Palm Bay Living/Crimes/Schools...the good and bad (Indialantic: real estate market, apartment)

[irezni1]

For people who are house shopping I wanted to hear what people who live in Palm Bay think. We are considering moving from Indialantic (currently renting) to buying a nicer house with a bigger lot in Palm Bay but I tend to hear a lot of contradicting things. Some people say it's on the up and rising but still not safe...some people say it's as good as any other area around Brevard. So tell me what do you like and not like about Palm Bay.

[Nypafl4u]

From what I can tell, without actually living there, but owning several homes in Palm Bay for over 5 years now, is that it really depends on the section and even streets. Like any fairly densely populated town, Palm Bay has its its nice areas and not so nice ones. That can mean driving around, you find an area with poorly maintained front lawns, vehicle parked on the lawn, noisy music playing at odd hours, junk piled around the yard. But you could just as easily find streets that are beautifully maintained, with pleasant , caring neighbor's that most anyone would be proud to live with. So it really depends on your taste, tolerances, and overall comfort, something I would say if you moved to any area in the USA. But overall, there are some very nice sections to consider.
I have never felt in danger of walking around any area of Palm Bay, but it just makes sense to drive around at different times of the week and see for yourself. I am sure the local police department can give you some statistics of particular areas as well.

[JerSkee]

We are moving to the area soon and considering living beach side. If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to leave Indialantic?

[Nypafl4u]

I bet the cost of housing has something to do with it. The poster is renting now and looking to buy. There are far better prices in Palm Bay than Indialantic when looking to buy. Just my guess. Indialantic is a great place to live, in my opinion.

[BrevardREALTOR]

@jerSkee

I live in Indialantic and absolutely love our little town. It is very quiet here. However, when you look at what you can get for your $ here house-wise compared to Palm Bay you are paying A LOT for location.
I think it is worth every penny though. I can walk to the beach or river very quickly to sun bathe, paddle board, kayak, fish etc..
Let me know if you have any questions.

[MyITGuy]

We moved to the south part of Palm Bay in 2007 and got out in 2011. Like other posters have said, some parts are good, others are bad...but one thing that stuck out is that the city doesn't have enough money/tax revenue for infrastructure needs, which then can lead to it becoming a special tax assessment that people have to vote on, which will likely fail because people don't want higher taxes.

[Taxlesslivemore]

Just an Observation from reading Florida Today daily, seems to be an increase in shootings reported in Palm Bay. As others have stated, depends on the area. Another Observation of mine is Bad Areas overtake Good Areas. Good Areas rarely overtake bad areas.

[MarlowHeights]

We lived in Palm Bay 2004-2005, in the Lockmar subdivision. Pretty solid middle class area. Nothing grandiose about it (boats/RV's parked on the side of some yards), but it never got to the point of blight and most homeowners kept up the appearance of their properties. The elementary school (Lockmar Elementary) had a pretty good rating then. The traffic was a pain due to poorly planned and underdeveloped roads, but that seems to be the knock against Palm Bay for a while. We left the area and came back last Summer, after being gone for 12 years. Palm Bay overall, in my personal opinion, for whatever that could be worth, has seemed to decline, even if more stores and restaurants came in. I've been over in that area quite a bit the past few months, as we've been preparing my mother for transition to assisted living and selling her house. The house she bought 13 years ago will now sell for $25K less than she paid. The elementary school now has average reviews. There are definitely some places in Palm Bay I am not comfortable venturing out. We decided to rent an apartment in Suntree, due to the excellent elementary school of the same name, proximity to better shopping venues in Viera, closeness to I-95, as well as Patrick AFB. We're closing on a house within the same area. We like most of the communities here, as they are fairly quiet, traditional family enclaves. Some would call it boring, but we like it.

[Nypafl4u]

Keep in mind that house prices are cyclical. There are up and down periods with trends that can last a few to many years in one direction and then change. Unfortunately for you and your mother, 13 years ago was one of the biggest upswings of the real estate market in this country's history. Believe me, I bought my current home in NY 12 years ago and I am just now at a bit over what we paid in terms of value.
But I did very well with timing on my Florida properties. Back in 2011 and 2012 if you bought wisely, you likely would more than double your money if selling today, just 5-6 years later. Yes, my best % appreciation was in Palm Bay. Timing is everything.
As for Palm Bay desirability, from a rental perspective, one of my Palm Bay homes just went on the rental market this morning at 6:25AM. Zillow shows 102 views and 4 saves in less than 17 hours later. That is just on Zillow. I am confident we will have it rented within a week or so. I know that is not an indication of a good or bad neighborhood on its own, but it does say people do want to be in Palm Bay.

[MarlowHeights]

Originally Posted by Nypafl4u

Keep in mind that house prices are cyclical. There are up and down periods with trends that can last a few to many years in one direction and then change. Unfortunately for you and your mother, 13 years ago was one of the biggest upswings of the real estate market in this country's history. Believe me, I bought my current home in NY 12 years ago and I am just now at a bit over what we paid in terms of value.
But I did very well with timing on my Florida properties. Back in 2011 and 2012 if you bought wisely, you likely would more than double your money if selling today, just 5-6 years later. Yes, my best % appreciation was in Palm Bay. Timing is everything.
As for Palm Bay desirability, from a rental perspective, one of my Palm Bay homes just went on the rental market this morning at 6:25AM. Zillow shows 102 views and 4 saves in less than 17 hours later. That is just on Zillow. I am confident we will have it rented within a week or so. I know that is not an indication of a good or bad neighborhood on its own, but it does say people do want to be in Palm Bay.

Palm Bay is an affordable housing area. The first day my mother's home went on the market we had two offers, one slightly above list price. Yes, timing is everything in the housing market. We bought a house in Silver Spring, Maryland, which we put 20% down, approximately $50K in improvements, and paid that bank note faithfully for eight years. Yet when we sold that particular area had gone down so badly that we had to sell for $220K less than we paid, AND had to bring a check for $35K to closing. That really made me question the "American Dream" any longer. Anyway, off topic, as that was the DC area. I guess Palm Bay can be bad or good, depending upon where specifically you choose to live, shop, or happen to be. I just haven't seen really any rave reviews about it, nor anything special about the schools.