So many Weston subdivisions -- which one to choose? (Fort Lauderdale: real estate, rental market)

[SwissMissMama]

Husband will be working in downtown Ft Lauderdale. We are not sure if we want to buy or rent at this point but we have narrowed our search to Weston. Budget is not so much an issue. We are moving from Zurich where the cost of living is enormous!

There are so many different subdivisions though --- Country Isles, The Ridges, Savanna...?

Is there a map that outlines all the subdivisions/communities within Weston? Is there a website that discusses what each subdivision has to offer (size of home range, price range, etc). Does one subdivision have better schools than the others (elementary)? Are all the subdivisions/communities gated?

Any information to sort through all the possibilities in Weston would be great.


Thanks so much!

[wizrap]

I live in Weston and when my husband and I were looking for homes (this is going back almost two decades ago) we had the realtor take us to different developments in the city within our budget. Since budget is not an issue for you, you have to consider what is important to you and then you'll see what community has those types of homes.

All communities in Weston are in a good school district and are highly rated -- that's one reason why Weston is so popular with families. So you don't have to narrow your search when it comes to schools.

If you want a gated community, you can pretty much consider everything except Country Isles and the Bonaventure section -- those two are not gated.

All the gated communities have a community pool or pools, either have a park or parks inside with tot lot (or have a park w/i walking distance nearby) and may even have a clubhouse.

The "ultra luxury" communities are Weston Hills, Windmill Ranches, Windmill Reserve and Windmill Lakes Estates. Home prices are anywhere from the mid-400's to the millions. The "Sans" (San Remo, San Sebastian and San Messina) are primarily townhome communities with a smattering of single-family homes and you might want to look at them to see about a rental. You are looking at the mid-200's, low 300's here to buy, although again, if you don't have to worry about budget, you may find these homes and/or their lots as too small. You can also look to rent in Emerald Isle -- it is single-family community; homes there go in the low to high 200's.

The next notch down from the ultra luxury communities would be The Landings, The Isles of Weston and Tequesta (IMHO). These homes range from the mid-400's to the 700's in price.

The next communities pretty much have a more varied price range, with generally homes going anywhere from the mid-200's (these can be 3/2's or 4/2's on very small lots) all the way up to the high 600's (5/3 or 6/3 on either water, or a pool, or a water view -- or all 3). These communities are Emerald Estates, The Lakes, North Lakes, Savanna (the largest community in terms of land mass in Weston), The Springs, The Falls, The Islands, The Meadows and The Ridges. Savanna and The Ridges are newer communities (built in the late 90's, early 00's) and The Springs is perhaps the oldest, built in the early 90's. All the rest were built in the mid-90's.

Hope this is of some help.

[LookingHome]

Looks like Wiz gave more detail then I probably could! But we just moved to Weston a month ago. Love it so far.

We decided to rent in the area we thought we wanted to buy. We did a lot of reading on here, neighborhood websites, and just plain looking at the communities on a map (to see neighborhood sizes, entrances, lot sizes, properties on the water, we wanted a neighborhood with a pool because we did not want a pool in our back yard) So we are renting so we can get a good feel before committing to make sure this was actually what we wanted. However we did find for our requirements, we wanted at least a 4/3, preferred a 5/3, there weren't a ton of options in the rental market. But, we found a great rental house in the area we wanted.

What size house are you looking for? How many beds or baths? I'm not sure what to compare rent or mortgage to, but if you're renting are you talking $2,000/mo? $4,000/mo? More? Buying, $400,000? $700,000, millions? I don't know all the neighborhood names, but I know when doing a search on a real estate app (both for renting and buying) the same handful of neighborhoods kept popping up based on our price range and housing requirements...so I knew we would most likely end up in a handful of neighborhoods.

Like stated, all of the Weston schools are A rated. Have you been to greatschools.org? I did a lot of reading and research on there, even before deciding on Weston. It was nice to just see some stuff in black and white and confirm they are indeed good schools. They also have parent reviews, which were nice to read.

Good luck.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by SwissMissMama

Husband will be working in downtown Ft Lauderdale. We are not sure if we want to buy or rent at this point but we have narrowed our search to Weston. Budget is not so much an issue. We are moving from Zurich where the cost of living is enormous!

There are so many different subdivisions though --- Country Isles, The Ridges, Savanna...?

Is there a map that outlines all the subdivisions/communities within Weston? Is there a website that discusses what each subdivision has to offer (size of home range, price range, etc). Does one subdivision have better schools than the others (elementary)? Are all the subdivisions/communities gated?

Any information to sort through all the possibilities in Weston would be great.


Thanks so much!

Hi SwissMissMama,

most subdivisions are gated, but there are some that are not.

Depending on where you live in Weston, your husband could shave off ~5-10 minutes from his commute time to Fort Lauderdale. Certain subdivisions have lots of curvy roads within them, and it could take 5 minutes to just get to the gate on your way out. Then add to that getting to the highway.

Here is a decent map, although it doesn't outline the subdivisions
http://www.westonfl.org/media/docs/m...nGuide2011.pdf

I love Savanna, I lived there for 10 years. This is the biggest subdivion, and it does take 5 minutes to drive to the gate But it's OK with me.

All the schools in Weston are really good, so I wouldn't worry about being in the right subdivision for the best school. But I am biased toward Manatee Bay Elementary and Falcon Cove Middle schools because that's where my kids went.

[ruski]

We are currently renting a condo at the Courtyards at the Grove. Great place. Gated. Literally across the street from Falcon Cove middle school and from Cypress Bay high school and very close to Manatee Bay Elementary. And a very nice library is next door.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by ruski

Hi SwissMissMama,

most subdivisions are gated, but there are some that are not.

Depending on where you live in Weston, your husband could shave off ~5-10 minutes from his commute time to Fort Lauderdale. Certain subdivisions have lots of curvy roads within them, and it could take 5 minutes to just get to the gate on your way out. Then add to that getting to the highway.

Here is a decent map, although it doesn't outline the subdivisions
http://www.westonfl.org/media/docs/m...nGuide2011.pdf

I love Savanna, I lived there for 10 years. This is the biggest subdivion, and it does take 5 minutes to drive to the gate But it's OK with me.

All the schools in Weston are really good, so I wouldn't worry about being in the right subdivision for the best school. But I am biased toward Manatee Bay Elementary and Falcon Cove Middle schools because that's where my kids went.

Here are some community outlines that I quickly made on that PDF:

[SwissMissMama]

Thanks for all the great info! I really appreciate it.

Now, i am going to ask perhaps a dumb question -- all these houses on the water? Is it man-made water canals/lakes/rivers? Why do people want to live on the water? More mosquitoes? Is it really cooler on the water? Just curious.

Thanks!

[ruski]

Originally Posted by SwissMissMama

Thanks for all the great info! I really appreciate it.

Now, i am going to ask perhaps a dumb question -- all these houses on the water? Is it man-made water canals/lakes/rivers? Why do people want to live on the water? More mosquitoes? Is it really cooler on the water? Just curious.

Thanks!

These are all man-made lakes and canals. It is more prestigious to have a waterfront property. It does cost more, but it will also command a higher resale price. Also having a lake in your backyard means you don't have any neighbors directly behind you.

Weston was build on the Everglades, so the developer tried to preserve the feel of the Everglades. But generally speaking, lakes and canals are everywhere in South Florida.

There are maybe marginally more mosquitoes on the waterfronts, but there are ways to deal with them.

[LookingHome]

I wondered that myself and at first I was against living on the water. We have small kids and both a pool and water scare me. Anyway, we found a rental house with no pool and a gate in the backyard and that felt comfortable. And now we are sold. When we buy a house, we really really want water!!!!

Most Weston neighborhoods do not have a lot of land. So, your neighbors are very close. When looking at some houses when we were considering buying immediately, we would be in the living room and basically be able to see in the living room of a backyard neighbor. Of corse some others had fences. And many had a great line of bushes that practically made a fence. But now being on the water, it's a gorgeous site to wake up to. It's so nice to sit out there as the kids play (granted we moved in October so it won't exactly be fun next summer), and it feels a lot more spacious. So my husband bumped that up to a must have for our next house, where just 2-3 months ago it was on our NO list! Lol!

[jhlcomp]

Broward county has excellent mosquito control. Actually, you only realize how fortunate we are after traveling to other counties within the state. We no longer have "love bugs" ------ remember those?

It is a plus if you can find a house with a screen enclosure for your pool and/or patio area.