Local homebuilder San Joaquin Valley Homes (SJV Homes) has announced its model homes at Visalia’s Pine River Estates are set to open Dec. 17.

---

Pine River Estates is a 37-acre community offering 144 single-family homes located on Virmargo Street between St. John’s Parkway and Houston Avenue. The development is located with quick access to Rawhide Stadium, downtown Visalia and major employers, including Kaweah Delta District Hospital, College of the Sequoias and CIGNA Healthcare. St. John’s River Trail is also right across the street from the community.

Pine River Estates offers five three-and-four-bedroom floorplans with three elevations each, ranging in size from 1,443 to 2,100 square feet, with lots averaging 6,700 square feet. The three models opening are 2,100 square feet, 1,658 square feet and 1,443 square feet.

SJV Homes’ Co-Founder Jim Robinson said now is the time to consider homeownership, as mortgage prices are comparative to what many pay for rent.

“With rental prices soaring faster than home sales, we are seeing tremendous interest among potential renters who realize its more economical to buy a home at Pine River Estates where prices start in the low $200,000s for three-to-four bedroom homes with two to three car garages,” Robinson said in a statement. “Homebuyers at Pine River Estates could own their own home for about the same or even less than they might pay in rent for that amount of space.”

According to the California Association of Realtors, 50 percent of the population of Tulare County, where Pine River Estates is located, is able to buy a home, making it California’s seventh most affordable county.