Florida is the third most populous state and, because of its year-round warm climate, contains the most golf communities of all. Indeed, The Villages, a huge retirement community in the north central part of the state, can boast of 35 separate golf courses alone. During the early years of the recession that began in late 2007, Florida real estate prices crashed, with homes in many golf communities losing between 30% and 50% of their value. But now, prices have rebounded to near pre-recession levels in the most popular areas of the state, including Naples, Sarasota and Jacksonville. Because summers can be too hot for many, Florida golf communities are a magnet for second-home owners who are tired of cold winters, still enjoy spring and summer in the North and appreciate the lack of an income tax in the state. Many "snowbirds" stay in Florida for six months and a day to take best advantage of the tax situation.
The thought of reviewing golf communities in the Orlando area has always been intimidating to me. Where do you start? There are just so many of them, and they are spread out across the huge Orlando...
No state’s housing market was hit harder than Florida’s, although Nevada and Arizona can certainly vie for that dubious claim. The fact is that Nevada arguably has just two major areas of...
Steady readers of this site probably wonder why I don’t cover Florida golf communities more often. A few of you have even accused me of willfully ignoring the state that has the most golf courses...
Toby Tobin, the Florida real estate blogger who has followed the Bobby Ginn saga closely, is on a roll. We reported a few days ago about Toby’s piece on how the Ginn organization has failed to pay...
Property owners at the Reunion Resort near Orlando continue to pay for having purchased property from Ginn Development. Recently they were notified of the next series of increased assessments for road...
The Reynolds family, as in Reynolds Plantation in Georgia, had a sweet thing going -- a large and, by all accounts, well-organized community in the upstate lake region of Georgia, buttressed by six...
I was listening to Masters coverage on XM Satellite radio the other day and heard an ad for the Mirasol Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. They were offering a whopping $45,000 off the price of...
More than 50% of all homes sold in February in Florida’s Flagler County and along the Palm Coast were either foreclosure or short sales, those in which the selling price is lower than the amount...
The following golf course review of West Palm Beach Golf Club was filed by Elliot deBear, a devoted reader of GolfCommunityReviews.com and frequent golf traveler. Yesterday we posted Elliot's golf...
Longtime reader Elliot deBear contributes occasional reviews and photos. During a recent trip to the Palm Beach area, he tested out a totally renovated par 3 course. Elliot's review, for which we...
God's Waiting Room has turned into an emergency room. Florida suffered its first net migration loss in 63 years in 2008. Any fool could see it coming, and this fool -- your editor -- has written...
The Miami housing market may be the most democratic in the nation, affecting both rich and poor, celebrities and no names alike. One real estate agent's site lists all local celebrity homes for...