Golden Oak by Steve Russo
A look at a new luxury community in development at Walt Disney World.
Read it here!
Golden Oak by Steve Russo
A look at a new luxury community in development at Walt Disney World.
Read it here!
With Florida land being so cheap, I can't understand why they are only offering "1/2 to 3/4 acre" lots. This is puny. The houses seem to be right on top of each other. There are barely any street parking space. I categorize this buying opportunity as a big risk. For the money paid, it seems to go to the house and amenities and big profits for Disney. There is little track record of the quality of the neighborhood and city services (schools). It is clearly vacation property for the absentee owner or future retiree. Luckily, for new owners, this is the bottom of the real estate market. Things can get better, but you should get a good real estate agent to help analyze the prices with comparable property.
Florida land may be cheap but Disney owned land is limited. With what Disney is offering I'm not sure there is any "comparable property." This does seem to a house to own for bragging rights more than anything.
Granted, if you can afford the house & annual dues, you probably could afford to arrange for a taxi/shuttle whenever you wanted to go to the parks or annual passes at each theme park worldwide rather than the master pass. But that is clearly irrelevant to the subset of buyers Disney is targeting.
As for schools, I wonder if the kids will be bussed to Celebration, Fl or if they will be annexed into a different school district.
Of course there are comparable property. Why is Disney selling them for $1.5 to 8 million? There's a limit to the price based on market, house size, and location. From the Disney name, I would assume the prices are 20 to 40% higher than other comparable property, but houses at other prominant locations with neighbors that are well known could be just as expensive as Disney's Golden Oak.Originally Posted by currence
If you intend to buy the house, the bragging rights are meaningless if you want to sell it. The next buyer will ask for a big discount if the Disney name means absolutely nothing to him and there are other comparable property selling for less. I'm not sure if having close proximity to theme parks are a selling point. It might even decrease property values as it has in Anaheim.
The reality is there needs to be viable market for these types of unique property. You need committed owners.
Very well written. Thanks for this. Not sure if you skipped this but there is a direct link tot he website http://www.disneygoldenoak.com.
I was considering buying here. Talked to sales people and visited a few times. Here is the pluses and minuses to me, and how they justify cost.
pluses:
VIP Disney service - a gold pass that allows you and 4 guests in any park, door to door transportation to every park or any other destination inside WDW.
Location - your on Disney Property
Country Club style living - You can become a member of four seasons and have a personal chef every meal if you wanted to pay for it.
Disney Landscaping and Decorating - the same department that does perfect landscaping in the parks is going to mow your lawn and decorate common areas for the holidays.
Minus:
Location - it's kind of in a out of the way area at Disney not close to anything at all. Was also under the impression it was on Bay Lake, but you have to walk a nature trail (to be constructed) to get there. Yo really don't "feel" like you are on Disney property. Can't even see MK or Epcot Fireworks from your house.
Neighbors - 75% of people will be using it as a second home. Not like Celebration where you know people and they actually live and go to school.
School - zoned for West Orange high school - very old and scary school - however I am sure anyone living here would not even think about public school, just saying
Home owner fee - It was undetermined, but estimates were very pricey. Does include landscaping though....
Home style - you can only have a few styles and select builders. If you don't have a problem with that, it's not a minus.
I ended up not purchasing... was tempting though.
Steve, Great story. Yes, I could live there too! FYI I have posted the complete Golden Oak sales package in PDF. It includes lots, floorplans, renderings, and sales prices. You can see them here: http://www.disneybymark.com/2011/10/...-sales-package
Enjoy!
Thanks, you're welcome, and I did include the link at the end (the "Golden Oak" is a linked url):
If you would like more information, I urge you to visit the official site for Golden Oak. If you’re truly interested, you can contact them and arrange a personal tour.
Steve
After seeing the price tag, I can easily say, "I CAN"T live here."
Great Defender of the Sorceror's Hat
WDW Trips: June 2002, Feb 2004, Dec 2006, Dec 2008, Jan 2010, Feb 2011, Dec 2012
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Have to add I have a house in Windermere not too far from WDW off of 535 and the school district is OC public schools and zoned for schools in Winderemere but there are also private schools that are very close by that many people in Winderemere choose to use. I will say my son goes to West Orange and does not find it scary or old? Is there a variety of social economic backgrounds at the school? Yes there is. He has only attended the school for one year or any Florida Public school for this one year but I would not hesitate for him to go there again if he chooses too. Also there are a few places open now along 535 but that is what makes it so much nicer than Celebration to live over in Windermere, there is not all of the traffic and once you leave Celebration there is nothing but mass traffic and tourists while in Windermere you are in a small town area without any tourists. In my opinion Golden Oak is much nicer, quieter location than Celebration. I drive by Golden Oak often going to WDW. The lots in Windermee are also on the smaller size for the home sizes but we have a lot of lakes here and people enjoy boating, that is the only drawback is no boat access from your home property I see with Golden Oak but you more than make up for that with Disney if you are a Disney fan!
I thought I'd post this Q&A here... it came to me via email but with no return address so I could not reply. The question was sent in by Pete:
Interesting you didn't discuss being a "Resident" of the WDW municapality, and what that means in terms of voting for things like local bonds, etc.
Since Disney has their own government, they have always kept a few company employees living on property so they can cast token votes -- how do the Golden Oak residents fit into the picture?
My response:
Hi Pete,
This information was a bit difficult to come by but, as I understand it, Golden Oak is not part of the Reedy Creek Improvement District - what you have termed the "Disney municipality". The land was de-annexed from Reedy Creek and Golden Oak residents will be part of Orange County. Disney will still maintain the day-to-day operation of the Golden Oak community.
Hope that helps.
Steve
Great article Steve. You have given me another reason to buy lottery tickets. When I win you are more than welcome to drop by for a beer any time.
Thanks, Rick. I wish you luck. Let me know when the keg's on...
Steve
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