Is Weston, FL a good place for us? (Davie, Sunset: HOA fees, attorney)

[drBurg]

We’re planning to move from Massachusetts to Weston, FL , we lived in Weston many years ago and we honestly miss it . Now we have 2 kids (6 and 4) and 4 dogs, but seems a bit difficult to find a place for all of us. I’ve been trying to call several properry managers just to find out most communities won’t accept more than 2 dogs, we’re planning to buy a home and our budget is around $900k.... I’m an animal lover , my dogs are very tiny, well behaved and 2 of them are very old. . I’ve been checking other areas like South West Ranches and Davie, but seems like they manage more information about horses, than just regular pets (?)
When I tried to call the property management companies, People on the phone sounded kind of busy, like they didn’t want to spend one minute of their lives searching about the pet policy, the other half don’t answer or told me they don’t manage the property anymore ...
I’m losing my mind trying to see if Weston is good for us or not. One property manager told me that San Messina and San Remo don’t have pet limit policy ... but we are looking for a house with a pool and backyard and unfortunately the houses in San Messina only have small patios and the rest are just townhouses. I remember years ago a person I met told me her community had a pet limit of 4 small dogs , but I can’t remember the name of the community 😕... any idea where can we live with our furry friends 🐶?

[AlexRodriguez]

Come to my community (Sunset Springs) We don't have a pet restriction here.

[drBurg]

Thanks you!! Yes, I called Sunset springs and they told me 2 pets per household... ��

[wizrap]

We used to live in North Lakes, which also has a 2 pet maximum. When we bought there, we had 2 pets, but through the years, added to the family and had 4 pets for many of the 20 some odd years we lived in Weston.

My husband and I both thought that if the HOA ever wanted to take them from us, that they would have to pry them from our clamped hands. But we never heard a peep from the HOA.

However, I later learned at an HOA meeting, when I was asking questions about the pet limit rule, and the pet rules in general, that these policies are very very difficult to enforce. The reason is that even though a neighbor can report you as exceeding the pet limits, someone on the HOA BOD has to verify it (as per the HOA's attorney). How do they do this? Knock on your door and ask? They could. Would you show them 4 pets though? I doubt it.

And if they did see 4, who's to say you're taking care of 2 for a friend. The HOA can't lurk around your property or trespass to find out. What I learned was that HOA's have lots of rules, and that many are useless as they are unenforceable.

I'm telling you this so that you know, at least in our experience, having 4 pets wasn't a problem. And that when we sold our home, the family who bought it was from Boston (don't know how many pets they had though!)

[BNBR]

Have you checked out Riverstone, Highland Ranch Estates, and Imagination Farms? For your price range, you would get a LOT for your money, in an excellent area, with great schools, more down to earth... and just across the bridge from everything in Weston you would want access to anyways.

[ruski]

Back to original question about the number of pets in Davie and Southwest Ranches... I doubt anyone would ever care if you live there with four [small] dogs. Especially in SW Ranches. I had a friend there who had a few kangaroos there, and a bunch of chickens.

[2Tiny]

Originally Posted by BNBR

Have you checked out Riverstone, Highland Ranch Estates, and Imagination Farms? For your price range, you would get a LOT for your money, in an excellent area, with great schools, more down to earth... and just across the bridge from everything in Weston you would want access to anyways.

Any negative to Imagination Farms? Are all school grade levels good there?

[ruski]

Originally Posted by 2Tiny

Any negative to Imagination Farms? Are all school grade levels good there?

It is a very nice gated community. At least one of my coworkers lives there, with two kids. Although for high school, she sent them to private schools.

[BNBR]

Originally Posted by 2Tiny

Any negative to Imagination Farms? Are all school grade levels good there?

It's a great gated community, right in your price range (maybe even a tad below). You'll get a large beautiful house with a builders acre yard on the water. WAY more than you would ever get in Weston. And I like the location better, too.

The elementary school is actually in Weston! The middle and high are in Davie and perfectly good schools and highly rated. Be careful with ratings, I mean, the dumb school rating sites have the Weston elementary as a 7. Our kids go there and it's outstanding.

Only reason we didn't buy in Imagination Farms is our budget was a bit higher, but we are right in the same area. So this is an area I'm very familiar with. But for your budget, that or Riverstone is a great option.

I like Highland Ranch Estates also. The location is better. It's right over the bridge from Weston which gives you a brand new grocery store, restaurants, movie theaters, gas station, and even town center and the elementary school are right down the street. The only negative to Highland is it's proximity to I75 so you do get some white noise. I would definitely check it out also. Being right over the Indian Trace bridge is a plus.

And don't discount the non-HOA acreage right in this same area. You can buy a nice house for $600 - $700k with a large property, no HOA fees, etc. Same schools, proximity to Weston, etc. I would definitely look at those, too.

Weston is nice, and we are closer to the stuff in Weston than most of Weston, but with a lot more property, bigger house, and much cheaper - similar quality schools. West Davie is somewhere you probably want to look for sure. It may NOT be perfect for you, but at least look. You may prefer the Weston neighborhoods and that's ok, too!