Category: Sanford

Sanford Avenue Project

12/10/2017

By the first decade of the 20th century, Sanford was one of the largest vegetable shipping centers in the United States, and received the nickname "Celery City" for the most successful crop.

On April 25, 1913, Seminole County was officially established with Sanford as the county seat.

Sanford sits on the south shore of Lake Monroe at the head of the navigation on the St. Johns River. During the Seminole Wars of the 1830's, the area was the site of an U.S. Army post name Fort Mellon. As settlers moved into the area, the town of Mellonville was established. With the advent of commercial steamboat service, the town became a distribution point for goods essential for the growth of Central Florida. When Orange County was created in 1845, Mellonville became the county seat.

The Sanford Historic District during a Festival

In 1870, Henry Shelton Sanford purchased the land west of Mellonville. He planned a new city "the Gate City of South Forida," which he believed would become the transportation hub for all of southern Florida. In 1877, the city of Sanford was incorporated and Mellonville was annexed six years later. In 1880, Henry S. Sanford formed a land company in London to encourage investments in the new city.

Today Sanford is a revitalized community featuring a diverse population, arts, culture, and a historic downtown district with restaurants, antique shops and theatre.

#SanfordAveProject

Nerd Night members, Real Estate Possibilities, LLC were lucky enough to secure a vacant lot, at a great price, just ONE block off the Historic District within WALKING distance of all the great cafes and shops downtown. They are building a "Vintage Style" brand new home for one lucky family... maybe YOU?

This building is on Sanford Avenue

Sanford Historic District

Father-Daughter team, Sam and Lauren committed to the Sanford Avenue Project in May, 2017 and the process began to get city approvals. Rounding out the team is Manager-Mom, Sandy!

Initially they were told the address sat within the bounds of what is designated as the "Historic District" for Sanford, which has very strict approval processes for construction or renovation. However, in doing their own research, they found that it actually is just 1 block outside the district, which made it a bit faster to get things approved.

It was always the intention though to build a home that fit the highly sought after "Vintage Style" that makes up the historic area... so they found some great plans... with high ceilings BOTH upstairs and down, and an open floor plan for downstairs; making the home perfect for entertaining.

The outside of this 1758sf, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, home is pure "retro" while the floor-plan of the interior is spacious and modern feeling. When you walk into the home you walk into a large living area with a kitchen on the back wall, separated by a "breakfast bar." There is room for both a dining table and a living room area, though today's modern families might find dining at the bar is more in keeping with their busy lifestyle. There is easily room for 4 seats at the bar.

To the left is a staircase lighted by a South facing window, taking you up to 3 bedrooms... cleverly laid out in a "split" plan with the Master Bedroom separated from the two smaller ones by the two bathrooms. The Master Bedroom opens out onto the upstairs balcony porch so, in nice weather, it even has it's own private "seating area."

Frankly, this writer LOVES an upstairs porch... it provides the opportunity to put out some high quality furnishings and allows for a cozy, and more private, area to enjoy Florida's beautiful weather. I could just picture myself enjoying a glass of wine and some music as I watch my neighbors stroll by with their pets in the early evening.

These renderings give you a chance to see what the homes floor-plan will look like finished... though keep in mind that some style and design changes by the builders will make the finished home a bit different from these CGI graphics. Scroll on down for more photos of the home during construction...

It's this writers understanding that this home will have 10 foot ceilings downstairs and 8 foot up... what a spacious feel!

The home will have a driveway coming in from the front, but is also accessible by an alleyway behind the home. The carport on the side will keep your car from the elements.

INVESTMENT NOTES: Think you can't get involved in real estate investing with no money of your own? Think again! This project used borrowed money from day one. Tips from REP,LLC Sam was... have about $20K open on credit cards and get your numbers right, and you CAN borrow the money for your project. Sam told me that his lender initially didn't "see" the potential in this property, however, after being shown some recent "comps" (comparable properties), coming out to view the site, and being educated in the history of Sanford (and it's ongoing revitalization), they enthusiastically signed on.

It took about 3 months to get the approvals through the city, however the Lender's terms didn't call for any interest to be owed UNTIL the money was drawn, so waiting those months was not costly. This was a "construction" style loan, meaning money is drawn out in stages as needed. I don't have all the details of that, but if you are a Nerd Night member (join here - it's free), just ask Sam and he will be happy to share the specifics.

It's now December when I'm writing this... and the project was signed for in May. Considering that it was about 3 months before "ground was broken" this project has come along quite quickly!