Kensington or Murabella, St Augustine (Golf: for sale, HOA fees, houses)

[lvmy3grls]

Does anyone have any feedback on the Kensington area on Route 1 next to Palencia? We are thinking of moving there and are not familiar with the area. We were also thinking of Murabella as an alternative but are nervous about the CDD/HOA fees going crazy. Anyone have experience with either area? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[kort677]

Originally Posted by lvmy3grls

Does anyone have any feedback on the Kensington area on Route 1 next to Palencia? We are thinking of moving there and are not familiar with the area. We were also thinking of Murabella as an alternative but are nervous about the CDD/HOA fees going crazy. Anyone have experience with either area? Any help is greatly appreciated.

the only thing I can offer is that the palencia area is too remote for my tastes, other than that, there's nothing wrong with the area

[Jax]

I have a friend that lives in Murabella...not sure if this is a trend there or not, but her house has dropped in value by $80k since last summer. She's not too happy about it. Like Kort677 said regarding Palencia being too remote...I feel that way about Murabella. It seems pretty isolated, even though the World Golf Village area isn't too far away.

[kort677]

Originally Posted by Jax

I have a friend that lives in Murabella...not sure if this is a trend there or not, but her house has dropped in value by $80k since last summer. She's not too happy about it. Like Kort677 said regarding Palencia being too remote...I feel that way about Murabella. It seems pretty isolated, even though the World Golf Village area isn't too far away.

these places were conceived in a different time, and maybe in the future they won't be as remote, but for right now I would think that anyone would be better off in closer in/ more developed places like julington creek or in bay meadows, but that is only my simple view, ymmv

[riveree]

Originally Posted by Jax

I have a friend that lives in Murabella...not sure if this is a trend there or not, but her house has dropped in value by $80k since last summer. She's not too happy about it. Like Kort677 said regarding Palencia being too remote...I feel that way about Murabella. It seems pretty isolated, even though the World Golf Village area isn't too far away.

The values taking big dips seems to be a trend for some of those new large developments down that way (Murabella, Bartram Springs, etc.). It can be a real nightmare if someone was suddenly forced to sell (loss of a job or countless other unforseen events).

As for the World Golf Village, it's still barely a blip on the radar even a decade after they've broken ground. There's housing there, sure, but not a whole lot else.

If rising CCD/HOA fees could be a problem for the household budget, I would not consider any of these new oversized developments. I would either go for an established amenity-laden community with a good track record, or skip the amenities and use the whole budget for the house itself. There is so much for kids to do in Jax/St. Aug, it's really not necessary to have all the amenities right there in the neighborhood unless the extra cost won't hurt at all.

[shopper10]

we moved to kensington this spring and love it. we were torn between kensington and walden chase. there is no cdd and the hoa fees are reasonable. our neighbors are friendly, the pool is nice, there is a playground and its a great location.

[remember-voltaire]

you mean US-1 between the only two housing associations on US 1 it's the worst one IMHO

I live further down from there- by the british pub with the red bus, not housing association thank God


prices have dropped a lot , still over priced and will go down futher there because of more houses being built at nocatee up by the ashton equestrian centre past the golf village.

it's cheaper than palencia but the houses at kensington weren't built all that good, a lot of houses are for sale there , not as nice as palencia though not as snobby either.


for the money you'd spend there I would suggest elsewhere instead as you will not be getting value for money.
not only that but the place has no character there what so ever IMHO

Problem is that a lot of people bought these houses in their first phase a couple of years ago , never lived in them instead they wanted to make a profit and sold or trying to sell them at a profit which has backfired on them.

thus the place looks like a morgue and still parts look like a construction site.

I wish you luck but honestly I would not buy there not only that around here is very countryesqe so he want to be in the quiet, country then I suggest you buy a house here but not in that association otherwise I'd look elsewhere.

There's a place I've just got back form there it's an equestrian centre selling parcels of two acres, they've just started the ground breaking , maybe that would be better for you, as you get the land, you can have you house designed so it's not the same boring look of housing associations and the prices there will not go down

[remember-voltaire]

shopper I noticed we must have posted at the same time

I hope you don't think I was too harsh on kensington but just saying how I see it

when I said about ashton then land won't go down in price but houses will

people will always want land for one thing or another they won't want your house, if I had the money I'd buy 5 acres, build my house then when the three kids grow up they can build on the land too

for instance those who bought in associations and are crammed on to them in some case you can nearly shake your neighbours hand like those at KB homes.
Know a woman who moved from north carolina and now lives the golf association and hates it
she had to ask permission to put a fance up then after they did it the association came round and told here that they had put the fence a foot over on the border
Now she has to pay a grand again to have the fence moved, thing is her fence isn't on anyone elses land

Better off with buying your own land, say an acre , build a nice house to what you want / how you want it dream home etc and not have to worry about asking for permission to put a flag out on your garden etc
you also get privacy along with doing what you want with the land.

In the end it will work out cheaper for you

[riveree]

Originally Posted by remember-voltaire

Better off with buying your own land, say an acre , build a nice house to what you want / how you want it dream home etc and not have to worry about asking for permission to put a flag out on your garden etc
you also get privacy along with doing what you want with the land.

In the end it will work out cheaper for you

I agree with much of what you posted, but it costs a lot more to buy your own land and custom build than to go with a development builder. Better to buy a pre-existing home if the idea is to avoid the current new builder scenario, IMO.

If you buy a resale, you'll see exactly what you'll get - neighborhood, neighbors, the house itself - these things are unknowns in a new development, no matter what the salespeople say.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by remember-voltaire

Know a woman who moved from north carolina and now lives the golf association and hates it
she had to ask permission to put a fance up then after they did it the association came round and told here that they had put the fence a foot over on the border
Now she has to pay a grand again to have the fence moved, thing is her fence isn't on anyone elses land

I'm glad they asked her to move it. Her fence is sitting on land that isn't hers, it can't be "no one's". Even if her fence is over the line and into conservation land, that is not her land to take. She was to have a survey done and place her fence inside of her own property line in all directions. If the fence company messed up, they should pay for the correction.

Landgrabbers are a pet peeve of mine .