Cost of living in Jupiter? (Seems Insane) (Orlando, Wellington: for sale, lease)

[pepper1980]

Jupiter fits the bill for us in a lot of ways- family oriented, close to the beach, excellent schools - but I have been seriously wrestling with the following and would love some opinions from folks who live there:

1. Single family homes crazy expensive and dated

I’ve been looking up homes for sale for the past two or three years and it’s impossible to find a 3+ bedroom single family home 2300sf+ for less than $650K... and that’s not in any popular neighborhood like Abacoa which everyone talks about... the odd home you find for that “cheap” is old and dated.

In Nashville where we live now you can easily find a 4+ bedroom home that’s newly built for $450K.

2. Property taxes seem ridiculous

Even if we were to “settle” and purchase a non-ideal home for $650K... we would be paying close to $1K/month or more in property taxes alone. That means even if you paid off your mortgage completely you still have to pay $1K/month in property tax for the rest of your life.

The common response is “yes but no federal income tax”. I hear this but TN doesn’t have any either and property taxes are way more reasonable.

3. HOA and Insurance

Abacoa seemed like a nice area (even though single family homes there seem to be $750K+) when we visited but $300+ dollars for HOA is crazy... that’s a car payment and a nice car at that.

I also understand insurance is especially high due to hurricane likelihood in that area..

4. Yearly evacuation due to hurricanes?

Last year we visited Jupiter for a month and had to evacuate back to TN after 2 weeks because of Irma. (Good thing we did because the condo we were renting got flooded.)... I realize Irma was an uncommonly strong hurricane but our friends who live in Jupiter say that every year it’s normal for them to evacuate... they just go to Disney in Orlando to ride them out, which is relatively convenient, but still this surely needs to be a factor as far as cost goes doesn’t it?

5. Abacoa?

Abacoa seems like a great place for us lifestyle wise but I would just feel stupid paying $800K for what I consider a “slightly above normal” home there along with $300/month HOA and $1K/month property taxes... is everybody who lives there just used to these kind of prices / taxes / premiums?

If I conservatively add all these things up minus the inflated home prices it comes to at least an additional $2,000/month in cash you are committing to and paying as a “premium” just to live in Jupiter.

Of course there are other areas nearby with much lower property taxes and home prices but my consideration here is to make Jupiter work.

Am I off base here? Am I misunderstanding anything or not considering something? How are people making this work?

[pepper1980]

lol hopefully I didn’t overwhelm everyone with the longest first post ever!

[skylinet]

You seem to be doing everything you can to talk yourself out of moving to Jupiter? Jupiter is not a cheap place to live because people enjoy the lifestyle and Abacoa is one of the more expensive areas.
Paseos, Botanica, egret landing and a few other communities have sub 650k homes.
Property taxes are 2% of the assessed value. Once you homestead they can only go up a max of 3% a year and they reduce the value by 50k which equates to roughly $1,000.
Ive lived in pbc for ten years now and only evacuated for Irma which we barely got hit by.
There are other areas of pbc less costly for a home where you can find a newer home for under 500k.

[pepper1980]

Thanks for the response! Interesting perspective- I actually feel like I’m trying to talk myself *into* moving to Jupiter despite all the concerns I listed.

Egret Landing I’ve looked at a bunch and still haven’t seen anything under $600K. Their HOA however is more reasonable at around $100/month.

It sounds like you are confirming property tax is around $1,000/month even with the homestead factor.

Can you recommend other comparable areas of PBC that have top school systems? Would be much appreciated.

[skylinet]

Jupiter is great if you don't mind paying a little more for your house. Our friends that live there won't leave.
We wanted to move back there but ended up in the Wellington/lake worth area.
The house were building for 600k would be 8-900k in Jupiter.
Mil rates float around 2% in most of PBC. Assessments tend to be a little less than your purchase price but can be up to that price.

[willjbryan]

I am moving to Jupiter in a couple of months and have been touring homes in a variety of price ranges. If I wanted to spend under $500k purchase price/$500/month property taxes /$100/month HOA I would do something like https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...8_M51102-00626 in north Jupiter, which is cheaper than Abacoa but still has the desirable Jupiter schools and lots of families. I'm currently raising kids in Manhattan, however, so my definition of "dated" housing for a family may be different from yours. Fundamentally it's a more expensive area than Nashville so you'll have to compromise somewhere.

[City Guy997S]

Can't compare Mayberry, TN to S. Florida!

Look in Hobe Sound, houses will be cheaper, taxes will be less, insurance will be less.

Jupiter is nice and you are looking at some of the cheaper offerings. You mention a $300 HOA fee as a car payment, a nice car (my math says 18K at 0% interest). To me an 18K car is basic transportation. If you have spent any time in Jupiter you will see plenty of cars that cost 18K a year just to lease!


Here is a home for you:
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-77259?view=qv

Look at the monthly costs:
Property Tax
$8,753
Home Insurance
$4,873
HOA Fees
$1585

But hey you can complain to your neighbors while getting all these bills in the mailbox! Michael Jordan, Michelle Wie, Rory McIlroy all live there among a bunch of hedge fund types!

[pepper1980]

Thanks so much for the confirmation guys. I was hoping there was something I was missing but it sounds like Jupiter is THAT expensive lol.

Serious question: how much money are these people living in $800K homes paying $300 HOA and $1K/month property tax pulling in? I can’t imagine doing that responsibly on less than $250K/year.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by pepper1980

Serious question: how much money are these people living in $800K homes paying $300 HOA and $1K/month property tax pulling in? I can’t imagine doing that responsibly on less than $250K/year.

Jupiter’s not a place to live on an income of $250k.

[pepper1980]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

Jupiter’s not a place to live on an income of $250k.

I can believe that lol! What *is* the income these families who are moving there make?