Woodbine (Jupiter, Wellington, Lake Worth: short sale, apartments, foreclosures)

[FloridaHawkeye]

Does anyone on this forum live in Woodbine or know of anyone who does? I am looking at a fairly big house which has a nice back yard, no neighbors in the back and of course a reasonable price.

My main fear is the neighborhood as I have read horrible reviews on the apt complex including drug deals in the parking lot and bad odors over the community once or twice a week. I know it's on the border of riveria and am afraid the neighborhood will continue to go downhill.

Also how are the build quality of the houses? It looked in good shape.

Thanks for any input.

[sweatyhotviolentwestpalm]

I have a friend who lives there,he bought yrs ago,when it was nice.The apts @ the front entrance is like being in the hood,yes drug deals and who knows what all goes on.
The houses also have some not so nice people living there,hoodlums & drug dealers as well and boom box blasting from cars.There also was a rash of stolen cars for a while.Owning a home is a two fold problem when it comes to HOA dues.You will have master HOA dues that covers the entire community and then you will have dues for the section you live in.
To do any home improvement/upgrade is a nightmare and has to go through a long hard arduous process,with the HOA that often times will just bully you.
Something as simple as painting your home or laying down bricks for a walkway takes month's for approval,if you get it.
I would stay out of woodbine,like everything else in the area it's gone to pot,however woodbine is the hood & can be dangerous at night.

[THX 1138]

Hoodbine I mean Woodbine is in Riviera Beach, avoid at all costs. Don't be fooled by the fancy names either, they have split up the Woodbine development with other fancy names "Galleon" and "Casa Rio" to name a few. It's all the same and the HOA is steep, $550/quarter for one house I saw in there. Don't know if that comes with a armed guard on patrol or ?

Yeah what sweaty said, the Woodbine apartments in front pretty much say's it all. Watch the Cops tv show for the full effect.

[Reedsmit]

Woodbine is the Community - you have small associations within the community. Than there is a Master Association. The Apartments and Townhouses. They had gang activity 5 or so years ago to the point that they took down their basketball court as they felt it was the source of the problem. The community is on a tight budget so getting money to keep things as nicely as they could be is not easy. Add to that the community has alot of fighting within.

Avoid Woodbine - i am very familiar with it. It is a nightmare!!!!!!!!

[FloridaHawkeye]

Thanks for the feedback. I was afraid of that after reading reviews on the apartments.

I will probably look for a townhouse between PGA and Donald Ross or might wait a year and look in Wellington or Royal Palm.

Any suggestions for houses with a fairly big back yard and in a good neighborhool in PBG or Jupiter?

[skylinet]

I just wrote an offer for someone on a shortsale in Woodbine and had a chance to meet the wife that was selling the home and she was very disapointed to have to sell. She loved it there....
are you talking about the house with the master down and three beds and a loft up? Nice house. But I would probably side with everyone else if you have kids. (the offer I wrote was for a single man with no plans on children)
assuming you are in the 175 to 225 price range there really isn't much newer single family wise in Jupiter/PBG. A couple decent slightly older homes though. Shouldn't have any problem finding a decent size townhome though.
not sure where your job is, but have you checked out West Lake Worth? Probably going to be your best value as far as size of home for that price range, good schools, and over quality of living. Lake Charleston, Smith Farms, and Northtree are all great communities.
and no it's not a gang area like people talk about East Lake Worth.

[FloridaHawkeye]

That is the one and its banked owned. You know I was surpised by the house and the community around the house.

It obviously has or is getting a bad reputation which that alone can drive a market value down I am assuming. I am just afraid after making all the upgrades I will have spent 200k the market value will be 200k after 10 years if the area (or reputation) continues to slide downhill. I just saw a nice townhouse listed today for 100k in Woodbine. You could travel overseas every year with that payment.

Been looking at some townhouses in Harbour Oaks, and also PGA commons. Also might look at abacoa. All priced in the low to mid 200's. PBG and Jupiter have not taken nearly as bad as hit as other areas.

I will check out Lake Worth - thanks for the advice. I work cllose to PGA ave but the turnpike is a pretty fast track from that general area.

[TriMT7]

What about looking at the Heights neighborhood in Jupiter? Prices there tend to be lower, no HOA, and convenient to Abacoa's amenities.

Of course, there are also great townhome deals all around Jupiter, even IN Abacoa, but especially in places like Botanica, Legends, etc.

[skylinet]

the commons doesn't have a pool... I've shown those a few times and everyone complained about that so stopped showing them. I sold a unit in the Legends and they love it. There's a 2000 sqft approved short sale for 182k right now. They are technically condos though so financing is a little tougher. Harbour Oaks are nice and there's a few on the market to choose from there was 2 foreclosures but I think they have offers. Cielo is nice, originally at 450+ and you can get a short sale in the mid 2s now.
There's lots of good th options.

[THX 1138]

Originally Posted by FloridaHawkeye

Thanks for the feedback. I was afraid of that after reading reviews on the apartments.

I will probably look for a townhouse between PGA and Donald Ross or might wait a year and look in Wellington or Royal Palm.

Any suggestions for houses with a fairly big back yard and in a good neighborhool in PBG or Jupiter?

I live in Wellington and highly recommend it, thing is it all depends on what you can afford here. Some nice developments and some not so nice. Gated or ungated, no HOA or HOA gated or ungated and etc.

The property taxes are higher then other areas and I too work in PBG off of PGA and drive the daily commute via the turnpike which alone costs me over $360 a year in tolls with Sunpass, not including the wear and tear on the car, gas and traffic woes.

What I like about Wellington is location, it's pretty much self sufficient when it comes to stores and etc. and you are centrally located in the county so you can go north or south without driving the extra distance. Close to Southern which was recently revised to be an expressway makes it a breeze to get downtown, 95 or the beaches...though traffic on it is very heavy during rush hour.

Turnpike access is a big plus, but traffic overall in Wellington has gotten worse over the years especially during Equestrian/Polo season.

Wellington has become Browardized over the years and you will find Jupiter/Palm Beach Gardens area north of PGA to be more laid back and less hectic. Jupiter/Tequesta area is very seasonal so it get's even more laid back off season.

You will also find home prices to be more affordable in the North County area, even rentals are less expensive than Wellington especially what you can get for the money.