Boca vs. Boynton (real estate, condo, townhouse)

[lukeb321]

No this is not a joke. HAHAHA - I have lived in the area and understand the pos/neg of both areas but heres my question.

For the 250k range, would you rather buy a single family 3/2 (possibly 2/2) in Boca thats needs a decent amount of work or a new 3/2 sfh or townhouse in west Boynton beach?

I'm thinking about re-sale 5-7 years.

We can afford the Boca house but repairs would take some time to get completed.

[Villa Delray]

Boynton, but that's just me. I live in an older home, electric, plumbing, not enough sq feet, no closets, storage....the list goes on. It never get's done!
Good Luck!

[bale002]

Originally Posted by lukeb321

For the 250k range, would you rather buy a single family 3/2 (possibly 2/2) in Boca thats needs a decent amount of work or a new 3/2 sfh or townhouse in west Boynton beach?

I'm thinking about re-sale 5-7 years.

We can afford the Boca house but repairs would take some time to get completed.

It appears, then, that your main criteria is re-sale value. Generally speaking, SFHs retain/increase their value at a better pace than other types of residential housing.

So I suppose the question is whether the cost of repairs outweighs any potential greater gain.

I think the only way to make a worthwhile capital gain on a condo or townhouse is if there is another speculative bubble. Not too sure about the 5-7 year range, it could be, especially if we have inflation once the worst of the recession is over, but in the next 10-20 years is more likely.

As for the SFH in Boca, a lot depends on the quality of the neighborhood. At the price you mention, it sounds like south-central or south-west Boca, unless you are talking about some major repairs.

Even with the drop in prices over the past 18 months or so, according to my calculations residential real estate is still not a good cash-flow investment in this region, though at this point it may prove to be a hedge against inflation in the 5-7 year range, though cost of repairs may offset that. As for capital gains on the back of a speculative bubble, my sense is that the time horizon has to be longer.

Maybe you have other criteria besides re-sale value over a 5-7 year period.