Is This Wesley Chapel’s Best Neighborhood? Lagoon Living in Epperson

So today I get to take you out to a community that we would consider extremely unique. We're going to go out to Wesley Chapel and visit a community known as Epperson. Now this community features a seven and a half acre man-made lagoon and their whole theme is bringing the beach to the backyard. Now if you're not familiar with Wesley Chapel, it has been voted one of the best suburbs to live in all of Florida. We would consider it in one of the top five for sure depending on your lifestyle and if you're someone who loves parks, adventures, those types of things you're really going to love Epperson. Not only does it have this seven and a half acre man-made lagoon, it's crystal clear. You can put kayaks and paddle boards in the water there. They've got obstacle courses for the kids, a beach and cabanas for the parents. There are screens that you can watch games on. There's a tiki bar there. They do food trucks. It's a very interesting community. It also has all the amenities you could ever want because it's in Wesley Chapel. So I'm excited to get you out there today and what I wanted to do that is a little bit different than normals. I want to show you a property we would consider very affordable in this area. This home is a four bedroom, two bath, 2,300 square foot roughly and it's going to offer a lot but I want to share with you guys because we get asked a lot of questions about this community from people who are relocated to the area and if we've never met before, my name is Juan Alcala. A little over seven years ago, my wife Kate and I packed up our family of five, sold almost everything we owned, moved 1,200 miles south to the Tampa Bay area and have been loving it ever since and I've been documenting this community since day one of it breaking ground. We've also helped about 200 families relocate during that time period as well and a lot of them have chosen this area. As a matter of fact, this homeowner was someone who relocated from Chicago area and they've loved this home. They are now downsizing to a little bit smaller property that fits their needs a little bit better and this is going to go to some incredible family I'm guessing who's going to really enjoy it but I want to take you out to this property today. Stacy's going to give us a private exclusive tour of this and she's going to talk about this community specifically and here's what's unique about this. Stacy is not only a realtor on my team, she not only can help you, she also lives in Epperson so you want to get a first person take on what it's like to live in the community and why she finds it so valuable and why she decided to build a home there just under two years ago. Now this video is going to be for you so let's head out to the property and let's go Well hello there Miss Stacy. Hello Juan, come on in. What an exciting day. I know it's not a new construction home, surprise. Well it is newer though right? The Queen of New Construction actually gets to show a resale property here but it actually is in a place that you know very well and I want to kind of point that out right away. Not only is Stacy the Queen of New Construction in Pasco County and for our team but she is also a Wesley Chapel resident and an Epperson resident. Correct. So this is your backyard. It is. This isn't your house but this is your backyard. Yeah. Right. So we could be neighbors. Absolutely. So Stacy you're going to take us through this really cool model today. We're standing in a lantana. We've got all the stats. They could see those there. What is your most favorite feature of this home specifically? The outdoor space of course. You know we moved. That outdoor space. You can't see it yet but you know we all leave here because we want to enjoy that outdoor living, that Florida lifestyle. Absolutely. So this house is perfect for that. It really is. It's awesome. So four beds, two and a half baths. We're going to start at the front of the house. Yes. So take us over to our first bedroom if you don't mind. So as soon as you walk in we have two bedrooms up front with a full bath. The first bedroom. Yeah as you can see it's a really nice size bedroom. They have it set up as an office. Slash workout room. Yeah. A flex space. Right. You can do whatever it is that you need to with this room. But plenty of room for you know a twin bed, full bed, plus a desk. Yeah usually these are staged with queens so it kind of gives you a sense of space. That's a really big chest of drawers there. So right. I think it's a pull-out bed too is what they got going on there. So that's pretty interesting. And then we have some nice closets. With French doors. With French doors. Very nice. The office space. As we head across the office here. We have a full bath. So it does have the tile which is really nice. Yep. Granite countertops. We have over the mount sinks. Yeah. And then the other bedroom over here. We also have a linen closet. Then really nice size bedroom. This is a full-size bed. It really is. And you still have room for a desk. Yeah. So for anybody wondering. Right. So like we tend to. Our clients tend to kind of land in two spaces. They're either young families and they need the extra bedrooms. And you guys can get an example here. So full bed. They did push it against the wall. But you could still move it out a bit. That cabin is probably twice the size of a normal end table. Yes. Right. That little pull-out Ikea thing. So they got shelves over there. And a nice size desk here in the corner. You still have the television of course. And then the closet space. French doors here as well. So plenty of storage room here also. Okay. So we come back out to the front. Yeah. And then got the garage over here. So you do have a little dump space here. Yeah. If you need. You know I like dump spaces. So it's a really nice laundry room. You have your garage right out here. Two car garage. You have plenty of room to put cabinets up here. You need to put cabinets. So really good size laundry room. Yeah. Good size space. Yeah. You get another closet. Yes. We have another linen closet here. And then you have a little wing. Your own little wing down here. With a half bath. Which is really nice. So your guests can use this bathroom. Toilets on the other side. Not that you need to see it. But it's there. I promise. And then this bedroom feels a little bigger to me. Yeah. That looks like a what? Queen size bed? We always do this every time. That's queen. Queen. Yeah. Yeah. And nightstand. They still have room for a desk. Window brings in some natural light. And you got your French doors for your step-in closet. Yeah. Another good space. And another desk of course. So. Yeah. Plenty of room to work out of the house here. And then as you come back down the hallway. You enter your grand gathering space. You have a beautiful kitchen. With a granite countertop. A really nice overhang island. So this island is really huge. You could probably put four stools. Yep. There. So definitely plenty of room for the kids to do their homework while you're cooking dinner. Undermount sink. Really nice. And the cellars did add some hardware. Which you know it adds to your kitchen definitely. And we have a really nice sized pantry. Which we're not going to open because they're in the middle of moving and getting this together. Right. For the next wonderful homeowner here who's going to have it. Which is great. And the thing I love about the layouts here. You know these homes would be considered you know a good middle position to get into a community anywhere in Tampa Bay. Right. That high threes to five hundred thousand is kind of what I want to call it entry level because that's unfair. But that's a very modest price point in the area here. So you know in Epperson specifically you have homes that are a million and a half. Right. Right. And you have homes that go down to right about 400. Specifically you open to Murata you can probably find them for a little bit less. But now you're in San Antonio versus being in Wesson Chapel proper. So different options. Epperson's kind of built out. Yeah. I mean there is still some development going on in this area as far as commercial. But that's why the price difference where Murata is still developing. Definitely still growing through that. But love the openness and how they have it laid out here is just wonderful. Yeah there's plenty of cabinet space and countertop space in this kitchen. Really is. And it opens up into your your family room. And y'all I mean this this is why people come. Right. So this is probably a little bit overexposed. I'm going to fix this here in a second so you guys can really see this. But that's that's the trick right. I don't want you to see it all yet. That's the that's the hot spot. Dining room here. You get to look out on the lanai which is wonderful. Yeah. You know good size table there. It's probably a six foot table. You could easily put a seven foot table that could sit 10 people right. Yeah definitely. This is a really huge space for a kitchenette space. Yep. Definitely you can fit more than a four four-seated chair. And if you're interested in churning butter we got you covered. Actually I think that's a wash tub. We will not be demonstrating that. That's a wash tub. I made a mistake. I want to make sure I get that right. Okay so we're going to head over to the primary bedroom. Yeah. So here's the primary. You got two windows in the back here that gives you some natural light. We do have a tray ceiling which gives you a little more height. Makes it feel nice and open. Yep. We got a queen size bed and as you can see they do have some furniture in here with the end table and the chair. There's still plenty of room. Over to other side they do have some dressers. Yeah. So it is a really good size primary. Yeah I mean sometimes it's hard to tell how big a space is y'all. But like this is what we would consider, I would consider oversized furniture. Right. Meaning like it's some of the larger furniture you'll see. And there's I mean if you have room for a peloton, a chair, a king size bed, and this stuff this room is. Yeah and still have room to walk around. Absolutely. It's plenty large enough so there's no doubt about that. And the tray ceilings definitely make it nice. So good size primary. Again some people love it. I mean having those huge primary bedrooms some people want the floor space but I think this kind of gives you a nice balance of both. Yeah. That's fair. Awesome. Well cool. We're going to take you into the primary bathroom now. Yeah this primary has a his and her closet. Very nice. Walk-in closet. All right Stacy. So his and hers. Talk to me about this. Well yeah. So this is our primary bathroom. We have double vanity seats. As you can see we have plenty of cabinet space which is really nice. Stand up shower. Yeah. And we do have a tub which this is becoming more popular now. Wow to me. People are requesting tubs where we went for years no one wanted the tub. Yep. It was an upgrade not to have a tub and now it's an upgrade to get the tub. Now they want them again. Yeah and that shower is really nice. With plant because they grow in the shower. I love those touches. It's always good. I'm a man y'all. We don't we don't understand anything about that. We do have the water closet here but I will say this whenever I see it I know it's nice. I'm like oh that looks nice. And then back here we have a linen closet. Yeah very nice. Awesome. All right. Cool. Now let's go check out the outdoor space. All right. So let's check out the outdoor space. Oh yes. So we have extra large sliders so that really helps open up your space. Brings your outdoors indoors. And I feel like they did a great job maximizing their space out here. We have a really nice size covered lini that is screened in so you can sit out here year round. Yep. We also have two outdoor fans so you can even sit out here in July and August if you wanted to. It's a great touch. And I love this outdoor space. While this yard is you know probably only what 45 feet wide maybe ish. I don't want to quote that. I'll get you guys the stats on that. It is totally built to be lived outdoor. So let's let's head out here. This is an extra you know couple hundred square foot there which is great. Yeah. So they extended the lini as you can see. Extended your outdoor space. So nice. And over there in the corner we have a fire pit. Really nice. I think that's a paved fire pit isn't it? Yep. They have it covered right now. Yep. There's a propane tank in there so you guys can just fire it up at your convenience. Right. Fully fenced yard. Right. Fully fenced. You even have room to lay out in the sun if you want to lay out in the sun. And what's really unique is that they turfed this backyard. Yeah. Which is really cool. So easy to take care of. So easy to take care of. If you have dogs really easy to clean up after them. Yeah. Take a hose to it. You don't have to pay anyone to cut your grass. Nope. It's super convenient. Yeah. If you do have pets you're going to want to have this cleaned FYI. Yeah. It can hold hold orders if you don't take care of it. Odors. I'll get through that. Odors. Hold on to odors which you don't want. But the drainage here is set to run back which is great. That's what you want too. And it's just super convenient. I love how they have this whole space set up here y'all. It's just nice. Palm trees all the way across the fences. You know it's just really set up for outdoor living and what I would consider a Florida house. So like that's what you want. They even put steps. Yep. Stone step pavers going down the side of the house with rock which makes it really nice. It really does. You don't have to worry about mulch. Nope. Super convenient. God they're doing a good job with this place. Now we'll head back in. Now Stacy you're a resident. I am a resident of Epperson. Yeah. So let's get inside and let's talk about. Okay. Actually it's too nice. We're gonna sit right here. This is way better. Okay. Because that's what this is for. All right. All right. So talk to me about you know what does it mean to be a resident here? What value? Like why did you choose this? Because you moved here it hasn't been two years yet. No a little yeah a little over a year. We chose this spot. One I just like the convenience of it to Wesley Chapel because I'm I'm on the outskirts. Yep. So I don't have to be in the hustle and bustle. So Epperson like this location of this house is on the far north side of Epperson. But you still have the convenience of the interstate. Yeah. I'm like seven minutes to the interstate. There's a lot of commercials still coming out here. So we have a Publix that is five minutes down the road. We just got a Chick-fil-a and a Wendy's and there's so much more commercial. Yeah. Starbucks down there. You're you're one of the cool things about your guys' Publix is you have one of the newer versions. So they have the the sip and shop kind of situation. Right. You can grab a beer or a glass of wine and meander around Publix and get what you need. We got a full salad bar. You can go get pizza there. They just have a really nice setup. Like you can just go grab ready you know ready to make food. Yeah. And for the schools here Kirkland Ranch is about what five minutes away. Yeah. In traffic it'll probably be eight. So forgive us with that. If you take the golf cart you can probably get there in six and a half. So you can split the difference. Not wait the line there. But Kirkland Ranch which is a charter school opportunity here K through 12. Which is awesome. This is Wesley Chapel High School correct? Correct. What what middle school? Wakeman Middle. Wakeman. Okay. Yeah. Got it. And in terms of Epperson itself. It was our first lagoon here that opened. I think it was one of the first ones that opened in the state of Florida. Seven and a half acres. Man-made lagoon. You can kayak out there. You can paddle board. There's beaches. There's obstacles. Gator free. Which is important to a lot of newcomers to Florida. So that is something to take note of. What other things about the community do you love? Like how far is it to to tarp? Well tell me what you love before we get into that. We'll get into shopping. Well there's plenty of space. I mean we have endless miles of not trails. But they are sidewalks. So there's plenty of room to run, bike, golf cart. However you want to get around. It's easily accessible. And like I said I like the convenience of the location to me was so important. Because I can get to anything I need in Wesley Chapel within 10 to 20 minutes. Like you said depending on traffic. Yeah. Another thing people ask about is the family age demographics. And you know while you never. It's going to be street to street obviously. This community overall. Would you say that there's a fair amount of younger families here for people that are concerned about that? Yes. Definitely. And something I do love about this community is that you always see kids outside playing. You see kids riding bikes to school. There are electric scooters to school. I know if you live up north you just don't see that a lot. Yep. I'm always reminding my teenage son to drive slow through this neighborhood because there are so many kids out playing. Yeah. I think that's important because people do ask like hey how are our kids going to incorporate their lives being an outsider? But what most people don't recognize is these communities are have been built by people who have either relocated here or you know the new construction communities in general tend to attract younger families or people relocating to the area because they have a lot to offer. The HOA here it includes internet and cable which is wonderful as well. So if you're wondering about those things there is a CDD fee associated with this community. Yeah. The Epperson Lagoon itself is not completely private to the community. It's not a community exclusive. They do open a portion to that public and that helps you guys take care of some of those costs correct? Yeah yeah for sure because we have you know a cafe there. There's a bar there as well. So you know all those things takes money to run that so they have to run it like a business. It really does and you've got everything. Pop Strokes 10 minutes down the road 15 minutes roughly. Target the Tampa Premium Outlets like Stacy's. Everything. Everything. Ice Rink if you need that. I mean like there's everything that you need here in Wesley Chapel and this is this has been recognized as one of the most desirable places to live in all of Florida. Not just in Tampa Bay and I think that that's important to recognize. It is what I would consider it's like the on par with the style of living that people look for when they talk about areas like Lakewood Ranch as an example. Right this would be the the northern Tampa suburbs version of that style of living. You don't have as many villages per se. Right. But in terms of amenities I think that Wesley Chapel is probably second to none. Yeah. Right. So in terms of that respect so people love that if that's something that interests you then you're going to love this style community for sure. So great house incredible community people love living in Wesley Chapel so much so that Stacy moved here twice. I did. I moved away for a short period of time. Well describe what away is because you weren't really away. No I was in Day City which is just like 15 minutes and I was in Wesley Chapel every day so that's why I was like once my son graduated I was like we have got to go back to Wesley Chapel. Yeah so awesome the homeowners here have loved this this home well. Obviously you can see the investments they've made in the outdoor space which this is the thing when people talk about why they want to live in Florida they had this idea of opening their front door seeing all the way through the house opening it up. I mean it is mid-April we have the house wide open. Yeah. Right. It's incredible and this is what people move here for so Stacy if they have questions about this home specifically or moving to Wesley Chapel in general how do they get hold of us? Well all of our contact information is down below and of course we will have a link down there as well you could schedule a time to chat with us if you are thinking about relocating to the area. Absolutely and as always until next time y'all go out and live that Tampa life. Bye.