December 30, 2024 • 18 mins
In this episode of Jim Sells the Suncoast, Jim welcomes Rhett Fisher from Homes by West Bay, who shares insights on the Crosswind Ranch community in Parrish. Explore larger lot sizes, diverse floor plans, and a range of customization options in a serene, nature-focused setting.
Key Highlights:
- Home Sizes & Options: Single-family homes from ~2,100 to 4,850+ sq. ft., with 3 to 7 bedrooms, two different series (Artisan & Innovation), and optional pools.
- Pricing & Personalization: Base prices start around $499K up to the $800Ks (lot premiums, design, and structural choices extra). Buyers get up to 6% in incentives for closing costs, rate buy-downs, or price flex when using West Bay’s preferred lender.
- Community Amenities & Fees: Planned resort-style pool, lap pool, splash pad, pickleball courts, dog park, and low monthly HOA ($15/mo). CDD ranges $2,800–$3,300/year.
- Location Perks: Quick access to Tampa, Sarasota, and St. Pete while staying away from the high-traffic hubs. Enjoy gas utilities (rare in the area) and lots of green space.
- Warranty & Build Time: 1-year general warranty, 10-year structural coverage, and 5–6 months for new construction.
What’s Next?
Ready to explore Crosswind Ranch or learn more about living on the Suncoast? Email Jim at jim.ahearn@gmail.com or visit Jim Sells the Suncoast.
A Personal Note from Jim:
Hey there, I’m Jim Ahearn, your go-to real estate guide and host of Jim Sells The Suncoast podcast! 🎙️✨ Dreaming of Florida life? I’ve got you covered! As your dedicated buyer's agent, I’ll handle everything from walk-throughs to closing, making your home-buying journey as smooth as a Florida breeze.
Whether you're local or tuning in from afar, I’ll bring the Suncoast to you with virtual tours and expert advice. Let’s chat about your dream home and I'll connect you with all the right people to make it happen.
Ready to move to paradise? Drop me a line – I can’t wait to help! 🌴🏡
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jim (00:01):
Greetings all and I'd like to introduce today, Rhett
Fisher, who is joining me fromCrosswind Ranch and West Bay
Builders.
He's been in real estate forabout eight years selling new
homes.
He's been with West Bay forabout a year, coming out of New
Jersey.
Welcome.
Glad to have you here.
Rhett (00:18):
Thanks, Jim.
Glad to be here.
Jim (00:20):
Can you give me an overview of that whole development?
What's going on there?
Rhett (00:24):
Crosswind Ranch started about 2 years ago now, a little
over 2 years.
It's all developed by homes byWest Bay.
So it's all single family homes.
As you drive through thecommunity with the barrel tile
roofs and some larger homesthere's a lot of space between
homes.
We've got a lot of naturalscenery and wildlife.
(00:46):
We didn't just come in here andflatten it out and build homes.
There's a lot of goodvegetation.
Absolutely.
Jim (00:55):
I think some of that green area, when you can put the
homes, maybe in one section, itopens up.
So you have a lot of that roomto grow or, and, bike or walk or
trail or whatever it is.
That's a big deal.
I do like that a little bit ofspace in the lots.
I know, every place has its ownniche, right?
Then, if you need a smallerhome, you're getting in there.
Perfect downsize and go into it.
(01:17):
But this gives you a little bitof room, which is bucking the
trend of some of the areas thatI've seen in along that parish
quarter, we talked about thesingle family homes.
What kind of what size rangesare we talking about here?
What's the, what's the choicesfor your so really we're
anywhere
Rhett (01:32):
from 2100 square feet to we go all the way to 48 50 now
Wow, yeah, that's our 70 footlots that we just released.
Jim (01:45):
And most of these are going i'm assuming three bedroom to
start with and then going up tofive
Rhett (01:51):
three bedroom to actually all the way to seven bedrooms.
Jim (01:54):
Wow.
So tell me a little bit aboutthe difference in the homes
multi level two or three cargarage.
what are the options or choicesjust from, a basic viewpoint on
that?
Rhett (02:05):
Yeah.
So we go from our 2100 squarefoot floor plan is a two car
garage.
We'll go up to our three cargarage, one story and two story
homes.
We have two different series inhere as well.
It's called the artisan series.
You can really do a lot withdesign when you get into our
design center.
Where Homes by West Bay reallyyou can really personalize the
(02:28):
inside of your home.
You sit down with an interiordesigner for eight hours.
You do your floors, you do yourcabinets, you do your
countertops.
You can build a pool with us.
It's very customizable on theinterior of our homes.
So that's our artisan series.
When you get into our innovationseries, you can do the same.
There's not as many choices.
(02:51):
but it is still very personableinside the home and
Jim (02:54):
I spoke with somebody and they really two ways, right?
You can either personalize oryou can customize it.
I know it's short of changingthe actual floor plan.
You got a lot of customizablechoices and options you could
put together.
The other one kind of saying,Hey, that's how we save a little
bit on cost.
Here's some choices.
It's limited.
Here's what we can do.
Really being able to open it upfor both buyers and one
(03:16):
development.
And the fact that it's just WestBay in that development, a lot
of them down here have multiplebuilders in there.
And sometimes you have somestyles that go swing a little
wild.
So it's nice when you go in andyou have that cohesion, that
feeling of, community.
Rhett (03:30):
Which is a big deal as well for holding values of
homes.
The same look, same feel, samebuilder quality is really our
big deal.
We're homes by West Bay is aprivate builder that started in
Tampa in 2009 which is soundsfunny.
A builder started in 2009, butthey took that as their
opportunity, right?
(03:50):
And they've just grown fromthere.
The resilience of the company isunbelievable.
Jim (03:54):
2009 sounds like it was just the other day, but it's
really 15, almost 16 years ago.
And the different things we'vegone through between, the
housing crisis of oh, eight andthen everything we've gone
through up and through COVID.
They've weathered a lot.
So if they're still out therebuilding that great product,
that's probably a Testament towhat they've got going.
(04:15):
What are the starting prices?
What's the price points for thehomes in here?
Rhett (04:18):
So base price wise, we range anywhere from four 99,
nine 90 all the way up to eight28, nine nine.
To unravel that a little bitmore, base price does not
include a lot premium.
It doesn't include yourstructural or your design
options.
Which is nice because you canpersonalize it.
Like we said, you have a widerange of price points for the
(04:41):
same floor plan, right?
a home that starts at 617, 990.
I've had customers build thathome for 700, 000 out the door.
I've had customers build thathome for 1.
4 million out the door.
It's just, it's very personal,but even at that 700, 000 price
(05:01):
point.
The bones you have on our housewith the 12th of ceilings and
just the floor plan itself isbeautiful and it's still a
beautiful home when you get in
Jim (05:11):
Yeah.
The amazes me that you haveseven bedroom homes in there
with multi gen being a hugegrowing component of the market.
That seems like it might be alittle bit tailor fit right for
them to go in there with enoughhomes and rooms.
to handle, one or twogenerations or three.
Rhett (05:30):
And we are really seeing a good amount of that whether it
be parents in laws or whetherit's kids that haven't left,
they went through college andthey need to start somewhere.
And a lot of our floor plansactually, we say we don't move
walls and things like that, butwe have pre planned structural
options.
where you can take a home andyou can create, say you pull the
(05:53):
den together with a bedroom andyou can create a second master,
a junior suite, or, Just abedroom with its own bathroom,
full bath in it.
So that gives that opportunitywithout.
Changing the home too much.
Jim (06:05):
So they can really, what do they need for their family and
what's going to make it work?
They can look at that basicstructure and go from there.
What are the, what other costsare there?
When we look at HOA fees or CDDfees.
And what is included in thatcost?
Rhett (06:21):
So our CDD the amenities are all in our CDD costs.
Our innovation series, you're 2,800 for the year.
And then our artisan, you're 3,300 for the year.
But we do have low HOA fees.
Those are 15 a month.
Speaking of amenities, we'vejust started moving dirt on our
first amenity center in here.
We're all very excited.
(06:42):
It's going to be a huge resortstyle pool a lap pool that is
attached to the resort stylepool.
That will have a splash pad forpickleball courts.
We all know that's huge.
That was and then they'll have adog park and a playground.
Jim (06:56):
Okay.
So really you're talking 315bucks a month, a monthly total
between the two, which is notbad at all.
For access to all of that and inmaintenance, as far as the
community, no maintenance, theyresponsible for their yard.
Rhett (07:12):
You are responsible for your yard.
We provide the irrigation waterthe front sides and back of the
homes have irrigation water.
Underground irrigation pipe,then that's reclaimed.
But maintenance wise, yeah.
Landscaping is all in thehomeowner.
Most people would grab somebodyfor, 80 bucks, whatever it is.
And those guys, they get 30people in a row and they just
(07:33):
hit everyone.
Jim (07:33):
Yeah.
Rhett (07:34):
Yeah.
Jim (07:35):
And you said earlier pools are an option, so they can come
in.
Rhett (07:38):
Yeah.
so that's our artisan serieshome.
If you come in and you want toput a pool on the back of your
artisan series home, we canbuild a pool simultaneously with
your build so that when youclose, you've got a pool.
We subcontract it to CoastPools, awesome pool builder.
You sit down, you design thepool with them and they'll build
(07:59):
it along with the build.
Jim (08:01):
And they have some options so you can stylize that to match
your house.
Rhett (08:04):
They may have less options because they're doing a
higher volume.
Say if you went outside and dida pool.
after your home, but the isawesome.
You can b to go.
Jim (08:17):
Yeah.
So how big is the, crosswind asfar as actually
Rhett (08:23):
only in the first phase of seven.
So it's going to be a quitelarge community.
We control about 2000 lots.
Jim (08:32):
What's the construction timeline?
Rhett (08:35):
time is yeah.
our cycle time has reallyShortened over this past year
where we can actually build ahome about five to six months
Jim (08:47):
So what then is the projected and how many homes are
built now?
Rhett (08:52):
So right now we're out about 200 homes built.
So that's about 10 percent ofthe community.
Jim (09:00):
How is West Bay handling warranties and post sale support
for homeowners?
Rhett (09:06):
So we have a one year warranty.
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, andthen we have a 10 year
structural warranty.
Jim (09:14):
Okay.
What, tell me a little bit aboutthe area around Crosswind.
I know that is a growingcommunity up Parrish, Ellington
that whole corner.
What's going to be available foryour new home buyers?
I know when we look at theairports, we're pretty close.
You're probably 40 minutes fromSarasota and 40 minutes from
(09:35):
Tampa.
Lakewood Ranch to the south isonly 20 to 30 minutes with all
the restaurants and dining aswell as what's growing on mocks
and wallow That whole area
Rhett (09:46):
is just a boomtown right now.
So I think the beauty of reallycross branch is to not be in the
middle of all of that,
Jim (09:53):
right?
Rhett (09:53):
There's a lot of people that hate.
We want a house in the middle ofit.
There's a lot of people thatdon't, people don't wanna be
around the traffic and gettingout of their community when
school's getting out.
So I think being a little off ofthat and just about five minutes
to it is a great thing becauseyou can breathe, you can.
Get to Lake Orange through theback way through Rye Road.
You don't have to go into thetown, into 301, onto Moxon
(10:18):
Wallow and wait for that trafficgetting to 75, because it is
growing.
Let's say Moxon Wallow quarteris 26, 000 homes coming in.
This gives you a littlebreathing room, an opportunity
to be away from that.
Jim (10:30):
It's access to everything without being in it,
Rhett (10:32):
Yeah.
Jim (10:34):
What kind of incentives or special offers are you offering
currently for any potentialhomebuyers?
Rhett (10:42):
So currently what we're doing is on our to be built
homes.
We offer 6 percent of whateveryou price out the home to be at
contract, right?
So at contract, we will sit downwe'll go through the floor plan.
We'll go through the pre plannedstructural options that we have.
Like we talked about, if youwant a bedroom with a bathroom
(11:03):
inside of it, if you want 16foot sliders, if you want 24
foot sliders, those items weset.
At contract especially becausethey have to go through
permitting.
And we don't have to wait foryou to do your design
appointment and figure out yourcustomizable stuff inside the
house.
But we do that.
So you get your floor plan, baseprice, you add your lot premium,
(11:24):
you add your structural, andthen we come up with a design
budget for you, depending onwhere we think you're going to
be.
From that number, we take 15%deposit.
And then from that number, wegive you a 6% incentive.
So in most cases it's 40, 50,$60,000.
They can use for closing costsor.
(11:45):
rate buy downs or just flexmoney off the price.
Jim (11:48):
Okay.
And do you have a verticalintegration with or preferred
lender title insurance?
Rhett (11:55):
We have service contracts with, which they can actually go
to their banks and get us betterrates or better pricing for our
customers.
And then we actually do requireyou to use them if you're going
to take advantage of ourincentive.
Jim (12:10):
Okay.
When we look at Crosswind inWest Bay, it has actually gotten
pretty big in the area.
What kind of environmentalconsiderations were taken into
account as we go through theplanning and construction phase?
Anything specific that was setout for Crosswind?
Rhett (12:27):
When you're sitting on your lot or you're looking out
your back window, there's a lotof greenery, a lot of
conservation.
We kept a lot of the look of theland, per se.
And it's more like communityroads through that.
Jim (12:41):
Yeah.
As opposed to some of thedevelopments that come in clear
everything and you're like, Oh,the trees will look great in 25
years.
Rhett (12:47):
I think that's also a big part of.
Us not having the 2000 homeslaid out perfectly is right.
You want to, as we build, keepthat aesthetic.
So it's easier to do, or if yourun into something where you
have to change something,
Jim (13:03):
Any restrictions or guidelines homeowners should be
aware of?
Any kind of pet policy or rentalrestrictions within the
community?
Rhett (13:10):
HOA docs very similar to pretty much every community six,
seven month rentals.
We don't do any short term.
So that kind of protects ourhomeowners.
Pet restrictions are no morethan four very typical things.
There's nothing outlandish whenyou look in those docs that
would really have you avoidpurchasing a home in here,
(13:32):
unless you're someone thatdoesn't like an HOA, which we
get that too,
Jim (13:38):
How has the real estate market in this area impacted the
sales and pricing of thedevelopment?
Rhett (13:44):
We haven't seen much of hit on pricing.
there's some inventory homes andones that you'd like to get off
the books.
So we had extra incentive forthings like that.
But we really try to hold ourprice point for the value for
our buyers and for ourappraisals.
So as a builder, you still wantto always keep going.
You want to always keep makingmoney.
It is a business.
Jim (14:04):
Yep.
You're passing that value on tothe people who bought it because
if it bottoms out, all of asudden their equity and value is
gone.
Rhett (14:10):
So you want to
Jim (14:11):
maintain
Rhett (14:11):
And that's the goal for us is to not hurt our homeowners
or anyone really around us.
Jim (14:17):
Can you share any success stories or testimonials from
current residents that highlighttheir experience living in
development?
Rhett (14:23):
When I started with West Bay, I opened a brand new
community down in Venice.
Jim (14:27):
Absolutely.
Rhett (14:27):
So I live in a West Bay home and that's
Jim (14:31):
pretty strong testimony right there.
Rhett (14:33):
Yeah.
And even better.
I didn't work for West Bay.
when I purchased my home Iworked for another builder, but
at the same time, I had such agreat experience with my build
and my walkthrough and myconstruction manager.
And.
I remember going through my walkand saying, man, this house is
so beautiful.
I think the construction managerput up more tape than I did
(14:57):
because I was like, dude, I lovethis house.
So much so that after I wasdone, I went to the management
team and asked if they had aposition and it took a few
months, but they got me to Comeover from a different builder.
And that's just super testimonyto the product.
Jim (15:14):
Absolutely.
Someone comes in and says, wouldyou recommend any testers go?
As a matter of fact, they can,let me show you mine.
Rhett (15:20):
Awesome.
And most actually there's a lotof our agents do live in a West
Bay for that reason.
Jim (15:28):
That's awesome to hear.
What else would you like toshare with listeners about
coming out and checking outCrosswind, looking in the area
and West Bay?
Rhett (15:37):
I think Paris is just a great spot for there's a wide
variety, whether it's West Bayor not West Bay.
Paris itself is just soexploding with new homes and
value and.
families It opportunity to beout her specifically if you
don't in the middle of hustle bsome scenery.
(15:59):
You kno to be.
The homes look gre gascommunity, which is another
tough thing.
Oh yeah.
Place in parish itself.
There's a few but it's tough.
And a lot of our northeastbuyers, I'm from the Northeast.
We like gas food, we like gasstove tops.
It's just a nicer, nicer way tocook.
I think personally, I think,anyway.
(16:20):
But yeah, I think parish itselfis just the new thing.
You're so centrally located.
Like we talked about to Sarah,so St.
Pete.
To Tampa it's very easy to getto any major hub without having
to spend that real high premium.
Now, is the pricing gettingthere?
Yeah, it's getting there.
We'd like to urge people to moveto Paris sooner than later some
(16:41):
value.
And even seeing homes by WestBay here now having a good
strong hold, we do have a higherend, higher price point product.
And as we open more communities,all we're going to do is drive
the value up of every otherproduct in the area.
Seeing that ticket item in thisarea is a huge testimony to
(17:02):
Parrish.
Jim (17:04):
Thank you for coming on and joining me today.
I appreciate you spending thattime with me today,
Rhett (17:08):
Jim, thank you so much.
Greetings all and I'd like to introduce today, Rhett
Fisher, who is joining me fromCrosswind Ranch and West Bay
Builders.
He's been in real estate forabout eight years selling new
homes.
He's been with West Bay forabout a year, coming out of New
Jersey.
Welcome.
Glad to have you here.
Rhett (00:18):
Thanks, Jim.
Glad to be here.
Jim (00:20):
Can you give me an overview of that whole development?
What's going on there?
Rhett (00:24):
Crosswind Ranch started about 2 years ago now, a little
over 2 years.
It's all developed by homes byWest Bay.
So it's all single family homes.
As you drive through thecommunity with the barrel tile
roofs and some larger homesthere's a lot of space between
homes.
We've got a lot of naturalscenery and wildlife.
(00:46):
We didn't just come in here andflatten it out and build homes.
There's a lot of goodvegetation.
Absolutely.
Jim (00:55):
I think some of that green area, when you can put the
homes, maybe in one section, itopens up.
So you have a lot of that roomto grow or, and, bike or walk or
trail or whatever it is.
That's a big deal.
I do like that a little bit ofspace in the lots.
I know, every place has its ownniche, right?
Then, if you need a smallerhome, you're getting in there.
Perfect downsize and go into it.
(01:17):
But this gives you a little bitof room, which is bucking the
trend of some of the areas thatI've seen in along that parish
quarter, we talked about thesingle family homes.
What kind of what size rangesare we talking about here?
What's the, what's the choicesfor your so really we're
anywhere
Rhett (01:32):
from 2100 square feet to we go all the way to 48 50 now
Wow, yeah, that's our 70 footlots that we just released.
Jim (01:45):
And most of these are going i'm assuming three bedroom to
start with and then going up tofive
Rhett (01:51):
three bedroom to actually all the way to seven bedrooms.
Jim (01:54):
Wow.
So tell me a little bit aboutthe difference in the homes
multi level two or three cargarage.
what are the options or choicesjust from, a basic viewpoint on
that?
Rhett (02:05):
Yeah.
So we go from our 2100 squarefoot floor plan is a two car
garage.
We'll go up to our three cargarage, one story and two story
homes.
We have two different series inhere as well.
It's called the artisan series.
You can really do a lot withdesign when you get into our
design center.
Where Homes by West Bay reallyyou can really personalize the
(02:28):
inside of your home.
You sit down with an interiordesigner for eight hours.
You do your floors, you do yourcabinets, you do your
countertops.
You can build a pool with us.
It's very customizable on theinterior of our homes.
So that's our artisan series.
When you get into our innovationseries, you can do the same.
There's not as many choices.
(02:51):
but it is still very personableinside the home and
Jim (02:54):
I spoke with somebody and they really two ways, right?
You can either personalize oryou can customize it.
I know it's short of changingthe actual floor plan.
You got a lot of customizablechoices and options you could
put together.
The other one kind of saying,Hey, that's how we save a little
bit on cost.
Here's some choices.
It's limited.
Here's what we can do.
Really being able to open it upfor both buyers and one
(03:16):
development.
And the fact that it's just WestBay in that development, a lot
of them down here have multiplebuilders in there.
And sometimes you have somestyles that go swing a little
wild.
So it's nice when you go in andyou have that cohesion, that
feeling of, community.
Rhett (03:30):
Which is a big deal as well for holding values of
homes.
The same look, same feel, samebuilder quality is really our
big deal.
We're homes by West Bay is aprivate builder that started in
Tampa in 2009 which is soundsfunny.
A builder started in 2009, butthey took that as their
opportunity, right?
(03:50):
And they've just grown fromthere.
The resilience of the company isunbelievable.
Jim (03:54):
2009 sounds like it was just the other day, but it's
really 15, almost 16 years ago.
And the different things we'vegone through between, the
housing crisis of oh, eight andthen everything we've gone
through up and through COVID.
They've weathered a lot.
So if they're still out therebuilding that great product,
that's probably a Testament towhat they've got going.
(04:15):
What are the starting prices?
What's the price points for thehomes in here?
Rhett (04:18):
So base price wise, we range anywhere from four 99,
nine 90 all the way up to eight28, nine nine.
To unravel that a little bitmore, base price does not
include a lot premium.
It doesn't include yourstructural or your design
options.
Which is nice because you canpersonalize it.
Like we said, you have a widerange of price points for the
(04:41):
same floor plan, right?
a home that starts at 617, 990.
I've had customers build thathome for 700, 000 out the door.
I've had customers build thathome for 1.
4 million out the door.
It's just, it's very personal,but even at that 700, 000 price
(05:01):
point.
The bones you have on our housewith the 12th of ceilings and
just the floor plan itself isbeautiful and it's still a
beautiful home when you get in
Jim (05:11):
Yeah.
The amazes me that you haveseven bedroom homes in there
with multi gen being a hugegrowing component of the market.
That seems like it might be alittle bit tailor fit right for
them to go in there with enoughhomes and rooms.
to handle, one or twogenerations or three.
Rhett (05:30):
And we are really seeing a good amount of that whether it
be parents in laws or whetherit's kids that haven't left,
they went through college andthey need to start somewhere.
And a lot of our floor plansactually, we say we don't move
walls and things like that, butwe have pre planned structural
options.
where you can take a home andyou can create, say you pull the
(05:53):
den together with a bedroom andyou can create a second master,
a junior suite, or, Just abedroom with its own bathroom,
full bath in it.
So that gives that opportunitywithout.
Changing the home too much.
Jim (06:05):
So they can really, what do they need for their family and
what's going to make it work?
They can look at that basicstructure and go from there.
What are the, what other costsare there?
When we look at HOA fees or CDDfees.
And what is included in thatcost?
Rhett (06:21):
So our CDD the amenities are all in our CDD costs.
Our innovation series, you're 2,800 for the year.
And then our artisan, you're 3,300 for the year.
But we do have low HOA fees.
Those are 15 a month.
Speaking of amenities, we'vejust started moving dirt on our
first amenity center in here.
We're all very excited.
(06:42):
It's going to be a huge resortstyle pool a lap pool that is
attached to the resort stylepool.
That will have a splash pad forpickleball courts.
We all know that's huge.
That was and then they'll have adog park and a playground.
Jim (06:56):
Okay.
So really you're talking 315bucks a month, a monthly total
between the two, which is notbad at all.
For access to all of that and inmaintenance, as far as the
community, no maintenance, theyresponsible for their yard.
Rhett (07:12):
You are responsible for your yard.
We provide the irrigation waterthe front sides and back of the
homes have irrigation water.
Underground irrigation pipe,then that's reclaimed.
But maintenance wise, yeah.
Landscaping is all in thehomeowner.
Most people would grab somebodyfor, 80 bucks, whatever it is.
And those guys, they get 30people in a row and they just
(07:33):
hit everyone.
Jim (07:33):
Yeah.
Rhett (07:34):
Yeah.
Jim (07:35):
And you said earlier pools are an option, so they can come
in.
Rhett (07:38):
Yeah.
so that's our artisan serieshome.
If you come in and you want toput a pool on the back of your
artisan series home, we canbuild a pool simultaneously with
your build so that when youclose, you've got a pool.
We subcontract it to CoastPools, awesome pool builder.
You sit down, you design thepool with them and they'll build
(07:59):
it along with the build.
Jim (08:01):
And they have some options so you can stylize that to match
your house.
Rhett (08:04):
They may have less options because they're doing a
higher volume.
Say if you went outside and dida pool.
after your home, but the isawesome.
You can b to go.
Jim (08:17):
Yeah.
So how big is the, crosswind asfar as actually
Rhett (08:23):
only in the first phase of seven.
So it's going to be a quitelarge community.
We control about 2000 lots.
Jim (08:32):
What's the construction timeline?
Rhett (08:35):
time is yeah.
our cycle time has reallyShortened over this past year
where we can actually build ahome about five to six months
Jim (08:47):
So what then is the projected and how many homes are
built now?
Rhett (08:52):
So right now we're out about 200 homes built.
So that's about 10 percent ofthe community.
Jim (09:00):
How is West Bay handling warranties and post sale support
for homeowners?
Rhett (09:06):
So we have a one year warranty.
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, andthen we have a 10 year
structural warranty.
Jim (09:14):
Okay.
What, tell me a little bit aboutthe area around Crosswind.
I know that is a growingcommunity up Parrish, Ellington
that whole corner.
What's going to be available foryour new home buyers?
I know when we look at theairports, we're pretty close.
You're probably 40 minutes fromSarasota and 40 minutes from
(09:35):
Tampa.
Lakewood Ranch to the south isonly 20 to 30 minutes with all
the restaurants and dining aswell as what's growing on mocks
and wallow That whole area
Rhett (09:46):
is just a boomtown right now.
So I think the beauty of reallycross branch is to not be in the
middle of all of that,
Jim (09:53):
right?
Rhett (09:53):
There's a lot of people that hate.
We want a house in the middle ofit.
There's a lot of people thatdon't, people don't wanna be
around the traffic and gettingout of their community when
school's getting out.
So I think being a little off ofthat and just about five minutes
to it is a great thing becauseyou can breathe, you can.
Get to Lake Orange through theback way through Rye Road.
You don't have to go into thetown, into 301, onto Moxon
(10:18):
Wallow and wait for that trafficgetting to 75, because it is
growing.
Let's say Moxon Wallow quarteris 26, 000 homes coming in.
This gives you a littlebreathing room, an opportunity
to be away from that.
Jim (10:30):
It's access to everything without being in it,
Rhett (10:32):
Yeah.
Jim (10:34):
What kind of incentives or special offers are you offering
currently for any potentialhomebuyers?
Rhett (10:42):
So currently what we're doing is on our to be built
homes.
We offer 6 percent of whateveryou price out the home to be at
contract, right?
So at contract, we will sit downwe'll go through the floor plan.
We'll go through the pre plannedstructural options that we have.
Like we talked about, if youwant a bedroom with a bathroom
(11:03):
inside of it, if you want 16foot sliders, if you want 24
foot sliders, those items weset.
At contract especially becausethey have to go through
permitting.
And we don't have to wait foryou to do your design
appointment and figure out yourcustomizable stuff inside the
house.
But we do that.
So you get your floor plan, baseprice, you add your lot premium,
(11:24):
you add your structural, andthen we come up with a design
budget for you, depending onwhere we think you're going to
be.
From that number, we take 15%deposit.
And then from that number, wegive you a 6% incentive.
So in most cases it's 40, 50,$60,000.
They can use for closing costsor.
(11:45):
rate buy downs or just flexmoney off the price.
Jim (11:48):
Okay.
And do you have a verticalintegration with or preferred
lender title insurance?
Rhett (11:55):
We have service contracts with, which they can actually go
to their banks and get us betterrates or better pricing for our
customers.
And then we actually do requireyou to use them if you're going
to take advantage of ourincentive.
Jim (12:10):
Okay.
When we look at Crosswind inWest Bay, it has actually gotten
pretty big in the area.
What kind of environmentalconsiderations were taken into
account as we go through theplanning and construction phase?
Anything specific that was setout for Crosswind?
Rhett (12:27):
When you're sitting on your lot or you're looking out
your back window, there's a lotof greenery, a lot of
conservation.
We kept a lot of the look of theland, per se.
And it's more like communityroads through that.
Jim (12:41):
Yeah.
As opposed to some of thedevelopments that come in clear
everything and you're like, Oh,the trees will look great in 25
years.
Rhett (12:47):
I think that's also a big part of.
Us not having the 2000 homeslaid out perfectly is right.
You want to, as we build, keepthat aesthetic.
So it's easier to do, or if yourun into something where you
have to change something,
Jim (13:03):
Any restrictions or guidelines homeowners should be
aware of?
Any kind of pet policy or rentalrestrictions within the
community?
Rhett (13:10):
HOA docs very similar to pretty much every community six,
seven month rentals.
We don't do any short term.
So that kind of protects ourhomeowners.
Pet restrictions are no morethan four very typical things.
There's nothing outlandish whenyou look in those docs that
would really have you avoidpurchasing a home in here,
(13:32):
unless you're someone thatdoesn't like an HOA, which we
get that too,
Jim (13:38):
How has the real estate market in this area impacted the
sales and pricing of thedevelopment?
Rhett (13:44):
We haven't seen much of hit on pricing.
there's some inventory homes andones that you'd like to get off
the books.
So we had extra incentive forthings like that.
But we really try to hold ourprice point for the value for
our buyers and for ourappraisals.
So as a builder, you still wantto always keep going.
You want to always keep makingmoney.
It is a business.
Jim (14:04):
Yep.
You're passing that value on tothe people who bought it because
if it bottoms out, all of asudden their equity and value is
gone.
Rhett (14:10):
So you want to
Jim (14:11):
maintain
Rhett (14:11):
And that's the goal for us is to not hurt our homeowners
or anyone really around us.
Jim (14:17):
Can you share any success stories or testimonials from
current residents that highlighttheir experience living in
development?
Rhett (14:23):
When I started with West Bay, I opened a brand new
community down in Venice.
Jim (14:27):
Absolutely.
Rhett (14:27):
So I live in a West Bay home and that's
Jim (14:31):
pretty strong testimony right there.
Rhett (14:33):
Yeah.
And even better.
I didn't work for West Bay.
when I purchased my home Iworked for another builder, but
at the same time, I had such agreat experience with my build
and my walkthrough and myconstruction manager.
And.
I remember going through my walkand saying, man, this house is
so beautiful.
I think the construction managerput up more tape than I did
(14:57):
because I was like, dude, I lovethis house.
So much so that after I wasdone, I went to the management
team and asked if they had aposition and it took a few
months, but they got me to Comeover from a different builder.
And that's just super testimonyto the product.
Jim (15:14):
Absolutely.
Someone comes in and says, wouldyou recommend any testers go?
As a matter of fact, they can,let me show you mine.
Rhett (15:20):
Awesome.
And most actually there's a lotof our agents do live in a West
Bay for that reason.
Jim (15:28):
That's awesome to hear.
What else would you like toshare with listeners about
coming out and checking outCrosswind, looking in the area
and West Bay?
Rhett (15:37):
I think Paris is just a great spot for there's a wide
variety, whether it's West Bayor not West Bay.
Paris itself is just soexploding with new homes and
value and.
families It opportunity to beout her specifically if you
don't in the middle of hustle bsome scenery.
(15:59):
You kno to be.
The homes look gre gascommunity, which is another
tough thing.
Oh yeah.
Place in parish itself.
There's a few but it's tough.
And a lot of our northeastbuyers, I'm from the Northeast.
We like gas food, we like gasstove tops.
It's just a nicer, nicer way tocook.
I think personally, I think,anyway.
(16:20):
But yeah, I think parish itselfis just the new thing.
You're so centrally located.
Like we talked about to Sarah,so St.
Pete.
To Tampa it's very easy to getto any major hub without having
to spend that real high premium.
Now, is the pricing gettingthere?
Yeah, it's getting there.
We'd like to urge people to moveto Paris sooner than later some
(16:41):
value.
And even seeing homes by WestBay here now having a good
strong hold, we do have a higherend, higher price point product.
And as we open more communities,all we're going to do is drive
the value up of every otherproduct in the area.
Seeing that ticket item in thisarea is a huge testimony to
(17:02):
Parrish.
Jim (17:04):
Thank you for coming on and joining me today.
I appreciate you spending thattime with me today,
Rhett (17:08):
Jim, thank you so much.
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