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Trinity Residents Share House Market Ideas

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: June 11, 2008

TRINITY -- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for the housing market.

Buyers are finding good deals on homes, but sellers often must slash the asking price or wait for a rebound in home values.

Even Trinity, with many higher-end homes, tends to be no exception to the trends.

Larry and Kathy Schalles recently invested in a home in the Champion's Club subdivision after tiring of living along the water. At the same time they have given up for now trying to sell their old home in Gulf Harbors Woodlands.

The Schalles found the home in the Trinity area. It had been repossessed by a bank.

"We got in just in the nick of time," Kathy Schalles said, as bankers were eager to deal, with interest rates on loans going as low as about 5 percent. Now it's much harder to get a loan, she noted.

They bought the house for $145,000 less than its assessed value only a few years ago, Schalles pointed out. "There's no way we could wrong on this house." She admired the crown molding and hardwood floors. "I love this area. Everything is right here."

The house, however, had been trashed by previous occupants, she said. "There was not one door in the house. They smashed holes in the wall." Kitchen cabinets, showerheads and the washer and dryer were all gone. "My husband is pretty handy and he could do a lot of work himself."

The house in Gulf Harbor Woodlands continues to sit. The couple bought it when the market was booming. "We're not even going to try" to sell at this time. Potential buyers "want to steal it. I can't say I blame them," given the current market.

Fairway Springs

The Fairway Springs, a subdivision on the north side of S.R. 54 east of Little Road, had been around much longer before Trinity was a gleam in a planner's eye. But the community has been unofficially annexed into a broad area loosely labeled as Trinity.

A retired couple who preferred not to have their names printed, said they had considered downsizing from their half-acre lot. But plummeting prices on homes probably will prevent that goal for the foreseeable future.

One house in the area, valued at $250,000 at one time, recently sold for $163,000.

Another neighbor moaned about a house for sale sitting on the market for nearly a year.

The couple expect the market to rebound, especially once Medical Center of Trinity opens, now scheduled for 2010. The new hospital will replace Community Hospital of New Port Richey.

Medical staff members will be looking for homes close to the hospital, the couple predicts, driving up home prices.

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