A Community that’s Worth a Second Look

Saturday, June 18, 2011

The beaches here are stunning

Dear Reader,

The last time I saw this little community was two years ago. It was nice then...with a gated entrance, paved roads and utilities, landscaped grounds, and the social area (complete with swimming pool and tennis courts) already finished. A few minutes' walk got you to the beach. The beach was stunning...a soft carpet of white sand, unfurling into the distance...dotted with lofty coconut palms...and the warm ocean calling out for a quick dip.

I went back last month for a second look. What a difference that intervening two years made. On my first trip, despite all the amenities, and the gorgeous beach, I was seriously underwhelmed by this project. This time around, I was seriously impressed. So what changed my mind?

This little community is Summerville. Its location is hard to beat. It's only thirty minutes from Fortaleza, a city with more than 3 million residents, the international airport, and all of those big-city conveniences (hospitals, shopping malls, large supermarkets, hardware stores) and fun (nightclubs, restaurants, theaters, cinema, bars and cultural events).

The private gated entrance to Summerville

Summerville is also close to the center of Cumbuco. This beach town is my favorite in this area. It's got beautiful, deserted beaches...nicely rustic beach bars and restaurants...small guesthouses and kite surfing schools. It's clean, charming, and a fun place to relax and unwind. Scandinavians have come here for many years, mainly to kite surf, but it's off the radar of North American tourists.

Two years ago when I first visited Summerville, the community's location felt a little awkward. Sure, it was only a five-minute beach buggy ride to Cumbuco and a half-hour from Fortaleza. But it felt isolated, oddly positioned on the edge of Cumbuco. But that changed with the arrival of a new five-star hotel, the Vila Gale Cumbuco.

This new resort places Summerville in between the center of Cumbuco and Vila Gale. Vila Gale plans to add a golf course and residences in the next phase of their development. Brazilian and Spanish groups snapped up land parcels adjacent to Vila Gale, who also plan on developing residential projects.

For now, Vila Gale's hotel is an oasis of luxury. Designed to blend in with the gorgeous scenery around it, the hotel's roofs are sand-colored, fading into the dunes around it. The large swimming pool is natural, too, without the bright turquoise tiling you usually see in hotel pools. The social areas and lobby feel elegant and comfortable. Guests pay an average of $350-$450 a night for a standard double room at the hotel (which is all-inclusive). You can also buy day passes to the hotel for 220 reals ($137).

Vila Gale brought in a new access road to the hotel, too, much of which is complete. It's wide, smooth, well-lit, and comfortable to drive. Cumbuco's little streets were also getting an upgrade when I visited last month. And new little residential developments and pousadas in the town feel distinctly upscale.

Summerville has landscaped grounds, a social area...and sits next to the beach

In Summerville, two years ago, we checked out a model home. I didn't like it. It was decent, but lacking in inspiration. The layout and finishings were okay...but only okay. It didn't have much in the way of outside terraces or patios. It just didn't feel like a dream beach house.

But newer homes here have upped the ante. They could easily grace the pages of a glossy magazine. They are large, stylishly designed, with plenty of outdoor living space.

So, you have a great location in Summerville:

• Five minutes from Cumbuco, a friendly, charming little beach town
• Close to Vila Gale, a 5-star resort...and large planned residential communities, that should push land prices up here
• Thirty minutes from Fortaleza, when you need the international airport, or city amenities
• A tranquil community that sits right next to a beautiful beach

But what about property prices?

Well, that is the interesting part.

You can buy lots in the project from 80,000 reals ($49,850). Better yet, they are available with no money down, and monthly interest-free payments of 3,333 reals ($2074) per month for two years. Condo fees on these lots come in at 160 reals ($100) per month. This includes the maintenance of common and social areas.

That's a good price when you consider that today, beach front land in Cumbuco is selling for 600 reals ($374) per square meter. Summerville lots are priced at 200 reals ($125) per square meter.

Home construction starts at 120 reals ($75) per square foot. The cost of a lot plus a 1600-square-foot house runs around 267,000 reals ($166,199).

There is a rental market at peak times. Easter and Christmas/New Year are traditionally busy. So is October, which is prime for kite surfers.

But Summerville is not really a rental opportunity. Instead, it's all about having a perfect beach house... for chilling out, swimming, kite surfing, and exploring the rugged coastline in a beach buggy.

There are only 7 lots available with financing, and the no-money down deal only applies to reservations made before the end of June. You can get in touch with our local broker contacts, Daniel and Hanna Neves, here and they'll send you a full information package.

Margaret Summerfield

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Posted Under:

brazil, affordable, beach

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