Affordable Luxury Near Lakewood Ranch: Discover Rye Crossing ft. Tami and Joann

In this episode of Jim Sells the Suncoast, Jim sits down with Tami Kersey and Joann Strutt, two industry veterans with over 20 years of experience, to discuss the beautiful Rye Crossing community, a development by D.R. Horton located just minutes from Lakewood Ranch. Tami and Joann highlight the key features that make Rye Crossing a great option for those seeking high-quality homes in a prime location at a more affordable price.

Key Takeaways:

• Prime Location: Just 8 minutes from Lakewood Ranch, offering proximity without the high cost, while still benefiting from Parish pricing.
• Home Options: Single-family homes ranging from 1,672 to 2,600 square feet, with upcoming phases featuring new floor plans and homes with three-car garages.
• Affordable Pricing: Homes start in the mid-$300,000s to mid-$400,000s, providing excellent value for the area.
• Community Amenities: Resort-style pool, pickleball courts, tennis, fitness center, playground, dog park, and a private, gated community with golf cart access.
• Reasonable Fees: HOA fees of $90/month and a CDD fee of $1,843/year, keeping monthly costs low while still offering a wide range of amenities.
• Incentives Available: D.R. Horton offers attractive incentives like a 3.99% 30-year fixed rate and options to assist with closing costs, making homeownership more accessible.
• Customization: Homes come well-appointed with luxury finishes included in the price, and buyers can personalize their homes after purchase. Smart home technology is also included.

What’s Next?

Interested in owning a home at Rye Crossing? Reach out to Jim, and he'll connect you with Tami and Joann!

Interested in buying or selling a home on the Suncoast? Reach out to Jim at jim.ahearn@gmail.com or visit his website, Jim Sells the Suncoast.

A Personal Note from Jim:

Hey there, I’m Jim Ahearn, your go-to real estate guide and host of Jim Sells The Suncoast podcast! 🎙️✨ Dreaming of Florida life? I’ve got you covered! As your dedicated buyer's agent, I’ll handle everything from walk-throughs to closing, making your home-buying journey as smooth as a Florida breeze.

Whether you're local or tuning in from afar, I’ll bring the Suncoast to you with virtual tours and expert advice. Let’s chat about your dream home and I'll connect you with all the right people to make it happen.

Ready to move to paradise? Drop me a line – I can’t wait to help! 🌴🏡

Transcript

Jim: 0:00

All right. And good afternoon. Today we are talking about Rye Crossing and I have with me Tammy Kersey and Joanne Strutt. They've been in the industry 20 years. They've been with D. R. Horton for 10 plus years working at Rye Crossing. Welcome, ladies. Good afternoon.

Joann: 0:17

Hi. Hi. Thank you for having us.

Jim: 0:19

My pleasure. Can you give me a little overview of the development? What and what makes it unique compared to others in the area? I know there's a lot of potential going on up Rye road and you guys are right there in the thick of it.

Joann: 0:34

What's so unique about this community is we are eight minutes to the hub of Lakewood Ranch and it's an easy drive yet we have pricing much lower than Lakewood Ranch.

Jim: 0:49

Yeah. You know what, Lakewood Ranch, it's a nice community.

Tami: 0:52

Geographically the addresses here are parish. So just to back off of what or tack on to what joanne was saying You know, we're very close to lakewood ranch You're going to be doing all your shopping everything in lakewood ranch, but yet we have the parish prices, which is nice

Jim: 1:10

So the proximity is still close and you're going to get the same quality But you're not having to pay for the zip code.

Tami: 1:16

Exactly.

Jim: 1:17

So what kind of properties are available?

Joann: 1:20

We have anything from 1, 672 square feet up to 2, 600 square feet.

Jim: 1:27

Okay, so one story, two

Joann: 1:29

story, very good range. All

Jim: 1:31

single, all single family or villas too?

Joann: 1:35

All single family.

Jim: 1:36

Okay, all single family. But multiple stories possible. And then Jim, the other

Tami: 1:39

thing too, Whenever we start our second phage, which should be in the next couple months It's going to be nice because we're you know, wharton has different series And we're considered in here what we call an express series. That means they're all exclusive you get everything But we're going to be offering floor plans that this division has never offered So we're actually going to have express homes single family homes with three car garages in here.

Jim: 2:06

Okay You Nice. It'll be a little variety from what's been in there before. So the option to, maybe be a little different, but also expand on some options that weren't available.

Tami: 2:15

Yes.

Jim: 2:17

Great. What's the starting price? What's our price range for the community?

Joann: 2:22

So we're going from the mid threes to the mid fours. That's a fantastic price point for

Jim: 2:28

that area. Yeah, I think that's something that hasn't been enough of that in the area. So having that available, especially that location is going to be phenomenal. What other additional costs or fees are we looking at? HOA, CDD, any maintenance fees?

Tami: 2:46

There's going to be no mini maintenance fees in here. Right now our amenities are under construction, so we're probably looking at another nine months before they're going to be finished. So the HOAs are 90 a month. The CDP is 1843 a year, but the amenities are going to be spectacular. It's what I call, the inexpensive amenities. We're going to have the football, dog park, fitness center, the resort style pool volleyball playground tennis, yeah. Tennis courts in here. And then we're going to have to also everything's private and gated with two entrances in and out, which is really

Jim: 3:26

nice. It'll set it aside, but you have everything there. And then if not, then you're only, 10 minutes away from Lakewood Ranch. And that's really only what, 240, 250 on average a month of HOA plus the CDB. So that's really reasonable for the area. How large is the development in terms of homes and then acreage?

Joann: 3:46

So we'll have a total of 431 homes. Okay.

Jim: 3:50

You got a couple phases. So there's gonna be some open areas, some green area with a little over 400 homes. And you said how many phases are there? Just two or is there gonna be another phase after that?

Tami: 4:01

With 400 and something homes, I would probably guesstimate that we're going to have probably three phases, but in here, they're like around our amenity center on the remnant that they've given us, it has golf cart parking. If they have golf cart parking, you know it's going to be highly encouraged, for sure. They should be walking, biking trails, golf cart trails and stuff in here as well.

Jim: 4:24

Yeah, I think that's a new Florida standard. You gotta have a golf cart.

Joann: 4:27

The other part of our Phase 2 and Phase 3 is we'll border on Rye Preserve, which is a really nice walking path. Oh,

Jim: 4:33

yeah. Yeah, that's beautiful over there. What kind of timeline are we looking for the timeline for building a home and then the timeline, when are we looking to bring a home to somebody? What's their typical window?

Tami: 4:50

I think right now, the best way to answer that is with D. R. Horton's Financial Strength, we have homes in all phases. I have a home that I can close you in 30 days, or I have a home that's, 4 to 5 months out. Really, like I said, with D. R. Horton's Financial Strength, they're keeping inventory on the ground.

Jim: 5:10

So that kind of opens it up for anybody. Hey, we're going to be down there in four months. Great. Here's what we could look at. Hey, we're going to be down there next week. Great. Here's what we can look at. So it gives some options for anybody coming down. It doesn't have to be, Hey, I don't want to come down and buy a house because then I got to rent for nine months. We pretty much do everything. What kind of a warranty post sale support is going on? And then I'm assuming DR Horton's running HOA until we get that last building. And then it'll slide over to the HOA.

Joann: 5:39

D. R. Horton runs the HOA until the community is 90 percent closed. And then they turn it over to the community.

Jim: 5:49

And then we talked a little bit about its location, but what else is close? I know there's a school right there on Rye road. I know there's another school being built over on, um, off of 64. So we've got a couple of things going on any idea of or what else is coming out in that area? I know you've got the Rye preserve right next door, Lake Manatee in there.

Joann: 6:10

Shopping, was within 10 minutes and, UTC mall, University town center within 20 minutes. And word on the street is going north of us on six, between 6 75 and rye road they're going to be building possibly a mini Lakewood ranch visitor center shops, dining, and those things.

Jim: 6:31

Okay. Yeah, I know they've got a couple of commercials spots going along upper I road. And then the developments going on when we look at what's nearby. 30 minutes from the beach probably under an hour to Tampa or Sarasota airport with traffic. So really a great location to come in and out and then find anything you need in the area.

Tami: 6:54

And also Jim too, we're right here by Lake Manatee. We have a state park right here. So anybody that really likes to do hiking, fishing, canoeing that's a great place to go. And then too, a lot of our families come and they still have like parents that are RVing. So it's also, literally right in your back door, not even five minutes away.

Jim: 7:19

And then the nice thing having those open areas, you're not having developments built on top of state parks and that area. So you're going to have all that stay open.

Tami: 7:29

All that green space.

Jim: 7:31

Yeah. Perfect. You mentioned a little earlier, but what kind of incentive special offers, obviously, as we put this out here, we're talking in September of 24, but what's going on now to entice that buyer to come in?

Tami: 7:43

As of today, they just, Accordant just rolled out and this is, and we're offering, we have different levels of construction. So obviously the closer the home is to being completed, the better deals you're going to get with any builder, I would say. Okay. But today, Horton is rolling out a 3. 99 30 year fixed rate and that's at Horton's expense. We're not charging the buyer as Joanne mentioned while we were talking there's going to be some qualifications, obviously, that the buyers need to meet. And there's other options there. We know we have four and a half percent with some flex cash. So really any buyer that comes in here, if they need, for example, they don't quite have all of their closing costs that we could, Maybe do a four and a half percent and then have some flex cash. The biggest thing too, we're running into is people don't want to buy out of their leases. They feel like because they've signed a new lease that they're stuck in that lease. And that's not necessarily true because with the extra incentives that we have, especially with the flex cash, we can give them that to, pay some of their closing costs, releasing some of their funds to buy them out of leases. So people just don't think about they think they're stuck and they're really not

Jim: 8:59

Oh, that's good because it provides flexibility to tailor it based on what they need or what the individual needs

Tami: 9:06

Yes. Yes. We have more they need to come and see us Yeah, we got tons of options

Jim: 9:11

Talking about options. Let's talk about what some of the personalization that we can do to homes. We're not it's not necessarily a full custom build from the ground up. But what can we personalize? What are some of the options for buyers coming in?

Joann: 9:24

So the good news is we make it easy, extremely easy. We don't have any options. We have really nice decorative features that are added to the home, as in granite countertops, luxury vinyl flooring. The home is very well appointed. And then after you close, you can come in and personalize it that way. And that's how we can keep our pricing low. But we're

Tami: 9:47

giving them everything.

Jim: 9:48

Yeah. We're

Tami: 9:49

giving them the washer, dryer, refrigerator, blinds on the window. We're even including the smart home package, which a lot of other builders are charging for. So they can fully run their home off of their phone.

Jim: 10:02

Yeah. You know what I, that's a great point because that's really where. we're in the 21st century. That's where it's going. If you have to go back and, retrofit your house, that can be quite expensive, especially if you're running any kind of wiring through the walls, whatever. So if that's all done up front, that's a great feature. So then they have the ability to come in and go, listen, I'm looking for one of the two story house to go. Here's what I've got. Come in and take a look at it, and then obviously and people forget this, we make a big deal. I don't like the color on the wall, then paint it. That's not a structure problem, right? So that's a great that all that everything's taken care of and they can come in and just move in and be living as we go forward.

Tami: 10:41

I'm like, we like to tell them too. We're basically giving you a blank palette. You make it your home.

Jim: 10:47

Let's dig into some of the amenities. Now you talked about a resort style pool. They're building their pickleball, what is going on that we can talk to with people if they want to come in. Is there a pickleball league or is there going to be anything like that's set up and structured?

Joann: 11:01

Not as of yet, but I'm sure once we get that phase two started and that up and running, we will start clubs.

Tami: 11:09

Absolutely. Every community that both of us have been in. Once we see, especially the minis getting finished, we see, seeing doing their, their aerobics in the pool. Yeah, they start their own little Facebook community pages. They have food truck night. Oh, definitely. There will be all kinds of activities. We see a lot of our time.

Jim: 11:33

Okay. Yeah, I guess you really just have to have a couple of people in there. It's hard to have a club for one. As you're starting, are there any restrictions or guidelines that they need to be aware of any pet policies or any rental restrictions that they would need to be aware of?

Joann: 11:48

We do have a three pet policy.

Jim: 11:50

Okay.

Joann: 11:51

So three pets rental restrictions are twice a year. Okay. We don't want Airbnbers in here, as

Jim: 11:59

right.

Joann: 11:59

This community, we probably have probably 65 homeowners here now, right? And it's becoming a very close knit community. It's very Oh, how do you, what word would I use? It's very comfortable. The neighbors starting to know each other. People are talking, people are walking strollers at night. People are walking their dogs. It's just a very comfortable community. They're picking up

Tami: 12:23

each other's kids from the bus stop in the front. I've noticed that. Yeah. Nice. There's a grandfather in here. He's picking up kids. I'm sure

Jim: 12:33

everybody's running to be on the golf cart too.

Tami: 12:37

Yeah, they are.

Jim: 12:38

That's one of those nice things when you're into a community, especially when you're in the front side of it. As you see it grow, you have that ownership that you were there when, it comes up and, Hey, Bob moved in here and Mary moved in there. So that builds that tight knit community, which is a lot of fun.

Joann: 12:54

And I think that's what both Tammy and I love about new construction, the beginning of a community starting with, the beginning Homebuyer number one, then homebuyer number two. We get to know these people and they become family and then the whole community unites. So it's, that's the best part about doing the job that we do.

Tami: 13:15

It is. It really

Joann: 13:16

is.

Jim: 13:18

So what do you want to tell anybody that's listening to this, thinking about coming down here? What is it about Rye Crossing? They should come see you and take a look at the community.

Tami: 13:29

I would tell them that we basically, I would think we have, don't wait. Don't listen to what you're hearing on tv. Don't wait. Now is the time to buy And I would say because we have all stages for all stages of life. I mean come see us I mean if even a year out you need to come see us now we can help you

Joann: 13:52

and that's what temi and I pride ourselves on is helping people we help you Everybody has a different situation. Everybody has a different plan You with both Tammy and I's expertise, we can tailor to what our buyer is looking for. Give us a little bit of information and we will help you figure out if this is the right or wrong community for you. And if it's not the right community, then we will direct you towards the one that is right.

Tami: 14:20

Yeah, that's the biggest thing. And then Jim, too. We've had some buyers that come in. That maybe are a year out and we asked why, and they feel like their credit score isn't just there where it needs to be. Darrell Horton has a program. It's called the home buyers club. There's no fee to join it. You do not have to even purchase a home from D. R. Horton and they will go in, they will pull your credit. They will look, they will send you reports of what you need to do. I think there's actually a video class on, I think the class is like 35, 40. And so that way when you, say in a year, three months, six months, I've had four people go through. The home buyers club and we had three of them that actually went under contract a year before they were even thinking they could.

Jim: 15:08

Oh nice. Yeah. That helpful side of helping somebody own a home because it's not, especially for that first time home buyer, it's not easy. It's not necessarily intuitive and having a helping hand go through it and guide it and then get it. That's fun.

Tami: 15:22

It is fun. And then seeing that, seeing them get those keys it's been very rewarding. Yeah.

Jim: 15:28

That's fantastic. So thank you ladies for joining me. I want to thank you again. Ride crossing with Tammy and Joanne. If you have any questions, we'll have it in the show notes. Please reach out touch base with them. But thank you all for joining.

Tami: 15:42

Yeah, thanks, Jim. Thank you. Have

Joann: 15:44

a great day.