in 8/2015 to Ponte Vedra Beach (PVB) and as Thundarr457 mentioned, people here will ask you which Ponte Vedra you're talking about if you just say Ponte Vedra. Some folks in PVB talk down about Nocatee, mostly because of the traffic that comes this way when they come over the intercoastal/Palm Valley Bridge. I often hear my wife utter "damn Nocatee people!" when traffic backs up in the Palm Valley section of PVB. It really doesn't bother me either way. Traffic here is mild in comparison to NJ.

Like most, we did a ton of research and ultimately ruled out Nocatee due to resale concerns among other things. The whole master planned community concept (plus CDD + HOA) didn't sit well with us and we wanted to be as close to the beach as possible. I'm sure Nocatee is a great place to live. We have friends in 20 mile/Coastal Oaks and they seem to like it over there.

Don't worry about alligators. They won't bother you as long as you're not wading in the retention ponds/marshes (and no one ever goes in there for fun). Do worry about stepping on snakes. Water Moccasins, Pygmy Rattlers and Copperheads are venomous and you'll more than likely come across one at some point if you're out and about your property. I personally killed 3 water moccasins in 2016 (two 4 footers and a baby). None this past year.

Diversity: Not so much but I'm Japanese (very much Americanized) and feel like I fit in here but then again I grew up and lived in a predominantly white Christian/Catholic area in NJ since the 80s so take that for what it's worth. Definitely a strong conservative base in this area but my liberal wife and her semi-liberal parents who live in PVB, get along just fine with their conservative friends so long as no one brings up politics.

Crime & Safety: No concerns.

CDD & HOA: Yes, you'll have both in Nocatee. Bond portion of the CDD will go away at some point but operating & maintenance fees will NOT as Jax2PVB alluded to above so keep that in mind. No CDDs in Ponte Vedra Beach and some areas are not governed by HOA: ie. most homes on Roscoe Blvd, Old Ponte Vedra (homes north of Corona, east of A1A), Neck Rd, Ponte Vedra Blvd etc.

Last edited by Ivan Putski; 01-08-2018 at 01:49 PM..
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Old 01-08-2018, 03:11 PM
 
6 posts, read 23,813 times
Reputation: 15
Thanks everyone for the responses. Great feedback from the NY / NJ folks (Ivan, I'm in Bergen County as well)!

My wife definitely wants a community rather than just a 'house on a street'. For me; however, all I want it low taxes, warm weather and much more for my $$. We loved our visit to Nocatee (everything just looked beautiful and this whole golf cart thing is awesome). I didn't spend any time looking at Ponte Vedra Beach but I'll definitely pull up some listings.

Are there any master planned communities in PVB? Again, my wife wants some type of a community feel with a pool, clubhouse etc......

I am not a big fan of the 'cookie cutter' houses but I didn't get that feel at all in Coastal Oaks or Twenty Mile.

Keep the feedback coming, I appreciate it. Basically, I'm looking for the 'real' information that I wouldn't necessarily get from a realtor or a website.
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Old 01-08-2018, 03:13 PM
 
318 posts, read 464,329 times
Reputation: 815
Quote:
Originally Posted by camster99 View Post
Hi all,



1 - kids are grown but we’d like extra bedrooms when they visit.

2 - 500-600k budget.

3 - I’d rather not do Del Webb (not quite 55 anyway):

4 - Would love to hear from NY / NJ folks. My wife is still nervous about moving out of our comfort zone - more progressive, socially liberal environment. I’m trying to convince her that Florida is a ‘swing state’ and not complete red LOL. Seems like a lot of northeast transplants in Nocatee anyway but would love some feedback from anyone that made the move.

5 - Toll Brothers does some good work in NJ but I’m reading mixed reviews on these forums. David Weekly seems to have a great reputation. Am I on the right track?

6 - We took a drive through Pallencia and loved it as well but we are leaning towards Nocatee. Anyone have input on Pallencia?

7 - Alligators, snakes, things that attack you in the backyard? Is any of that true or is it just stuff that you see on the Animal Channel?

8 - Tell me about the diversity. We’d like a diverse environment religious, ethnic etc.....I didn’t get that feel at all from hanging out at the Nocatee Town Center.

9- Anyone concerned about resale? Let’s say we live there for a few years and decide it’s not for us. With new housing going up all over the place, is that a concern?

10 - Is Ponte Vedra considered an upscale area? It definelty appears that way but what’s the real story? Any crime, safety concerns?

11 - I am completely confused on CDD, Bond fees and HOA. Here in NJ we pay property taxes and an HOA fee for our townhouse. I saw a few posts that say watch out for CDD (if I’m even using the right term). What does this mean and what do I need to watch out for?

Anything you could share would be great - I’d love to hear it all! Thanks so much.
Toll Brothers is not so great EVERYWHERE. I'm originally from NJ later of Metro DC. Toll Brothers was big in DC area too... Several people I know who built with them had problems with quality control later. I think Toll had filed Chapter 11? David Weekly homes look very nice... pricey, but nice and well made.

We loved Palencia too... but couldn't find a house for us on our buying trip last year. Nocatee... kind of cookie cutter sterile, and packed with younger families with grade school kids. That's what we saw. Plus we don't like the planned Towne Center thing and the teeny tiny yards. Building new I would also be concerned about resale if you want to leave in the next few years. Can go either way, really. If you are set on Nocatee, you need to spend some time there, at least a week or more... and drive through the area different times of the day. Really, more than one visit to be certain.

Nocatee is not the true old "Ponte Vedra." Its new money. The old Ponte Vedra is up by Sawgrass, closer to the beach... and has an old Florida feel to it. At least we think so. Old money. $650+ for a nice home when we were looking.

As for ethnic diversity and your desire for a liberal progressive society such as the wonder state of NJ -- I don't know about ethic diversity here in St. Johns County, and really can't comment on that. I was just at Nocatee town center yesterday to meet a friend for lunch, and it felt like a suburb in South Jersey to me. Pretty crowded, too, on a Sunday afternoon. Is that why you like it, maybe? it reminds you of NJ?

Why are you talking politics with your neighbors? What does it really matter to you and/or your wife if you have Republicans next door? It shouldn't. Kind of a prejudicial and judgmental mindset before you even get here...
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Old 01-08-2018, 05:18 PM
 
655 posts, read 850,978 times
Reputation: 617
Hardly anyone in Nocatee is actually from Florida. It is a mix of a lot of nice people from all over the place and plenty from the northeast. It is very safe. If there is any sight of a strange looking person or someone doing anything remotely unsual (kids included), it goes on social media for everyone to talk about and make their own judgment if it is 'nocatee approved'. You can choose to ignore the aforementioned online gossip as most of it really doesn't solve any real world problems and often turns into a comedy zone.

It is a great location with quiet evenings and plenty of outdoor stuff during the day. I would say it's a great bang for buck community. In your price range, if you are willing to settle for a little less house, you can move a bit east to Ponte Vedra Beach (zip code 32082) and avoid the master planned community (32081) if that's not your thing.

I live in 20 mile which is the more 'rural' feeling part of Nocatee. It is still growing out and as mentioned, there are a few other pocket neighborhoods just breaking ground with a similar feel. All builers are national cookie cutter type but have some nice plans and some have some minor customizing along with endless upgrades. There are plenty of resales if you want to pick an existing house and there probably always will be.

Resale is probably average IMO and a lot depends on the market and how long the strong growth will continue. Schools are great and that is main driver IMO of why people are flocking to the area.
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Old 01-15-2018, 02:49 PM
 
6 posts, read 23,813 times
Reputation: 15
Thanks Gromicide, we took a drive through 20 mile when we were there last year and loved it (the entrance alone was very impressive). Can you tell me more about why you chose 20 mile over say Coastal Oaks, GreenLeaf etc.......?

We plan to visit PVB when we are down there in a few months but we are leaning more towards the master planned community. Again, Nocatee was very impressive when we looked last year so real world input is awesome.

I see some really nice listings (resales) in GreenLeaf. They appear to be bigger lots, more privacy etc...any thoughts on that?
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Old 01-15-2018, 06:09 PM
 
Location: Flahrida
6,276 posts, read 4,764,503 times
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Most of the resales in Nocatee are good deals because you are up against new construction. When we were looking there were some that were totally loaded with pools, screens, water views, a zillion upgrades and great landscaping for less that you could build it new. There are a few master planned communities coming online like Beachwalk which is built around a man made lagoon. I have driven by it a few times. Every master planned community needs a gimmick nowadays. Not to be outdone Nocatee has its new spray park coming this summer. Nocatee is very family oriented, and since ours are grown, it didn't appeal to us as much as someone with small children. I have read complaints about the public pools and areas overflowing with kids which is great if you have a young family. We seriously considered Nocatee and picked out a house with pool, screen, waterview for under 500k but the lot was 50 feet wide and when the area is built out it will be wall to wall houses with no trees and cookie cutter homes. We settled on a house in TPC which need tons of repairs, new windows, new floor etc but we have an almost half acre lot, neighbors not too close and no two houses look the same plus lots of mature landscaping. We will fix things up over the next few years but I wouldn't trade it for a new house. Your best bet is coming to the area and looking for yourself. Master planned communities are nice but remember they will get more and more crowded as the place is built out. Nocatee has been approved for 12,579 homes plus a few apartment buildings will be built. It is about 40% done so imagine 2.5 times as many people there eventually. IMHO all these developments look the same if you look past the fancy entrance and amenities. Thousands of cookie cutter houses and no trees. They look the same all over Florida. I am not knocking it because there are different strokes for different folks and if you have a family they are a nice option.
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