St Augustine (Miami, Tampa, Orlando: spring break, real estate market, renting) - Jacksonville - Florida (FL) - City-Data Forum

FBoet · 03-05-2007, 04:18 PM

Hello everyone. My family and I visited St Augustine a couple of weeks ago and simply loved it. We plan to go back the first week of spring break and wanted some feed back from anyone familiar with St Augustine. I love the fact that there's an ordinance that buildings can't be build higher then
39 ft(?), so no high rises. We want to relocated from Miami. St Augustine reminds me of Key West 20 years ago. Laid back, and the beach is within 15 minutes of just about anywhere within the city limits.

We are looking for new construction and would like any feed back on home builders in the area. We visited Grand Cay, by KB Homes and the prices were very reasonable. A 3,000 sqft, 5/2.5 on 60'X120' for $250,000. Of course that is the "base price". I'm sure the price will jump 10-30% with the "extras".
One thing that I did not like or at least I'm not used to is the wood frame and stucco. I feel more secure in a CBS constructed home. From what I've read the high schools in St John's County are among the best in Florida and not as crowded. I would appreciate any comments, including the Ponte Vedra area.
Thank you, Frank

backtofla · 03-05-2007, 07:14 PM

dr horton (builder) has nice houses in the st augustine area as well... last time i checked, their 4 br 2 ba 1732 sq ft homes were 196,900

adicus75 · 03-05-2007, 07:35 PM

We are moving to St. Augustine when our house sells. We are on the west coast, but lived in the Tampa area for a few years. We miss FL and decided that this time we want to try out the east side of FL. We chose St Augustine. We are renting there until we get a feel for what the market is going to do there. Good luck to you, and anyone with some feedback on that area would be very welcome with comments!!!

Thanks,

A.D.

backtofla · 03-05-2007, 07:57 PM

i'm jealous. i really like where i am at now, but i do like st augustine more... have fun!!!

soldono · 03-06-2007, 07:00 PM

Lucky, lucky you! We are in New Port Richey. We took a weekend trip to St Augustine in January and Fell IN LOVE with the oldest city. We stayed at the St Francis Inn in the historical section. The inn has been there since 1791 and was just incredible. There are so many things to do. I know I sound like any tourist but, really if you get on that trolly and go all the way around the city,you can jump off and check things out.If you enjoy history, like I do, it is the best area in Florida.I even found some good old southern hospitality in St. Augustine. I came home and started looking on Craigslist for homes there but we want to move to the mountains of North Carolina. Been in Fl 20+ years and miss the change of seasons.I am sure you will enjoy living in St Augustine. Blessings

ssclulow · 12-05-2007, 10:50 PM

We moved to St. Augustine 10 years ago. We're very happy here. The people are friendly and very involved in community service. The beach and downtown are beautiful. I don't recommend buying a frame home. Termites love wood and your insurance and utility rates will be much higher than with concrete block. There are many builders building block homes and inventories are very high now since the market downturn. There are many nice resales on the market. I would recommend at least considering a resale. The schools here are top notch.

lvmy3grls · 12-06-2007, 04:57 PM

We are new to the area, moved here about two months ago, we live in the World Golf Village area and all of the homes here are wood/stucco. Our homeowners insurance is only $700 a year, and we have a termite bond to protect the house so, I would not worry about termites. The area is growing, but lots of great deals are still around for buyers. It's a very safe, wonderful family community.

LM1 · 12-07-2007, 01:52 PM

Now is a great time to buy new construction in St. Augustine- an opportunity that probably won't present itself for another generation (and I am saying this as a totally objective person who is quite bearish on certain segments of the FL real estate market in general)

The last cycle of St. Johns County overbuilding is sitting empty now and they're basically giving them away at prices near equal to the sum of their parts and labor.
If you are someone who plans on setting roots in St. Aug and wants new construction, man, now's the time. Those houses backtofla mentioned were selling for *a lot* more money during the boom years of 04 and 05.

As far as judging St. Augustine, it's no secret that I really don't like it for families or people with children. While the schools are good 'by Florida standards' you have to understand that a 'good Florida school' is a mediocre school anywhere else, short of Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas. Also, this area is just totally devoid of cultural activities; a near-certain way to ensure you raise a mediocre, un-rounded child is to fritter away their formative years in a banal place like St. Aug.
St. Augustine certainly isn't a "bad" place, but if you're moving from your present location and value your children's personal development over of your own selfish dreams of the beach and quaintness, I can see no reason why anyone would voluntarily choose St. Aug over the near endless stream of vastly superior places to raise families. If you've landed an upper-income job that dictates a move here, then it isn't like you're getting shanghaied in a bad place- just be prepared to use some of that disposable money to send your kids off to experience things and gain exposure to dynamics of life that they just won't get in St. Augustine.

With that said, the absolutely worst way to judge St. Augustine is on the historic district, the trolleys, the fort and the lighthouse. That's like judging Orlando by standing in the middle of Epcot. If you want to judge St. Augustine, get out of the historic district and see the other areas- both good and bad- before you make your decision.
Trust me. Once you're a St. Aug resident, you will be spending precisely 0% of your time in the historic district (unless you're an avid T Shirt collector)

travelingfood · 12-07-2007, 01:58 PM

well, didn't notice the date of this post at first as I wanted to say, stay away from KB Homes. Hope it's not too late.

LM1 · 12-07-2007, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelingfood

well, didn't notice the date of this post at first as I wanted to say, stay away from KB Homes. Hope it's not too late.

Hahahahaha, I didn't notice that either.

Yeah, there are definitely some KB Horror stories out there.