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Broken Promises Plague Suburban Development
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Published: March 8, 2008
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WESLEY CHAPEL - Mark Spector liked the Bridgewater community off Curley Road so much he convinced his in-laws to buy a house down the street.
That was in 2004 when Lennar Corp. was in the early stages of developing the 760-home community just east of the Wesley Chapel school complex.
"We were expecting a real nice, clean community," Spector said. "We'd moved from California, and we were expecting the planned communities to be similar to the planned communities we'd lived in in California."
Spector says what he got instead was a community dominated by renters and out-of-town investors. Residents say the community is plagued by drug dealing, gang graffiti and poorly maintained properties.
"It makes it really difficult for a community to really be a community," Spector said. "It looks very much like an apartment complex on the weekend where you see a lot of rental trucks moving in and out."
The implosion of Florida's overheated housing market has left thousands of homeowners living in situations similar to Spector's and his neighbors' in Bridgewater.
Binge-buying investors, many of them now stuck with homes they can't flip and can't afford, are either filling those houses with short-term tenants or simply abandoning them. For Bridgewater residents forced to live amid the housing market's ruins, the promise of suburban peace and quiet has been replaced with concerns about crime and falling property values. Foreclosures are climbing and the community is littered with empty homes.
"My wife and I would love to move," said Jim Martin, Spector's father-in-law. "We can't sell our house. I don't know if we could give it away."
It wasn't supposed to be this way.
Lennar sold Bridgewater as a great place to raise a family. The homes - many of them the same models it had sold in other Pasco communities - came with everything from appliances to ceiling fans. They sold quickly, even as prices passed $300,000.
Spector and his family were drawn by the enormous lakes at the heart of Bridgewater - the legacy of an earlier mining operation on the site.
Bridgewater wasn't Spector's first choice. He and his family settled into Bridgewater after losing housing lotteries by M/I Homes and KB Homes.
At the time, Spector said, Lennar's sales staff promised no more than 30 percent of the homes would go to investors. The sales contract required buyers to promise they would live in their house for at least a year before selling.
"The reality, though, is that Lennar sold to a lot of investors," Spector said.
Lennar officials declined repeated requests to discuss Bridgewater.
Not What Was Promised
County property records shows that nearly two-thirds of Bridgewater's 760 homes lack homestead exemptions - a key sign they're owned by non-residents.
On streets such as Glendalough Way and Humbert Circle, all but a few homes are owned by non-residents. Californians, New Yorkers and other Floridians did most of the investment buying, property records show.
In a few cases, Lennar sold as many as five homes to a single investor - Ramjeet Mankichand of Jamaica, N.Y. Mankichand sold all his Bridgewater homes within months of buying them, raking in large profits each time.
Other investors weren't so lucky.
Cory Jarriel was one.
Jarriel, a Hillsborough County firefighter, bought his house in 2005 with plans to live in it for a year then sell it. The deterioration of the neighborhood and the housing market has foiled those plans.
Now Jarriel lives next to one of Bridgewater's empty houses.
"It's never been lived in as long as I've been here," Jarriel said while rebuilding the brakes on his Jeep in the driveway of his house.
He's weighing his options.
"I have perfect credit," Jarriel said. "I thought about letting the house go back [to the bank]. It wasn't worth letting my credit go to hell."
On Tagus Loop, at the southern edge of Bridgewater, about 60 percent of the houses are owned by non-residents. At least a half-dozen are either bank-owned or are in the early stages of foreclosure.
Bobby Martin and his wife, Cheryl, were first-time buyers when they closed on their one-story home on Tagus Loop in 2004.
Standing in his driveway on a bright afternoon, Bobby Martin, 29-year-old financial planner, says half-jokingly that he enjoys the quiet provided by the empty investment properties on either side of him.
But more seriously, he notes: "The only thing you worry about is the fact that they're basically abandoned."
Fighting For Community
Last fall, Spector was elected president of Bridgewater's homeowners association. Since, he has been fighting to keep his community from falling into disrepair.
The HOA took down basketball hoops at the community park on Wells Road after the park became a site of drug dealing and alleged gang activity. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said Bridgewater has more criminal activity than most communities its size, including a large number of burglaries and thefts.
"We're trying to be diligent on the other violations that are apparent," Spector said.
"There are a number of mailboxes throughout the community that have been vandalized. We try to get the owners to repair the vandalized mailbox as soon as possible. We try and keep the trash picked up."
But with so many empty homes and out-of-town owners, it can be hard to get problems fixed promptly, if at all, he said.
The HOA now uses a "forced mow" regime to keep up the yards and landscaping of untended homes.
The group raised its fees to pay for the mowing program. Property owners get billed for the service, but few pay. Spector has begun filing liens in hopes of recouping those costs eventually.
Delinquent property owners owe the HOA $70,000 in unpaid dues, Spector said.
"Roughly 130 homes in a community of 763 homes have never paid a single penny towards our dues," Spector said. "It's been difficult to maintain solvency because of that."
Despite his community's troubles, Spector tries to be upbeat. He hopes the collapsing housing market will drive out investors in favor of more owner-occupants.
"These are the people who are going to move in and actually live in the community," Spector said.
"These are the people who are going to take care of the community. It doesn't matter if they had a $200,000 discount from what I paid."
Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or 8kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( angrytaxpayer ) on March 9, 2008 at 6:36 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sounds like Pasco county's version of Sterling Hills
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Posted by ( RRR ) on March 9, 2008 at 6:43 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Ah yes the greedy investors who tried to make a quick buck. And don't forget the greedy builders who only want to make a buck. And they worry about their credit? And they really don't live there so they do not care what the neighborhood looks like. Please continue to smile with all the experience you are getting and DO NOT ASK THE TAXPAYERS TO BAIL YOU OUT !!!
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Posted by ( erj3 ) on March 9, 2008 at 7:46 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
GREED, HAHA... These people got exactly what they deserved. Most were planning on selling in a year. HAHA RealEstate Investors are the REAL Scum here...
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Posted by ( Been_There_Done_That ) on March 9, 2008 at 8:24 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Welcome to Florida!!!! Anyone here in the 1980s knows that these housing cycles occur every 25 - 30 years. Promises are about as good as the handshake from fleeting developers.
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Posted by ( Irish ) on March 9, 2008 at 8:54 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Post sign at the Florida-Georgia border:
New residents beware: Florida is poorly governed, highly taxed, disregards educational needs, and overall costs of living will far exceed your worse nightmare.
Its J.E.B. Bush's and the greedy Republicans fault, shame and legacy.
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Posted by ( skiinskiout ) on March 9, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
We are in a similar situation at Grand Hampton in Hillsborough County. When I bought my Mercedes Homes house in 2005, Mercedes Homes had us sign an agreement that we would not resell right away, but other homes on our block were for sale right after construction. Today, I would estimate that over half the homes on our block are either rented or more commonly, have never been occupied. Melrose Management, which governs the HOA, has very weak policies and does little to enforce deed violations. And the developer, Landmar, has yet to complete parks that were promised and a second entrance off County Line Road into the 1100 home site community.
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Posted by ( Pasco ) on March 9, 2008 at 9:48 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I'm tired of reading about Bridgewater. I'm shocked this is their president and he is constantly crying like this! Stop whining and focus on your community!! Ok, so you way over paid for your home.. deal with it. Stop trying to blame everyone else.
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Posted by ( Desmo ) on March 9, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Skiinskiout, I have the same problem in my neighborhood. Lame HOA, renters ruling the neighborhood, foreclosures. Our HOA is a joke and refuses to do anything. So much for wanting to live in a nice, gated community, huh? I feel your pain. Scary thing is, we almost tried to sell and move to Grand Hampton because we thought it would be an improvement. Thanks for the tip.
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Posted by ( Lola12 ) on March 9, 2008 at 10:27 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The same thing is happening to Forest Hills by the Prado and Sierra builders.
They are ruining our community and burglaries and gangs have increased. They bulldoze a home, then build 3 or 4 or 5 in its place. If they sell the new owners are already hated by what the old residents have had to put up with and they now cannot sell their over priced homes in what used to be a charming community. I see they are now starting the same thing in 'old' carrollwood. Something really should be done to protect people from these investors who seem to be able to get permits without any regard to what is good for a neighborhood! I think the ones who issue permits should be looked at and maybe we will see who is actually winning in these situations.
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Posted by ( exiledknight ) on March 9, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Would the last person crossing the Florida-Georgia border heading north please turn off the lights and please don't let the door hit you in the behind!
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Posted by ( RCB2008 ) on March 9, 2008 at 11:10 a.m.
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Posted by ( roadrocket1 ) on March 9, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
As a native of the tampa area for 62 yrs I have seen many changes.
I have seen buildings like the W tampa Boy's Club torn down, part of my childhood. Other places have been demolished to make way for yet another suburb or apartment building.
My favorite barren streches of beach with Highrise buildings with private signs. The traffic so bad it takes an hour to 10 mi.
It's not the place I grew up in anymore.
The past trend of build, Build, Build has caught up with the times.
I really think the time has come to STOP issuing any new permits until we deal with what we have, other than Schools, Hospitals, ect. Those we will always need.
And Quit building on our wetlands. You may not like what happens.
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Posted by ( McX ) on March 9, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Roadrocket1, I couldn't agree more! I'm a Pinelas native, lived in a littel farming area called Lealman; watched it destroyed. There is NO standing area for me to show my children, grandchildern where I played or hunted, fished or grew up. "It was paved over, put up a parking lot"! However it hsn't stoped, soon Pinellas will be sold by the square foot, strip malls, storage places, condo's, golf courses, most of them vacant. It's sad; hopefuly and regretfuly one day I'll pack up and move and let the carpetbaggers keep "their paradise", find a littel piece of woods in the panhandel just big enough to hunt on.
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Posted by ( markspector ) on March 9, 2008 at 12:05 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Kevin,
Thanks for the accurate and fair story on Bridgewater and the current state of the housing market.
Readers,
There have been numerous stories on Bridgewater and our challenges. From the reader’s comments, we are not alone. I had actually considered moving into Grand Hampton and I’m surprised to hear they have similar challenges.
I believe our communities need to band together to take charge of the situation.
By allowing developers to have countless building permits without any oversight has created the current situation we are all experiencing.
By allowing developers to build out their communities and reap profits prior to building road ways and other infrastructure they’ve committed to and then backing out of their commitments to leave residents with the mess is inexcusable.
Concurrency, the term used to describe the requirement of the developer to have infrastructure in place as the communities are built out has all been forgotten in the boom. The best example is SR 54.
I believe we shouldn’t allow a single new home to be built in Pasco County until a significant number of the existing homes on the market have been sold. Alternative sources of revenue would have to be considered in order to offset the loss of the Impact Fees levied on builders.
While depressing, I’m glad to see we are not alone.
Our HOA has taken many steps to improve our situation.
On the appearance, we’ve been very active in enforcing lawn maintenance and other covenants. We are in the early stages of organizing a Community Pride Committee, which will “help” those who are not maintaining their yards, we will be picking up all the newspapers piled up in the driveways and other garbage throughout the community.
On crime, we’ve been working with Pasco County Sherriff to begin our Community Watch program and we are installing lights in our community park to minimize some of the undesirable activities that take place under the cover of darkness. We’ve also been very strict on towing cars which do not belong in our neighborhood. Our community web site and email bulletin has also been used to notify residents of concerns.
On delinquencies, we’ve been very active in placing liens on homes and forcing foreclosure in order to drive up owner occupied rates. We are beginning to see results. Many of the homes that are for sale in our community are Short-Sales. We are seeing Owner Occupied buyers of these highly discounted homes. I believe we are ahead of the curve and when the market turns around, we will be in a very good place for seeing a strong home value recovery.
Good luck to all who are in a similar situation.
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Posted by ( Desmo ) on March 9, 2008 at 1:18 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Mark, I applaud you for your efforts, I wish you only the best. I only wish our neighborhood HOA would see the damage they are doing by doing nothing. A few of us tried to band together and straighten it out only to be bullied by a select few who do not want the HOA or to abide by the deed restrictions. It was a losing fight, sadly. I am sorry I moved into what I thought would be a neighborhood of executive homes with rules. It has turned into a neighborhood of executive homes ruled by a few with the "live and let live" attitude meanwhile the neighborhood is degrading. Never again will I buy in another deed restricted neighborhood. My next move will be into a town where I can purchase some land to surround me. Again, best of luck to you and your neighbors in your fight.
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Posted by ( DrMelPractice ) on March 9, 2008 at 1:25 p.m.
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Posted by ( lisay25 ) on March 9, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
How can you compare this run down community with Grand Hampton? Grand Hampton is gorgeous. Mercedes Homes did not allow people to sell their homes after they purchased them...people LIED to Mercedes...just like the lied to Lennar, KB, Centex, and all of the other builders. Furthermore, it would be against fair housing for any builder to PREVENT someone from buying a home. The clauses were meant to prevent the investors, but they couldn't be enforced because those investors LIED! I'm sorry for the people of Bridgewater...and Live Oak for that matter...another disaster of a community...but Grand Hampton...give me a break!
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Posted by ( OriginalJud ) on March 9, 2008 at 1:58 p.m.
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Posted by ( WyoDutch ) on March 9, 2008 at 2:32 p.m.
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Posted by ( unlokit ) on March 9, 2008 at 4:26 p.m.
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Posted by ( barney ) on March 9, 2008 at 4:27 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
WyoDutch - It must be REALLLLLLY boring up there in jackrabbit land for you to want to stick your nose in our business way down here in sunny Florida!
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Posted by ( Irish ) on March 9, 2008 at 4:49 p.m.
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Posted by ( Mia ) on March 9, 2008 at 4:56 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Mark, thank you for your efforts. It's not easy to do what you and your group are trying to do. It's true - all renters are not bad. Absent landlords are more of a problem. When you think about it, most problems in society are due to greed. That explains the insurance problem, the housing problem, etc., etc. There are still a few people out there that do something for society because it's the right thing to do, not because they are going to make a profit. And for me, I will not buy another home in a planned development for a variety of reasons. I wish you and your group the best of luck. The time to fix these problems is now!
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Posted by ( cadillacman ) on March 9, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
the same thing happened in 1973 1984 1995 .......
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Posted by ( barney ) on March 9, 2008 at 6:03 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Irish:
According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Vituperation = Sustained and bitter railing and condemnation.
At Dictionary.com Vituperation = Verbal abuse or castigation; violent denunciation or condemnation.
Which dictionary are you using?
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Posted by ( chjh ) on March 9, 2008 at 6:17 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Planned Communities have become a bit of an oxymoron. Last fall we looked around in Sterling Hills and some nearby new developments. I was very put off by the number of vacant houses. I also noticed that the houses were so close together. We chose an established neighborhood with homes of varying age. It isn't deed restricted, but the homes are very nice. The lots are large, and the houses don't all look the same. We are so happy with our choice. I'm a lifelong FL resident and this isn't the first real estate "crash" our state has seen. But take heart. If you can hang in there, it will turn around. It always does.
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Posted by ( WyoDutch ) on March 9, 2008 at 6:31 p.m.
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Posted by ( kaleyj1 ) on March 9, 2008 at 8:32 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I agree what is happening in Bridgewater is now starting to happen in Concord Station....
No, not all renters are bad. However, when you start allowing the crud from the Section 8 who are actually allotted up to $2000.00 a month and that is my tax paying money paying their rent in MY neighborhood, this is where I have a problem. Most of these people are just scum.
Here we live in a brand new Lennar Community and we had these Scum renters who 2 people got into their cars, rammed each other and were shooting at each other with guns at 7:00 on a July evening when kids were out. This is what we refer to the scum renters....
No, not every renter is bad. I have some great ones on both sides of me and to the front.
But, most of the owners do not live in this state. They are out of town investors and Lennar told us also, that only 30% of the neighborhood would be sold to investors...Their sales force lied and did whatever was necessary to sell the home. They didn't care who to.
Now, my husband and I who bought 2 years ago and now have a great job offer in NC, can't move because we can't sell our home. Because Lennar is still building crud homes. These houses are put together badly and we paid an arm and leg for them. Now, we can't get rid of them when we need to sell. People who were not investors. People who put every cent they had into their first real home.....
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Posted by ( barney ) on March 9, 2008 at 9:08 p.m.
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Posted by ( markspector ) on March 9, 2008 at 9:10 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I just wanted everyone to know that some of the best Owner Occupied home owners were previous renters in our community.
Not all renters are bad. Not all Section 8 renters are bad. In fact there are many very nice renters who take very good care of their property. In some cases, they even make improvements to the property.
The renters I take issue with are the renters bringing the crime and vandalism into the community, as well as those that disregard our community covenants.
As for commercial vehicles, they are allowed in the community property if the logos are covered up by either blank magnetic signs or by placing a cover over the vehicle. An additional option is to park them in the garage so they are not in plain view from the street. We have numerous people throughout the community that abide by this covenant on a daily basis.
Our covenants were a standard template used by many communities. The degree of enforcement is the primary difference. Obviously, deed restricted communities are not for everyone. I encourage everyone to read the documents they are signing when they close on their homes. The covenants are spelled out and the expectations are clearly set. If a prospective home owner disagrees with covenant enforcement, they should consider not moving into a deed restricted community.
I moved into this community in hopes that the covenants would be enforced without exception. It's been proven time and time again that by enforcing covenants, property values are either maintained or increase due to the desirable appearance of the community.
Thanks for the supportive comments.
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Posted by ( tampares ) on March 9, 2008 at 9:20 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Boohoo to all of you who bought homes that are built on wetlands pillaged by unethical builders.
Keep crying... maybe your tears will restore some of the wilderness that your homes helped destroy.
Next time, check the existing home market before paying top dollar on shoddy construction. Homes built in the 70's will be here long after homes built this decade fall over.
Enjoy the commute.
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Posted by ( barney ) on March 9, 2008 at 9:33 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
WyoDutch says, "We don't have any of the excitement that you do down there"
Here's a stat for you:
Florida Firearms Death Rate per 100,000 11.1 [24th of 51]
Wyoming Firearms Death Rate per 100,000 18.8 [4th of 51]
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Posted by ( Salt ) on March 9, 2008 at 10:07 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
quit crying no one forced any one to move here and I75 is not blocked north bound!!!
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Posted by ( barney ) on March 9, 2008 at 10:33 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
What happened to WyoDutch? Did your power go out again? Or did your keyboard freeze? I just have one question for you and then I'll leave you alone... If it is so wonderful in Wyoming, why is it the LEAST populace state in the US? People actually WANT to live here. I mean, seriously Dutch, there are nearly as many people in the CITY of Tampa as there are in the STATE of Wyoming! And, there are 4 million of us in the Tampa Bay Area alone. 4 million people can't be wrong, can they Dutch? The crime here represents a very small percentage of the GOOD people here. A smaller percentage even than where you live. Plus, we have the Bucs! Maybe if you folks ever get a football team you can call 'em the Wyoming Jackrabbits. Hope you have a nice day WyoDutch... because we sure will!
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Posted by ( unlokit ) on March 9, 2008 at 11:55 p.m.
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Posted by ( unlokit ) on March 9, 2008 at 11:58 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sorry, Bridgewater, not Bridgeport.
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Posted by ( jay ) on March 10, 2008 at 12:05 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
....
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Posted by ( aneye4beauty ) on March 10, 2008 at 8:50 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
my oh my, i left my children and grand children down there in all that mess and just read about it from my secluded 20 acres in north Florida....squirrels replace sirens.....ahhhhh.....my oh my, what a bad parent i am
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Posted by ( dennisjb ) on March 10, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
ya gotta laugh...I live in a community of mostly manufactured homes (nicely put).Acouple of yrs ago they started building these nice block homes right in between these "manufactured" homes had them on the market at 195-200k.Some have been lived in twice....some are still empty....the ones that are lived in are because the people who are there can't afford to get out of them....
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Posted by ( DonnaStillwell ) on March 10, 2008 at 10:23 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
When it's a choice between feeding your family, paying bills, putting gas in the car OR paying HOA dues-the choice is obvious. How do you collect those fees when homes go into foreclosure? It's a no win situation on both sides.
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Posted by ( aneye4beauty ) on March 10, 2008 at 11:39 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
WyoDutch
Disney Land last I heard was in California.....but then we who live in the "quiet still" of rural living can easily lose touch with such trivia can't we?
i am shaking my head....who would want someone to ditate what kind of vehicle they can drive and live in their home? different strokes for different folks applies here
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Posted by ( RCB2008 ) on March 10, 2008 at 12:47 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Plain and simple... these are legalized kickbacks between the developers & cable companies. The argument that a cable company needs to recover infrastructure costs with a 10 year or more contractual obligation is a farce. The Developer gets paid by binding homeowners through the HOA fee system eventhough they only control the community in the early few years.
Communities with this scheme will suffer in the long run as this article shows.
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Posted by ( mountaingirl ) on March 10, 2008 at 1 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I was not happy to read about the subdivision I live in on such negative terms. You make it sound like we live in the projects, slums or ghetto. You've painted a gloomy picture of the place I am proud to call home. I haven't seen the issues that you have described with regard to crime and graffiti. You need to be more concerned with the people who speed down the streets especially when little children are playing outside. I have been renting my house in Bridgewater for over 2 years now and I have a better yard (that I maintain by myself) than my neighbor who is a homeowner. By you bashing our community instead of being proactive you have made other people think that we live in ruins.
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Posted by ( joeyg ) on March 10, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
How RIDICULOUS some of you are blaming real estate investors, and Jeb Bush. Jeb has NOTHING to do with squat, and the investors were just trying to make money in real estate. THere is NOTHING wrong with that. They are the ones that are victims here, and rightfully so. Sometimes you make money, sometimes you don't. It's investors that drove the market price up and allowed hundreds of thousands of Floridians to make a ton of money on their real estate. The ones complaining now are the ones that didn't. Blaming everyone but yourselves.
Now, the developers certainly should bear the blame if they didn't fulfull their obligations, but not Bush and investors.
Some of you sound so childish.
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Posted by ( Go ) on March 11, 2008 at 8:40 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
As a homeowner in Bridgewater I have seen the neighborhood plummet over the past 2.5 years. I have had numerous encounters with the “young adults” of the community which almost turned into physical confrontations because of the lack of respect for the homeowners; my guess is this would be the same group who spry paint the sidewalks and entrance pillars.
I also had the pleasure of being one of the few who got to live next to the local “frat house” which would block the street so you could not drive up or down and used MY driveway to pick up and drop off patrons. I counter 115 people leaving the house after the Sheriffs office would do nothing after being called out twice and the neighbors finally had to break up the party (which didn’t start till 10pm). After it was broken up 14 vehicles still blocked the street and within an hour more people began to show up.
I agree not all renters are the problem (current renters on the corner are fantastic) but the situations I mentioned dealt with FORMER renters (our corners current problem is section 8), I applaud Mark in his efforts but there is just not enough community involvement from those who want to make a difference. Bridgewater residents need to stop complaining and start acting, join the community watch, go to the homeowner meetings and meet your fellow residents and do something about it. Don’t just send off an email to the community web site or Mark, take action yourself. See you all tomorrow night at the community meeting (I hope).
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Posted by ( cfairy ) on March 11, 2008 at 9:18 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
i appreciate your comments, Go, as a homeowner in bridgewater we have had our share of renters who disrupt the peace and trash the homes they are renting. when we need to call the sherrif for various reasons it takes them far too long to come out and then they don't do anything but drive by! i'm sorry, but don't we pay their salaries to protect and serve us? i am not about to confront people i don't know or trust, esp. with two small children in the house. i must say, though, that for the most part we have enjoyed this community for the past 2 years and are sorry to read such a negative article. we have seen grafitti at the playground and have had mail stolen, but have not experienced any of the 'rampant' crime that is being talked about. we feel safe here and take pride in the way our community looks - we are proud of mark and what he is doing to improve things. i don't know who is really to blame for any these issues - whether renters, investors or buliders - but i definitley think that the residents of any neighborhood are responsible for paying their dues and doing their part to make improvements. so, in my opinion, i'm glad to be living in bridgewater!
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Posted by ( mouzer ) on March 14, 2008 at 3:57 p.m.
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Posted by ( pdlaw2000 ) on March 16, 2008 at 1:41 a.m.
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Posted by ( puter ) on March 17, 2008 at 8:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I have a question. Why is our hoa president , Mark Spector always putting Bridgewater down?
We love our community.
We had a home for sale next to us that was a foreclouser. They had a buyer for it until the people read about our community in the Tampa paper about how bad it was here. They backed out of the deal.
These were buyers , not renters, and Mark scared them away. Why?
Mark, i am sure you really mean well, but bad mouthing our community is not the way to go.
We are reall looking good here.
We have a bushel of good apples here, lets not let the few bad ones spoil it for us.
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Posted by ( puter ) on March 17, 2008 at 8:52 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
We would love (MOUSER) posted on March 14 to be our neighbor.
We love our street.
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Posted by ( markspector ) on March 17, 2008 at 9:58 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
First, I want to thank everyone for their support and criticism.
It’s great to see so many Bridgewater residents posting on this article. Many have asked why I have contributed to this article.
In fact, at our last HOA meeting, I asked the residents if they attended the meeting because of to the article on our neighborhood. Many raised their hands..I said “Then it worked”. The primary reason for contributing to the article was to drive resident participation. Last week we had the largest turn out at our HOA meeting since I’ve been on the Board.
Secondly, the reality is that Bridgewater is actually much better off than most similar communities based on the feedback in the previous posts.
It’s disappointing that someone decided not to live here due to the article. There is another side to the coin. I just spoke to a Realtor last night because she had a client who was interested in buying in Bridgewater. Apparently, one of the benefits of talking about Bridgewater in this article was getting a lot of people’s attention on the spectacular deals that are available in a great neighborhood. I’m fairly confident, the majority of deal seekers will realize Bridgewater’s potential and will make an investment in the future.
I’m working with another Board member to see if we can arrange for a community-wide Open House. Also, we are planning a community cookout. Bridgewater is becoming a community..your participation is needed and greatly appreciated.
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Posted by ( mominwc ) on March 18, 2008 at 6:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
We're Bridgewater residents and we are also renters. We've been here for a year and a half. We mow our own lawn, make sure it's watered and have a service come out and fertilize it for us monthly.
Our street is mostly renters/vacant homes. For the most part our street is quiet and not a problem, though there have been some issues with unsupervised kids running around because parents don't seem to care, and one day someone is going to get hurt just because the kids don't care if a car is coming (no matter how fast or slow it's going) and no parents are out to teach their children etiquette for playing outside.
I've never been given any information on how to get involved in anything, I've been told that the message board is for owners only and no one has notified us that renters are welcome at HOA meetings. I think that there should be more effort on the part of the HOA to get the rental residents involved in the community so we don't feel like outsiders in our own homes.
That said, we'll be looking for a bigger home when our lease is up. There are plenty in Bridgewater, but it's up for debate at this point whether we'll stay here or not. What incentive is it to live in a neighborhood viewed as "ghetto-ish" by many in the rest of the community (with no ammenities), when we can live where there are ammenities and the same issues aren't elsewhere?
If the HOA decides to make an effort (even by putting fliers on doors to let us know of meetings or things we can do to get involved), then we may decide to stay. We don't have any major gripes with the place, but it's not necessarily where you want to tell your friends you live either. I don't know, the jury's still out on it.
I do wish you all the best in turning it around though. The homes and lakes are beautiful...if there were a pool and a community center we probably wouldn't even have second thoughts about spending a third year and beyond here.
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Posted by ( cucuclock ) on April 12, 2008 at 2:34 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
hi all,
I don;t know if anyone reads this anymore since it has been a while since the last post. We were recently in Bridgewater to look at properties and it looked nice, we had the pleasure of meeting a few of the residents and they were all very welcoming. let me tell you this whole problem is not just in FL. Our community up north is very established and the HOA up here is not as proactive as in Bridgewater. In fact they do nothing for us. we were also hit hard with the real estate crash but everyone needs to be part of the solution for your own benefit. when the house next door to us was vacant for a few months, I started mowing the lawn and trimming back their bushes. a few of us neighbors also plant flowers in common areas since the hoa has forgotten them completely. we also climb ladders to trim trees because the budget... they have a bigger surplus every year and do nothing, I can't wait to move. unfortunately there are also many renters here now and a lot of them do not care. I think it is great to see some of the renters in BW post because they care! renters should be invited to know what is going on at HOA meetings. you need to all stick together and make it the best it can be. after all it is your HOME, no matter if you rent it or own it.
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