I am moving to Port St. Lucie but will be working in Boca Raton....Is this a good idea? (Jupiter: for sale, apartment)

[House4Sale]

Port St. Lucie use to be nice but is no longer (although some still do like it). Stay with Boca. I've a neighbor five houses down in a safe Boca neighborhood who is renting. I could put you in touch with her or just look for another house to rent. There are tons of great houses to rent and buy and they are in nice areas. Don't go to PSL.

[Wendyb0077]

I did a market search for a young buyer looking to find a SF home between 70K and 90K. To my surprise I pulled up over 100 of them. These types of homes were priced in the 200k range a couple of years ago. 55% to 65% drop in value. The buyers are starting to look. I don't know how much more these prices can drop. The Homeowners insurance has dropped the interest rates have dropped and the prices have dropped. Still have to be careful of the taxes. This is a big improvement from last year.

Originally Posted by Lilybeans

I think the market is pretty low right now. I personally think it's near the bottom, and homes will start selling, although there is a lot of inventory.
Just this week I've seen two real estate contracts, and I've talked to surveyors and engineers who tell me that their business is starting to pick up. All of that leads me to believe that buyers are starting to move a little.

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by Wendyb0077

I did a market search for a young buyer looking to find a SF home between 70K and 90K. To my surprise I pulled up over 100 of them. These types of homes were priced in the 200k range a couple of years ago. 55% to 65% drop in value. The buyers are starting to look. I don't know how much more these prices can drop. The Homeowners insurance has dropped the interest rates have dropped and the prices have dropped. Still have to be careful of the taxes. This is a big improvement from last year.

Wow, from $200,000 down to $70-90,000. I agree...those do not have much further to fall of course.

This makes my point, the OP mentioned paying $179,000 in Port Saint Lucie. No way would I spend that kind of money in PSL, I don't care how pretty a house it is.

[FLBoy123]

It is a buyers market , not a selling market. FL is suffering but no I wouldn't drive to Boca from PSL. I lived in FL moving back shortly. But right now I live in VA and drive 40 minutes each way to get to school and work. BUT I am in a country area and the drive is nice cause no traffic until u hit the city but no it is pricey and I would not perfer to do this again and city traffic for that long, no way! My parents get new cars every 3 years cause on the third year there is already over 100,000 miles on the car. They love it , to me I don't maybe cause I can't afford it myself lol but it is a waste to me. Oh well

[flybob63]

I would not dream of making that drive every day....

I live in PSL and work in northern Palm Beach County....I drive 80 miles a day commuting back and forth to work....I leave my house at 6 AM and traffic on 95 SBND is already terrible...It moves around 80 MPH in the fast lane but there are some real idiots out there.... There are two entrances to 95 near your area. Gatlin Blvd and St. Lucie West Blvd. Traffic on both is terrible at that time of the day and not too great the rest of the day either. If you take the turnpike, even though there are no entrances near you, you can count on sitting in line at the toll booth if you arrive home at the wrong time.

I spend an average of an hour and a half a day on the road and you will do at least twice that.

When we moved here gas was $1.50 a gallon five years ago...Now I spen about $400.00 a month in gas and you have a lot further to go than I do.

Newport Isles is a nice area with nice restaurants around and stores etc... I agree with you on that but if I had to do it all over again I would have moved closer to work... What I have saved on my cheaper home has been more than made up for by the cost of gas, wear and tear on my truck and waste of my own time.

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by flybob63

I would not dream of making that drive every day....

I live in PSL and work in northern Palm Beach County....I drive 80 miles a day commuting back and forth to work....I leave my house at 6 AM and traffic on 95 SBND is already terrible...It moves around 80 MPH in the fast lane but there are some real idiots out there.... There are two entrances to 95 near your area. Gatlin Blvd and St. Lucie West Blvd. Traffic on both is terrible at that time of the day and not too great the rest of the day either. If you take the turnpike, even though there are no entrances near you, you can count on sitting in line at the toll booth if you arrive home at the wrong time.

I spend an average of an hour and a half a day on the road and you will do at least twice that.

When we moved here gas was $1.50 a gallon five years ago...Now I spen about $400.00 a month in gas and you have a lot further to go than I do.

Newport Isles is a nice area with nice restaurants around and stores etc... I agree with you on that but if I had to do it all over again I would have moved closer to work... What I have saved on my cheaper home has been more than made up for by the cost of gas, wear and tear on my truck and waste of my own time.

Good post. $3.00 gas makes it even worse. I wonder if the OP bought that house as we have not heard from her. She said she had to the close of business that day and has not posted since.

[TriMT7]

I would NOT do it.

I commuted from West Palm to Hobe Sound for the past 7 months and hated it, and that's about half the distance you have to go.... and you're going South with the bulk of traffic. Just think - It will take you about an hour and a half to get to Boca (taking into account side street travel time assuming perfect driving conditions on the highway)... that's almost three hours on top of a 8-9 hour workday. My car got an average of 22mpg and I was spending close to $300/month on fuel.....a bill that will only go up over the next couple of years.


If you live in Port St. Lucie, the furthest South I would recommend working is downtown West Palm Beach. Port St. Lucie is crazily over-built right now. I'm sure the builder is giving you a fantastic deal, but it will be a time for you to prioritize.... can you do with less house and move in to somewhere in Jupiter or the Gardens? Is there anyway you can do what you do for work closer to PSL?

[Tiffanyp83]

Thank you all for you posts. I have still not made a decision to purchase the house as of yet, because I am still torn between the love for the house and the drive to work. There is no way that I would be able to leave my job and find something closer. The plus about my job is that I can work from home about 2 days a week, so I would only have the drive for 3 days a week. I am still trying to find out if there is office space in another office that we have off of Okeechobee Road in WPB. Another big reason why I want this house is because the builder is paying the closing costs and putting the down payment. I have seen a few inexpensive homes in WPB and Fort Lauderdale (where I currently reside), but all of the homes require a 20% down payment and I would have to pay the closing costs and I don't have that kind of money. I just paid off all of my debt excluding one student loan for $2,000 ($50 a month) that I will pay off in March and I only have $3,500 in savings. I would also be a first time home buyer. I really don't know what to do. I have spoken to several realtors who have told me to just take the house because the market is not going to get any better than this and that I am getting a lot of house and an awesome deal. I am asking on this forum because everyone that I know is telling me to take the house, it is a good deal and I want other truthful opinions. Please help. Also, I have not posted in a few days because I am in ATL on Company business. If anyone wants to talk to me on a personal level, please e-mail me at parisangel483@yahoo.com! Please put move in the subject. Please give me honest advice. thank you!!

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by Tiffanyp83

Thank you all for you posts. I have still not made a decision to purchase the house as of yet, because I am still torn between the love for the house and the drive to work. There is no way that I would be able to leave my job and find something closer. The plus about my job is that I can work from home about 2 days a week, so I would only have the drive for 3 days a week. I am still trying to find out if there is office space in another office that we have off of Okeechobee Road in WPB. Another big reason why I want this house is because the builder is paying the closing costs and putting the down payment. I have seen a few inexpensive homes in WPB and Fort Lauderdale (where I currently reside), but all of the homes require a 20% down payment and I would have to pay the closing costs and I don't have that kind of money. I just paid off all of my debt excluding one student loan for $2,000 ($50 a month) that I will pay off in March and I only have $3,500 in savings. I would also be a first time home buyer. I really don't know what to do. I have spoken to several realtors who have told me to just take the house because the market is not going to get any better than this and that I am getting a lot of house and an awesome deal. I am asking on this forum because everyone that I know is telling me to take the house, it is a good deal and I want other truthful opinions. Please help. Also, I have not posted in a few days because I am in ATL on Company business. If anyone wants to talk to me on a personal level, please e-mail me at parisangel483@yahoo.com! Please put move in the subject. Please give me honest advice. thank you!!

Here is the big question....if that is such a great deal why haven't 50 other people...including those realtors grabbed it? Why haven't those realtors grabbed it for their kids? Why is it still available even weeks after you first posted? Why?...because it is a bad deal, plain and simple. Great deals fly off the market!

I will pretend you are one of my own daughters. Please, do not buy that house. You will have no room for error as your savings will be depleted. One setback and you could be join the tons of foreclosures.

The realtors are lying to you. Flat out lying. Every independent source says prices will fall from a low estimate of 10% to a high estimate of 20% in the next year.

The problems are only just beginning. There is nothing to support these housing prices. I want you to go now and read two websites. Housing Bubble Blog dot com and Housing Panic dot com. Read the various threads. Those two blogs have saved me and made me almost $500,000 in the past 3 years.

You should rent for at least 1 year and build your bank account some more.

The best thing to do in this situation is walk away, don't take calls from realtors, let their calls go to voice mail, just go chill and enjoy the next year as you watch prices fall, fall, fall.

And that commute makes it double insanity. That commute will eat you up. Between the commute and being on edge with an overpriced house you will be in very bad shape in a year from now.

Do not do it!

[Copernicus]

I'm glad to hear that you have not made a decision to move forward yet with that house. I own a rental home in the Gaitlin area of Port St. Lucie. I had a tenant who comuted daily from Port. St. Lucie to Boca Raton. Even on a Saturday or a Sunday, it is a very tough drive and there is a ton of construction that will slow you down in West Palm Beach. The tenant who rented from me finally moved out of the home. He loved it in Port St. Lucie but he was involved in several major accidents making the drive that you are considering and a near miss situation on the highway that scared him to death.

The real estate market will come back so I'm not as concerned about your investment as I am your safety on a long, dangerous, tiring ride that as of right now has too much construction and delays. It will wear you out.

Best of luck with your situation.