[stacylee926]

We just found out we may have an opportunity to relocate to Fl due to hubby's job. He has several options - Just south of Orlando or Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Sunrise or Wellington.

I was born and raised in Northern Virginia outside of DC. 3 years ago I left and moved to Hampton Roads - Virginia Beach area because the taxes and traffic were insane. We currently rent a house (3 br and 1 1/2 baths) for $1025/mo. We have one son who is almost 16 and my 76 year old father.

Out of our possible choices is one better than another? Hubby is in retail management and all these locations are in upscale malls. Personally I would want to stay away from Orlando, but that may be more affordable than the others. I have this fear that we would not even be able to get even a little 2 or 3 br cottage and would be stuck in an apt until we could figure it all out.

I know about the crime - DC and Hampton Roads are already bad. I have heard that car insurance is outrageous! Any advice?

[dianeroberts]

Boca by far is probably the nicest.I am sure you have heard jerry Seinfeld talk about it.If you are from the E.coat then you want to stay East.The W.coast is for people from ILL,Mich and those middle states.You can probably find somthing in Boca for 300k.It will only appreciate in value.The town centre mall is beautiful.It has every upscale store in the country.Taxes and insurance are high but the legislature seems to be working on this.There are parts of Boca that are more exspensive then Bevery Hills.So you will never lose money.The only place I would stay away from is the railroad crossings.
Palm beach gardens is also a nice spot.The only drawback is its not far from Rivera bch.Good luck wherever you buy.I would rent for at least 3 months before I bought anywhere,so you can get an idea of what its like down here.There is no where else in the U.S. that i would live.

[THX 1138]

Yes car insurance is expensive here, supposedly the no-fault expiration in the fall this year will drop it down some but that might not be a good thing?

Palm Beach Gardens is very nice, but as most of Palm Beach County it's expensive.

Boca Raton is very expensive and closer to Broward which equals more crime and traffic.

Wellington is built out basically, some land left but not much and located west of the turnpike and mid county, it's nice in Wellington but they are adding more retail spaces which attract more crime.

Traffic everywhere is bad, not as bad as the DC area in VA though, not as expensive here either. If you expect to buy look at spending at least $300-400K on a nice home in a safe area. A townhome can be purchased for less $200K-275K range Might be gated and HOA in that range. Figure in the mortage high property tax and home insurance rates in addition.

Renting, well it varies. For a detached house say a 3/2/2 here in a nice safe, say gated area. Your looking at least $2K+/month. Apartments are very expensive here, depending where you go and how picky you are. 1 bedroom/1 bath Apt in the nice areas are easily $1K/month.

You have to shop around for rentals, good deals exist but it all depends what your want and how safe you want to live?

In essence everything cost more here, gas, groceries and etc.

[House4Sale]

Boca is a bit older but has many newer areas and Wellington is mostly recently built.

There are several great houses in Boca for under $300,000. In fact I'm thinking of one for $257,000. in the Trends community off S.W. 18th. She might even do a rent to buy. Private message me and I can give you owner's info. Again, her's is not the only greatly priced house but most are above that range in the upper $280,000's+.

Wellington is also beautiful but I think more expensive. Be careful in there when looking for houses for there were a few communities that had problem w/toxic water and soil. Not all but a few. You can always ask about that and they must disclose.

[Prichard]

If you have kids - Orlando area. If you are older or kidless, you might like Boca better.

Boca and Orlando are very different from one another. Choosing between the two would be like trying to choose between Boston and Atlanta. Come down and visit both - not from a tourist perspective, but from a "local" perspective. Then decide.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by stacylee926

We just found out we may have an opportunity to relocate to Fl due to hubby's job. He has several options - Just south of Orlando or Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton, Sunrise or Wellington.

I was born and raised in Northern Virginia outside of DC. 3 years ago I left and moved to Hampton Roads - Virginia Beach area because the taxes and traffic were insane. We currently rent a house (3 br and 1 1/2 baths) for $1025/mo. We have one son who is almost 16 and my 76 year old father.

Out of our possible choices is one better than another? Hubby is in retail management and all these locations are in upscale malls. Personally I would want to stay away from Orlando, but that may be more affordable than the others. I have this fear that we would not even be able to get even a little 2 or 3 br cottage and would be stuck in an apt until we could figure it all out.

I know about the crime - DC and Hampton Roads are already bad. I have heard that car insurance is outrageous! Any advice?

I have lived both in Orlando and South Florida. I will tell you, I HATED Orlando, but Seminole County might have some possibilities outside of Orlando, there are some good schools there.Your commute would be hell from Seminole,though, and the only area I could reccomend south is Dr. Phillips/Windermere.Crime is also REALLY bad in Orlando as is traffic. As far as commuting from Sunrise, you cold live in Weston or in the 84 South region of Sunrise, or possibly west Davie and have good schools and VERY low crime and like no traffic.If you wont put the kids in public schools, Plantation is nice/easy commute too. I live in 84 south and my neighbors leave thier doors unlocked.I also commute to the main part of Sunrise, and have zero traffic. Crime isint too bad in the entire Fort Lauderdale area in comparison to other areas in Florida,and niehter is traffic but you should still be careful in Fort Lauderdale itself and a couple of surrounding areas, and the drivers are absoultely terrible. Boca Raton is nice, probably the nicest out of all of these except the live in Weston/Commute to Sunrise idea, but Boca Raton has more in the way of shopping/ entertainment. It also has more in the way of snotty attitiude and traffic congestion. Working out of Boca, you could also commute from Coral Springs if you find yourself priced out of high $$$ Boca Raton or want a less snobby envrionment. Coral Springs and Boca Raton both have good schools, with areas within the Spanish River and West Boca Raton high districts being the most desirable in Boca and most Coral Springs schools being good.Traffic would not be too bad to get to Boca either. Some people here would probably reccomend Delray Beach, but crime there is getting bad and the schools suck if you have kids. Palm Beach Gardens is really nice, kind of like a newer Boca Raton, but I do not really know many specifics.

Beware, however, the cost of living in Orlando is pretty high, and South Florida is SKY HIGH. 1025 a month will probably get you a nice 1 bedroom condo/apartment down here and a 2 bedroom in Orlando.

Please feel free to PM me about specifics, I know quite a bit about all of the areas you have mentioned except for Palm Beach Gardens .

[Prichard]

Your commute would be hell from Seminole

I commute from Seminole County to downtown Orlando every day. It takes me on average 40 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the eavening. It's not great, but it's not exactly hell either. Depends where in Seminole county you live.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Prichard

I commute from Seminole County to downtown Orlando every day. It takes me on average 40 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the eavening. It's not great, but it's not exactly hell either. Depends where in Seminole county you live.

Coming out of Longwood would not be too bad. I would still recomend the south options after being in Orlando for quite a few years and not liking it.Maybe it was just watching the place decline over the years,but the thing is, in Seminole County, almost all of the schools are good, but in Broward/Palm Beach County, you need to stay in the RIGHT district. There are a lot more undesirable schools than deisrable ones. But, the climate is more pleasant in the summer, thanks to the breeze, and traffic would be so much less congested if you pick a suburban community in Broward County like Weston to commute to Sunrise. (I do the Weston/edge of Sunrise thing to mainland Sunrise, and it takes me 5 easy minutes). You also pay a lot more $$$$ to live down south in one of those appealing Broward/Palm Beach County communities.

[Prichard]

The funny thing is that people who prefer South Florida or are from the North East tend to like the South side of Orlando, like Windermere, Dr. Philips, Isleworth, Bay Hill, etc. Local people and midwesterners tend to like Seminole County. This is just "rule of thumb", certainly there are many exceptions to this, but it does seem to be the trend.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by THX 1138

Boca Raton is very expensive and closer to Broward which equals more crime and traffic.

Broward has much less crime as a whole than Palm Beach County. None of Palm Beach Counties rank among Americas safest,like Coral Springs and Weston, but none of Browards communities rank among Americas most dangerous, like WPB. Boca actually had less crime than most of PBC because its proximity to suburban Broward communities and distance from the really bad areas for crime, like Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, Riveria Beach, and seveal others.
That being said, Boca Raton is not being affected by the crime wave in Palm Beach County, its still a nice community and probably the best choice. Also , half of PBCs roads are under construction. Broward was actually pretty well planned and traffic tends to move right along on most major highways.