St. Augustine and World Golf Village

[wyecrabber1]

DW and I make several trips a year to Ponte Vedra to visit family and friends. We pulled the trigger this week and purchased a home in World Golf Village. We looked at Ponte Vedra, Nacotee, areas towards St. Johns River and down to St. Augustine. We like the look a feel of WGV and love St. Augustine.

We're moving from a three level townhouse to a single level 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1900 sf home. We purchased the model home and will be leasing it back to the developer for 12 months with plans of moving in Apr/May 2020. No CDD fees and the HOA payment is low considering the amenities.

I've spent plenty of time in SWFL, so I know the summers can be brutal, but you get out early and that's what AC is for. It was hard not to like the 75-80 weather this past week. I spend a lot of time on the water, fishing and boating -- I'm done with the cold in Maryland.

I need to do some renovations to our home before putting it on the market later this summer.

Anyone else on the board from the area?

 

[kitesurfer2]

Jacksonville here

 

[wrigley]

Jacksonville here also!

 

[ShokWaveRider]

St. Augustine Beach Here, Sort of Neighbors maybe. Which section of WGV did you buy at? It is a big spread out place.

 

[wyecrabber1]

St. Augustine Beach Here, Sort of Neighbors maybe. Which section of WGV did you buy at? It is a big spread out place.

In a new development, the Cottages at Glenmoor. Its close to the golf school off Towerview Drive and Royal Pines Parkway.

Looking for golfing and fishing buddies, have a center console that should be ideal for the river and intercoastal and back bays.

 

[Cassius King]

Congrats! Sounds exciting and like a good place.

 

[LynnBBQ72]

I'm trying to talk my husband into moving to the Jax / St. Augustine area! We're in Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis MO and got hit with another snow storm this weekend. And this week's weather is frigid. I think he might be a little more open to it by next weekend.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

The crime in Jax has been on the increase lately, a lot of people are moving out and going further south to St. Johns or Flagler Counties. The daily news is full of it. Sad really. But Jax is one of if not the largest city in FLA, to I suppose it is to be expected.

 

[wyecrabber1]

The crime in Jax has been on the increase lately, a lot of people are moving out and going further south to St. Johns or Flagler Counties. The daily news is full of it. Sad really. But Jax is one of if not the largest city in FLA, to I suppose it is to be expected.

Jacksonville is a big city, with big city problems. We don't going into Baltimore due to the crime -- there are good neighborhood and bad neighborhoods.

We were looking at the beach area south of Jacksonville and Nacotee -- but, Ponte Vedra is a little pricey and the traffic on A1A from the development in Nacotee is bad.

Feel very comfortable with the purchase in World Golf Villages -- St. Augustine is a neat little historical town.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We were looking at the beach area south of Jacksonville and Nacotee -- but, Ponte Vedra is a little pricey and the traffic on A1A from the development in Nacotee is bad.

Feel very comfortable with the purchase in World Golf Villages -- St. Augustine is a neat little historical town.

Good move, we looked at property in Nocatee (Del Webb) and PVB as we want to downsize to something more like you have purchased. But after a few visits at normal off peak times we got really fed up of the traffic. While Nocatee is relatively close to the beach, it can take forever to get there and when you do there is a parking issue. If you want to shop anywhere other than Nocatee town center, it is also a chore.

St. Augustine Beach is way closer to the beach, never had an issue parking (Local Knowledge ) and the beaches are not ever crowded by beach standards. Eveything one needs is within 3 or 4 miles radius. Yes it is more expensive to live on the Island, but it has been rezoned "X" so we are pretty happy. We still would like a smaller newer home (2010 +) but that is not so easy. We do not want to live on the mainland in St. Augustine, which is cheaper, but it is a completely different environment. So I guess we are stuck here for now. It could be worse.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

For those looking, and do not mind looking a little further south, we did the tour of Plantation Bay G&CC yesterday in Ormond Beach. It is very nice, if a little out of the way.

https://plantationbaygolf.com/

Here is my summary, it is our (DW's & mine) opinion, which is probably biased. I will do it in Bullet form so as not to bore you…. too much.

1) The Clubhouses are small, as is the Fitness center compared to others we have seen, but would be adequate I am sure for most, us included. Less resort looking but functional. We have seen a few that resemble all-inclusive resorts in Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. The cost of membership is also on the higher side, but not exorbitant.
2) The development is BIG! It will not be totally built out for 25 years so resale homes will not gain much equity as there are so many new ones available and being built.
3) Lot sizes go from 60’ to 90’ estate lots, we liked the 90’ lots, but they came at a premium, there are not many water to preserve lots that we saw.
4) The area is relatively undeveloped, which has it’s good and bad points. You could not live there without a car, not that you would want to.
5) It was a long way to get a good variety daily items such as groceries, home maintenance parts from home depot and other essentials.
6) To get out of the development is 2 miles minimum, they are building other gates but who knows when.
7) Homes are VERY well built by ICI, have good curb appeal once you get into the larger lots sizes, and all are custom to the buyers tastes, at least the new ones. They are not in a flood or evacuation zone. They are well laid out and 2,500 – 2,900 square feet give you a nice floorplan.
8) Home taxes are a little high in comparison to other developments that are available. Probably because of the 45 holes of golf that are available, they have CDDs. These are used to build the infrastructure.
9) The HOA is reasonable for what you get but does not include yard maintenance, that is a must as we have a 365 day growing season.

All in all great for golfers who do not want to leave their environment. A little too far from a nice beach for us, that general area has a poor coastline that gets wacked every year by even small storms. Also a little too far from services and external amenities; 2 hours to Costco (unless you go to Orlando, then it will still take you forever because of the traffic). Most services are in Daytona (1 hour) Palm Coast (30 mins) or Orlando (1 hour). Too far for our liking as we are used to having everything within a 3-5 mile radius with the exception of Costco that is 30 – 40 minutes north of us.

 

[Shabby]

Congrats! I lived in Delray Beach for 10 years and loved it. Keep in mind that there are amazing road trips to make living there: The Keys, Tampa, South Beach, Everglades Park, and the Bahamas (small flight).