Comparison of 5 of the Orlando-Area's Best 55+ Communities
When you think of a 55 and over community in Florida, what comes to mind? Is it a scene from the Golden Girls, peach sofas, mint green accents and four ladies eating cheesecake? Or perhaps it’s Seinfeld’s parents living in Del Boca Vista fighting with the HOA over Morty Seinfeld’s potential impeachment? If that’s the case, we need to update you.
We’re going to be talking about five different 55+ communities in Central Florida. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive look at the 55 and over communities in the area, but it should give you some idea of what to expect. Now if you’re interested in working with me on the purchase of one of these homes, my contact details are always below, and if you jump down into the description you’ll find a link to my calendar where you can set up a zoom call with me, which is my preferred way to communicate on a first call. Now back to the communities. I believe in all cases lawn care, basic cable, internet are included in your HOA fee in addition to amenities. If you research these properties online you will probably be under the impression that there are quick move-in homes available but at the time of making this video I will tell you that this is not the case. Also, if you plan to visit, make sure you set your appointment in advance as most are not really accepting walk-ins.
If you are looking to move into a 55 and over community here in the Central Florida area and you’re feeling overwhelmed, please feel free to reach out to me. My number is always below in the description and you can also feel free to set up a zoom call appointment with me. A link to that can also be found in the description under this video and it’s my preferred way to kick off a meeting with future clients, so please feel free to set up a call.
In case you don’t know, Florida is experiencing a building boom. Now I started this tour of these communities somewhat optimistically, thinking that the 55 and over communities would not have quite as large of a crowd of buyers since buyers are of course limited by age. A somewhat limited audience if you will. I was wrong. There is almost no inventory, very limited models of homes are available and lots are being released slowly, if at all, because builders are overwhelmed. There are waiting lists for homes. I’m not even going to talk about prices because the prices are rising at least once a month in new construction. Just know that with the exception of Lennar, all the prices that you see online on the builders' websites are introductory prices and if you want for instance tile or wood floors instead of carpet, or granite instead of a basic countertop, the price is going to go up. Also the price of the lots is not included in that pricing and the lots ranged from just under $10,000 all the way up to $115,000. All the builders that I spoke to do offer some sort of incentive to use their lender, and possibly some kind of small credit in the design center toward your upgrades.
I’m going to start off with Latitude Margaritaville in Daytona Beach. Now, right off the bat, if you go visit this community, I think you’ll be impressed with how they handle visits with potential buyers. You meet at a sales center and you’re taken by bus over to an area with 13 model homes to visit. This was the most model homes in one community that I’ve ever seen, and even if you’re not interested in living in Margaritaville, it’s a beautiful array of designs that I would recommend anyone to just visit. The homes are furnished in colorful and fun ways and of course, basically every room has a margarita or some sort of adult frozen concoction in it somewhere. Lively music is piped into each room and it’s actually not just Jimmy buffett. You definitely feel like you’re on vacation and like you can’t help but be happy there. Also of note is that each master bedroom is equipped with this safety button in case you need some help. Very well thought out. Let’s talk about the community a little bit. Golfing at LPGA is just a few miles away and there is a shuttle to take you to the beach. The HOA price is reasonable and varies between cottages, villas, and houses, but isn’t more than $250 per month. The community will have 3400 homes when all is said and done, a town square, restaurant, live music, pool, aerobics. Not all of the amenities are complete yet but are slated to be done soon. Margaritaville is listed as one of the top 50 55+ communities in the US and it’s easy to see why.
However, if you do fall in love with this community, your happiness may end when you discover that only cottages are currently available. And those are not available for immediate move in, but still must be built. Those are the smallest square footage and are attached, duplex-style. Villas and single-family homes are sold out. More lots will be released in the fall of 2021, but prices are not yet available for that release and you’re probably going to be looking at a one-year build time. If you’re looking for a faster move-in you’re going to have to look at finding a resale home. Since Margaritaville isn’t that old, you’re basically looking at a home that’s only a few years old anyway. Current properties range from $440,000 to just under $550,000.
Now if you’re looking for a smaller community a little further inland we come to the 55 and over community in Victoria Park, which is also in Volusia County in the city of Deland. Now, Victoria park is made up of several large communities, one of which features golfing, and the 55 and over community is the only guard gated section of Victoria Park. This community only has single-family homes, no attached homes. The new home builder is Kolter. There are new home lots in this section; however, none of them are available, and like with Margaritaville you are looking at a long wait for a lot and a long build time -- in Victoria Park, they are estimating about two years till you would be able to move in. I have already made a video of this community so I’ll drop a link above. This community was started in the mid-2000s so there are plenty of resale homes available at any given time with a range of prices from, at the moment $250,000 up to about $400,000. This community is guard gated, has a pool, clubhouse, restaurant, ballroom, lighted tennis courts, bocce ball, library, pickleball, lots of activity clubs and a lifestyle director. The HOA fee is just under $400 per month. Residents can use all of the amenities of all the communities of Victoria Park, although non-residents of the 55 and over community cannot use their amenities.
Now going much further south to Polk County, in the city of Kissimmee, we come to Solivita, which is located about 21 miles south of Disney. Solivita is a very large guard-gated community, almost a town, with 5000 homesites. The builder is Taylor Morrison, and it used to be Avatar, but Avatar was acquired by Taylor Morrison. This one, like Margaritaville has its own distinct style and in this case, its more of a Mediterranean feel, with stuccoed buildings and barrel tile roofing, at least in the town center but many of the homes have a similar Spanish or Mediterranean style to them. This community also offers you a number of different model homes to look at and explore after you take a short golf cart ride from their sales center.
This community has an impressive 14 swimming pools, including an indoor pool, fitness classes, golfing, 3 restaurants, a library, an art gallery, classes to take, a lifestyle director, it’s all accessible by golf cart if you choose, and it’s surrounded by nature and conservation areas on the territory of Solivita. At the time I visited, they actually had one inventory home. And since this community has existed since the early 2000s, there are plenty of resale homes available, even rental properties, and prices range from $180,000 up to $585,000 for a former model home. This community has but a handful of lots left and is largely built out, so if you are interested in buying a brand new home, you’ll have to act quickly. The HOA fee is just shy of $400 per month. There is also a CDD and that will run you about $687 per year.
If you’re interested in joining a community toward the beginning of it’s build out, then you might want to check out DelWebb’s Sunbridge in St Cloud. This community is located just five miles south of Orlando’s Lake Nona. Otherwise, you will have a drive to the beach or to Disney and it is maybe a bit remote apart from that. Since it is a relatively new community the main 27000 square foot clubhouse is not yet built and that’s something you’ll have to decide if you’re comfortable with, but they expect it to be completed in 2022. The amenities will include a Clubhouse, pool, tennis courts, pickleball courts, corn hole, an amphitheater, craft rooms, a gym, group fitness rooms and more. Now one thing that did stand out about Del Webb was that the price for lots was surprisingly higher than most of the other communities, with current berm lot prices starting at $36,000 and villa berm lot prices starting at $16,000. Premium lots go all the way up to $115,000, so that’s really going to affect your bottom line. Remember, that goes above the cost of the home that you’re looking at, so if you’re looking at it online remember that you’ll still have to add the lot and any upgrades you may want. As far as HOA fees go, The villas' HOA fee is $423 per month and includes outside paint and roof and termite treatment in addition to the usual landscaping and internet, while the homes are either $370 or $380 per month.
Out toward the east coast of Florida in Viera, we have a Lennar Community called Bridgewater. Bridgewater has three model homes to tour but, like in most of these communities, they are selling lots slowly and in this case, taking highest and best offers -- and they are selling within days of being released. So here is how that works, you tell Lennar which model or models you are interested in, and when one of them becomes available, they will let you know. At that time they will tell you which lot it will be built on, and what color scheme is being used in the home. So in other words, brown cabinetry, or white cabinetry, what flooring, what backsplash, etc. it is all predetermined, and up to you to decide if you want to make an offer on it. Then they take the highest offers of all the interested people and select one. These are not customized homes. The good thing is these homes take less time to build as there is no room for you to change your mind and make changes to the design or color scheme, which often sets builders back by months. And also, the price you see on their website will be the actual price of the home, they do provide a range of prices and that’s because there can be variations in each model and certain lots cost more than others. In this community almost all the lots are waterfront. This community does not have a CDD, but it does charge you a small fee, I believe it was under 1% of the purchase price, at the time of closing, to pay back some development expenses. That is a one-time fee. The HOA fee is $292 per month and the community when complete will have just a little over 800 homes. Like with Del Webb Sunbridge, this community is in its earlier stages and so some of the amenities have not yet been built. In addition to owning its own mortgage company, Lennar also has its own insurance company and so can also write your homeowners insurance policy.
There are a wide range of communities available and many I didn’t get to visit. If you have any special requests for videos feel free to shoot me an email. Thanks for watching!
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