A stroll through Pointe West’s South Village neighborhood conjures up memories of old-time Americana, of a time when front porches opened onto a neighborhood park where kids could throw a football or play a game of tag until they got summoned home by mom’s voice calling them to dinner.
Life and community – not parking – are at the forefront of these homes. Ample space for cars, plus a two-car garage with built-in storage racks are in the back. Extra guest parking lies at both ends of these walkable lanes, so visitors can take in the feel of the tree-lined green on the way.
The 3-bedroom home at 1279 Welcome Drive offers enough living and sleeping space for a family, but is not an overwhelming amount of house or maintenance for active retirees or snowbirds. Lawn, landscaping and pest control service are covered through the community maintenance fee of $151.85 per month, which is paid quarterly.
Pointe West residents can be as socially involved as they want to, as both golf and club dining memberships are available, but not required. This offers flexibility for, say, a couple a few years from retirement who might not have time to take advantage of these amenities now, but who may want them down the road.
Busy families, those who travel a lot for work or are just looking for a vacation or winter home will not only like the community maintenance program, but the thought that went into making it easy to batten the hatches of this home in the event of foul weather. With functional colonial and Bahama shutters on all the windows, plus electric roll-down shutters on the enclosed back porch, Landers said, “One person can close this place up in a half hour.”
Pointe West is close to Indian River Mall, to the area’s big-box stores, to the luxury labels available at deep discount at Vero Fashion Outlets and to both Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike. But it’s still just minutes to historic downtown and to Ocean Drive and beaches. Indian River State College is close by, as is Indian River Charter High School, Imagine South Vero charter school and several public schools.
The customized, 2006 concrete block KB home has recently been reduced in price and is being offered exclusively by Norris and Company Real Estate for $229,000. Realtor Chip Landers will host an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the home.
“The selling points of this home are that it’s in mint condition and move-in ready,” Landers said. “The whole-house generator is gas and the stove is gas and a lot of buyers from up north like that because they are used to having gas.”
Coming in at just less than 2,000 square feet, this one-story detached home is the right fit for many buyers, Landers said. The floor plan also allows for flexibility with a great room that can be configured into a dining and family room with a separate formal living room, or if the buyer needs a large formal dining room, the space works that way, too, with an open room divider.
“The three-bedroom plus den model is big but it’s not too big,” Landers said. “The two-story homes are big, some of them 3,400 square feet, but with those you lose the retirees. This is a house for everybody.”
This one-owner property has been well maintained and shows like new with upgraded appliances and high-end features like crown moldings, wide baseboards and high ceilings. The kitchen and bathrooms are attractive, functional and well-designed, but if the new owner had a different taste in fixtures or surfaces, they could easily do some remodeling to make this property into their dream home.
Landers, who lives at Pointe West and has handled quite a few sales in the community recently, said the inventory at Pointe West is in short supply and that the time to buy in is now as prices have already begun to rebound. According to Landers’ own market research, out of the 25 listed homes, 11 of them are currently under contract, leaving only 14 active listings on which to make a deal.
Not long ago, Landers said, there were at least 40 homes listed for sale in Pointe West, a good many of them short sales and foreclosures. That opportunities are few and far between now with only two homes in the short sale or foreclosure category available and not under contract.
“The short sales and foreclosures are all gone, it’s all retail now. There are no discounts anymore,” Landers said.