HELP! Moving from suburbs of so. California to Boca Raton. (for sale by owner, homes)

[juju]

Thank you! It is very hard to relocate. Is Boca hit by the hurricanes? Is there anywhere else that has good schools and is Boca Raton-ish and is a good commute to downtown miami for work? Is it as humid as I hear????

[mich2fla]

Originally Posted by juju

Thank you! It is very hard to relocate. Is Boca hit by the hurricanes? Is there anywhere else that has good schools and is Boca Raton-ish and is a good commute to downtown miami for work? Is it as humid as I hear????

That area of Florida is packed with tourists and residents. You wanna commute from Boca Raton to Miami EVERYDAY? You should live close where you will work. Soon the snowbirds will come back and clog up the roads from October to April.

To check out schools, schoolmatters.com and narrow down your search from there.

Hurricanes can hit anywhere, including NYC!

[iamcrzymom]

juju - The commute from Boca to Miami is quite far (roughly and hour or more). You might want to look in the Weston or Pembroke Pines areas in Broward County. There are also some decent pockets of homes in the Hollywood area but I would choose carefully if you look there.

[rkumar3]

Boca - Miami downtown commute will be a nightmare (specially if you are working for someone ie. have to commute at peak hours). You can try Weston/Miramar but both are too far west so still require an hour for commute (each way). I would suggest Coral Gables or Coconut Grove in Miami.. Both have really nice houses with old town feeling. They are not your average FL towns... when you drive there you can smell the old money

[juju]

Thanks rkumar3,mich2fla and iamcrzymom.......is weston and coral gables like boca raton? at this point my husband is going to have to commute to coral gables from wherever we live....we have to compromise something....i have to leave my family and friends.....it's funny, i hear so many bad things about florida, and then i meet such nice, helpful people like you all.....so at this point it seems that boca has the better schools? yea? does it have the bug and humidity problem too? and oh yea..where are all the alligators (sp?)

[rkumar3]

To me Weston, Gables and Boca have entirely different feeling. Weston is suburbs with planned sub-division, most of the residents are in mid 30s and 40s with kids... Boca is mixed, you have middle aged professionals, retirees who move from up north and college kids who go to FAU. I haven't really explored Gables much since it is in Miami but it is where you see 'Old money'... ie old unique homes with charcter, caffes, restaurants etc..

If I have to choose among the three, I would pick Boca since it is in the center of activities, closer to ocean, have nice schools, offer a variety of housing in all price ranges (from track homes to custom homes to homes on Intercoast waterways). Best of all if your husband switches jobs down the road, there are tons of employers in Boca.... obviously the biggest down side is the commute and the only way to over come that is beating the rush hous or working for home (at least part time)

[rkumar3]

Forgot to mention don't worry 2 much about bugs and allegators... As for as hurricanes are concerened they can hit anywhere on the East Coast (Key West to NY) but the general rule of thumb is: Closer to ocean = More hurricane damage chances. Also here is some more data that might help you in the decision:

Median price (The price point at which half the homes are asking more money and the other half asking less money) of a single family in:

Boca Raton = 560K*
Weston = 600K*
Coral Gables = 900K*

*based on the data from MLS listing on 8/3.
Disclosure: I am an active FL Realtor with access to MLS database.

[teelac888]

i'm in the SF Bay Area up north and looking to go to Orlando in the coming months. the cost of one-way truck rental is horrendous. how will you be moving?

[bloop4]

Boca is a money pit. You cant get a house without a homeowners association. If you wanna throw 400 bucks out every month for a complex that ususally doesnt do anything than go right ahead.

Im out of here, to a cheaper place where no HOA and less taxes.

[House4Sale]

I love Boca, have been here for 15+ years. I like Delray's Atlantic Ave for the activities and shops but I wouldn't move there.

That is a haul to travel everyday so you might want to check Parkland (expensive but nice) or Margate which are a tad closer but not alot.

All these noted areas are diverse: whites, blacks, hispanic, latino, Jewish folk, Haitian etc. but not as much as Miami. I would not live in Miami. I'd pick Parkland, Boca, Wellington and Jupiter though.