Pros and Cons of Buying New Construction Home
Benefits of Buying a New Construction Home Should you buy new construction in Vero Beach or Sebastian Florida? So you're interested in new construction homes in either Vero Beach or Sebastian, well you've come to the right place. My name is Spencer Bailey and I'll be your local guide and real estate agent going over the benefits of owning a new construction home, tips for buying new construction homes here, as well as different communities that are currently building. Behind me is actually my home that is currently being built, that is right I'm a real estate agent that also bought a new construction home, and I'll go over why I ultimately chose to build a new home right here in the heart of Vero Beach. Benefits of Buying New Construction Starting off with a few benefits of buying a new construction home versus buying a resale home that has already been built. There are a few big benefits of buying a new construction home one of which is a lot of times if you use the lender associated with the builder you can get a lower interest rate. A lot of times builders will give you money towards buying down your down interest rate. For example on this home, if the interest rate was at 6% I could get a 5 1/2 percent interest rate with the money they give me from the buy down. If you're like me this is a big deal because even a half of percent can be hundreds of dollars off your mortgage payment. Another big benefit to buying a new construction home is most builders will pay for your closing costs which is roughly on average 2.3 percent of the total home purchase price. So let's say you were buying a home for 350,000. Closing costs would roughly be around $8000 that you would have to pay. I currently know Dr. Horton is contributing $8000 towards my closing costs which should pay for almost all of my closing costs associated with the home Im building. These numbers change often so by the time you're watching this video the numbers that they give you for the buy down on your interest rate and the numbers they gave you for closing costs may have changed so keep that in mind. Another big benefit of buying a new construction home would be that everything is brand new, it will be easier to sell in the future, and your insurance is going to be lower. Insurance is a huge problem for a lot of buyers and sellers down here on Florida’s East Coast so having a brand new home where you don't have to worry about insurance is a huge benefit. In addition Unlike resale homes, new construction offers the latest design trends, energy-efficient features, and modern amenities. So if you have the luxury of time, I would definitely look in to buying a new construction home rather than a resale. 5 Tips for Buying New Construction Now let's go over 5 tips that I have for you if you're considering buying a new construction home. Do thorough research: Take the time to research different builders, their reputations, and their track records. Look for testimonials and reviews from previous homebuyers to gauge their satisfaction with the builder's quality and customer service. Visit model homes: Touring model homes can give you a sense of the builder's craftsmanship, layout options, and available features. Pay attention to the quality of materials used and the overall design to ensure it aligns with your preferences. Understand the builder's warranty: Familiarize yourself with the builder's warranty and what it covers. Know the duration of coverage and any specific terms or conditions. A comprehensive warranty can provide peace of mind and protect you from potential issues after move-in. Get everything in writing: Ensure that all agreements, warranties, and changes to the standard features are documented in writing. This includes any customization requests, upgrades, or modifications you discuss with the builder. Clear communication and written documentation help avoid misunderstandings. Work with a specialized realtor: Partner with a realtor who has experience with new construction homes. They can guide you through the process, negotiate on your behalf, and ensure your interests are protected. They may also have insights into the local market and specific builders. Different Communities Now let's go over a few new construction communities in the vero beach area As well as a few scatter plot options. Scatter plot refers to a new construction home that is not in a new construction community. For example my house that I'm building in Vero Beach right now with Dr. Horton is a scatter plot home as it is in the Vero Beach Highlands which is a non HOA neighborhood. I didn't get a whole lot of options as far as furnishings and upgrades for my new construction home because it was a scatter plot. I know a lot of times if you build in communities they often order a lot more material where you have a lot more options to pick and choose your upgrades and furnishings. As for Sebastian new construction, most of that is going to be scatterplot since Sebastian Highlands makes up the majority of the residential area. Sebastian Highlands is a non HOA community and I believe currently Dr. Horton is building six or seven homes on scatterplot homes in Sebastian. There is going to be a new construction community coming to Sebastian very soon called blue water Bay. It is going to be very close to vero lake estates, and we should get more information on the community hopefully soon. if you have any questions or want to know a little bit more about a specific community feel free to reach out to me anytime and I would love to get that information over to you. By the time you're watching this a lot of things might have changed so like I said if you have any questions or want an update on the current new construction communities that are being built on florida's East Coast reach out to me anytime. I hope that gave you a better understanding of new construction here on florida's East Coast, I'm Spencer Bailey with Exp Realty and I will see you on the next video take care Spencer.Bailey507@gmail.com507-951-2934
The Best Neighborhoods in Sebastian, Florida
The Best Neighborhoods in Sebastian, Florida A first hand look at Sebastian River Landing, Collier Club, Sebastian Highlands, and more So you’re thinking about moving right here to Sebastian Florida and you want to know a little more about the neighborhoods and subdivision that make up Sebastian. Well in today’s post, I'm going to be showcasing some Subdivisions and neighborhoods giving you a first-hand look at what you can expect when buying a home in Sebastian FL. And make sure to stay till the end where I give you a little insight on why my MY family moved right here to Sebastian. Hey everyone, my name is Spencer bailey and I’m a local Real Estate Agent here in Sebastian Florida. If you are thinking about moving down here to Florida’s east coast or have a question about moving to Florida’s east coast, go ahead and give me a call text or email, id love to help you out, and maybe answer a few of your questions. But enough of that, lets get started taking a look at our first community Sebastian river landing OK so starting off with Sebastian River landing this is one of the bigger subdivisions that Sebastian has to offer with around 350 to 400 homes. It's not gigantic but like I said it is one of the bigger subdivisions in Sebastian. This community really to me feels perfect for a growing family you have a good mix of two-story homes in the neighborhood and overall, the houses seem fairly large. the average square footage in this neighborhood is 2212 square feet so the homes here are on the larger side. The HOA fee is very reasonable and comes in at $49 a month which is payable quarterly this pays for the amenities such as the community pool basketball and tennis courts. The fee also covers maintenance for the common areas, reserve funds, and security for the Subdivision. As you can see the landscaping is very nice and everything looks well taken care of and now we can start to see those big family homes that I was talking about. the average home sale price in sebastian river landing the last 180 days is 400,000 with the average days on market being 84 days. the lowest property in here in the last 180 days went for 350,000 and the highest sold in here went for 465,000. The north side of Sebastian river landing is phase one and that is where a lot of the two-story bigger homes are as we go across the bridge here we are now entering into phase two which is only single story homes I believe there is only 2 story home in phase two. Gorgeous day out today and one thing that I noticed compared to other subdivisions is that Sebastian river landing is very open there's not a whole lot of very tall trees so you get that nice open air feeling and on a gorgeous day like today it looks really nice. Here is one of the houses that I have sold in the past in this community. That 100 Salazar lane. 4 bed 2 bath home that’s 2700 square feet. Like I said the homes here tend to be on the bigger side. Another reason I say this neighborhood is family oriented is because this is the place to be on Halloween if you're looking for trick or treating. Every year tons and tons of kids come to the subdivision because people go all out for Halloween putting out decorations And handing out candy for the kids. Its really impressive and there are a few people in the neighborhood who go all out for the kids so definitely consider it if you have small kids. In conclusion it's a really wholesome community, the HOA is not super strict where they're going to be getting on your butt about small violations, so it's just overall a really great place to be if you want a nice quiet HOA or have a growing family. Collier Club OK so now let's move on to another bigger subdivision for Sebastian and that is the Collier club. To me this community is a little bit more focused on retirees rather than growing families compared Sebastian River landing. there are much fewer two-story homes in the community, the average square footage is lower around 1800, and the prices are a little higher in the subdivision With the average sale price being around 452,000. there are also a lot more amenities and the clubs that cater to older residents. for example, they have Yoga club, bridge club and other clubs and activities for retirees to enjoy. still a great place to raise a family and there are definitely families in the subdivision but when comparing it to Sebastian river landing Collier club tends to cater more towards retirees rather than growing families. the houses here seem a little bit more upscale focused on quality rather than square footage. actually just had a listing in here cell at 303 swallowtail lane and it was absolutely gorgeous I'll put up some photos. Congrats to my buyers and my sellers on that one, it was a beautiful home. Also When I was doing an open house on that property, all the neighbors came because they love the community and they either want their friend or family to move in the community. Very good sign when the all the neighbors say the love the community. The HOA fee here is reasonable coming in around $81.00 a month. This includes access to the clubhouse the community pool game room, tennis and basketball courts. Another thing I like about the Collier club is that they have tons of sidewalks for walking your pet or just taking a stroll. they also have benches everywhere in case you need to sit down mid walk, or you just want to take in the gorgeous day. In conclusion the Collier club is a great community to live in and is one of the bigger subdivisions in Sebastian. the subdivision is great for retirees who are looking for higher priced and upscale homes. There is plenty of amenities and clubs to keep you busy And the overall atmosphere is very nice and thus with vegetation. Collier club is also a great place to raise a family although you might want to check Sebastian river landing out first. Sebastian highlands OK now let's move on to the biggest neighborhood in Sebastian where most of the homes are, and that is the neighborhood called the Sebastian Highlands. The Sebastian Highlands is a non HOA community that makes up the majority of sebastians residential area. think of it as one big neighborhood where no one is telling you what to do. This comes with its pros and its cons. For the pros you don't have anyone telling you what to do you have no mandatory monthly fees you can build change and paint your house however you would like, and overal gives you more freedom. One big con of living in a non HOA community such as the Sebastian Highlands would be however that everyone can do what they want. if your neighbor wanted to paint their house lime green stay up all night playing music and have six cars in the yard, they can. if they wanted to have four dogs In their backyard all the time and they didn't take care of their property, that is going to adversely affect the value of surrounding properties so you really don't get that conformity that an HOA can provide. with that being said there are definitely parts of the Sebastian Highlands with higher value homes and parts of Sebastian islands with lower value homes. As you can see here there are some very high value homes up to 800,000 most of them being around the 350- $400,000 price range. this is a good part of the neighborhood as far as home values. however just a mile away off Schumann Dr you start to get homes that are dipping into the $200,000 range that are not as valuable or desirable. One of the reasons houses are less valuable on the east side is solely because of the train that runs along US 1. Color reason is that those are typically older homes and as Sebastian expanded outward the houses got progressively newer. The average home sale price here is around $350,000 with the average days on market being around 60 days. one thing i really like about fashion highlands is that it has so many parks within the neighborhood. I mean look at how many parks are on this map right now it's impressive. Smashing Florida is also a fairly safe place to live. There's just not a lot of shenanigans going on and that's why I think it's a great place to raise a family. Check out the crime rates yourself before moving down but overall it's a great family environment. Vero Lake Estates OK moving on to our last and final neighborhood and that is Vero lake estates. technically it's a Vero Beach address however it is right next to Sebastian and a lot of Sebastian residents live there so I'm going to include it in this video. Vero lake estates is another non HOA neighborhood just like Sebastian Highlands but there are a few big differences. First the prices in Vera lake estates are cheaper. The average home price is around 330 which is 20,000 less than Sebastian Highlands. also another big difference that I'm sure you may have noticed already is that they have mostly dirt roads in vero lake estates lake estates. the main roads are paved but almost all of the side roads are sandy dirt roads. Another big difference between Sebastian islands and Vero lake estates is that Vero lake estates has a ton of undeveloped vacant lots of land whereas in Sebastian almost all of it is fully developed and there are not many vacant lots left. you see a lot of new construction in Vero lake estates because of the lots for sale so if you're thinking about getting a brand new home, Building in Vero lake estates is a very cost effective option. A good amount of the vacant lots do have Gopher tortoises on them however and can cost a lot of money to rehome them so make sure to get that checked before buying a lot in Vero lake estates. Just like like Sebastian highlands it's a non HOA community so the same pros that applied for Sebastian Highlands apply for Vero lake estates. You have some areas that are better than others and higher value, and there’s a big difference in home values. It's also very close to I-95 which is very convenient for traveling or a work commute. Ok so now I want to briefly tell you a little bit about why my family ultimately chose Sebastian to call home. so my family and I moved here to Sebastian at the end of 2014 and we moved down from Minnesota, and it was a huge shock to say the least. At first, im going to be honest, I didn’t really like living here and I just wanted to move back to what I knew back in Minnesota. But after months of living here and getting accustomed to the weather and all the outdoor activities this area has to offer, we are now very happy with our decision and we are so glad we took the leap. The reason we chose Sebastian was because it really embraced the boating and outdoor lifestyle that my family and I were accustomed to. It also is a smaller town which is what we like, and no one is in a big rush to get anywhere around here. The weather is so beautiful around here and the atmosphere in Sebastian is so unique and hard to replicate. My family and I are laid back people who love the outdoors. We take full advantage of what Sebastian has to offer weather its setting snow crab traps, fishing the inlet, or taking the boat of to the islands, you will always find our family doing something outdoors, and that is probably the biggest reason why Sebastian was the place we chose to move to. So guys those are my picks for the best places to live in Sebastian FL whether you're a retiree's growing family or looking to my new construction homes there is something for everyone here in Sebastian FL. Sebastian overall is a great town I'm super happy that I moved here eight years ago from Minnesota. it's a huge change but I love living here. the lifestyle is fantastic. tons of things to do outdoors whether it's taking a hike and enjoying nature or taking the boat out and catching some fish there are a ton of activities that get you outside and active. The Indian River is also one of the most biodiverse pastor wearies in all of North America so it's a great place to explore and grow up around. but there you have it those were my four neighborhoods that I would suggest looking into if you're thinking about moving to Sebastian. I would also recommend reaching out to me if you have any questions about moving. I have helped a lot of clients find their perfect home here and relocate just as I did 8 years ago when I moved down. anyways everyone that's it for the video I hope you guys enjoyed if you did please make sure to leave a like and subscribe to the channel for more contact. Spencer.Bailey507@gmail.com507-951-2934 Thank you for reading!
Buying a Home at Harbor Isle in Vero Beach, Florida
Buying a Home at Harbor Isle in Vero Beach, Florida Luxury new construction homes that are 5 minutes away from the beach A luxurious new construction community that is 5 minutes away from the beach is being built right here by Divosta called Harbor Isle. In this post we're going to be covering everything you need to know about this luxurious new construction community and make sure to stay till the end where I share my experience building my own new construction home right here in Vero beach, stay tunned. OK everyone now I want to go into why I myself chose to buy a new construction home here in Vero Beach and there are a few reasons for that. First off I have the luxury of time I am in no big hurry and so I can afford to wait for my home to be built rather than needing to buy a resale home right now. That is one of the biggest limitations for buyers that I see around here and that's why I always try to tell my buyers to do their research a year to even a year and a half before they're thinking about moving down that way it'll give you plenty of time to get into a new construction community. The biggest reasons that I bought a new construction home here in Vero would first be the purchase price. I bought my home for $343,000 and that got me a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom 1828 square feet brand new 2023 home. If you take a look at what's on the market around that same price point you will be very disappointed with what you can get. As you can see on the Zillow page there is only one single family home for sale that’s a 4 bed 2 bath around that price range , it was built in 2005 and looks very dated. So not only did I purchase my new construction home for a cheaper price, but mine is going to be brand new, have brand new appliances, a brand new roof, and it also sits quarter acre lot. In addition This house gives me more time till I start running into insurance issues with the roof because we all know how crazy insurance companies are down here in Florida especially on the the Coast. Also Newer homes also tend to sell faster and easier than older homes that may have problems with appraisals, inspections and insurance. Builders will also often pay for closing costs, give Better interest rates, and offer home warranties as well. There are a ton more reasons why we chose to buy a new construction home besides the price and I go deeper into that in another post I made just the other week I will link that in the top right corner in case you're curious and want some more details. If you have any questions or are thinking about buying or selling a home in Florida, give me a call or email! Spencer.Bailey507@gmail.com507-951-2934
Top 5 Neighborhoods in Vero Beach
Top 5 Neighborhoods in Vero Beach Pointe West, Florida Ridge, Vero Isle, VLE, and Winter Beach Today I'm going to show you five great neighborhoods in Vero Beach that if you’re considering moving here you should absolutely know about. As a resident of Vero Beach, I'm going to give you a locals perspective on where you should be looking when you’re making your move here to Vero beach. We are going to be sticking to areas and communities on the mainland for this video, and island communities will have to be for another post. Hi everyone my name is spencer bailey, I’m a real estate agent here In Vero and I personally live in one of these neighborhoods. I help people buy and sell around these 5 neighborhoods all the time so If you are thinking about moving down here or have a question about moving to Florida’s east coast, go ahead and give me a call, text or email, id love to help you out, and maybe answer a few of your questions when you’re making your move here to Florida’s. I also created a website just for people wanting more information about my area called moveeastflorida.com, there you can search for properties, read blogs about our area, and overall gain a better understanding of why I love living here on Floridas east coast. Pointe West The first neighborhood on the list is point West. This is a great family friendly neighborhood that is off the beaten path, and away from a bit of the hustle and bustle. The location is great because you're going to get less drive through traffic, you're close to I-95, and you’re close to local amenities. I can't forget to mention the 18 hole golf course that surrounds the community, So if you like golf you don't have to go far at all. You don't need to like or play golf in order to live here, I know plenty of people that live there just for the neighborhood. Point West is broken up into four different segments East Village, South village north village and central village and they're all governed by the same community management company Elliott Merrill. They each have their own community pool so there's four pools throughout the entire community. On the north side they have only townhouses, central point west is made up of townhouses and detached single family homes, while South and east segments of point West are only single family detached homes. Prices in point West range from around 380 to 680,000 with the median home price being 462,000. Another great thing I like about point West is the landscaping. Driving through point West is so nice because everything is lush and green so on sunny days it really is beautiful. Another reason driving through point West is so nice is because since this is an HOA community, the houses are all very conform and in great condition. Homes built here range from 2001 to 2021, So not only do you get the lush, mature landscaping you also get newer great looking homes that are taken care of as well. Overall point West is a great neighborhood to consider if you're looking for a family friendly community and you don't mind being a little bit more out West. Florida Ridge/Vero Beach Highlands This next neighborhood spans a bigger area and it has something for everyone and that is the Florida Ridge. The Florida Ridge is an area in South Vero Beach on the mainland, the reason I like this area is because it's a little bit more spread out than downtown Vero Beach, home prices are a little cheaper here, and it has housing options for everyone. It has condos if that's what you're looking for, new construction opportunities, gated HOA communities, As well as properties with no HOA whatsoever. It also has a diverse price range, So this is great for buyers at all price points. Some of the HOA communities that are in the Florida Ridge are Falcon trace Serenoa Lexington place, Indian River club, and the preserve. Typically you can find houses for sale there around the 400 to $600,000 range, except for the Indian River club which starts around 750,000. If you're looking for no HOA, the Vero Beach highlands, Oslo park and Dixie heights is where youll want to be. The homes priced there are roughly 250 to 450,000. If you're looking for condos, the florida ridge has a lot of options for you. You have grand royal, Grove Isle, vista royale, and timber Ridge. Prices for condos here are around 100,000 to 350000. For New Construction, there are vacant lots you can buy and build your own home, or you can buy a spec home like I did from Dr Horton. I bought A brand new 4 bedroom 2 bath home that's 1828 square feet for 343,000 with a 4.99% interest rate. They also gave me $18,000 to pay for the closing costs making buying a new construction home a no brainer for me. If you want one of these spec homes from a builder you need to be on top of the ball because they sell very very quick. When I bought my spec home from Dr. Horton I bought it the day it went on market because I like many people knew exactly what I wanted and so when I saw it on the market I was quick to buy. Normally Dr. Horton builds a few spec Homes in Vero each year, and people are always looking out for them. If you have the luxury of time I always encourage taking a look at new construction. I made a video going deeper into new construction here and the benefits of it so if you're interested I'll leave a link down in the scription and in the top right corner for you to check out Vero Isle The next neighborhood is going to be for the people who love to be out on the water and that is the neighborhood of Vero Isles. Vero Isles is a neighborhood right off of Indian river Blvd In between the Merrill P Barber bridge and the 17th St. bridge. This community made it on my list because not only are you in the heart of Vero Beach, you're on the water with access to the intercoastal. This means at anytime you can hop on your boat parked out your private dock and have a day out on the river or the ocean. This community also is not governed by HOA so there's no dues or rules. There are not many communities in vero beach that have intercoastal water access on the mainland, making this a highly sought after neighborhood to get into. Prices here really start at 1,000,000 and can go all the way up 3-4 or even $5 million dollars. If you're looking to get a property on the water on a smaller budget, there are the neighborhoods of Vero shores and river shores located a bit further South. These are also great neighborhoods to get into that have intercoastal water access, prices there start around 700,000, and they are also not governed by an HOA. Vero Lake Estates (VLE) Now with this next neighborhood I'm gonna go the opposite route of Vero Isles and show you a neighborhood that is inland and a lot more affordable, And that is Vero lake estates. Vero lake estates or VLE as we call it here,is located in the northernmost part of Vero beaches limits just south of Sebastian and next to I-95. It is a good 25 minute drive to downtown Vero Beach and that's why this neighborhood is more affordable. Realistically you can get a nice three bedroom 2 bathroom home with 1500 square feet or so for under 300,000. New construction is also a very popular option here as well since lot prices are very reasonable for 1/4 acre lot depending on location you're looking at roughly $30,000. If you're looking to build a brand new home prices for new construction spec homes start around 325,000. I myself was thinking about building a home in Vero lake estates but there's one thing that kept me from building there and that is the sandy dirt roads. Most of the homes in VLE are off of dirt roads and for some that's not a huge issue but for me I have bad allergies and I'm not sure how well I would handle all the dust. However we were heavily considering moving there because your dollar goes a lot further they are then let's say in downtown Vero Beach. This is also a good option if you have kids needing to go to high school because the Sebastian river high school is directly north about a mile or so. Sebastian river high school is where I myself graduated and I know a lot of my classmates lived in Vero lake estates. Winter Beach Another area that made it on my list is winter beach winter beach is an area roughly 6 miles north of Vero Beach just South of wabasso. This area is where my parents live as well as my sister and her husband, and we like this area for a few different reasons. First you're about a 10 minute drive to the ocean, so we often have lots of fun days on the beach. Also, if youre an early riser, the ocean sunrise is a quick drive away. Another reason we like the location is because you're very close to US one making commuting very easy and there's less traffic compared to downtown Vero Beach. You're also in between Sebastian and Vero Beach so it makes driving to both towns about a 10-15 minute drive each way. The nearby communities that I would recommend are Vero Lago, lost tree preserve, high point, and the Antilles. These are all private gated communities and These are very quiet neighborhoods that aren’t surrounded by development so you get more of a relaxing and quiet environment. For lost tree, the first few phases were built by Dr. Horton in 2019 to 2022, and Adam's home is currently building the next few phases right now. So this community has resale options as well as new construction options. Prices in here go from the high three hundreds to low 5 hundreds. Fun fact, I currently have the highest sale in this community at 535,000 and that was for a four bedroom 2 bath pool home built by Dr. Horton. High point is a new construction community currently being built by gho. Homes in high point are going to have more upgrades, Gho builds some really nice homes with the emphasis on luxury and high end finishes. Typical new construction home prices in high point are right around 550,000. Antilles is a another great community to get into if you're looking for nice spacious homes. Homes in the Antilles start at 2000 square and can go all the way up to 3700 square feet. Homes here range from three bedrooms 2 bathrooms all the way up to four bedrooms 4 bathrooms. Prices here range from 500 to $800,000. Vero Lago is the last neighborhood, this is a private gated community that offers a lot of amenities. They have tennis and pickleball courts, a fitness center, a recreation center, and a heated community pool. I really like the style of houses here they go for the Mediterranean look. Prices here typically can range from high 300s to mid 600s. Square footage of the homes here can range from 1300 all the way up to 4000 square feet. All four of these are neighborhoods that I would recommend, like I said I really like this area and I've lived in this area for the past two years. While I'm excited to move down to South Vero I am gonna miss just how close I am to the beach and the privacy and quietness that comes with living here. So everyone those are the five areas and neighborhoods that I would consider looking at if you're thinking about moving down here to Vero Beach. There are so many other areas to look at so if you're interested in an area I didn't go over in this post please feel free to reach out. Like I said in the beginning, I am a real estate agent down here so if you had any questions or want me to help find that perfect home for you please feel free to call text or email me anytime. Spencer.Bailey507@gmail.com507-951-2934
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