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Playa Del Carmen Real Estate Community Choices – Playacar Condos and Homes
In the Playa del Carmen real estate market, one of the best known and favorite communities is that of Playacar. Here we will explore some of the advantages of buying a Playa del Carmen home for sale or Playa del Carmen condo for sale in this beautiful gated community.
Playacar offers both home and condo owners the following advantages:
· Golf- Playacar was designed and built around a golf course. This golf course is professionally designed (by the renowned architect Robert Von Hagge) and combines interesting challenges with a purely enjoyable game. The golf course in Playacar has helped make the entire area Latin America’s golf capital, with a significant number of professional golf courses having appeared afterwards (with designers like Jack Nicklaus and Nick Price.) Golf has also contributed significantly to the community’s upscale atmosphere defining it as a tasteful and elegant place to live.
· Exclusivity- Closely tied into this is the fact that Playacar is Playa del Carmen’s original and most exclusive upscale gated community. The community has developed with an atmosphere conducive to comfortable and quiet living in a place where residents know that others share their tastes. It is a place where you will connect from your American and Canadian neighbors as well as others from many other parts of the world with similar tastes for an exclusive lifestyle. The remarkable point about Playacar is that at the same time, it offers beautiful properties in just about every price range, along the average American to live in luxury in a way that wouldn’t be possible back home.
· Green Community- Playacar is very green. In addition to plenty of tall trees lining the streets offering shade for enjoy able walks, there are plenty of green areas. There are also a couple of archeological sites (including the site of the original ancient Mayan town of Xaman Ha – the original Playa del Carmen.) Those who love wildlife will also enjoy the wild bird sanctuary here. Cabling and infrastructure is entirely underground to make the natural setting more visually appealing. Bike trails follow the main road, looping around the golf course, shaded by the beautiful trees. Playacar’s greenness adds a value both in terms of lifestyle and investment.
· Security & Clean Atmosphere- Playacar is gated with manned security, 24-7. This means that there is control as to who enters. While Playa del Carmen is already a very safe community, this helps increase this factor significantly. It also means that there is minimal traffic; only those with a reason to enter will be driving in and out. For this reason, the streets of Playacar are also remarkably clean. Home and condo owners can feel comfortable walking throughout their neighborhood.
· Easy Access to Downtown & Shopping- Playacar is the only gated community located directly next to the heart of downtown Playa del Carmen. Some residents can walk down the street called Fifth Avenue (a pedestrian street with lots of cafes, bars, restaurants, shops and boutiques) and the upscale outdoor plaza which precedes it. Those living at the further end of the community will have easy (and comfortable) biking access – made possible all year round because of the warm weather and shade from the trees, or car access as well.
· Easy Access to Beach- Of course, we can’t forget access to the beach. Again, some Playa del Carmen real estate in Playacar offers walking access to the beach by means of downtown or special pedestrian walkways, and other properties has close biking and car access.
It is advisable for any buyer considering Playa del Carmen to view some real estate options in Playacar; they won’t be disappointed!
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Florida Real Estate – The Sunshine State
Florida real estate is definitely worth a look if sun and fun is your ticket. Florida real estate, even close to the beach, is a very good deal.
Florida
Florida is a well-known haven for people living through winter storms in the northeast. Sun and warm water are an obviously attraction, but there is much more to Florida. Orlando seems to be one giant theme park with Disney World, while Miami offers entertainment of a distinct adult variety with a legendary nightlife. Throw in the Florida Keys, tons of college and professional sports teams, the Kennedy Space Center and you have a state with a lot to do besides loaf on the beach. Then again, loafing on the beach should never be denigrated!
Miami
Miami is a city that really needs no introduction. With Cuban influences, the city is an explosion of styles, colors and fun loving people. Palm trees are plentiful as are beaches, bars, outdoor cafes and walking streets. When you need a break from the beach, Miami hosts professional sports teams in baseball, basketball, hockey and football. The real key to the area, however, is simply the festive atmosphere and people. Nearly half of the population is Hispanic with a heavy influence appearing throughout the city. Every day is a party in Miami.
Orlando
If Orlando isn’t the capital of theme parks, I feel sorry for the place that is. Orlando is home to no less than Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World. The theme parks are actually located on the edge of the city, which makes Orlando proper a bit bland. Humidity can be a bit of a bear during the summers, but the winter is incredibly nice.
Tampa
Tampa is an underrated city in my opinion. The chief criticisms seem to be it is overly modern and a bit boring. In fact, it is just the opposite. Tampa has a funky cultural feel, particularly in Ybor City where multiple cultures clash in free wheeling fun and you can get a Cuban cigar hand-rolled by a Cuban artist. Museums, art galleries and theme parks abound. The beaches of Clearwater are white, clean and a good place to roast in the sun.
Florida Real Estate
Florida real estate is very reasonably priced considering much of it is so close to an ocean or lake. The average home price in Orlando will run you just above $300,000, roughly the same amount as Tampa. In Miami, prices vary wildly depending on the part of the city you are looking in, but you can expect price ranges from $250,000 to $800,000.
If you want to get in on Florida real estate, now may be an ideal time. For 2005, property in Florida appreciated at a rate of nearly 25 percent!
Real Estate in Florida – Boom or Bust
In the first few years of the real estate boom in Florida, buyers went crazy at the sight of empty houses and plots for sale. Speculators bought under-construction apartments but after 2005 the frenzy subsided. Price undercutting, falling sales and auctioning of properties were as rampant as defaulting on mortgage payments and foreclosures.
While beaches, amusement parks, casinos, nightclubs in their proximity do help make lucrative sales when it comes to real estate purchases, yet buyers today are exercising more caution. For bargain hunters too, the time is right to cash in on a property and cash out eventually once the market heats up. Discounting is prominent where sellers are desperate to get the property off their hands. Massive price cuts in a bid to lure buyers result.
Southwest Florida witnesses prices for properties on golf courses or in their proximity or even closer to the waterfront steadily rising. Conservative architecture on the other hand is being pressurized and prices elsewhere are tumbling fast. Brokers involved in selling existing properties are competing with those selling newer ones and the situation is getting more difficult for the former who have to compete with upgrades and generous incentives of the latter.
While smaller cities in Florida State are faring better than those cities with not much development, they are being spared the impact of the real estate bust. Florida Keys is one area which is witnessing restrictions in new construction because of a shortfall in land available. Naturally investing in residential real estate has also fallen in response. However, there are adequate brokers willing to bet that buyers will have the purchasing power to invest in a spacious second home between Miami and Florida Keys.
In the soft market, conditions are such that there is no saying what kind of properties will be lapped up and what will remain unsold. Property auctions though allowing the sellers to get some returns on their investment are highly unpredictable. If the piece of real estate is at the lower end of the investment hotspot, there is a chance it will get sold, for a buyer can either rent it out or build on it. Speculating on a bigger property has its risks with no knowing of which way the market may turn.
Seeing this, a question that echoes in many minds is how long will this downturn continue? The higher priced and top of the pick real estate properties are queuing up and by the end of 2008 the numbers will increase. Though the purchasing power of the rich has not been affected there is a limit as to the number of residences even the millionaires will want to invest in, in Florida. So where are the buyers?
Some of the key problems of real estate investing in Florida stem from the high property taxes and home insurance premiums which soar post hurricanes. In the event of these being resolved, Florida’s real estate market is all set of witness a second boom. Those of us who have been watching the trends very closely especially in Florida agree that it is just a matter of time.