London bridges aren’t exactly falling down, at least not yet, but London real estate prices are. Previously buoyed by an influx of wealthy foreigners, especially Russian and Arab, London has for some years been the most over-priced city in the world. The Brexit vote changed that overnight, as those wealthy foreigners are already starting to put their properties up for sale. Florida real estate agencies could be the beneficiaries.
        “Anything in the United States will fare very well with the Euro-centric audience,” Leonard Steinberg, an executive with a major U.S. brokerage, told Yahoo, adding that Miami was among American cities that “will always do well with the foreign buyer.”
        I think other Florida cities like Naples, Sarasota, Fort Myers and the Gold Coast on the eastern side of the state could do very well also as well-to-do British citizens look to escape the plummeting real estate market in London and other higher priced areas of the UK. The British have long had an affinity for vacations in Florida, and many have purchased second homes there. Non-stop flights from London to Miami, Orlando and Tampa are a few hours longer than flights to Portugal, Spain and other sun-drenched havens in Europe, but receptions for British citizens in some Euro countries in the wake of the vote could be tepid at best and vacation-ruining at worst. Florida and, potentially, other parts of the U.S. Sun Belt, could look like safe havens in more ways than one.
British citizens looking for a safe haven in Florida won't do much better than Laurel Oak Country Club, located near Sarasota.
        Europeans watching their stock portfolios and real estate values drop, and fearing worse over the coming months, don’t believe America needs to be made great again, certainly not as a place to invest. The U.S. is the world’s only true safe haven for real estate and other investments, according to global experts. If I were the chambers of commerce and major real estate agencies in Florida cities, as well as other cities in the Southeast that can be undeniably attractive to foreign real estate investment, I’d be running ads in British media read by those with real estate holdings. Yes, the drop in the value of the pound sterling has made investments in U.S. properties that much more expensive for the Brits, but the exchange rate difference is nothing compared to the impact of, say, a 50% drop in properties valued in the millions.  Smart money in London may be ready to take some losses now rather than much bigger ones later.
        Of course, having been through a vote whose results many did not see coming, British citizens may be reluctant to jump from the fat into the fire of another chaotic and contentious campaign in the U.S. Uncertainty certainly does not inspire investor confidence. In that regard, here is an open invitation to any British citizen looking for information on the top golf communities in Florida or elsewhere in the Southeast U.S. to contact us now to lay the groundwork for a purchase decision, say, on November 9, the day after the election. That provides plenty of time to visit some Florida communities in the meantime, while lodging prices are very cheap in Florida (hot summers drive the snowbirds away) and golf communities are eager to see you.
        For a sample of golf communities in Florida that we can recommend, click here.

        As of last week, nine of the 23 new home sites released for sale on June 10 at Aiken, SC’s Woodside Communities had been sold.
        The general economic and demographic environments seem to be driving the recent spurt in land sales at Woodside and throughout golf communities in general in the Southeast. Consumer confidence, especially among retiring and nearly retired baby boomers, is improving. Aside from the anxiety some might feel during a Presidential election year -– especially this Presidential election year –- baby boomers are done with deferring their retirement relocations; their primary homes have recovered much of their values since the recession, taking away the biggest excuse for waiting. And in spite of media predictions to the contrary, golf is still popular enough with 26 million people that a retirement adjacent to a fine golf course –- or in Woodside's case, a few of them –- is seen as a realistic luxury.
        But Woodside itself, and the location of the lots in the Summer Hill section of the community, which is bounded by a park on one side and the upcoming 12th and 13th holes of Fuzzy Zoeller’s Hollow Creek course at The Reserve Club, gets most of the credit for the strong interest. A pond, pedestrian footbridge, stone and timber pavilion and quarter-mile lighted walking path –- “walking,” boomers say time and again, is their favorite activity –- add to the appeal.
        The lots are priced from $55,900. Owners have no required time frame in which to build and can use home designs from Woodside’s own collection or build to their own (or their architect’s) design. Construction costs of $135 to $140 per square foot is a good rule of thumb for homes commissioned through Woodside’s building program, but if you hire your own architect and builder, the sky’s your limit.
        The Hancock is one of models Woodside is offering for Summer Hill. At 2,000 square feet, space enough for two or three bedrooms, it is the perfect size for a vacation home or a tidy residence for a retired couple. Costs should not exceed $300,000 to build a nicely outfitted home.
The Hancock model at Woodside Communities will cost under $300,000 to build in the community's new Summer Village section.
        For more information about Woodside and access to a listing of properties for sale, please see our Golf Homes for Sale section. 
        One other item of note regarding Woodside: The community is located just 22 miles from the gates of the Augusta National Golf Club. During Masters week in April, lodging in the city is notoriously short, and some Woodside homeowners rent out their houses to well-heeled tournament attendees –- and occasionally players and their families –- for enough to pay for a pretty nice golf vacation -– airfare included.