Why Are New Homes Resold So Fast?
 

When I look in the paper at the homes for sale it's surprising to see so many one year old homes being resold south of the Florida Turnpike. What is going through these recent buyers heads? Your barely settled in and your selling your home already. What gives?

Downsizing does not always work out

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My wife played golf with a woman who was selling her 15 month old home in Marsh Bend. She bought a beautiful golf course lot and then was surprised to find out that people get up REALLY early to mow the course and play golf...

I've heard others have done the same...

Happens with every new build area. It's mostly investors. They buy land, have a house built on it, then sell it for a profit.

The villages has a new rule when you buy - no resales until after 1 year because of buyers buying multiple homes and making a profit right away.

Rather wake up listening to the golf course being mowed than listening to a wrecking ball tear down the clubhouse.

I don’t think it’s because they don’t like living IN the Villages, it is because one needs to make a decision on a lot in a matter of minutes and can’t consider all the issues i.e. lawnmowers at 5am; traffic patterns; etc.

Most sell the same day with multiple back up buyers at significant profit for the seller.

Next to us, the resales included divorce, pay legal bills / legal settlement, death of spouse and with the price up 20% or more, they sold for the gain. Other potential is that they were not retired, and then lost their income to support the mortgage payment. . . There are abandoned houses here where the owners lost jobs and they just stopped paying mortgage and lost their downpayment. . .

Don't assume that everyone views a home in the villages the way that you view your own home. There are many people who will take the money, and build another one or rent for awhile while making another location decision.

I offered the 18 mo old house for sale at 100% over purchase price, no takers. . .

So financial example, round numbers:
Purchase house, $350K at begining of pandemic, mortgage payment $2,000
Sell house for $500K during pandemic, monthly rental payment $1,600 - 2,000 smaller to same size house.

Profit with sale by owner, excluding realtor fees, $150K increase to financial assets.
Monthly rental payment savings 400 - 0, depending upon rental selection. .

$150K = 6+ years of rental payments
or build a new house and include a pool or an additional 500sq ft of living space in a build upgrade.

The financial people aren't looking at the house strictly as a forever house, which you may be. There are many, many other viewpoints of why a house may get resold.

Not new rule…..been here a long time.

They find out how noisy the turnpike is, and how far away from the squares they are.

Some are unable to sufficiently downsize and need to move so they have space for their overabundance of furnishings, 4 cars, etc.

We live in the South and Brownwood doesn't seem that far away. Also, Sawgrass will be open soon. I believe some see that their newer, but gently used, home will sell for more than a new home (only bc of supply and demand). So, essentially, a free upgrade...?

I think it is stupid people buying a house in a stupid location or on a stupid lot.

Once they realize they made a stupid decision, they want to move.

Maybe it changed from 2 years to 1? Why said new rule. I wonder if I pay cash for house how can the stop me form selling it?

The rule is not new. It has always been one year and it doesn't matter whether or not you paid cash. But, you can add the full cost of upgrades and the real estate commission to the sales price before you calculate the "profit". So, if you paid $300K, and added $50K in upgrades after the sale, you can sell the house for $350K plus the real estate commission. If you sell for more, the difference goes to the developer. This is a contractual agreement that you must agree to with the developer at the closing on a new house.

So you think anyone who buys a home and sell in a year is STUPID. What a harsh thought, telling someone they are just to stupid to exist.

We know 4 couples that are selling just over a year of buying. One needed a bigger home due to parent moving in, one moving back north to take care of their daughter in hospice, and their grandchildren.

Last two spouse died, you should let them know how STUPID they were for marrying the love of their life, and then they died, and put their home up for sale.

That's not a new rule. It was in place in 2011 when we bought our house. It's to keep investors out. That might not be working nowadays with how fast the prices are going up. But it's still the rule.

In 07 we paid cash for vaca home in TV, the rule you could sell before a year, but any profit ABOVE normal closing, and certain about of upgrades, went back to the developers. Houses were selling in 07, just like today, no inventory, multiple people on the list to buy same home.

Only new item now is new homes can’t be used for investment, it’s now in the closing paperwork.

Buy too quickly, buy on emotion, tired of living close to the turnpike …

perfect example of counting to 3 b4 hitting send

Resale
 

Location, location, location!!! New home buyers find out HOW FAR they are from everything. No infrastructure to speak - grocery store, hardware store, restaurants, etc. Plus the travel time, if you are a golfer or bowler.

Location, Location, Location
 

People don’t do their homework, simply put they concentrate on the inside of the house instead of what is happening around them. The new homes are so close to each other, have shorter driveways and the streets are not wide enough to park a car on both sides. Why would you want to live next to the Florida turnpike which is currently expanding into a six lane highway?
People love the idea ‘new’ but it comes with a price. Having moved four times we settled into a established area. Put in updates, worth it for being close to Sumter Landing, oversized lot, established landscaping, shopping and so, so important peace, quiet and privacy.

Turnpike noise

yet another item that wouldn't stand up in court. If someone wants to take the capital gains hit for selling under the IRS 2 year limit then so be it. Someone will take it to court eventually and flush out the items that are just floated by the owners here just because they don't know enough.

Yet no one has mentioned craftmanship, abnormally short driveways, being very remote from everything (brownwood, LSL, etc), the prison, etc......

Here is the “rule:” Any profit on the sale of a new home within one year of the closing date is split with the developer.

There are many “flippers” who build/buy specifically for that purpose. Villages agents do this all the time in highly desirable locations.

So far in our newer location, at least three have sold with a closing date in the future to match their previous year’s closing date, making huge profits to fold into another home in the next new location.

One we know of is on their sixth “flip.”

We had the one year rule when we built our house 12 years ago too but like so many rules I don’t know if they enforce them.

You must be new here. The average Villager ends up having 3 different homes! Also I suspect many bought sight unseen (very bad idea) and didn’t like the turnpike noise or perhaps the power lines in their back yard.

Not a “new” rule. It was in force in 2005 when we bought.

Property values in the southern area have skyrocketed. Homes are being sold because they are selling.

Exactly. Noise of Turnpike and no easy Golf access to real shopping and resturants. South side of Villages remains a bit of a scam.

The driveways are shorter because they have bigger back yards with a small setback in the rear to accommodate expansion in the rear of a house. It may look more crowded from the street but it is done to allow more room for people to enlarge their living space.

Profit!!!

Not so new rule,
we bought in 2010 and contract contained a clause to forfeit profit if sold within one year.

Has the rule changed since 2016? My closing documents state that, if the house is sold within a year after the closing, the buyer must forfeit "any and all profits" from the sale and be paid to the developer. The profit is not split with the developer.

Could it be the proximity to the prison. The quarry blasting? The skeeters? The turnpike? The feral hogs? The Zeka death. The 45 min drive to The Sharon or the Savannah? Neck pains from navigating so many roundabouts? Perpetual construction noise and dust? The small lot sizes? Butt and back pains from using a golf cart to Brownwood. The chiropractic bills from the fore mentioned? Who knows.

Simple...it is laid out in the contract you signed.

Exactly. I don’t live on the driveway or park in the street.

Yup. People didn't like the "kissing lanais", so they moved the housed forward on the lot, giving them a bigger back yard...

Personally, I would look for a lot that had both room in the front and back, but that's my preference...