Charles Hanes
January 22, 2012
I've been writing about Wildwood at Deer Creek (one of the better golf and country club courses in south east Florida) for a few years now. If you've been reading my blog you will know that I bought my Snowbird residence there, a large 4 bedroom townhouse with low monthly maintenance fees because, as a Snowbird, away for 6 months of the year these HOA fees make a significant difference.
Last year I published a few other than great blogs about the disarray in which I found the place and thanks primarily to my blog, the old, rather dysfunctional Board of Directors resigned and a new one took its place.
They've done a great job of turning things around, having implemented a new landscaping strategy, paint and restoration program, allowed owners to remove unattractive fences that the previous board misinterpreted as having to stay despite their unattractive appearance and generally brought life into a great community that was just being mismanaged.
I could be more impressed with the turn around and I understand that the new Board is now having a pagoda installed in the park which will definitely enhance property values and the visual appeal of the neighborhood. Best of all, all of these enhancements have not cost the homeowners a nickel. as the reserve fund had been underutilized for years under the old board.
Home Owner Associations (HOA's) are "Not For Profit Corporations" meaning that any monies over the emergency funds in the reserve funds is supposed to be spent to enhance the integrity of the community. By stock piling the reserve funds as the previous board did (good intentions but placed in the wrong area) they were shortchanging the home owners without realizing it.
I just had some Russian clients here looking around for a small investment below $300,000 and we looked all over south east Florida and, at that price point, the selection was almost scary! I then recommended that we look at Wildwood and we found 4 great townhouses for sale for under $250,000, a couple as low as $159,000, one of which was totally upgraded recently with granites countertops, new kitchen, and porcelain floors!
When you are looking to invest in Florida (or anywhere for that matter) the neighborhood takes precedent over the actual house. We saw a beautiful house for $179,000 in Pompano but the neighborhood was downright scary!
My Russian client has pretty much decided on one of the 4 units that are on the market in this price range which means that there are 3 left so if you've been looking for a Florida winter home or investment, Register with me right away and I'll plug you in to my associate in Florida (who also lives in Deer Creek Country Club and can look after your property while you're back home).
I'm Charles Hanes
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