Moving to Saint Augustine/Saint Johns....Maybe. Help (University, Bell: for sale, renting)

[ad0415]

Hi! we too are escaping the NJ taxes and everything that goes with it! We are moving to Jax area. Doing this long distance is not only difficult but scary. I found a wonderful realtor. It's Vanguard Realty. Ron Short. 904-629-1758. ronshort@bellshouth.net He's great. Good Luck!

[scooterdoo]

Hi, I am looking to buy a place close to St. Augustine. I want to be close enough to the college so I can rent it out for awhile before I move there. Can you tell me about the better neighborhoods near the college or the beach. I don't want to get too far out like Elkton or Hastings, closer to the water.
What I have seen on the web are alot of mobile homes or condos. Not too much in the middle. But not having hurricanes is a plus. Scooter

[elreflects]

I am not a realtor. No realtor recommendation. Choose st johns county is where you want to live. not duval. Nocatee Advice I recently learned that all the realtors in Jacksonville only show northeast florida properties. Wierdly, this does not include any properties in st Augustine. It is a realtor issue. So if you go with Jacksonville realtor you will end up likely in duval and will miss out entirely in st Augustine, treasure beach, most of st johns county.
Look for something in st Augustine, even westout hwy 16 toward the river.

[elreflects]

st john's county has the best school district in the state Do not recommend the racial city of Jacksonville or the crimes there. Number one in the state for homicide
Go to st Augustine.

[Peter the Brit]

I can explain why Jax realtors show mainly Jax properties whilst St Augustine realtors show mainly St Augustine properties
There are two Realtor Boards with different lock box keys I am a member of the St Aug Board and if I need to show property in North St Johns County I need to join that Board and get their lock box key

[Robyn55]

When people are looking at housing here in this huge geographical area - where would you draw geographical lines in general in terms of using Realtor X versus Realtor Y? For example - I doubt a broker who knows St. Augustine will know areas around the airport as well. But I'm sure there are finer lines than that to draw.

Also - having no idea whether you work for a larger regional firm - or a smaller local one - which would you recommend to potential buyers here? On my part - on the few occasions I have bought/sold real estate in Florida - I have just tried to find a good broker who knew the particular area I was interested in like the back of his/her hand - regardless of the size of the firm.

Do you have any recommendations in terms of picking a broker? What to look for and how to do it? Note that I'm talking only about buyers. When it comes to sellers - it's a totally different ballgame IMO. And depends a lot on whether the market is red hot - stone cold - or something in between. Robyn

[Peter the Brit]

St Augustine realtors should really just cover St Augustine, WGV , Palencia, Nocattee and South Ponte Vedra areas but there are no hard and fast rules.
My office is one of several in the area and we have offices in Jax, Jax Beach, and St Augustine.
When I have a client who wants to look at the areas I am not competent in e.g Orange Park I refer them to the Jax office and regularly receive referrals back from realtors in the Jax office when clients want experts in the St Augustine area.
But I am just a local St Augustine realtor and there is nothing stopping a realtor being a member of both Boards and working all the St John and Duval Counties.
I will not recommend any firms as do not want to breach Forum rules

[Robyn55]

I wouldn't recommend any firms either - unless anyone were to ask. And - if someone were to ask - it would be just 1 of the 2 brokers we dealt with when we bought our place ("our" broker is now retired - the seller's broker isn't - but now works for a real estate firm - not a developer). Also - the agent for our rental (who was good) is now retired as well.

Still - I think that unless someone coming here to visit for a short period of time is prepared to do a whole lot of homework - it's best to use a broker to narrow things down and point you in the right direction. And it's almost always better to rent first. Robyn

[Zaba]

Realtors are completely obsolete. Seriously. We live in the information age.
Realtor.com is basically a public MLS. As far as area research, again, you don't need someone in a cheap suit with a 30 hour "Realtor Class" to be giving you influential guidance on what for them is a commission, for you is a major life decision.

Originally Posted by scooterdoo

But not having hurricanes is a plus.

Northeast Florida hasn't had a direct hit in a while, but that's good fortune (with some possible scientific basis of geography and climatology). The area is by no means immune from them and if a major hurricane hit today with how densely populated its become, the results would be (and eventually will be) very, very different.

[EricBoyd]

Originally Posted by Zaba

Realtors are completely obsolete. Seriously. We live in the information age.
Realtor.com is basically a public MLS. As far as area research, again, you don't need someone in a cheap suit with a 30 hour "Realtor Class" to be giving you influential guidance on what for them is a commission, for you is a major life decision.

LOL! Not sure if this is even worth responding to. Haha!