[tricon7]

My family and I may be moving to the Melbourne area soon, and we'll be house-hunting. I know everything is relatively close to the beach there, but I'd love to find something closer if possible, as long as it's within my price range. I love the ocean! I can only imagine being within walking-distance to the beach.

I'd be working immediately south of the airport off of W. Nasa Blvd., so a long commute wouldn't be desirable, wherever I settle down. From what I've seen off realtor.com, properties even on Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, and Indian Harbour Beach are reasonable. Perhaps it's part of the depressed housing market? I'm not averse to finding something in Melbourne proper or Palm Bay - it's just that the beach areas call out to me so loudly(!) Anyway, my price range would be preferably under $170k. Lastly I do need a 4-br home.

Are there areas to stay away from, crime-wise? What about property taxes and home insurance, living close to the beach? Schools aren't so much a factor, since as soon as our children are school-age we'll be homeschooling them.

Any input is appreciated.

[Broker Dave]

Home prices near the beach have a double whammy, market conditions and flood insurance, a cost above and beyond the typical home insurance.

[jdoty]

Crime-wise (in general), there are some rough parts of town to avoid. The areas along University Blvd and Lipscomb (east of Babcock in Melbourne) can be bad, as can some areas east of Wickham and north of the airport, particularly along Aurora Rd. Avoid the entire city of Cocoa.

Viera is the new, trendy part of town. It's a well manicured, planned community. Many people love it, others (like myself) tend to think it's too artificial. Think cookie-cutter houses on tiny lots. Definitely check it out to see if it's what you're looking for. There are a lot of real nice areas beachside, and it has become more affordable lately. You'll pay for the location though. Your money will go farther on the mainland. Insurance can be more expensive beachside as well, but that's gotten better in the past few years.

I live in Palm Bay and love it, although when I first moved here we wouldn't even consider living there based on its reputation. It took some convincing on our realtor's part to at least look around, and we are glad we did. Lots are bigger, it's more rural, and you don't have to deal with a HOA for most of the city. The lack of planning in Palm Bay though means some streets will have run down houses that aren't taken care of very well, but the next street over is brand new, extremely nice houses. Since houses are cheaper, the people are more diverse. You'll have more immigrants and blue collar workers, along with teachers and cops, living in Palm Bay, but there's plenty of engineers and other professionals who live there as well. And ignore anyone who says Palm Bay is high crime. It isn't. Look at the city-data numbers compared to Melbourne for proof. My wife and I have never had a problem with walking around at night, going to the store late, or anything like that. Like Viera, people either love it or hate it. The same way I couldn't ever see myself wanting to live in a strict, gated community, lots of folks in places like Viera gag at the though of even stepping foot in Palm Bay. You'll have to check it out and see for yourself.

Also check out Windover Farms and the other areas up that way along Turtle Mound and Lake Washington. I really like that part of town. And look at some of my other posts for more details on various areas.