Palm City\Stuart (Miami, Jupiter, Hobe Sound: insurance, crime, houses)

[stboosy11]

My wife and myself are coming down to look at houses in the palm city\stuart area in march. We are relocating with our 3 (elementary school aged) children and are looking for some insight on the area? Shes a RN and Im a teacher. any info is appreciated. thank you in advance

[Denise in Fla]

I lived in Stuart for 3 years, nice area but heavily populated with snowbirds. I don't have any school aged children so can't help with that. Lot of shopping in the Jensen Beach area, the big hospitals there are Martin Memorial South and North. The newspaper there is the Martin County : TCPalm, might be able to get some information there. Good luck.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by stboosy11

My wife and myself are coming down to look at houses in the palm city\stuart area in march. We are relocating with our 3 (elementary school aged) children and are looking for some insight on the area? Shes a RN and Im a teacher. any info is appreciated. thank you in advance

It's a nice area. Martin County has a height limit on buildings, so there are no higr rise buildings anywhere in the county. The tallest building, I think, is the hospital, at four floors. It is one thing that makes the county nicer than almost any other in south Florida.

The schools are good, crime is low, the populace is pretty well educated for the most part.

There is a lot to do, especially if you like the outdoors. The area has grown a lot since we've lived here, but it is still less populated than the countys to the north and south.

What info in particular do you need? How come you decided to move here?

[stboosy11]

We are coming from near Boston. Main reasons being weather and cost of living and WEATHER. My dad is a snowbird in Jupiter and it just seems too pricey in that area. The housing costs in Palm City\Stuart seem to provide more bang for the buck. My biggest concern is the Insurance costs? Could you tell me an estimate of a 250k property? Is the area congested? Thanks for your help!

[Lilybeans]

Every area in south Florida is congested, but you will find Stuart much less congested than other areas. Congestion is all relative. I hate the traffic here, but when we go to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami and come back here, we are totally relieved because there is no traffic.

On the other hand, it's not as nice as Vermont, where we can drive across half the state and only see a couple of cars and no stoplights.

Insurance costs are so variable that it is hard to give an estimate. It depends on the home, the location, the year it was built, the insurance company, etc. It's just too hard to say. I would think you are looking at at least $3000 a year, at a bare minimum.

This is definitely a buyer's market and there are good deals to be had. Palm City is more upscale than Stuart , not that it really means anything, but there are no bad areas in Palm City. The schools are all excellent. There are lots of parks, lots of water access, lots of activities for kids, and a pretty safe environment.

Stuart is actually a town that you can park downtown, and walk around and shop, eat, and do things. It's one of the few areas around with a real downtown. I'm sure you'll like it here. PM me if you want my phone number at my office and I'll be happy to tell you more.

[Denise in Fla]

But beware, if you are going to live in Palm City, check out the rush hour traffic going over the bridge, it's a nightmare. Jensen Beach where the shopping malls and stores are is very congested.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by Denise in Fla

But beware, if you are going to live in Palm City, check out the rush hour traffic going over the bridge, it's a nightmare.

You know, rush hour is really not that bad, and it only lasts 30 minutes or so, between 5:10 and 5:40pm. I wouldn't call it a nightmare by any stretch.

[Denise in Fla]

And it is getting worse as the population grows there. 30 minutes is a long time to sit there waiting to go over the bridge to Palm City, sometimes longer. But if sitting in traffic is a problem I would suggest traveling thru there at rush hour, just my opinion.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by Denise in Fla

And it is getting worse as the population grows there. 30 minutes is a long time to sit there waiting to go over the bridge to Palm City, sometimes longer. But if sitting in traffic is a problem I would suggest traveling thru there at rush hour, just my opinion.

Rush hour itself only lasts 30 minutes. It doesn't take that long to get over the bridge.

It is congested around the mall in Jensen, if you go whenever everyone else goes. Luckily, there is no reason for us to go there. I don't think I've been in the mall in over a year.

If we do need to go to a mall, the Gardens Mall takes is only about 20 minutes from Palm City.

[Jungle George]

Originally Posted by stboosy11

We are coming from near Boston. Main reasons being weather and cost of living and WEATHER. My dad is a snowbird in Jupiter and it just seems too pricey in that area. The housing costs in Palm City\Stuart seem to provide more bang for the buck. My biggest concern is the Insurance costs? Could you tell me an estimate of a 250k property? Is the area congested? Thanks for your help!

You also might want to check homes in the Hobe Sound area. Not as "congested" as Stuart/Palm City, closer to Jupiter, & still an up-and-coming area!!

There's too many variables to consider quoting an insurance cost (location/age of house/etc.), but there are a lot more companies out there writing policies than there were 2 years ago &, from what I understand from talking to my insurance agent, some are "backed" by the state of Florida against default.

Feel free to IM me if you have any questions & I'll try to help...