Jacksonville | St Johns Co. Real Estate Blog

After years of rocketing sales, the housing market is beginning to finally settle down into a more stable pattern but one kind of property which is persistently bucking this trend is waterfront properties which puts Jacksonville in an unbeatable position.

With approximately 1000 people relocating to Florida each day, many people end up gravitating north. The south sees its fair share of hurricanes so many people move north for calmer weather and a waterfront property which is cheaper than their previous home. This enables them to put some money away for a rainy day.

It doesn’t matter what kind of water the property sits next to. It can be something as large as an ocean or something as small as a pond. The property in question doesn’t even need to be physically right next to the body of water - it could be several blocks away with a view of the water. Nevertheless, a buyer will always be found because there is always a buyer out there looking for a property with a water-front or water-view. The fact that these kinds of properties are also in very limited supply also adds to their appeal - and their price-tag.

Some prime examples of Jacksonville waterfront properties include of course the St Johns River (and its tributaries), the Intracoastal Waterway and miles of oceanfront.

So if you are a water-fan looking for a waterfront property, Jacksonville is the place to look. If you’re a seller with a waterfront property, you should have no problem selling it.

An interesting article has appeared in the local newspaper about the difficulties of trying to sell a house during holiday periods, in particular Christmas and Thanksgiving. Although it is now the beginning of the year, I thought it was still an interesting subject to try to broach as holiday periods naturally occur all throughout the year. For example, Easter is almost upon us.

As a general rule (and most real estate professionals agree with this), selling your home during a holiday period can be extremely tricky. Most people who are out to buy a property generally don’t have the time or the inclination to browse open houses during a holiday. Instead they will have family events to go to, dinners to prepare and so on.

But the same could also be said for sellers. Who wants a buyer coming around to look at the house when you have a private family event going on? So even sellers may not be so inclined to have an open house during say Thanksgiving.

But if the buyer and seller ARE so inclined to consider a bit of house-selling during a holiday period, many realtors agree that there are some things that you should bear in mind.

First, you should make sure the house in question is not too cluttered. It’s easy during a family event for rooms to get messy and this can have an adverse effect on the prospective buyer who may not see the advantages of the house because they are too busy tripping over the kid’s toys.

Second, you should make sure that your realtor is available during the holiday period! You never know, I may be away on vacation when you need me to schedule a house-viewing.

Thirdly, and this is very important, make sure that any promotional photos you take of your property doesn’t show any seasonal decorations. If you take pictures of your house in December complete with tree and decorations, having those same pictures circulating in June creates a bad impression. It reminds prospective buyers that your house has been on the market for quite a while and may therefore be unsellable.

With a little bit of preparation and thought, you can even sell your property during the holidays.

Many buyers are under the mistaken impression that a condo is a fancy apartment only for rich people. However, condos are becoming more and more affordable, bringing it into the price range of a single-family home. But some of the extras currently being offered to some condo communities in Jacksonville don’t help to dispel the “fancy apartments for rich people” myth.

To take a prime example, Berkman Plaza 2 has been compared to the Ritz-Carlton. The 23-story building which sits alongside the St Johns River will have various luxury amenities such as a concierge service, a marina, heated indoor pool, a putting green, tennis courts and valet dry cleaning.

Then there are the condominiums at Palencia. With price-tags starting in the higher end of $100,000, these condos also have extras such as swimming pools, a poolside family snackbar, tennis courts and golf courses.

Berkman Plaza 2 even has its own guest suites so if residents will have overnight guests, they can reserve a guest suite to offer their visitors their own space. This has been hailed as a unique new idea when considering what new amenities to offer condo residents.

It seems that by buying a condo, the homebuyer is making a statement about the kind of lifestyle they are looking for.

Sales of homes are brisk in the heavily wooded North Jacksonville area of Oakbrook but there could still be the possibility of snapping up a residence there if your luck holds.

The available residences were built by Mattamy Homes and sales were quite brisk as soon as the majority of the residences went on the market.   But more residences could soon become available from a minimum of $190,000.

There are various floorplans available including the Catherine floorplan which consists of a two-storey property with four bedrooms and three bathrooms.   The Catherine has little touches such as ceramic tiling, recessed kitchen lighting and a 36 inch ventless gas fireplace.

If the Catherine doesn’t take your fancy, you could instead consider the Avery (three bedrooms, two bathrooms), the Augustine (four bedrooms, two bathrooms) or the Savannah (five bedrooms, three bathrooms).

Oakbrook is surrounded by woods, parks and ponds, a perfect quiet community for all the family.

Builders Showcase is reporting that The Strand condominium tower will be completed by “winter 2007″.

The condo tower, which will be located on Jacksonville’s Southbank, will have 28 storeys and one of its biggest selling points is that residents will have an umatched and spectacular view of the St Johns River. You would also be within walking distance of wherever you need to go in Jacksonville, whether it be entertainment, shopping or dining.

You would think that prices for condos in this area would be too expensive and unattainable, thereby making it only possible for the super-rich. Not so! Pricing will start in the $200,000 price range going up to a maximum of around $800,000 if you want a penthouse suite. So, affordable condo living in a prestigious address that is sure to be highly desired and much sought after.

There are 14 differently designed floorplans with up to three bedrooms and two baths per condo. Each condo also comes with a modern kitchen with high quality amenities. Floors are covered with ceramic tiles and carpets and the master bathrooms come with a 42 inch bathtub.

If this sounds like the kind of place you’d want to live in, act now to get more information and to get your name added to the priority list.

Builtmore Builders have announced that homes are now on offer at The Preserve at St Johns Landing Estates in Jacksonville.

Their model home, the “Wentworth model”, is 2,725 square-feet in size and it comes with three bedrooms and three baths.   The front of the property has double doors and a covered entryway while visitors to the property will walk into a ceramic tiled foyer and a dining room with columned arches.

Cooks and food lovers will adore the large kitchen that the house has.   The kitchen comes with a generous amount of counter space, double sinks, a large pantry, not forgetting the built-in stovetop and oven.

The house also comes with other impressive rooms and features including a 21-foot ceiling, columned arches, oversized windows, and a bedroom suite which comes equipped with two walk-in closets and a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub.

Prices begin in the $300,000 area and the buyer has the possibility to choose from a wide variety of options which allows them the chance to upgrade and customize their new home.

You only have to read the newspaper or watch TV to be told that there is a “housing slump” at the moment with sales down nationwide. This can perhaps scare people into avoiding hunting for a new place until things pick up again. However, canny homebuyers can use this situation to their advantage to obtain a great deal which they may not be able to get under normal circumstances.

A “housing slump” can also be described as a “buyers market”. This means when you show an interest in a property, all the advantages are on the side of the buyer instead of the seller. During a slump, sellers cannot demand higher prices or hamstring you with what you would perceive to be unfair demands. The buyer instead gets to call the shots.

This allows you, the buyer, to be a little more relaxed about the homebuying process and with a bit of luck also grab a desirable property at an unbeatable price at great terms. You can even try to negotiate a better mortgage package as the home builder may have special arrangements with mortgage lenders or they may even offer mortgages themselves. In fact everyone from the seller to the mortgage lender will go out of their way to help because sales will be down overall due to the slump.

However, an interesting quote jumped out of a local Jacksonville newspaper. The Northeast Florida Builders Association notes that with over 2000 people a month moving to Jacksonville, property values in the area have always more-or-less remained stable so Jacksonville has never really slumped as much as the rest of the country.

But even so, buyers still remain in control right now and serious homebuyers should take full advantage of the situation.

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a day of breathtaking sunrises and ocean views. An unattainable dream? Not necessarily if you happen to be living in Hammock Dunes, Jacksonville.

Residents can choose between Tuscany condos or Arezzo condos in the Hammock Dunes community. Described as a “daily beach club experience”, residents will have full use of an “oceanfront entertainment complex” including swimming pools, spas, bars and restaurants. But perhaps the properties’ biggest selling point is its emphasis on privacy - there’s only one residence per floor with a private garage for each home.

Residents will also have the privilege of using the Equity Club next door which features numerous golf courses including two world championship courses.

The promotional piece featured in a November edition of the Jacksonville Times-Union “Builders Showcase” doesn’t mention approximate prices but Hammock Dunes’ official website puts prices at approximately $500,000 per property.

156 townhomes are now on offer at the Villages of Northwood in Duval County, Jacksonville with prices starting at $170,000. The properties can be found off New Berlin Road and Cedar Point Road.

Each home will have between three and four bedrooms with a minimum floor-space of 1,362 square-feet. You can choose between three different floorplans and whether you need a one car or a two car garage.

The properties were built by Ryland, which has been described as “one of the nation’s largest home builders”.

Golf fanatics will be interested to learn that eight new residential floorplans are being offered at Village Square, located within the premier golf community of Palencia, south of Jacksonville.   Residents there can live in a relaxed environment, play golf and be within easy walking distance of local amenities.

Village Square will have 24 residential condos which will be placed above 21 office and retail condos and they are all expected to be completed by the spring of this year.  The residential condos will feature between one and three bedrooms with a minimum floor-space of 1,227 square feet.

Residents will enjoy fantastic views of the golf course, the tennis court and the swimming pool and of course each resident will have access to each of these facilities.

Each condo comes with its own private gated entranceway and reserved garage parking.   Prices start in the $300,000 price area.