The long languishing Blythewood, SC golf community called Cobblestone Park finally has an experienced and stable owner fully in charge. National mega-developer D.R. Horton announced recently that it had purchased one-third of the lots in the 15-year-old Cobblestone and that it would be introducing new price plans and (finally) complete the clubhouse that the Ginn organization -– as in Bobby Ginn -– had started more than six years ago. Work on the partially completed clubhouse, which has been an eyesore for half a decade, has already begun.

The white knight Cobblestone's been waiting for

        This is the kind of good news existing owners at Cobblestone have been waiting for. The early buyers who bought into the Ginn marketing hype saw their market values plummet. Lot values in the community dropped as much as 90%, and home values as much as 75%. Those who bought a home at Cobblestone as a pure investment -– and those were the types the Ginn group lived off –- were forced to walk away from their properties, and the foreclosures only served to lower the values of full-time homes even more. Today, there are just 100 occupied homes in a golf community with a total of just over 1,000 home sites.

Help is on the way:  D.R. Horton, Cobblestone's new owners, have already begun to work on the long languishing partially completed clubhouse.

        Horton has moved quickly to turn things around. Current homeowners who may complain that Horton’s new reduced-price plan will lower their already paltry market values may not be taking a long enough view. Horton’s four new models are all priced below $300,000, making them attractive to both new home buyers and retirees looking for a lot of house -– square footage for the models average 2,800 square feet –- next to a well-maintained, challenging golf course. We don’t often find homes in a gated golf community priced at around $100 per square foot.

        Blythewood is an easy commute to Columbia, the state capital and home of the University of South Carolina and its thousands of students. (The USC men's and women's golf teams use the practice facilities at Cobblestone.)  More importantly, the few thousand faculty and administrators at the University need to live someplace, and why not a nicely landscaped community with 27 holes of golf at its core? (Most lots at Cobblestone have views of the P.B. Dye designed layout, which was tweaked just before the recession by touring pro Lee Janzen.) Horton’s involvement and the attractively priced real estate should combine to increase demand to live in Cobblestone, and to push up prices as well.

The University of South Carolina golf teams use the fine Cobblestone practice facilities.

Bargain golf membership

        I visited Cobblestone Park a few months after Ginn departed, and although there was a large swath of undeveloped land, the unimproved lots were substantially relegated to one part of the community. The neighborhood around most of the 18 holes I played was nicely filled in and showed the potential for a well-landscaped community. The course, which was in excellent condition when I played it, is now open to outside play but also offers memberships at the bargain price of just $173 per month (no initiation fee). The Cobblestone course is operated by the golf conglomerate Affiniti; members have access to a dozen other Affiniti golf clubs in the Carolinas and Georgia, a nice bonus for those who enjoy playing a variety of golf courses and don’t mind driving a few hours to do it.

        If you are looking for a brand new $300,000 golf home (or a bargain resale home) near a major university and close to a major Interstate highway -– I-77 runs along the edge of the community –- Cobblestone is worth a look. Contact me for more information and an introduction to the real estate office at Cobblestone.

The formerly private Cobblestone layout is not without its challenges.  Although open to the public today, there are whispers that, once the community fills with homes and new members, it may go private again.

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        No sooner had the pixels dried on our glowing report on the Florida real estate market (“Bull Run: Housing experts predict double-digit rise in Florida prices for 2013,” March 19) than a Florida housing market expert threw cold water on our optimism. In a Sunday real estate section article authored by Columnist Mary Umberger and first published in the Chicago Tribune, Florida real estate consultant Jack McCabe said, “I think people are jumping the gun (in celebrating the return of the Florida markets).” 

        McCabe’s thesis is that foreign and corporate investors are buying up most of the most distressed properties, fixing them up and renting them out to folks who either can’t afford a down payment on a home or the payments themselves. Eventually, when prices fully recover, the investors, the theory goes, will unload the properties at a nice profit. Some of the prices they are paying for those properties now may be too high to support “flipping” and could create another “bubble.”

Heritage Bay near Naples, which was developed by Lennar Corp.  Membership in the fine 27-hole golf club comes "bundled" with the price of a home.  Condos begin in the high $100s, with single-family homes starting around $400,000.

        McCabe also says a large number of buyers from Canada, Europe and South America have targeted the west coast of Florida. I visited golf communities in Sarasota and Naples last year and saw a fair bit of construction going on. Prices are still reasonable in a wide range of golf communities, from Lennar Corp’s Heritage Bay in Naples and Heritage Harbour in Sarasota (starting under $200,000 in both) to the more upscale Vineyards in Naples (condos in the mid-$200s to single-family estate homes at more than $1 million) and beautifully landscaped Laurel Oak in Sarasota (single-family homes from the mid-six figures). The Lennar communities “bundle” golf club membership with the price of a home, an excellent value for those who plan to play a lot of golf. At our Golf Homes Listed web site, we feature current listings for sale in 11 golf communities in Sarasota and Naples, including the two Heritages.

        My current opinion is that, investors aside, there are still many bargains in Florida golf communities. But if the stock market continues strong over the coming months and retiree portfolios instill a bit more confidence among baby boomers who have been putting off moves to a warmer climate, then demand may grow for golf homes in Florida. And as demand grows, prices will rise unless supply spikes significantly. The two sides debating the future of the Florida real estate market will continue to snipe at each other’s arguments. Eventually, one side will be wrong, and one will be right. But if you are considering a search for a Florida golf home at a reasonable price, ignore both the exuberant and the gloomy and think about making your move.

The Laurel Oak golf community near Sarasota features single-family homes and a sleek golf course.  Current golf homes for sale start in the $400s.