Friday, May 1, 2009

Finally...someone gets it!!

I was reading the paper last Sunday (as I do most Sundays) when I saw an ad by a local developer touting their project as a great place to live. Now this type of ad is generally not too shocking since every developer says the same thing about their respective projects.

What caught my eye was the marketing blatantly touted the fact the community did not have a Community Development District (CDD), a tool large developers use to finance the development of their property through bonds where the residents of that community pay the bonds back. It is a slick deal for developers. They pass the development costs on to the end user while at the same time charging as much as every other development for their land (yes CDD's are real - I am not making it up).

As I was saying, a local development known as the Vineyards has something few developments in this area can say NO DEBT. That means when you buy a new or existing house in their project you do not have to pay additional CDD fees to live there. What a novel concept!

There are many developments in Florida and elsewhere in the country where the residents are saddled with $10-20 thousand (or more!) in debt the day they close on their house. In my less than humble opinion, the CDD tool is over used and does not save the consumer any money. Too many MBA's and CPA's with little regard for future buyers appetite to pay more fees long after closing were driving the development bus.

So Kudos goes to the Vineyards and the "in hind sight" brightest developers in the land. They have an attractive community with all of the amenities one could ask for with ZERO add-on fees for the buyers. As their ad says "This Developer Gets It!". I agree.

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