Palm Beach Gardens Best Golf & Most Children (Jupiter, Parkland: for sale, real estate)

[NYBabyMama]

My husband and I are considering a move to Palm Beach Gardens with our one year old son in the next few years from NYC. We absolutely love it down there, were married in Palm Beach, and his parents live close by in Gulfstream. We are looking to start at the 1 mil range and hope to have more children in the near future. My husband is obsessive about golf so we are only looking into gated golf communities. A real estate broker told us that Mirasol and Frenchman's Reserve have the most children. Is she correct? How are children's activities in these communities? The quality of public schools? Are private much better? (My husband is from Fairfield County, CT and is used to a top notch public school system, and we worry about the schools failing comparatively in Florida.) Is it difficult to make new friends? Do people enjoy an active social life in these communities? Thanks for all your help!

[windycitychicago]

We are from Chicago and plan to build in The Jupiter Countr Club, they have amazing deals-
and beautiful homes. The membership is only $10k vs $100k+ at Frenchmans Reserve (you must buy membership in order to own). I've heard The Benjamin School is top notch, my 10 year old son attends a very exclusive school in Chicago so we hope to go there ($20k vs $30k in Chicago). My advise is to try and spend as much time in the area you like and get a feeling for the neighborhoods andpeople. We plan to leave in the summers and spend time in Chicago & NY, we do want our son to maintain his city lifestyle and see what it's like to live in reality

Goog luck

[skylinet]

I'm assuming if you're willing to shell out $100-130k for golf equity you're probably willing to go private schools. Frenchmans isn't really zoned for great schools, Mirasol would probably be the better choice if you want to do public schools. Neither are really bustling with children, but I'd probably lean towards Mirasol.
If you go up to Jupiter (a couple miles North), Admirals Cove is slowly becoming kid friendly. They are building a children's center to accommodate this. The owner of the company I work for lives there with children and loves it. It also gives you the ability to do boating if you like.

Windy, it's good to hear people are finally moving to JCC. They were moving pretty slow for awhile, hope you enjoy your home and got a good deal!

[NYBabyMama]

Thanks for the responses. I just was starting to research Jupiter. I'm was a little worried regarding the slow growth of JCC and all the issues that can come with that (like bank seizing the development), but it looks beautiful, prices are right, and the lots seem a little bigger than the others for the little ones to run around on. And the public schools are looking much better too --if we decide to go that route. $20-25k for 18 years for 3 kids is a lot more than a golf equity, although we definitely plan on joining one down there (we are members of a golf club in CT as well.) I have been researching The Benjemin School and have read mixed reviews, although it seems the best private down there? I would like to find a report on what colleges these kids get into. Public and private.

Thanks for the input on Admirals Cove. I am surprised to here it is kid friendly. Will definitely give it another look.

Also Windy, we plan on coming back north for summers too!

[City Guy997S]

1. Frenchmans easily has the most kids, I might even say more kids than Mirasol, Admirals and Jupiter CC combined.
2. JCC is giving the membership away due to very slow sales. 350 home community with about 35 built in 4-5 years now. I wouldn't worry about it being taken over by a bank but I would worry about the developer (Toll Brothers) putting in cheaper/smaller homes to get the place selling again.
3. Frenchmans and Mirasol are both still building out but both have lots of inventory of lightly used homes for 25% off original sale price!
4. Club dues are a deal breaker for many in all 3 clubs! You might be fine with it but the next buyer might not....

[garyhitchcock]

I would do some research on Parkland. Forbes magazine rated the schools #1 in the US and we agree, our kids were tested gifted in elementary school and we feel they got a private school education for a public school price. Our son was salutatorian and got accepted to many Ivy league schools. He ended up going to Tulane on a golf and academic scholarship. My wife teaches AP American History at the Parkland High School and writes recommendation letters for her students, her top students go to MIT, Harvard, Stanford, etc. Parkland Golf and Country club is very nice with one of the best luxury home builders in the area, Toll Brothers. All of Parkland is full of kids.

[jgreco5]

I can't speak for the other CCs, but I worked in the membership office at Mirasol a few years ago, there were lots of kids and there were many kid/family oriented events going on all of the time.
The club is breathtaking and the course hosted The Honda Classic for several years before moving to PGA National. The home values in there have dropped incredibly. You can practically steal a home in there now.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by jgreco5

I can't speak for the other CCs, but I worked in the membership office at Mirasol a few years ago, there were lots of kids and there were many kid/family oriented events going on all of the time.
The club is breathtaking and the course hosted The Honda Classic for several years before moving to PGA National. The home values in there have dropped incredibly. You can practically steal a home in there now.

Steal a home, get buried with 20K in taxes, 10K in HOA dues and 20K in club dues (not counting the 130K golf membership of which they only refund 85% upon resale)......50K a year just to start before paying a mtg, utilities, car payments etc. That overhead never goes away, then combine it with a depreciating home like in the last few years and you can see it is less than ideal. Mirasol has a great look (as long as you don't visit Addison Reserve in Delray first, identical right down to the community names) but it is primarily a retirement community. Several neighborhoods have small homes (geared for retirees, one level, 3/2 etc) and some of the estate homes are bigger (for families) but then the price point starts pushing the families out. Mirabella behind Mirasol is cheaper, full of kids and doesn't require club membership.

[Swimmom32]

Mizner Perserve is the same way as Addision, My son has a friend in Addison and yes we thought it wasn't very young but the OP is looking in Palm Beach Gardens...lol

and I figure if someone is spending 1M plus on a home they can afford the membership and HOA Fees and the extra Assesment fees that they like to charge for improvements...Hence there are so many homes for sale in Woodfield because these people can't afford the HOA and the Memberships anymore...and in this economy they aren't lowering them either...

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by Swimmom32

Mizner Perserve is the same way as Addision, My son has a friend in Addison and yes we thought it wasn't very young but the OP is looking in Palm Beach Gardens...lol

and I figure if someone is spending 1M plus on a home they can afford the membership and HOA Fees and the extra Assesment fees that they like to charge for improvements...Hence there are so many homes for sale in Woodfield because these people can't afford the HOA and the Memberships anymore...and in this economy they aren't lowering them either...

Swim,

Toll Bros. built MP....same style architecture but not the same. Kenco/Sabatello/Taylor Woodrow built Addison Reserve as well as Mirasol. Identical designs/themes/street names etc. Being 40+ miles away not many would see the parallel. From the golf course or driving through the communities you honestly couldn't tell the difference between the homes but Mirasol is significantly bigger. Addison went heavier on the water falls and water features but Mirasol has quite a few also.

Mirasol has nice homes in the 300K range, many 500-900K and then some high end 1-2MM homes. So the HOA/Assessments can seriously hurt the sales of the cheaper homes because a guy with a 300K home many not have the same financial resources as the guy with the 1-2MM. The fees shockingly can be the same monthly amount for both a 300K home and a 2MM home particularly with a golf membership. Obviously the PBC taxes would be less for the cheaper home.