October 16, 2019
Today we drove up to Green Cove Springs to look around the area. We decided to stop and talk to a realtor, Scott Schriefer who could give us some information. Joyce did a search and found at Exit Magnolia Reality so we stopped and talked to Scott who looked up homes for sale in the area. He told us about Cross Creek Subdivision that is new construction. We decided to have him take us up there for a look-see.
There we met Alana who took us on a tour of a couple of models and then did some pricing. The homes are being built by D. R. Horton and come in two different grades. We are actually interested in the “express” builds which are a lot less expensive but you don’t have a lot of choices which will work fo us. We really liked the Lismore model the best.
October 18, 2019
Yesterday Joyce and I drove up to Middleburg, FL to look at another new housing development called Azalea Ridge. We are specifically wanted to check out the Freedom area, a 55+ gated community.
On the way up we stopped at the tax asserts office in Green Cove Springs to see what benefits we would get in Florida. There is a homestead exemption of $50,000 we qualify for along with a $5000 disabled veteran exemption.
We met Alana there and she showed us two of the homes. We really liked the Avon model but it is priced at a tad above what we want to spend. One thing we don’t want to be is house poor.
Later we stopped at the Green Cove Springs Elks Lodge for a cold one. This is a very active lodge that is open everyday for cocktails and dinner. If we decide to move to this area I am sure we will probably move our membership to here.
So, if we haven’t looked at enough houses already we decided to go back up to Green Cove Springs and meet with Scott again and look at a home in Magnolia Point. This is a gated community that has a nice golf course and all the amenities that you would ever want.
We looked at a small two-bedroom place priced at $198,000 but in order to make it “livable” we would have to put about $60,000 into it. For obvious reasons we scratched that off our list.
After a full day of looking at homes Joyce and I were ready for some relaxation so we headed to the Elks Lodge. This has got to be the friendliest lodge we have ever visited in all our years of traveling. Both times we have been there the Exulted Ruler greeted us and several folks came and introduced themselves. The lodge has dinner every night of the week; tonight’s dinner was a 10 oz. boneless pork chop that is then best we have ever eaten. The meal included salad, potatoes and beans all for ten bucks. Heck, we’re thinking about looking for houses within a ten-minute drive of this place.
October 19, 2019
Today we went up to Green Cove Springs to met with Scott and look at some more homes. He took us to Silver Springs, an established subdivision north west off town to look at a home that we liked but really wasn’t our style. Next we went farther north to Orange Park to look at a new development called Somerset by Dream Finder Homes. The one that we liked was the Naples model.
We then dove out to the actual building site and looked at the model that was still under construction that is actually the Naples. Joyce and I both thought that the layout of the house was a bit strange and we weren’t crazy about the surrounding area. Here is a link to the flyer for the Naples model: https://availablehomes.dreamfindershomes.com/idx/details/listing/a054/1019217/?printable=1
October 20, 2019
Today is Michelle’s birthday so Joyce took Her and Abigail out to have their nails done. Later we all went out to Creekside Dinery for a seafood dinner.
Happy Birthday Michelle!
October 22, 2019
Yesterday was a very busy day. First, we had an appointment with a sales person at D.R. Horton homes in Green Cove Springs at 10:30. When we arrived she was a no-show so we called and she told us that Alana had not told her about meeting us. Joyce called Alana who said that we could just hang out and wait for Nancy to get to us and she would email us all the particulars. Well, that wasn’t going to happen.
We decided to head over to the new Richmond American Homes Traceland subdivision and looked around there. After talking with Josh for a few minutes he showed us some floor plans, but this area is so new they only have one model built. We liked the Ruby model but it is four bedrooms that is more house than we need. So he then sent us to a development in the Rolling Hills at Lake Asbury subdivision.
On the way over there Joyce looked at the floor plan brochures and liked the Azure model (link shows it as a two-bedroom but it’s actually three.). We met with Derrick but unfortunately he didn’t have a model of the floor plan but Richmond did have one in a subdivision in north Jacksonville, about 45 minutes away. Since we had nothing else to do off we went.
Joyce looked at that model and really liked it so we then drove back down to meet with Josh again. Come to find out Richmond Homes isn’t even going to offer that floor plan in Traceland. To top it off a train came by very close to us blowing the horn. To say the least it was very, very loud.
So, then we drove back over to Rolling Hills to talk to Derrick. After a lot of discussion and running the numbers we decided to buy the Azure. We got just about everything we wanted and at the price we could afford. We spent a couple of hours picking out some options and colors that will individualize the house.
This is the elevation we chose. The colors will change.
Link to floor pan: https://secure.ml3ds-cloud.com/#/floorplan/154163
In about a month we’ll get a call to visit the design center in Jacksonville to pick out some more options like widow covering, faucets, door handles, etc. In the house deal they are including a “kitchen upgrade package” that includes tile flooring in the wet areas, 42 inch cabinets and granite counter tops in the kitchen. They also gave us a $500 credit to spend at the design center along with about $8000 that was rolled into the price of the house.
Not in a million years would I ever think we would buy a home in Florida. But given Michelle, Abigail and Skyler live within 45 minutes of here it just makes sense. Also, Justin and his family are living in Southern Pines, NC that is within a days drive for Green Cove Springs. For us to fly down here three or four times a year from Oregon would not work.
Until next time,
Barry & Joyce
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