Country Walk Homes for Sale — Kendall

Country Walk sits 19 miles southwest of downtown Miami, in ZIPs 33186 and 33196. The Census Bureau treats it as its own census-designated place, 2.62 square miles bounded roughly by SW 137th Avenue on the east, SW 152nd Street on the south, SW 162nd Avenue on the west and SW 136th Street on the north; Miami Executive Airport lies across its northern edge, Three Lakes to the east, Richmond West to the south and farmland to the west. It counted 16,951 residents in 2020, up from 10,653 in 2000. The community itself, as its master association describes it, runs from SW 137th to SW 157th Avenue and from SW 144th Terrace to SW 152nd Street.

The Disney-owned Arvida Corporation designed and built it, breaking ground on the first homes in 1978 and finishing in 1994. Then came August 24, 1992. Hurricane Andrew destroyed about 90 percent of the roughly 1,700 homes, far from the storm's strongest winds, and investigators found gables that were never braced or tied to roofs, poorly connected trusses, sheathing and strapping, and inspections done at a drive-by. Homeowners sued Arvida, a grand jury looked at the builder, and most residents took their insurance money and left. The community was rebuilt with concrete walls in place of the original wood frame, and the failures here helped drive the 1994 South Florida Building Code revisions and the 2002 statewide code.

The 1,606 homes are organized into six sub-associations, and the section name tells you the product. Estate Homes holds 435 detached houses on the largest lots. Patio Homes holds 460 detached houses on tighter lots with private courtyards. Lakeside has 94 houses on the water, and Stoneybrook 172. Country Villas is 97 townhomes, and Village Homes is 344 condominium units. Country Walk Drive is the spine that ties them to the clubhouse.

Because the rebuild happened all at once, most of what stands dates from 1993 and 1994 regardless of when the lot was first sold, and it was built to the post-Andrew code with concrete walls. That makes Country Walk unusual among 1980s communities: the structures are younger than the street plan. Roofs from the rebuild are now thirty years old, which is the number to watch.

Country Walk is deed-restricted. The Country Walk Master Association owns and runs the clubhouse at 14601 Country Walk Drive, with its pool, spa, splash pad, four tennis courts lined for pickleball, basketball court, playground, pavilion and community room, plus the lake with its fitness trail and dock. The clubhouse is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and the community room can be reserved for private events. The master site names Harbor Management Services as manager.

Each of the six sub-associations then governs its own section, with its own budget, rules and, for Country Villas and Village Homes, exterior and roof responsibilities. Ask for both budgets, both reserve schedules and both sets of rules, and confirm which association handles leasing approval and architectural changes for the address you are buying.

Jack D. Gordon Elementary sits inside the community. The middle schools listed for the CDP are Herbert A. Ammons and Richmond Heights, and the high schools are Coral Reef Senior High, Miami Sunset Senior High and Robert Morgan Educational Center, a magnet. Confirm any assignment with the district boundary tool. Miami Executive Airport, a general-aviation field, runs along the north edge, so listen for traffic patterns on a weekday visit.

Shopping and the commute run on SW 137th Avenue and SW 152nd Street (Coral Reef Drive) to Florida's Turnpike. The community's own recreation is the clubhouse campus and the lake; JJ's Country Store, the small shop at the clubhouse, was under renovation as of the association's latest notice.

Pull the county record for the actual year built; a 1980s lot may carry a 1993 structure, and the difference matters to the insurer. Order wind mitigation and four-point inspections regardless, because rebuild-era roofs are now thirty years old. Then read the master and sub-association budgets, reserves and rules, and ask for any pending special assessment in either.

Pull the FEMA flood zone for the exact address. Country Walk is inland at about seven feet of elevation but has its lake and canals, and flood insurance is required for any federally backed mortgage in a Special Flood Hazard Area; the county hotline is 305-372-6466. For Village Homes condos in buildings of three stories or more, ask about recertification.

Buyers compare section to section: an Estate Home against Estate Homes, a Patio Home against Patio Homes, a Lakeside lot against the other 93. Name the sub-association in the first line. Then they compare roof age and whether the house has post-rebuild or newer windows, and they add up the two sets of dues.

Have the county record, a current wind mitigation report, the roof invoice if it has been replaced, and estoppels from both associations ready. In a community with one rebuild year, documented upgrades are the differentiator, and the story of concrete replacing wood is worth telling plainly.