Weston: Limited options for family homes under $500,000
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/17/2851944/weston-limited-options-for-family.html#storylink=cpy
It may be about as far you can get from the beach in Broward, but Weston — city of master-planned communities, top-rated schools and low crime rates — has long been a pricey bauble in the region’s real estate portfolio. So when we wanted to find a large house with lots of amenities — five bedrooms, three baths, pool, waterfront view (well we can fantasize), roomy garage and gleaming kitchen for $500,000 — we headed to Weston and its seemingly endless developments of lushly landscaped homes.
The endless part turned out to be an exaggeration. Like many places in South Florida, Weston’s inventory is way down. The city only had 245 single-family homes for sale as of last week and 11 of those were five-bedroom homes under $500,000. We opened our pocket a little more and found 37 under $600,000. If your budget is under $300,000 there were 28 choices.
A Bloomberg Businessweek survey identifying the markets with the biggest gains and losses in home value, ranked Weston the best-performing city since President Obama took office. The median home value in the city has risen 15.1 percent to $280,000 from February 2009 to August 2011 — in comparison, the U.S. median home value fell by 9.9 percent over the same period, according to the survey.
“Weston has the infrastructure people want,” says Dean Sklar, a real estate agent and former golf pro who left New Jersey for Weston because he “fell in love” with the city. He and his wife Rose specialize in Weston sales for Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate. “The slogan here is ‘It’s all here in your hometown,’ and it’s true.”
We asked the Sklars to help us find a sampling of three homes for $500,000. We wound up looking at four — two for under $500,000 and two for over $500,000; only one had five bedrooms.
While it was the priciest we saw, the $589,000 on Windward Way featured all the bells and whistles for living the Weston dream. Five good-size bedrooms, three bathrooms on a lovely corner lot, making it our favorite. It also has a heated pool (though not screened in, which might deter some buyers), a lake view, three-car garage, new appliances and lots of crown molding.
“Windward, in the height of the market, would have gone in the $800,000 range,” says agent Rose Sklar.
A $549,000 Country Isles Manor home we saw was a close second. While it had four bedrooms, it featured a screened-in pool and lake view. The options we saw for less than $400,000 were just on smaller lots in close proximity to their neighbors and didn’t have pools.
“Weston has always been desirable — now it’s become more affordable,” said Chip Rowand, assistant manager at Keyes’ Weston office.
Houses are getting back to 2003-2004 pricing in Weston, “but we’re not up to pre-recession prices,” says Henrick Hesselman, a real estate agent focusing on Weston for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.
Given the low interest rates, “demand is there,” but there aren’t enough houses,” says JM Padron, who owns the RE/MAX franchise in Weston.
“Traditionally, homeowners stay in their house five to seven years, so if they bought at the height of the market and they wanted to sell now, they’d probably take a loss,’’ Hesselman says. “So they’re choosing either to stay in their home or to rent it out.”
If you’re looking “to lowball a foreclosure,” Rowand says, “you’re out of luck.” As of last week, only six of Weston’s sales were foreclosures.
International buyers have helped elevate sales in Weston, which has long been dubbed “Westonzuela.”
“Everyone in the world is looking to buy in Weston,” says Ana Rodriguez, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent in Weston. “It’s not only Latin Americans.”
Fuente Miami Herald -Rochelle Koff
Cortesia Juan Ore Realtor Weston FL Tel (954) 349 8300
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/17/2851944/weston-limited-options-for-family.html#storylink=cpy
