going to buy a home in the "acreage" in Palm Beach. How much is homeowners insurance ??? (Jacksonville: for sale, crime rate)

[Bette]

Originally Posted by SKB

Why are you buying a house in Acreage at this time? The prices are just starting to come down.
Check list listing out: Single Family Home - 17747 Orange Grove Blvd, Loxahatchee, FL, 33470 - Realtor.com (http://tinyurl.com/6qe4pl - broken link)

This is just a start on the decline in this area of zip 33470.

Very interesting - thanks for sending this!!

[jbravo]

Originally Posted by graywolf73

What do you mean "just a start on the decline"??? The Acreage area including Loxahatchee 33470 has been steadily declining for 2 years now. I know for an absolute fact because I lived there for 10 years and my father is a Realtor there. In fact my bro-in-law has a 4-2.5-5 (yes 5 car garage) he originally had on the market for $550K over a year ago and is now on the market in 33470 for $399K because that's what the market dictates. There are tons of deals to be had in 33412 and 33470 and now is the BEST time to buy.

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-----------------It's ALWAYS the best time to buy --------------------



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[SKB]

Originally Posted by Bette

Very interesting - thanks for sending this!!

Don't be to hasty, that is just the start of the crash, property values have ONLY started to decline in Loxahatchee. Don't become a knife catcher.
That home is worth no more than 156,000 based on prior sales of similar homes and adding a very generous 3% YOY appreciation.
The real estate company that listed this home are being more realistic than other companies are being but still have a long way to go.

A cash deal is the way to go to get the really good deals. I have seen three others that sold for .50 cents on the dollar from peak prices.

BTW, I looked at that house, it is lovely, no big damage except the screened patio needs redoing and house requires power cleaning. It has wonderful inlaid tile floors and hardwood in bedrooms. The kitchen is ok but no whistles or bells. It is located on the end of a quiet dirt street.
It has a huge pond in the back (takes up a lot of room) and lots of pine trees.

The lot was not big enough for my horses and besides I know that there are nicer, newer and better out there.
I would not buy a home from that year as the new building codes were not introduced yet.
I have lists of homes that have just entered LP and I have lists of REO that I have researched myself.
I will be offering my cash deal directly to the holding bank on something far sweeter. I will not post the links for those ones. sorry.

[GrannyII]

Is there income tax in Florida? If not, sales tax may even out the costs to buy there; however, the high insurance cost must be offset by......the low sales prices?
Texas seems to have no income tax and very high property taxes.
Oregon has income taxes, no sales tax (yet), fairly high property taxes and very low insurance costs inland. However, lots of rain, so heat bills may be high-ish.

[Arubaclown]

Hi, I am very new to this forum, but since I noticed talk on this thread about "the acreage" I was wondering if anyone would know if this area is relatively safe - Tangelo Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 33412. Also, I see that "the acreage" seems to be a "subdivision" does that mean there are lots of fees to be paid such as maintenance, home owners association, etc? We were originally considering moving to the West Coast by the Cape Coral area but have heard it is not the greatest of places to be. Any info would be helpful. Thanks. By the way, this forum is so useful and full of interesting information - glad I found it.

[heydade]

Originally Posted by Arubaclown

Hi, I am very new to this forum, but since I noticed talk on this thread about "the acreage" I was wondering if anyone would know if this area is relatively safe - Tangelo Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 33412. Also, I see that "the acreage" seems to be a "subdivision" does that mean there are lots of fees to be paid such as maintenance, home owners association, etc? We were originally considering moving to the West Coast by the Cape Coral area but have heard it is not the greatest of places to be. Any info would be helpful. Thanks. By the way, this forum is so useful and full of interesting information - glad I found it.

Aruba clown...

moderator edit The acreage belongs to a special district for the maintenance of the dirt roads (yes...many of the roads there are gravel roads...I'd say 75%) The improvement district fees are about 2k a year and they are automatically escrowed from your mortgage payment if you finance your home. Acreage area is pretty safe. Lot's of firefighters and police officers live in that area....that should tell you something. Very nice country feel. You made a smart move by avoiding cape coral.

[graywolf73]

The Acreage is NOT a sub-division. It is an unincorporated area in Palm Beach County that encompasses parts of Royal Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, and Loxahatchee. It does NOT have an HOA, therefore there are no dues. But as Heydade stated there is the Indian Trail Improvement District that you pay as part of your taxes. The area is extremely safe. I lived there 10 years and never felt unsafe. Like any area, some parts are better than others. You would literally have to drive through the area and see which roads you would like to live on. All of the "named" roads are paved (except for Tangelo, but that is in the plan to pave in 2009 I think) The "numbered" roads are dirt (except for 140th which runs in between Northlake Blvd and Orange Blvd). The reason being that you (the homeowner) own part of the road. Tangelo runs from Grapeview to Seminole Pratt Whitney Road. Some houses are nicer than others, but I would say it's one of the safest areas around.

[Arubaclown]

Thanks for the info on the Acreage area. Sounds like a very nice safe place but not sure about the gravel and dirt roads. My husband rides a Harley and don't know how he would deal with that - I doubt it would be good for the bike - right now I am just starting to search the East Coast because of what we started hearing about the original area we were looking at on the West Coast. We know there is crime everywhere, heck, we live in Brooklyn, NY right now - but trying to move somewhere that is kept up with and not nice on one block and bad on the next - it is difficult to make a decision to relocate to another state when you don't know all the particulars of the areas - I appreciate the help. Can anyone recommend any other areas that might have nice houses with some property (don't want to be right on top of the neighbor)? Open to different areas along the East Coast. My friends mom lives in Delray Beach - any thoughts on that area? Sorry for all the questions - but any info from people that already live on the East Coast helps more than all the research online - again I say, glad I found this forum.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by Arubaclown

We know there is crime everywhere, heck, we live in Brooklyn, NY right now - but trying to move somewhere that is kept up with and not nice on one block and bad on the next -

A. I don't think you realize how safe New York and the whole tri-state area really is compared to most of the country, even Brooklyn. People think they have the worst there, but they have the best.

B. Anywhere in Palm Beach County north of PGA Blvd or west of Jog Rd fits the bill for your criteria. Anywhere in Broward County west of University Dr is also similar but doesn't have the same pseudo-upscale feel (in most areas). Martin County is also really nice and not as overdeveloped as the bottom three counties, as is Vero Beach and also Brevard County has a lot of nice areas. I don't really like anything on the east coast north of Brevard County (do not confuse it with Broward County) until you get to St. Augustine. That area is VERY nice. I'm not a huge Jacksonville fan but people think it's the promised land, so there must be something to it, and there is a unique Victorian town called Fernandina Beach that is north of JAX that is VERY nice.

[mawipafl]

compelled to reply - you're too funny! Seriously though, I do agree with your opinion A.

Arubaclown - I live in the "promised land" (quoting compelled :-) You can check out the Jacksonville area in its forum
Jacksonville Forum - Relocation, Moving, Local City Discussions - City-Data Forum

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

A. I don't think you realize how safe New York and the whole tri-state area really is compared to most of the country, even Brooklyn. People think they have the worst there, but they have the best.

B. Anywhere in Palm Beach County north of PGA Blvd or west of Jog Rd fits the bill for your criteria. Anywhere in Broward County west of University Dr is also similar but doesn't have the same pseudo-upscale feel (in most areas). Martin County is also really nice and not as overdeveloped as the bottom three counties, as is Vero Beach and also Brevard County has a lot of nice areas. I don't really like anything on the east coast north of Brevard County (do not confuse it with Broward County) until you get to St. Augustine. That area is VERY nice. I'm not a huge Jacksonville fan but people think it's the promised land, so there must be something to it, and there is a unique Victorian town called Fernandina Beach that is north of JAX that is VERY nice.