University Park CC (Sarasota, Country Club, Havana: real estate, rentals, HOA fees)

[artp]

I've been looking at houses on line for some time now and a couple in University Park have caught my attention. I am a little perplexed about the high HOA fees, around $500 a month for some properties (under $600K), and wonder if someone who lives there can tell me what is included. I know some areas are probably maintenance free which might account for some of the cost. Do some areas have CDD fees in addition? How would you compare University Park to Lakewood Ranch as to quality of maintenance, etc? Thanks for any comments!

[bbronston]

No CDD in there but, as you can see, CDD or not, there are still expenses that must be paid one way or another to keep the community looking and functioning as nicely as it does. In UP's case, those expenses are covered by the HOA fees. I can't say 100% but I believe every neighborhood is maintenance free, plus you have fees that pay for things like roads, gas lights, reserves, the gate, etc. IMHO, both locations are beautiful and extremely well maintained. However, a basic membership in the club is required at UP but not so at LWR.

[Oobie119]

Not every subdivision in UP is maintenance free. There are smaller subdivisions and larger gated ones. My sister lives in UP and we are also in the area. They do there own yard work and have very reasonable HOA fees. I'm guessing the gated complexes are the high ones. Mote Ranch in particular has very low fees for the most part. They also have a huge Olympic size pool with clubhouse like area available for rentals. Mote Ranch and the rest of UP have rules, but I don't think they are quite as strict as LWR. From what I know LWR has very strict rules. We had friends move from LWR in fact after only two years.

Check out these neighborhoods in Mote Ranch-University Place, Copper Ridge, River Bend and Chapparell. There are more but this could give you a start.

[Sunshine Rules]

University Park has 31 neighborhoods, ranging from small villas to large estate homes. Membership in the country club is required, but they do have several levels of membership, with social being the least expensive but also offering you less access to amenities. Last time I checked the social dues was $520/year + mandatory food and beverage of $700/year. There is an up front initiation fee, plus annual dues.

Oobie119 gave you a good list of neighborhoods in the Mote Ranch area.

Some others are River Park at Mote Ranch - off of Honore Ave, not gated. HOA fees vary according to maintenance free or other section, maintenance free runs about $168/mo. Arbor Lakes (HOA fees $144/quarter), Mote Ranch, Carlyle at Mote Ranch, Longpond at Mote Ranch are some of the other Mote Ranch neighborhoods.

Have you checked into River Club at all? It's thisclose to Lakewood Ranch. In fact, the south end of the main road through River Club leads directly in to LWR. River Club has several neighborhoods - RC North, RC South, RC, RC Sanctuary and a maintenance free section. Most of River Club has HOA fees of $600 to $795 per year.

Rosedale Golf & Country Club is also next door to LWR. The country club is not mandatory. They have both regular and maintenance free sections. HOA fees in the non maintenance sections run just under $1200/year. Maintenance free sections typically run an extra $150/mo.

There are a couple of neighborhoods within Palm Aire, which is next door to University Park, that you may want to check out. Treymore at Palm Aire is a gated community with HOA fees of about $1180/year, country club membership is not mandatory. Builder was Rutenberg, which has an excellent reputation in our area. The other is Links at Palm Aire, which is slightly older with homes built in the 1990's and HOA fees of about $800/year.

Riva Trace is a new construction neighborhood in that same general area, off of Honore Ave. It will be gated (clicker access, not guard) and will have a clubhouse and access to the Braden River, although it does not the kind of amenities you would find in a golf course, country club community. It is maintenance free with low HOA fees and no CDD fees. Builder is Medallion Homes. If you're in the area it's worth stopping in to see their Havana model home. That's definitely not your typical FL style home.


So there are definitely a number of alternatives to University Park in that same general area.

[TamRE]

Here is the link to the University Park Country Club that has some information about area, the builders, and homes available. Sarasota Real Estate and Golf Course Country Club | University Park Country Club

[artp]

Thanks for all the information. I am hoping to find a newer home (built in 2000+) that meets the current building standards. The inventory is way down, hopefully this fall there will be more listings.

[Obrero]

Originally Posted by artp

Thanks for all the information. I am hoping to find a newer home (built in 2000+) that meets the current building standards. The inventory is way down, hopefully this fall there will be more listings.

Somebody more knowledgeable than me can chime in..but I think standards changed after 2002 so houses built in 2003 and after get (slightly) better insurance rates.

[bbronston]

Originally Posted by Obrero

I think standards changed after 2002 so houses built in 2003 and after get (slightly) better insurance rates.

The codes are always being looked at, revised, supplemented, etc. and new products and designs become available each year so it is reasonable to assume that, all things being equal, the newer the home the more able it will be to make it thru a storm. On the other hand, no building code can save you from a tornado or falling tree, etc., and different builders might build to different standards above the basic code requirements and different subs provide better quality workmanship than others.

Regarding the insurance rates, though, a study by UF found that homes built before the 2002 standard did worse in storms than those built after. Specifically, those built from 1994 thru 2001 did worse than those built after, and homes built before 1994 did even worse. The insurance companies use this info in figuring their rates (that is not the same as saying that the quality of the build follows this same pattern) and they also take into account that homes built after 2007 are supposed to have shutters or wind resistant glass (so rates are lower), that hip roofs are cheaper to insure than gable roofs, the distance to fire hydrants, the results of wind mitigation inspections, the type of construction (block vs frame and the square footage of the second story if it is framed), distance from the gulf, etc. as they come up with their rates.