You
may feel like a kid in a candy store when you go house-hunting at amenitized
communities, but you need to proceed like a savvy investor. Here are some
essential ground rules.
1. Up Close and Too Personal?
An estimated 60 percent of
new golf-community residents don’t buy for the golf, they buy for the premium
that a golf course, as open space, adds to home values—and also for the use of
non-golf amenities. These folks may well forego a house lot right on the
fairway, whereas you, the devoted golfer, would likely insist on being pressed
right up to the action. But keep in mind, this could mean a lack of privacy.
Mowers drone at the crack of dawn, errant golf shots bang off your roof and
trespassers are tramping through your property looking for wayward balls.
Consider perhaps a distant golf view.
2. Check Track Records
No wise business
transaction is ever made without proper research. The purchase of a high-priced
golf course home should be no different. Read up on your prospective developer’s
existing communities and see if amenities were delivered on time and
neighborhoods were built out as promised. Signs of a healthy development: The
golf course is in good shape, the pro shop is stocked with quality merchandise
and the club is well-staffed inside and out.
3. Study the Land Plan
To protect your valuable
investment, get a clear understanding of the developer’s master plan. That means
knowing the density of the development—housing units per acre—and what type of
homes and prices are projected. There is nothing more distressing than a
developer spontaneously starting up a line of “affordable” homes alongside the
golf course, causing the high-end homes that were built earlier to languish in
value. Almost as bad: Having the community in a constant state of plodding
construction, or dotted with empty lots because the developer is courting the
speculator segment of the market by foregoing a requirement for timely
construction starts after lot sales are completed.
4. Look Outside the Gates
If it weren’t for the
beauty and ambiance of the amenitized community you are about to buy property
in, would you ever move to the area in which that community is located? That’s a
question you should ask yourself, because as the months and years go by, what
you find outside the gates will have an increasing effect on your happiness
inside them. Before you sign the contracts, make sure you’ve thoroughly
researched the surrounding area, particularly its future growth as it relates to
important infrastructure. That way there will be no regrets
later.
5. Designers and Dollar Values
Beyond the sheer beauty
and playability of the golf course, one factor to weigh from an investment
perspective is the architect of record. Specifically, is one of the “name” golf
course architects, such as Tom Fazio or Jack Nicklaus, involved with the
project? To be sure, there is a group of lesser-known golf course designers who
produce excellent courses, but so far haven’t seen their work help fuel sharply
higher lot prices and future values. In a recent study by the Golf Research
Group, Fazio, Nicklaus and the Tom Weiskopf-Jay Morrish team were associated
with eight of the 10 priciest communities in America from
1998–2003. Average home prices in that group exceeded $3.5
million.
