Coral Springs part of Heron Bay (Davie, Weston: short sales, real estate, foreclosures)

[kirstenmarieg]

We relocating to FL from Collierville, TN in December. We've lost most our equity in this horrid housing market, so we have to rely on our sign on bonus for our down payment. So my house hunting dropped from low $700K to mid $500K. I really wanted a nice home with a pool in Heron Bay. I love the amenities that it offers. We have 5 children ranging from 7months to 20 years old (girls are tranferring to FAU in Boca) so we need a large house. My current home is 4000sf and works beautifully for us, but it costs significantly less to live in an affluent area here. I have seen homes in L'HERMITAGE AT HERON BAY that are in my new price range.

Does anyone live in this neighborhood or know anyone who does? What are your thoughts.

There are lots of homes in Parkland with dropped prices, but I am concerned about Chinese Drywall, the of course there is the $650 a month HOA fee in Parkland Golf. That has to be the highest HOA I have ever seen.

Anway, I could really use some feedback. This whole move is stressing me out so bad.

[eger]

Heron Bay is very nice, but IMO you're still going to be overpaying for real estate, especially in that area.

[kirstenmarieg]

My biggest issue is schools. We have one in high school and one in elementary school. So the schools need to be excellent. My kindergartner has only been in school a couple months and is reading, learning about nouns and verbs, counting by 5's and 10's just to mention a few things. I am thrilled with that. But I see a lot of A Rated schools everywhere for elementary, but high school is my biggest concern since I have a freshman who is an honors student. We visited Parkland and it seems like a very nice area, but yes very expensive but safe. I live outside of Memphis and my husband had a thirty minute commute to the city and we paid a premium, but crime in Memphis is BAD. It seems like most of South Florida is expensive though, at lease where the schools are good. We can't afford private school. My husband will be working on Las Olas in FL, so it has to be within a 40 minute commute and we did the commute during rush hour when we came to visit and it was acceptable. Otherwise I would head to Wellington where you get more for your money. Weston is expensive. Even Cooper City and Davie, once you get into a home that is closer to 4000sf, it is out of our price range.

Are there some areas that I am overlooking within commuting distance of FL?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Kirsten

[jhlcomp]

If you are looking in this area please be very mindful of homes built with Chinese drywall.

[rkumar3]

Parkland, Davie, Weston are pretty good choices... However you are going to be hard pressed to find 4000 + sq ft newer home in that range. I think you should set you expectations to more like ~3500ish sq ft home. There are certainly good bargains out there, just have to be patient and willing to do some fix ups. I wouldn't worry too much about the chineese drywall issue since it is very easy to spot a home with that problem during (or even before) the inpsection period. Considering the Las Olas commute, I would recommend more in favor of Davie v/s Parkland since it is closer, more established and mature town. Anyway, good luck on the move

[kirstenmarieg]

Thank you so much for your replies. I actually have a few homes on my list that I have seen already when I was out there. When I saw the one house in the Parkland part of Heron Bay, they were asking $690K and it is now $580K. There are two more houses that dropped into the mid $600's that were in the high $700's. All are non foreclosures or short sales. I personally dropped our house $50K below market to move it, so there are definitely motivated sellers out there. All of the houses were at about 4000sf, no Chinese Drywall. (homes were built around 2002). So I think the best thing to do is drop my home price to a SELL point and get back up to the high 600 range.

I am also looking at Davie, but the high school got a C rating from Broward Schools and my daughter is a freshman so I don't think that would work since I don't want to pay for private schools.

I am just so worried about making this huge investment when home prices are still so volatile in South Florida. I am wondering if leasing would be the way to go until I can find the right area for us.

Anyway, thank you kind folks for your help. Praying for some offers so we can just move on! :-)

Kirsten

[fauve]

Yes, if I were you, especially under so much stress and with your time constraints, would rent right now. Three are some great deals in rentals and I think it would take some of the pressure off.