Jacksonville | St Johns Co. Real Estate Blog

An interesting thought popped up when I was reading an article in the Jacksonville Financial News & Daily Record about the Greenleaf Building at the corner of Laura and Adams streets. It was a quote which jumped out at me which read :

Barakat said he will market the building and its floors on a mostly local basis. “Office condominiums are targeted at local businesses,” he said. “A national company is not going to buy a condominium.”

He went on to outline his sales strategy which was that asking a national company to buy a office condo was a waste of time because a national company wants to have the ability and the flexibility to move around and relocate if necessary. But a local company with roots would be most likely to buy than to rent, probably because the employees of the business have local roots and they are not likely to move very far with their business. I was interested to read that you could save as much as $400,000 over a ten year period if you chose to buy instead of rent.

http://tinyurl.com/tykeo

A real estate professor has analyzed the property market for Jacksonville and compared it to the rest of Florida - and he has encouraging & positive opinions for Jacksonville.

Rosenberg said : “I am not a pessimist about Jacksonville at all. Compared to other markets in Florida, it is a lot healthier”.

Although the overall median price has dropped in the area, Professor Rosenberg points out that this is actually good for buyers and developers because the buyers get a good deal and developers get to sell more properties on their books which in turn frees up funds for new projects and growth.

“You can clearly look and say that the Jacksonville market is holding up better than any other” said Rosenberg.

http://tinyurl.com/ye74ka

With the west side of Jacksonville experiencing continual rapid growth, a new stylish home in the Brookewood area is becoming very much in demand. That is according to an article in the Jacksonville Builders Showcase and pre-sales of some homes have already begun.

The area is located between Interstate 10 & I-295, just off Lane Avenue. According to one property developer, the area is attractive to home buyers because the surrounding area is largely untouched by commercial development. So not only do you get a great house for your money but your dollars also buy you a cracking landscape view.

Home prices start from the $160,000 price range and homes available include two-bedroom condos and three-bedroom houses.

Have you ever wanted to be like Robinson Crusoe and own your own island? Well now you can…if you have a spare $5.25 million lying around that is.

Sand Penny Island, located in the Oyster Bay Yacht Club and less than an hour from Jacksonville, is on the market and the island comes complete with a main house and a guest house, both only 7 years old. Power comes from an electricity generator and water comes from a pumping house and purification system. The house is 11,400 square feet and has 14 rooms including 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

You even get your own dock for your boat to berth.

So if you’re a recluse or if you’re just looking for a weekend getaway retreat, this could be just the thing for you.

http://tinyurl.com/vumky

A recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders in Florida has highlighted the fact that given a choice between more space in the property and higher quality features, most new-home buyers (63%) would prefer having the latter.

Of those 63%, 57% said that the features should be included in the price of the property while the others thought they should be offered as optional extras at extra cost.

Some of the top features that new-home owners want include a walk-in pantry (84%), an island work area (77%) and a built-in microwave (62%).

The survey is featured in a newspaper article which is quite lengthy & informative so if you would like to read the article, I have scanned it into an Adobe PDF file which can be viewed HERE.

Jacksonville’s “Downtown Vision Inc” and the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Retail Task Force (quite a mouthful there) went on a tour around Jacksonville the other day and they made some very interesting observations along the way, as well as making a few wishes.

For example, it was said that the Southbank condos are selling fast because they are situated in the right place – within walking distance to restaurants was one example. They also pointed out East Bay Street which has condos, bars and businesses. But they felt that the sidewalk could do with a little expansion.

Ideas were also floated for Metropolitan Park, Alltel Stadium and Hemming Plaza. All these ideas will eventually be presented to the JEDC’s Downtown Committee.

http://tinyurl.com/y5thrp

A new community, called Hunter’s Creek, has been established in the Julington Creek area of St Johns County. Julington Creek is a highly desirable area with property prices starting in the $600,000 region.

Homes offered within this area often have four to five bedrooms, up to five baths, two or three car attached garages, covered entryways, irrigated yards and much more.

The exclusive builder for Hunter’s Creek is Cordele Builders and some of the features they offer in the homes of Hunter’s Creek include ceramic tile foyers and 36-inch gas fireplaces. You can also find designer kitchens and elegant master bathrooms.

To give you an idea of geographical location, Hunter’s Creek can be found just off San Jose Boulevard. Whichever way you look, you will have easy access to things you will need on a regular basis such as schools, businesses, beaches, entertainment and shopping.

I was working my way through a property newspaper last night when I came upon a rather interesting article about MiraVista in Harbortown, Jacksonville.

For those of you who don’t know, MiraVista is a marina community and you can find it slightly west of the Intracoastal Waterway bridge on Atlantic Boulevard. There are many beautiful waterfront condos at MiraVista and the photo of the condo that accompanied the article makes living there very appealing.

As with any other property on the market, there are positive advantages to buying which every good real estate agent utilises to their advantage in order to close the deal. With MiraVista, the benefits include a pool, a fitness center, boat slips and if that wasn’t enough, there are also many stunning views of the harbor.

Plus if you’re security conscious, the area has a front-gated guardhouse so you can be sure that the risk of burglaries and other crimes is minimised as much as possible.

In the October 7th edition of Builders Showcase, there was a piece by Providence Homes about the positive advantages of buying property in Jacksonville areas like Greenland Chase, Dawson’s Creek, Victoria Lakes, Grovewood and South Hampton.

Greenland Chase is being described in glowing terms - “a gorgeous master-planned community….amazing designer homes varying in size and price” with lots of amenities such as parks, playing fields, extra-wide sidewalks, quiet streets and private surroundings.

Grovewood is being touted as “a truly unique community” with wooded areas and access to a golf course frequented often by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicholas. Grovewood is also an “environmentally conscious community” with the main roads lined with trees. Sounds like a nice area for a family to live in.

Dawson’s Creek is a new neighbourhood of large “traditional-style homes” with surrounding woodland and nature preserves. The location of Dawson’s Creek makes living there very convenient with several Interstates nearby such as Interstate 10 and I-295. So this area is good for commuters and business professionals who need to travel into downtown Jacksonville on a daily basis.

Victoria Lakes is being described as a “wonderful single-family community”. It is situated midway between downtown Jacksonville and the Beaches. There’s lots of opportunites for shopping, wining & dining and playing. The community also has 13 lakes and a nature preserve.

Last but not least, South Hampton. Described as “removed from urban pressures” and close to work. There is quick and easy access to downtown Jacksonville, the shopping malls and the Beaches plus amenities such as a golf course.

This is an interesting article in the “Jacksonville Financial News and Daily Record” which states that downtown Jacksonville is fast becoming the place to be when re-locating with one realtor calling it “one of the most livable and marketable communities in the country”.

The same realtor hotly disputes the idea that the current property market is stagnant. Instead he offers the suggestion that the market is simply “cooling off” which is more healthy than an overinflated market with overinflated prices.

He also believes that big corporations will see the value in buying downtown condos which would be tax-deductible expenses and would be better value than staying in a hotel when executives come visiting.

http://tinyurl.com/ybl6×9