good places to live

Want to know what LEXington buyers are doing??

by John Rice

The real estate scene in Lexington sure is changing.  Guess it always has, but this years it seems to be doing it quicker.

What’s hot and what’s not has been pretty static around here for a long time.  Other than Kenwick getting trendy and all the flopped new downtown condo projects, this town has always been about the middle of the road, safe and predictable neighborhoods in decent school districts.  People who wanted older houses wanted in 40502 or the older neighborhoods on the south end of town that were inside New Circle.  People who wanted newer homes looked around Man O War.  There was always plenty of new construction going on all over town.

Now it seems that new construction has slowed down.  You’d think since we are running out of room inside of Fayette County, that new construction would be on fire right now.  Especially after all the slow years of the bad market.  It did bounce back strong in 2013, but has slowed since.  All the national news I read about it indicates the same is happening everywhere.

I am seeing more and more people wanting older houses.  They are rejecting the cookie cutter neighborhoods.  Many are considering neighborhoods on the north end of town.

All this is pretty interesting to me, both professionally and personally.  I have to keep up with it so I can give my clients the good advice they deserve.  I also like to think about why we are seeing this shift?

I think a lot of this has to do with shows like Property Brothers and sites like Houzz.com.  People want a house with character more than ever now.  After several years of a bad economy, people now feel safe to renovate their houses.   I think people are spending more time at home due to being so connected online.  It only makes sense that people want to create their own oasis to be in while they spend all their time connecting with the world through their phones.

I once had an out of town client tell me that the Lexington market is very broad but not deep.  We tend to have the same 10 floor plans build by the same builder throughout all of Lexington.  It is almost like 3 easy step:  1)  Pick your floor plan.  2)  Pick which part of town you want to be in.  3)  Pick if you want that house to have been build in the 90s or 2000s.   I had another client from New York tell me he wanted a contemporary or modern house.  He didn’t get one because we have so few.  People today are just not excited about living in a modern day Levittown.  (Google that if you don’t know what I mean.)

Lexington doesn’t have the sprawl like a real city does.  We keep adding people but we don’t expand the geographic boundaries of the town.  That means more density, which means more traffic.  People are wanting more than ever to be closer to amenities they frequently use.  That is one reason the older neighborhoods are doing so well right now.

As prices have returned to 2005 levels but wages have not, you don’t get as much for your money.  That is why we are seeing some people look on the north end of town.  You get more for your money there.  This is especially true for many first time buyers.  An older house on the north end of town is a real bargain today.   Also, the north end of Lexington is a great spot for younger buyers who want to be close to all the new spots along North Limestone.

Well, I’m over 600 words now.  I could go on and on.  Bottom line is that buyer tastes are shifting in this town and it is kind of exciting to me.

The LEXpert tours Timber Creek

by John Rice

It was a beautiful day yesterday.  Had to put the top down and talk about one of my favorite neighborhoods in all of Lexington in the $120-160k range……Timber Creek.

If you want to be near Hamburg in this price range, your choices are pretty much the neighborhoods off of Liberty Road or Timber Creek.  I’ve always recommended Timber Creek.  It just has a lot of things going for it.  It’s got a park close by, a walking trail, banks, restaurants, gas stations, a veterinarian and other businesses, it is just across Man O War from Hamburg, and it is in an area with much higher priced houses.

I tend to think of Timber Creek as two neighborhoods really.  The earlier section has bigger lots.  It feels a lot like Eastwood, which is another neighborhood I like.  The newer section has smaller lots and more of a Masterson Station vibe.  My favorite section is the older one just because it has more space, but the location is so good that I can recommend both.

Here is a video I did of the park that is within walking distance from Timber Creek:

Guess these 2 neighborhoods that are so much alike?

by John Rice

This neighborhood use to be on the edge of Lexington.  It was a rural setting with high end houses on acre lots.  There is a section of land that later became available.  Those houses are still on larger than normal lots, but less than an acre.  It is close to upscale dining and shopping.  It has other equally desirable neighborhoods around it.  When you are in this neighborhood, you still can feel a little bit of how it use to be in the country.

Know what two neighborhoods I am talking about?  I bet some long term Lexingtonians who know 40502 will say Lakewood.  Everybody else may think Greenbrier.  Both are right.

Back in the 50s when Lakewood was being developed, it was on the edge of town.  There were no curbs on the streets.  The lots were big.  It was a rural setting.  Things like New Circle Road and The Lansdowne Shoppes did not exist.  There was no Alumni Drive.  Just a country road called Mount Tabor.  It eventually became surrounded by other nice neighborhoods.  Then in the mid 80s to mid 90s various bits of a large chunk of land became available and were developed.

In the 70s and 80s, Greenbrier was in the country too.  There was no Man O War nor Hamburg.  You took Winchester Road or Bryant Road to get there.  Greenbrier is now surrounded on 3 sides by neighborhoods like Walnut Grove Estates, Bryant Oak Place, Ashford Oaks and The Reserve at Greenbrier (which has absolutely nothing to do with Greenbrier….guess you can’t trademark neighborhood names?)

Greenbrier is in for some changing.  It has already begun.  It really isn’t a rural neighborhood any more.  It is turning into the classic upscale 40509 neighborhood much like Lakewood, or Ashland Park are to 40502.  What makes both unique are not only the larger lots, but the feel of the neighborhood that just can’t be matched elsewhere.  Those newer streets in Lakewood were full of much nicer houses than the others when they were new.  Right now, the Jimmy Nash houses are much nicer than anything in Greenbrier proper.  But what can’t be duplicated is the mature landscaping and the peaceful easy feeling you get in the older parts of Lakewood and Greenbrier……those features were part of developing the neighborhood.  Developers just don’t do that any more.

So, I think we will see more buyers viewing Greenbrier as a unique neighborhood surrounded by other upscale neighborhoods in a convenient location.  When I moved here in 1985, Greenbrier was way out of town.  It is hard to believe there is a Costco less than 5 minutes away now.  Lakewood 2.0, here we come!

What happens when Lexington runs out of space?

by John Rice

Want to know what I am thinking about?  Land.  That’s right, how much of it we have left in Fayette County and what it means when we run out.

Lexington has an Urban Service area, which is the land available for development…..it’s like our version of what other towns call their “City Limits.”

Short of expanding it, we will run out soon.  Now, I am sure the city will reluctantly expand it a little, but we don’t really have much space left.  Period.  We are already to Jessamine County on the south.  We have giant horse farms to the east and west.  These are farms owned by people who don’t need money.  Even if they decided to sell, it just would not be profitable to develop.  Plus, many farms sold off their property development rights, aka PDR, to the city.  That means they will always be farms.  Anything outside the urban service area cannot be subdivided into anything less than 40 acres.

About all we have left is out towards Georgetown and Winchester Road.  After that it is infill.  After than we will probably see more construction in adjoining towns, giving Lexington “Real” suburbs.

So what will happen at that point?  Prices in Lexington will go up.  Neighborhoods/locations that have been less than desirable will become more desirable.  We’ll see many older neighborhoods renewed since people will be happy to live somewhere in Fayette County.  We’ll see more additions and remodeling too.

Lexington will continue to grow, like it or not.  It is just too pretty of a town to not.  It has enough large employers that it will always be the commercial center of this half of the state.  Many people go to college here and never leave.  Truth.

Think of it in these terms…..the 40502 zip code has always been the most desirable part of Lexington.  There really are no bad areas of 40502.  Kenwick was the armpit of 40502 until about the mid 90’s.  That neighborhood still has a long way to go in the very back, but it is getting there quickly.   People want to live there for its location.  Same thing will happen all over Lexington eventually.  Many neighborhoods that people are not interested in today will go up a notch or two in desirability as living anywhere in Lexington becomes more desirable than commuting from a surrounding town.  As prices in 1st choice neighborhoods go up due to demand, that will push buyers to their 2nd choice neighborhoods.  Rinse.  Wash.  Repeat.  The values of the 2nd choice neighborhoods will go up, pushing buyers down another ring.  At that point many will have to pick between living in Lexington or being in Nicholasville, Winchester or Georgetown.  Those are the surrounding towns that I think will grow the most as we run out of space.

NOW is the time to get into Lansdowne Merrick

by John Rice

Pepperhill

Lansdowne-Merrick.  Kind of reminds me of Kenwick in a way.  I mean, here are two neighborhoods that have an awesome location and have been the bargain of the 40502 zip code.  Kenwick was underpriced all the way up until the late 90’s.  It has arrived.  Lansdowne-Merrick on the other hand, is about to arrive.

What makes this neighborhood so right?  The location.  Just like Kenwick, it is surrounded by super desirable neighborhoods costing much more.  Check out a map and you’ll see what I am talking about.  You’ve got Lansdowne Estates and the Glendover area just across Tates Creek Road.  Across Alumni Drive is Turkey Foot and Lakewood.  Warrenton Woods is right beside you.  Castlegate is across Chinoe Road.  Oh, and you have a large park and elementary school in the neighborhood too.  Throw in being 5 minutes to The Lansdowne Shoppes, Chinoe Shopping Center and the Romany Road area, and you can see how you are getting the 40502 lifestyle everybody wants for half price.  I’ve always considered this neighborhood to be the “Lite” version of Turkey Foot.

This is a 70’s neighborhood.  You get some ranches, 2 story houses, a few split foyers.  You will see some wood sided contemporary homes too.  Most range from 1800 square feet to 2500 square feet.  Some have basements.  Some have finished basements that would add to that square footage.

The value range is mostly $200-300k.  Towards the lower end, you’ll get a solid house that may need some updating.  On the higher end, you should expect either a nicely updated house or a larger one with a basement.

I have been saying for a long time that this place will pop like Kenwick did.  I’ve noticed a few super updated houses on the market lately.  Today, I saw this house that is undergoing an extensive renovation.  They are blowing out the back of the roof to add more space.  When you start seeing this, you know it is a good time to get in the neighborhood.  You just cannot beat this location.  As prices in surrounding neighborhoods have gone up, this is the last undervalued spot to be in 40502.

Other neighborhoods on my watch list:  Meadowthorpe, Idle Hour and the front part of Gaineway.