I live in a place with insane property prices and high COLA, and just Zillowed (my standard search of 10+ acre, no manufactured home, min one bed and 2 bath) and a lot of popped up for less than here. How much have prices increased?
It is really hard to find a 3 bed/2 bath under 200k. They were dwindling in 2020, but you could still find them. Anything under $200k is old, or needs work.
Larger lots have increased by about 30-40% since 2020. This house sold for $1.075 million in 2021. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5795-NW-96th-Ln-Ocala-FL-34482/121048182_zpid/
Now they want $1.6m. Smaller lots with stick-built or cinder block homes have also risen between 20-40% depending on the area. If itās near WEC, itās expensive.
This sold for 1.4mill a year ago. Now itās $3+million. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3300-NW-63rd-Ave-Ocala-FL-34482/121047318_zpid/
This was $515k in 2021. Now almost $1mil. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/965-NW-73rd-Ter-Ocala-FL-34482/45856389_zpid/
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Unless he can find the room for a cross country course for both Eventing and driving, and a driving arena, Welly will NEVER be an Aachen.
I do agree about infrastructureā¦ we are so much more rural than Welly and surroundings.
Dont forget that WEC just bought the Ocala Jockey Club, and an settlement with neighbors this month has opened the door for that development. https://www.ocalagazette.com/development-detente/?fbclid=IwAR0a5jFHIgVy5kHaP5JVJE0n2Zoyo7XGpgT9iiLhKCZYmG9Ue9e1ShDpzCE
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I have 5 AC just down from the Florida Horse Park and about 40 minutes from WEC. Iām appraised at about 350. The house at the corner, on 6 ac, on a busy road, just went on the market for 980 and is āpendingā.
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Well I donāt know his plans of course, but Helgestrand Group is pretty laser focused on dressage and show jumping.
I found the actual quote and its from Michael Stone, president of Equestrian Sport Productions, āAndreas Helgestrand is committed in investing to really turning it into something special, to rival Aachen and Spruce Meadows.ā
Though this is not mentioned in the WSJ article, WEC Ocala has a different business model than Wellington. Multiple horse disciplines and breed shows offered, conventions and trade shows, other non-horse things like dog shows, sporting events.
So in the end its hard to say. I suspect that over time Ocala will continue to draw converts from south Florida to Central Fla because they are looking for space or less traffic or whatever. Others will stay for their own reasons. There are also preservation efforts in the area by various groups, to prevent some congestion and save the land.
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$200k wouldnāt buy you a closet where I live. A 3 bedroom townhouse attached on both sides with a postage stamp sized backyard aimed at the starter home or downsizing market is in the $900k range. Maybe we should all move to Ocala! Except for that whole Desantis thing and the distance from the ocean, itās actually pretty tempting to buy a winter place there. I enjoy visiting Wellington for a weekend but wouldnāt want to spend a whole winter there.
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Same where I live but itās all relative. For those of modest means living in Ocala or similar areas, the huge price increases must be very stressful. Iām sure the salaries in the area havenāt kept up with the increase in housing prices.
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Itās kind of how the cycle goes, isnāt it? Area is a LCOL area, but relatively undiscovered, so people start moving there and quietly buying property. Local improvements happen, the area gets more popular, more money flows in, prices start to increase. And it snowballs. Similar to what happens in city neighborhoods with gentrification. When I moved here from NYC, my reaction was OMG EVERYTHING IS SO CHEAP. Now Iāve been here a while, so Iām acclimated, lol.
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Something interesting a realtor friend just sent me, regarding the jockey club land. I had no idea that it was an historical site.
This might be problematic for development, but apparently they havenāt found human remains, so who knows.
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I think in this case, the whole thing happened much faster than normal due to the construction of the new horse show facility.
Somebody with a good crystal ball could have made a huge killing on the real estate in that neighborhood within just the last few years.
I was lucky enough to attend Aachen back in 2012. Its not only the compact, complete equestrian facilities; its the city trollys that bring you there. The amazing small German town with all that includes - including Charlemagneās cathedral. NO way will anything he creates in Wellington ever rival it.
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I donāt think Helgestrand is literally trying to replicate Aachen and the town.
I have been to Aachen multiple times, and my interpretation of Helgestrandās vision is of the intimacy of Aachen, particularly the dressage venueā¦of course he could also mean the shopping and beer gardens 
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Ocala is Iowa with Palm trees, we bought a house in West Palm last fall and I feel like I am in literal heaven. Granted I am not either venueās target audience as I just rode in my first show in five years last week but my money is here.
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Oh yes. That would be fine!
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Donāt worry. I know people who have been going to Wellington for years and years without showing. As long as youāre enjoying yourself, thatās all that counts.
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We didnāt buy in Ocala in large part due to the zoning that does nothing to prevent your neighbors from installing shipping crates on their lawn or creating a junkyard since the zoning is wide open. I looked at many nice properties with beautiful barns and fabulous views of the neighborās decrepit property.
While Iām sure someone will eventually buy those up and rebuild them, the lack of rules that can seriously affect your property values tanked it for us.
My parents moved to our winter place, in a town next to Wellington, two years ago. The house has doubled in value in that time so itās not just ocala, itās Florida in general that is having a very good couple years for property values.
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Thereās a huge number of amateurs who follow their trainers there every winter and never set foot in a shoe ring, or if they do itās at White Fences, not Global. Nothing wrong with that. Itās a lot more fun having lessons in the Florida sun than in the ice and snow.
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There is AG zoning (A-1), then there is Ag Exemption. My neighborhood is just A-1; I need a permit for anything I do. If you have Ag Exemption (you have a business), pertty much anything goes, but there are STILL rules.
When I visited last winter (a little north of Ocala, closer to the Jockey Club), I heard that development is tough because of the zoning, since they want to preserve Ag spaces. I imagine that will change with enough money and lobbying, but it was a big hurdle and one of the reasons there were so few hotels in the area.
