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flyforfun

Beach Fanatic
Oct 20, 2006
311
39
Birmingham, Al
Watersound still sits on the most beautiful beach in the world. The extension helped every property owner who was fighting to get through a log jam of over 200 house plans tied up in the design review process that is geared toward constructing homes that will last for generations of lives and storms. Most importantly, it allowed property owners a little leverage in negotiating better construction cost with contractors. There are 51 homes currently under construction in Watersound and 125 in Watercolor. I guess this gentleman showed up on Thanksgiving when he discusses a ghost town. Unlike Rosemary or Watercolor, 100% of Watersound Beach sits on the south side of 30-A with only traffic is from property owners. Even when there is a lot on every single lot, its always going to be a quite community because other than a deli in the gate house it lacks restaurants and retail. Its obvious the author does not appreciate the quietness that many of the owners appreciate now and in the future.
 

fisher

Beach Fanatic
Sep 19, 2005
822
76
Watersound still sits on the most beautiful beach in the world. The extension helped every property owner who was fighting to get through a log jam of over 200 house plans tied up in the design review process that is geared toward constructing homes that will last for generations of lives and storms. Most importantly, it allowed property owners a little leverage in negotiating better construction cost with contractors. There are 51 homes currently under construction in Watersound and 125 in Watercolor. I guess this gentleman showed up on Thanksgiving when he discusses a ghost town. Unlike Rosemary or Watercolor, 100% of Watersound Beach sits on the south side of 30-A with only traffic is from property owners. Even when there is a lot on every single lot, its always going to be a quite community because other than a deli in the gate house it lacks restaurants and retail. Its obvious the author does not appreciate the quietness that many of the owners appreciate now and in the future.

Watesound does sit on a very beautiful beach and it is a great neighborhood that will get better as more owners build homes. However, for every property owner trying to get a home built, there are just as many investors trying to cut and run and there aren't many buyers out there. The author clearly understood the problems facing JOE, Watersound, Watercolor (and even though not mentioned in the article, Alys, Cypress Dunes, etc). The market is ugly right now due to the greed of JOE and the investors that caught in the frenzy. It will take quite some time for the market to get back to equilibrium.
 

flyforfun

Beach Fanatic
Oct 20, 2006
311
39
Birmingham, Al
Let's see, I just checked the county's records for sales of property in Watersound for 2006, and I am counting 36 properties. Other than on Sundays, the sound of hammers and power saws mixes in with the cool ocean breezes. Mark my word, years from now when this community is complete, when every piece of property along 30-A has either a home or condo on it, and all the public beach access is over crowded, the gated community of Watersound will be a tranquil and peaceful place. You will be able to walk along the wooden board walks to the beach without noisy traffic or fear of your kids getting run over. You will meander through 200 yards of beautiful preservation dunes until you reach a magical place on the beach. As you gaze upon the emerald waters, you will begin to wonder if you are at a private beach some where out in the Caribbean. You may come to visit friends and remember a time (like now) when you could have purchased a lot or home in this community. It's a magical place unlike any beach community along 30-A, something I am glad I had the courage to purchase and enjoy for generations. :clap_1:
 

fisher

Beach Fanatic
Sep 19, 2005
822
76
Let's see, I just checked the county's records for sales of property in Watersound for 2006, and I am counting 36 properties. Other than on Sundays, the sound of hammers and power saws mixes in with the cool ocean breezes. Mark my word, years from now when this community is complete, when every piece of property along 30-A has either a home or condo on it, and all the public beach access is over crowded, the gated community of Watersound will be a tranquil and peaceful place. You will be able to walk along the wooden board walks to the beach without noisy traffic or fear of your kids getting run over. You will meander through 200 yards of beautiful preservation dunes until you reach a magical place on the beach. As you gaze upon the emerald waters, you will begin to wonder if you are at a private beach some where out in the Caribbean. You may come to visit friends and remember a time (like now) when you could have purchased a lot or home in this community. It's a magical place unlike any beach community along 30-A, something I am glad I had the courage to purchase and enjoy for generations. :clap_1:

By the way, only 20 of those sales were vacant lots. With 85 resale lots currently on the market plus the remaining unsold JOE lots, that means there is over a 5 year supply of inventory in Watersound Beach. Meaning that lots of investors will still be stuck with unsold lots when the JOE extensions end over the next 2 through 3 years. This does not include all of the lots owned by builders that will be putting new homes on the market during that period of time.

Assuming everything gets built our as you say--did you forget about all the people in the 1400 planned homes in Watersound North that will also have access to the beach at Watersound? It won't be as deserted as you think once all those homes are built out. In addition, have you thought about how all those folks from Watersound will get to the beach at Watersound Beach? In the end, Watersound will be just as crowded as any of the other planned developments along 30A. If it was only the 400 or so homes in Watersound that get access to the beach, then it would be pretty quiet. Not with all those other folks from Watersound needing beach access, parking, etc.

No denying that the beach is beautiful in Watersound. But, that won't solve the inventory problem nor will the size of the beach necessarily make it immune to overcrowding once Watersound Beach, Watersound and Watersound Beach West are complete.
 
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flyforfun

Beach Fanatic
Oct 20, 2006
311
39
Birmingham, Al
By the way, only 20 of those sales were vacant lots. With 85 resale lots currently on the market plus the remaining unsold JOE lots, that means there is over a 5 year supply of inventory in Watersound Beach. Meaning that lots of investors will still be stuck with unsold lots when the JOE extensions end over the next 2 through 3 years. This does not include all of the lots owned by builders that will be putting new homes on the market during that period of time.

Assuming everything gets built our as you say--did you forget about all the people in the 1400 planned homes in Watersound North that will also have access to the beach at Watersound? It won't be as deserted as you think once all those homes are built out. In addition, have you thought about how all those folks from Watersound will get to the beach at Watersound Beach? In the end, Watersound will be just as crowded as any of the other planned developments along 30A. If it was only the 400 or so homes in Watersound that get access to the beach, then it would be pretty quiet. Not with all those other folks from Watersound needing beach access, parking, etc.

No denying that the beach is beautiful in Watersound. But, that won't solve the inventory problem nor will the size of the beach necessarily make it immune to overcrowding once Watersound Beach, Watersound and Watersound Beach West are complete.

The development is not designed around flippers. Were in a post hurricane correction, so get it cheap while you can. When the two year extension runs out, I am certain St. Joe want hesitate to buy back a few lots. It's a community built around people who want to live there full or part time.

Even when watersound east, west, north and south (condo's or barges) it will still be an awsome place. You have to remember that Chicago (5 million plus population) has less than a mile of brown sandy beach along Lake Michigan. It may take some time to find a parking place, but you still can find a place to park your body out in the sun. Having a home at Watersound, just makes finding a parking place a lot easier :).
 

Go Gators

Beach Comber
Aug 5, 2005
9
0
st. joe did not do the build out correctly from the beginning. they cannot arbitrarily enforce it now. that's one of the reasons they extended the "so called build out". they cannot try to fine people when the documents didn't allow for it. there is no build out in watercolor/watersound - rivercamps next. you really think they are going to try and enforce it in two years. not likely. they are not going to buy them back because they cannot sell them.

what has shown to be true is that most of the purchases of lots in watercolor, phase III and watersound were mostly speculation.

watersound and phase III of watercolor will not be built out before 2020 if ever. i heard there were brokeback realtor carcasses in phase III of watercolor that were not found until this ny times writer found them.
 

flyforfun

Beach Fanatic
Oct 20, 2006
311
39
Birmingham, Al
st. joe did not do the build out correctly from the beginning. they cannot arbitrarily enforce it now. that's one of the reasons they extended the "so called build out". they cannot try to fine people when the documents didn't allow for it. there is no build out in watercolor/watersound - rivercamps next. you really think they are going to try and enforce it in two years. not likely. they are not going to buy them back because they cannot sell them.

what has shown to be true is that most of the purchases of lots in watercolor, phase III and watersound were mostly speculation.

watersound and phase III of watercolor will not be built out before 2020 if ever. i heard there were brokeback realtor carcasses in phase III of watercolor that were not found until this ny times writer found them.

Gator, there is 51 homes currently under construction in Watersound Beach. There is currently 84 sets of plans in the Watersound DRB process. Sure is a lot of acitivity in a development in the mist of one of the largest down turns in real estate since the great depression. Things continue to move forward because its the most awsome piece of real estate on the entire gulf coasts! Property owners will continue to build in this development regardless if there are extension's or not.
 

Bobby J

Beach Fanatic
Apr 18, 2005
4,043
600
Blue Mountain beach
www.lifeonshore.com
Gator, there is 51 homes currently under construction in Watersound Beach. There is currently 84 sets of plans in the Watersound DRB process. Sure is a lot of acitivity in a development in the mist of one of the largest down turns in real estate since the great depression. Things continue to move forward because its the most awsome piece of real estate on the entire gulf coasts! Property owners will continue to build in this development regardless if there are extension's or not.

FFF,
As blind as some of us were about the down turn of this market you will discover the same thing about the continued growth of this market. There are some on these boards that act as if the market has completely stopped. I had my second best year ever! The simple fact about SOWAL is alot of folks, with alot of money like it here!
 

flyforfun

Beach Fanatic
Oct 20, 2006
311
39
Birmingham, Al
Congrats Bobby J! Real estate agents who work, and show up early Sunday mornings when they have a buyer on the hook will always have a great year. :clap_1: The people who realize that this is still the most beautiful beach on the gulf will find the money, cause the last time I checked, God's not making any more white sandy beaches.:rotfl:
 

fisher

Beach Fanatic
Sep 19, 2005
822
76
Gator, there is 51 homes currently under construction in Watersound Beach. There is currently 84 sets of plans in the Watersound DRB process. Sure is a lot of acitivity in a development in the mist of one of the largest down turns in real estate since the great depression. Things continue to move forward because its the most awsome piece of real estate on the entire gulf coasts! Property owners will continue to build in this development regardless if there are extension's or not.

How many of those houses under construction or in design mode are owned by builders or investors? My guess is a large number. Therefore, when many of these homes are complete they will be dumped on the market with the current glut of homes adding to the inventory problem.

If you look closely, a large percentage of recently completed or to be completed homes have been placed on the market. This trend is likely to continue as a large percentage of the lots sold by JOE were sold to investors rather than end users.

Currently, there are 105 homes and lots on the market representing nearly 25% of total available inventory. We need more end users before the market will turn around.

the beaches are beautiful but there is only a small sliver of the population that can afford a $2 million second home.
 
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