Zip Code 33414. How is it? (Miami, West Palm Beach: bank owned, cul-de-sac, for sale)

[jessemh431]

I'm interested in purchasing a home in the Miami suburbs. I found a beautiful 6 bed, 5.5 bath 2 story home on a 5,134 sq. ft. lot on a cul-de-sac in Wellington, FL for 700,000. Is that home too good to be true? Is it in a bad area.

Does anyone else have any suggestions of areas I could check out closer to the beach? I am looking for at least 3 bed 2 bath preferably with a pool for under 700,000.

Also, what is up with those canals that so many homes are built on. Can you go swimming in those or not?

[tallrick]

First of all, that's more than 1.5 hours from Miami, two counties away! Second of all, can you afford 14,000 per year for property taxes? A 5,134 square foor lot is very small, the house must really be crammed on that lot to fit. It's not a bad area though, but is quite overpriced in my opinion.

As for the canals most are dug to either provide more property value or to drain wetlands. The flow of water in the canals is often non-existant so they warm in the Florida sun. Amoeba and other bad stuff are prevalent, and chemical runoff from lawns is commonplace. I would never swim in any of them, even the ocean is contaminated in places.

[jessemh431]

Wow that's a lot in property taxes. I thought I would save money by moving to FL, but the lower home prices are made up for with property taxes.

[tallrick]

Remember, California taxes are 1% Florida's are 2% of assessed value, double! Take a look at the tax rates of recent purchases on the property tax assessor's website. Remember, older purchases have assessments limited to 3% per year. The taxes paid on a property now are usually MUCH LOWER than what YOU would pay, buying at such an inflated value.

[PBCboy]

Originally Posted by jessemh431

I'm interested in purchasing a home in the Miami suburbs. I found a beautiful 6 bed, 5.5 bath 2 story home on a 5,134 sq. ft. lot on a cul-de-sac in Wellington, FL for 700,000. Is that home too good to be true? Is it in a bad area.

Does anyone else have any suggestions of areas I could check out closer to the beach? I am looking for at least 3 bed 2 bath preferably with a pool for under 700,000.

Also, what is up with those canals that so many homes are built on. Can you go swimming in those or not?

That is not in the Miami suburbs, that's in the Palm Beach County suburbs.

Anyway, that is a very desirable and new area to live in but it's very expensive. It's not a bad area, the bad areas are West Palm Beach, Greenacres, and Lake Worth, all east of it.

I live in West Palm Beach and the area is getting pretty bad, I am actually planning on moving out of here. I would live in Wellington if I could but I can't afford houses $700,000 and up.

[LindaBassittPA]

I live in Wellington and am a Real Estate Agent. Home prices are now HALF of what they were (2) years ago. That $700,000 home (does it happen to be in Olympia?) used to be selling for $1.3 million resale and from developer.

NOTE: Miami is NOT Wellington, Wellington is a LONG DRIVE and has much better home prices.

Olympia has the lowest prices, because many people who bought homes there were 1. Investors (who now can't flip).. 2. Homeowner who got ARM Loans (that are now changing).

Thus, 20% of all Olympia is in Foreclosure. It's a good time to buy there to pick up some good foreclosures, and bank owned deals. Lowest home price is $189,900 for a 4/2/2.... you can buy a 4,000 SF for $400,000. 3,000 SF 4/3/2 for $300,000.

Once the foreclosures are bought, the neighborhood will have prices rise up again. Other areas in Wellington, the Isles at Wellington has maintained their prices- only 20 homes for sale versus 140 in Olympia... lowest home price $290,000 for a 5/3/2 foreclosure.

Black Diamond has few good deals- there was a 4/3/2 2,800 SF with pool on lake for $275,000 that is now pending sale- foreclosure.

In the end, you can buy the $700,000 home, or you can spend less and buy many others. For that price, you can even buy a custom built home on 2.5 acres in Wellington- land always appreciates and is a commodity, thus making it a good purchase.

[crisp444]

Originally Posted by jessemh431

I'm interested in purchasing a home in the Miami suburbs. I found a beautiful 6 bed, 5.5 bath 2 story home on a 5,134 sq. ft. lot on a cul-de-sac in Wellington, FL for 700,000. Is that home too good to be true? Is it in a bad area.

Does anyone else have any suggestions of areas I could check out closer to the beach? I am looking for at least 3 bed 2 bath preferably with a pool for under 700,000.

Also, what is up with those canals that so many homes are built on. Can you go swimming in those or not?

If you would like to be a lot closer to Miami and have a nice home with a pool for under $700,000, please check out Coral Gables, Pinecrest, South Miami, and Kendall. If you look hard enough, you might even be able to find a small 3/2 home with a pool in Surfside (a beautiful, quintessential beach town that might remind you of somewhere in CA like Seal Beach) for under $700,000 as well. Please let me know if you have any more questions.

**EDIT: I just realized how old this post was; I probably shouldn't have replied to something 1.5 years old... oh well**

[PBCboy]

That $700,000 price quote was from August 2007. Why was this old ass thread revived?