Jim Sells The Suncoast: Buying and Selling Real Estate in Sarasota, Manatee County, Tampa, Port Charlotte, and Beyond

Explore Sawgrass Lakes by KB Homes: Affordable, Energy-Efficient Living in Parrish ft. Jim Barbetto

• Steve Bennet-Martin • Season 1 • Episode 19

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In this episode of Jim Sells the Suncoast, Jim speaks with Jim Barbetto from KB Homes about the Sawgrass Lakes community in Parrish, Florida. Discover an affordable new-home option with no CDD fees, low HOA costs, and plenty of customization possibilities.

Key Highlights:

  • Range of Home Sizes & Pricing: Two series of homes (30' & 40' lots) spanning ~1,200 to 3,000+ sq. ft., starting in the low $300s.
  • No CDD & Low HOA: HOA fees are around $365/quarter, giving residents access to a resort-style pool, playground, and scenic common areas without hefty extra costs.
  • Personalization & Energy Efficiency: Select structural options, finishes, and upgrades at KB’s design studio. All homes are Energy Star certified with included Whirlpool Energy Star appliances, resulting in notably lower utility bills.
  • Ideal Location: Conveniently located near Tampa, Sarasota, and local amenities, with planned area growth including new medical centers, shopping, and dining.
  • Flexible Financing & Incentives: KBHS lending options, closing cost assistance, and rate buy-downs help make homeownership more attainable. Current incentives include zero lot premiums and design allowances on select homes.

What’s Next?
Interested in buying a home at Sawgrass Lakes or on the Suncoast? Contact Jim at jim.ahearn@gmail.com or visit 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! 🌴🏡

Jim:

All right. And good afternoon today. I am thrilled to welcome Jim Barbetto here with me. He's from KB Homes out at Sawgrass Lakes. He's been selling homes for about 14 years, six years with the company, and just recently out in this new development up in the Parrish area. So welcome, Jim.

Jim B:

Thank you, Jim.

Jim:

Glad to have you. So tell me a little bit about Sawgrass. What's going on? Where it's going, how big is it?

Jim B:

So we've been out here about a year and a half. And currently we probably have 27 home sites left to build on to personalize the homes. I've got 14 ready homes at different stages of finished from or completed And on top of that, we have 4 models to sell once we get towards the end. All right, we started out with 282. Basically 45 left.

Jim:

How many different styles of homes, what are we looking at in there? From the smallest to the largest? What kind of size do you have?

Jim B:

We have two series of homes, a 30 foot series and a 40 foot series. the 30 foot series starts with a 1, 272 square foot home. It goes up to about 2, 500 square feet.

Jim A:

And

Jim B:

then the 40 foot series homes starts with a 1, 541 square foot home. And that tops out around 3, 016 square feet.

Jim:

Okay, that's quite a bit of a range there and what's the entry? beginning price and what's it go up to

Jim B:

so Currently the 30 foot series homes at 1272 and let me preempt it by saying we name them by their size So it's so much easier for a buyer to come in and say oh sure.

Jim A:

I'm

Jim B:

not looking for a heron or Whatever, whatever right? We did they just say looking for a 1541 I know exactly what happened. So the 1272 starts out at just in the low 300s.

Jim A:

Okay.

Jim B:

And the 1541 on the 40 foot series starts out just below 400.

Jim:

I think that's a pretty good spot when you look at the Suncoast in the area homes in that price point were pretty hard to come by. So being able to fill that niche I think is a great opportunity for buyers coming in that are looking for that area.

Jim B:

Yeah, we have a lot of first time buyers that come in AI, the price point, of course,

Jim:

Absolutely

Jim B:

But we also have second time third time buyers coming in folks retiring here to Florida a lot of folks coming from the west coast or up north So they're six, 700, 000 million dollar home and they come in with cash. And we love them because it's a quick, easy way to sell a home. They get the most for their money and they have money.

Jim:

What do you think sets this development apart in terms of lifestyle and community experience?

Jim B:

We have a really nice amenity center. It's a resort style pool. There's a grilling station. There's a playground for the kids with swings and slides. It's a covered cabana also. And in front of the cabana, there is, I would guess maybe a 20 foot counter for folks to come in and set up food for like birthday parties or guests coming over and stuff. Just have a really great time in the summertime. It's not real busy, but it's really nice. And it's a steady flow of folks coming in and using the amenity. people use it here because it's so gorgeous and it's really nice.

Jim:

That's nice. I think that's one of those big points. When you're coming to Florida and you're moving to the Suncoast in particular, you want that lifestyle of where you can walk out to the pool, you can go cook out, and if you don't have it in your particular house, it's available and it's there.

Jim B:

Yeah.

Jim:

It draws the community together.

Jim B:

It's all part of the amenity here at the community.

Jim:

Okay. Speaking of amenity then, what is the HOA for the area and are DDS included in that?

Jim B:

Actually, the HOA is pretty low. It was 365 a quarter.

Jim A:

Okay.

Jim B:

And all my years of selling horns, I've never seen it go down.

Jim:

Wow. So yeah, you're talking just

Jim B:

that never happens. Usually they actually blocked it, which is a great selling point because by the time I get off the highway, you get to the community, I pass six, seven new home communities,

Jim A:

The

Jim B:

economy every morning as they're being built and all their HOAs are hired because we come shopping.

Jim A:

and

Jim B:

trade information with other builders, So we can find out what they're selling, how they're selling, what their CDD is, because we don't have a CDD, which is a huge draw. You can spend anywhere from two to 400 a month to be added to your tax bill, which is also part of your mortgage payment. People, if they wanna live in a community with a that's fine. We're saving'em tons of money here.

Jim:

Yeah. I think really you're talking just over a hundred dollars a month for the HOA 106 or that's a great deal when. You have that much available for that home buyer.

Jim B:

Yeah. We get a lot of people the first thing, first words out of their mouth. And I love saying sorry, we don't have it.

Jim:

So what's included within that HOA, obviously it's gonna be access to the amenities. Is there anything else that's included with that?

Jim B:

Yeah they include the pool and the cabana

Jim A:

right?

Jim B:

They maintain all the common areas.

Jim A:

We don't

Jim B:

have, we don't have a fitness center or a rec room or anything like that,

Jim A:

They're going to

Jim B:

make sure that everybody's doing what they're supposed to be doing, not paying their house, with stripes or purple. There's no aggressive breed dogs available around here.

Jim A:

Okay.

Jim B:

We are a multi generational community. We have seniors, we have children, we have all types of people, and it's a safe feeling that people can, realize that, don't worry about walking down the street and having a pitbull or a mastiff coming at you. So the community is really calm. It's quiet here. We get a great breeze coming off the skyway over here. we do have several police officers that work in St. Pete. So people love that when they drive down the street and see a police cruiser in the street. It gives them a sense of, security.

Jim:

So you're taking care of the common areas. People would have to take care of their own lawns, right? They would take care of their own outdoor maintenance.

Jim B:

Yeah, only because people will fence their yard in.

Jim:

Sure,

Jim B:

obviously we've been cut the grass.

Jim:

is there an option to be able to put in pools in the individual houses?

Jim B:

Yes, there is.

Jim:

Okay.

Jim B:

In fact, I just sent a realtor for photographs. showing her the size of the house. Plus the distance to the back of the property

Jim A:

and

Jim B:

the buyer was looking for a property that they could build a pool behind and on 2 story homes. There's more than enough room because obviously on 2 story homes, we go up, not out. So there could be 20, 30, 40 feet behind any given home.

Jim:

Okay. And then same thing with the fencing, it's anything limitations or as long as it's done and within the HOA dock that they can put a fence in.

Jim B:

We do require a six foot wide PVC fence. if we have several ponds here that your home backs up to then that back fence. has to be a four foot see through fence with a PVC, but we want to not block the view of your neighbors.

Jim:

So what do you think the ideal buyer resident for this community is?

Jim B:

I would say like a 30, let's say 40, 60 mix of 30 percent being first time buyers and 60, 70 percent being move up buyers.

Jim A:

Okay.

Jim B:

We had a lot of folks that, have a home to sell. And I always tell people, we don't have a home to sell contingency, but we do have a home to close contingency, meaning if someone has a home to sell, I'm working with several buyers right now who have their homes listed. Once they get a contract on the home that we can move forward with a contract on our home

Jim:

So the biggest thing there is coordinating that timing. Once that's in place, then you can get the date down and get it pretty close What's the construction timeline for completion development from beginning to end on a home? If you've got a spec home, is that running? Six months roughly.

Jim B:

So yeah right now on What we call BTO is built to order homes or personalized homes. We average between six and seven months back in 2018 to give you a barometer We were building homes. I was in Seminole, Florida When I was counting And we were building two story homes within five to six months, then COVID hit and everything went for a year or more. And then now that COVID has been gone a few years, the build time has come down tremendously. So we're, we have a schedule to go on, every single home has a schedule. With that schedule, what we do is once the buyer signs a contract with us, it goes to the corporate division office and they spread the contract out to all the different departments, land, studio,

Jim A:

finance,

Jim B:

And then it goes to permitting, like every other boiler. And within that permitting time, basically, we're scraping the lot, getting it taken off the glass that's on there, and getting it ready to pour the slab. Once we pour the slab, we sit down every week and call every homeowner with the builder. The builder and I call them personally. And give them an update on the home every single week. So they're never going to have to worry about, geez, what's going on with the home, especially if they're out of town, get to get out of town or even people down the other side of the bridge. They don't want to drive over the Skyway after work at six o'clock or five o'clock at night to come look at the home in the dark during wintertime. It's a peace of mind for them to know how we're progressing with home. We're actually keeping in contact with them on a weekly basis right after they close.

Jim:

I think that's crucial. when you're making a purchase of this size, if you sign on the line and then you don't hear anything for a week or two or three, you start wondering what's going on. So having that continued touch point goes a long way.

Jim B:

People appreciate it.

Jim:

So talk to me a little bit about personalizing the homes. What is available for somebody? What kind of upgrades or finishes or landscaping choices can someone do to personalize their home?

Jim B:

In the beginning, I would sit down with a buyer and pick out structural items. Structural items being adding on to an eye, changing the tub and shower to a walk in shower, for example, that's an option. All of our homes start at 8 feet, so a structural item might be, like in this home, we vaulted the ceiling.

Jim A:

floor.

Jim B:

So all those items are done with me in the sales office because those items have to be printed.

Jim:

And then once they're done, you can't really go easily change it and say, you know what?

Jim B:

Yeah, exactly. We can't change them. So after that's done in the contract goes to the division office. They'll get a call from the studio and then they'll be invited to do a studio visit with our designers, which are wonderful. They'll be able to pick out cabinets, countertops, flooring,

Jim A:

right.

Jim B:

Appliances, if they'd like to buy our appliances on a side note, and we'll get to that a little later. I'm sure we are an energy star certified builder.

Jim A:

There

Jim B:

Because we use Whirlpool appliances and Whirlpool appliances are Energy Star appliances. If you were to go out to Home Depot or one of the big box stores and buy a Whirlpool washer and wire or range, you'd get a one year warranty.

Jim A:

But with

Jim B:

us, because we're Energy Star certified and those are certified appliances, we have a two year warranty on every appliance that we put in the home, which no one else does yet.

Jim:

Yeah, it's nice to just schedule it all up front, have it done when you take a little bit of peace of mind off and then you've got that extended warranty. It's nice to walk in that first day and go, I've got some peace of mind going forward.

Jim B:

Yeah, nobody wants to be disrupted when they're first moving into a home.

Jim:

So speaking of warranties, what other warranties go along with a new home purchase

Jim B:

Everything is covered In the home for the 1st year, we have a warranty department. For example, if you've got a leaky faucet or door starts to squeak a little bit, something minor They could literally just email my warranty department. They'll send a representative out to assess the issue. And then that representative. Schedule the trade to come back in and take care of that issue. We do that for the whole first year.

Jim:

Yeah, excellent.

Jim B:

So after that. Everything in the walls and the ceiling is covered for two years. All your electrical plumbing is covered for two years. The structure is covered for ten years. And the roof, the shingles are thirty year shingles. But if there is a default with the shingles, from storm damage like we had, And actually, we didn't lose a shingle in this community that homes already built. So it just adds to the quality of the deal. But if there's a defect in the shingle, they start to peel or fade or something like that, then yeah, they're going to replace and cover the shingles. But if it's due to damage or somebody decides to go up there and just in case that would not be covered. So also we, like I said, about the appliances, we also supply a hybrid hot water heater in the garage. And it's programmable. So if you want to go on vacation for a week, you could program the hot water heater to turn off the day you leave and automatically turn on the day before you come back. So as I tell people, there's no need to reach for hot water when you're not here.

Jim:

Okay.

Jim B:

And heat escapes through those vents. So we try to keep the heat to a minimum in the home We also between the radiant barriers and the ceiling we do r30 insulation that gives us the right to Certify the home as an energy star certified For example home is 1989 square feet The average energy cost is going to be somewhere around 140

Jim:

Yeah, that's really good.

Jim B:

Nice.

Jim:

talk a little bit about your location. So you're up there in. I guess it's the crossroads of Parrish, Ellington, Palmetto, which puts you in a great spot. You're 40 minutes, 45 minutes from Tampa airport, probably 35, 40 minutes from Sarasota airport and the growth that's going in that North County. Phenomenal.

Jim B:

Yeah I was just talking to one of my co workers who had been here longer than I have, and she was telling me that they're going to be building a daycare medical center here. They're bringing in Panera, they're bringing in a couple different restaurants, well known, brand name restaurants. They're actually widening the road on Mocca and Wallo. They're making three lanes on both sides, which will eliminate a lot of the traffic we're having right now. And, we are targeting those buyers that are coming in, definitely professional people.

Jim A:

That

Jim B:

are gonna be looking for homes, if they're gonna be working at the hospital, doctors, nurses, whatever. And this would be a good opportunity for them to get into a good time. It takes about six or seven months to build a home. And if they know when that opportunity is coming for them. They want to be in place.

Jim:

Tell me, do you have any vertical integration when somebody is coming to buy a house such as preferred lenders or preferred insurance, anything that can make it an easy stop for a person coming in

Jim B:

We have our own lender called KBHS.

Jim A:

Yeah. Okay.

Jim B:

they take care of all of our loans. The buyer chooses to go with us, but we're going to offer them incentives to stay with our vendor,

Jim A:

which

Jim B:

is take a lot of time. What do you want me to offer them to lower their interest rate or pay part of the closing costs? We have an incentive here right now on moving ready homes. It's a 6 percent incentive. We take 6 percent of the price of the home

Jim A:

and

Jim B:

that 400 and something dollars can be broken up any way they choose.

Jim A:

So

Jim B:

that's a nice incentive so they're not digging into their pocket for all of the closing costs

Jim:

Whatever's going to work best for them. It gives them that flexibility to make it an easy fit.

Jim B:

Yep. I had a buyer not too long ago that decided to take less money to buy the rate down, but we did all the closing costs.

Jim:

Yeah. You walk in the house and you feel like you didn't have to put anything down at all.

Jim B:

And we also have our own insurance company.

Jim A:

Okay.

Jim B:

So I always recommend people, tap our insurance company for a week because new homes are cheaper to insure than used homes because of all the warranty you get with them.

Jim:

All the warranty and then build into current code so you're not suffering through some of those issues too.

Jim B:

Yeah. And I tell people all the time we do everything above code. We don't do anything code here. Carpet and flooring, all top brands, names that people recognize.

Jim:

Are there any other specific guidelines or restrictions? What's the limit on that?

Jim B:

So we do have investors that come in once in a while, looking to buy a home. Or people will, come in, stay for a while and say, you know what, we want to rent it out. They've got to be vetted, of course. They've got to make sure that they can afford it. And it is a one year commitment.

Jim A:

So

Jim B:

These aren't weekly and monthly rentals.

Jim:

It's a community for people living in it, not necessarily transient through.

Jim B:

Exactly.

Jim:

Can you share any stories or testimonies from current residents that highlight their positive experience?

Jim B:

Oh gosh. Yeah. I had a buyer not too long ago that his brother had bought a home from us. In a different community and his brother was emailing in his electric bill showing him that It was a smaller home than this one showing his electric bill was like 129 a month And he emailed him like three months in a row and said look you got to go to kb This is real, this isn't something we made up, you know we didn't believe it either until we moved in and started seeing our electric bill Paying over 200 almost 300 a month for our existing home down to 129 a month and the guy came in Because I think, yeah, no, this is real. And to this day, he just couldn't thank us enough. It's being able to also help some folks with in the county, there's a program called down payment assistance.

Jim A:

And

Jim B:

we have several actually Mortgage loan officers that are really in depth with all that goes along with the DPA, the down payment systems.

Jim A:

And I

Jim B:

put several people in homes over the last few years using that program that before they couldn't afford that. So our lender does VA, FHA, and conventional loans.

Jim:

I think that's a great point is having that knowledge of what's local with Manatee County with their down payment assistance being aware of things like hometown heroes when that's available with some of those things can really help somebody get in without having to go out of their pocket or being able to make a first time homebuyer, make it affordable.

Jim B:

Yeah, and over the years that I've been with KB, we've built several homes throughout the communities. For the Wounded Warriors program.

Jim A:

I

Jim B:

Yeah we built several homes for the Wounded Warriors. I'm a veteran myself. So it meant a lot to me to be involved in those programs for years. And it's just something we do. KB, we have a saying basically, it says, We do the right things for the right reasons and

Jim A:

then

Jim B:

of course throughout all of kb from california to florida we have a commitment to our buyers. It's important to us, you know calling buyers every week for homes it's just great I've never worked for a builder that Went this far before to make sure that everybody's satisfied 100 complete.

Jim:

That's awesome to hear I love it. when people are looking at the area then Sawgrass and jim. They got to come see and talk to you. So jim. Thank you so much anything else you want to mention before we wrap up today

Jim B:

Currently just I mentioned one program about the six percent i'm leaving ready homes So i'm going to talk about that We also have an incentive right now in personalized homes. We have an incentive where we'll still get the 6 percent and we'll take 5, 000 off the base price of any home we also have the next two homes will do zero lot premiums.

Jim A:

Okay.

Jim B:

So that's an awesome opportunity. Somebody coming in, they won't have to pay for it because there's some lot premiums that are 10, 20, 30, 000. Having to wipe that price off the list, give them 5, 000 off the price of the home and give them the 6 percent incentive.

Jim:

Jim, thank you so much for joining me on this conversation. I really appreciate you coming out. Thank you.

Jim B:

Jim, thank you so much for the opportunity. You have a great day and a nice holiday.

Jim:

You too.

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