By Carole Hawkins, Staff Writer
Inside the “Sunnyside” at Cross Creek, Realtors walked past the kitchen’s inviting spread of snacks and immediately headed for the oversized lanai that has a courtyard, fireplace and outdoor kitchen.
The indoor and outdoor spaces were separated by a new homebuilding feature — a rolling glass “pocket” door that disappears into the walls. Sunnyside is a model by David Weekley Homes.
“I love the way the outdoor space flows into the house,” said Phil Moody, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. “You have a lot of extra square footage of living space here that you don’t pay taxes on because it’s not part of the home’s heated area.”
About 50 agents visited a dozen new home models in Mandarin at the NEFBA Sales and Marketing Council’s June SAM Tram tour.
It was a chance to get the story behind the Internet listings – by seeing surrounding neighborhoods, getting updated on the number of available lots and learning from site agents about possible design modifications.
ReMax Realtor Sheila Bonanno said several of her clients want home features similar to those found in models at Cross Creek and Parkside Lakes.
“So many buyers want new construction, but they want it built their way,” Bonanno said. “They want only three bedrooms, or three bathrooms, or they want the paint to be white. You’d be surprised, some builders won’t do that.”
Sky Nagase is a first-year agent with Realty Connection & Associates who’s primarily worked for investors in the resale market. She came on the tour because she’s trying to expand into new construction.
“There are a lot of builders in Jacksonville who I still don’t know,” she said. “Also, I want to see the homes before I bring a customer, so that I feel I know the area.”
Even veteran agents, though, saw homes and neighborhoods that were new to them.
Judy Hicks of ReMax Coastal Real Estate said it was the first time she’d seen the KB Home model at Whitmore Oaks. The home offers a formal dining room just around the corner from its kitchen and great room.
“I like it,” she said. “Most customers would say they have to have that formal dining room. The rest of this area, though, this is where the family is going to live.”
Mandarin developed in the 1970s and ‘80s, the classic wooded rural neighborhood close to Jacksonville, said Ron Harris of Harris Realty Partners and SMC chairman.
Though mostly built out today, its stores, homes and schools are relatively new, making it a very desirable area for homebuyers.
“What’s interesting to me is to see there’s new construction in Mandarin,” Harris said. “There are new pocket communities I hadn’t seen before and that I didn’t know existed.
“New construction is just about done in Mandarin, though. Most of the new homes are being built south of here.”