“Be-backs” are Back and Buying at TerraLargoSM
April 30, 2009
LAKELAND, FL --- While Florida's residential real estate market has been on the ropes for nearly two years, there are signs in one Central Florida community that consumers have begun to come out swinging again."It appears as though we've turned the corner and the waiting game is over for a good many homebuyers who've been sitting on the fence waiting for prices to drop or finally selling their existing home. People are beginning to take out their checkbooks and act now," said Ann Tonelli, sales director at TerraLargoSM, an award-winning gated, lakeside community of upscale Mediterranean-style homes being developed by Avatar® Properties Inc. in north Lakeland.
"Our qualified traffic is up considerably in the first quarter and we've already made four sales and another two are about to close which is 100 percent better than this time last year," said Tonelli, emphasizing that TerraLargoSM "has not had a single resale or foreclosure" since the bottom dropped out of the real estate market.
"What's really interesting is that nearly 60 percent of our qualified traffic is be-backs, some of whom first visited nearly two years ago and kept TerraLargoSM at the top of their list. The volume of be-backs is very encouraging and speaks volumes about what buyers think of TerraLargoSM," she said.
Two of those "be-back" buyers are relocations: one a couple from Coconut Grove in South Florida who teach at Florida Southern University in Lakeland, and the other a couple whose jobs brought them from Michigan. Both rented locally for more than a year until they sold their existing homes and purchased new homes at TerraLargoSM.
"While all our amenities have been in place from the outset (5,000 sq. ft. clubhouse with fitness center and meeting rooms, free-form zero-entry pool and spa, shaded children's playground, and boardwalk with gazebo on 29-acre Meadowview Lake) some of our be-backs simply wanted to wait for the community to grow and mature," said Tonelli, noting 40 families currently reside in the 640-acre community which earned a Beautification Award from the City of Lakeland when it opened in 2007.
And mature it has. The sales office has since moved out of the clubhouse which now houses an on-site events planner who arranges monthly resident activities and events and produces a monthly community newsletter, a visitor center with brochures of area attractions, and a business center where residents can purchase postage stamps, utilize fax and copier machines, and have access to a free Notary service.
One of five Central Florida residential communities being developed by Avatar®, TerraLargoSM offers nine 3- and 4-bedroom single-family home plans in two upscale collections at prices from the low-$200s. Three furnished models are available for viewing daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
TerraLargoSM is located at 1775 Sleepy Hill Road, just half a mile from the Lakeland Square Mall, one mile from Interstate 4, and only 500 feet from a neighborhood YMCA and Sleepy Hill Elementary and Sleepy Hill Middle schools.
For more information about TerraLargoSM, call (866) 261-4526, or visit MyTerraLargo.com or AvatarHomes.com.
