moving from MI, 2 small Kids, Husband got a job in Boca Raton. Please help me figure the rest out!!! (Miami: best neighborhoods, real estate)

[jjhenderson1]

Hi all! My family and I have lived in Grand Rapids, MI our entire lives, I will be sad to leave our family and friends, but this is what's best for my husband's career and our family....this is a BIG move for us! Please help me with any current information you can on the following:
-Cost of living in and around Boca Raton (West Palm, Coconut Creek, West Boca, Wellington, Boyton Beach, etc, etc,...) I am looking for the best place to raise my kids the right way (respectful, kind hearted, in sports/activities, dance, etc)
-We will be making between $70,000 and $105,000....my job is yet to be determined, so kind of looking to rent a home for a while until we find where we really want to get settled
-We are still not 100% set on what we want to spend per month as our full income is undetermined, but thinking around $1,000-$2,000/month??? How does that sound and what can we get for that?
-Best neighborhoods, schools, beaches to visit as a family, activites/attractions
-Schools are going to be a big deal for me...My daughter will be starting kindergarten next fall and I want her to get settled in a great school district prior to beginning her schooling career.
-ANY OTHER INFO will be helpful! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!

[klaucka]

Boca definitely has the best schools so I would start there. But of course with the good schools comes the higher real estate prices. My husband had a 2/2 apartment prior to our move in Mizner Park and was paying $2k, so I would expect that a larger townhouse or single family would be at least $2k, probably starting more in the $2300 range. I would start looking west of the 95 as there is more inventory and prices drop as you move further from the beach and downtown. West is primarily gated communities but that would probably be better for a family situation anyway. All of Boca is pretty safe (best in the area) - the one sketchy area is adjacent to the train tracks which holds true as well for the surrounding towns of Delray, Boynton, etc.

[ladyalicemore]

I live in East Boca Raton, where a 'Dick Van Dyke' style one-story house from the 1960s in a non-gated community, just open and diverse, is sometimes an affordable option for people. Just see what you think about Palmetto Park Terrace and Boca Square on the house listings available now. All kinds of people live there. I live in Palmetto Park Square, just be careful about the underground canal. Mizner school is easy in walking distance of me. My neighbors whose kids have gone there have liked it. No super-recent info, though.

I rented in West Boca Raton for five years before I bought a house and have never regretted leaving the transients-at-play setting and the traffic.

I do think that West Boca Medical Center is way better than Boca Raton Hospital, and West Boca is by no means all bad. But (I didn't know this when I moved down here in the 1980s), West Boca is in unincorporated Palm Beach County. It's not really a city in itself. Palm Beach County police and fire. No trash collection at curbside (or it's by contract and expensive). Water is more expensive. Resale is lower. New houses often depreciate, like cars. Not walkable. Zoning is out of control. No limits to developers and too much sprawl.

More of a human scale in East Boca, but it is frumpier looking. If you don't have to live in new construction, it's a better value. There are a lot of other subdivisions as well.

I am east of 95 though and should say that the storm insurance costs increase so much east of i-95 that one can add at least 3000 to annual costs in East Boca. The beach stickers are cheap, though. And the town beaches, with parking around $50 a year, are absolutely beautiful.

[garyhitchcock]

Your going to be in sticker shock from Grand Rapids, I'm sorry but best to be straight with you. The best schools by far are in the Coral Springs/Parkland area which borders Boca to the south and where Parkland was rated #1 in the US for public schools by Forbes. I can say an older 3/2 home or 3/2 townhome is going to be between $2000 and $2500. Your correct in your thinking to get in the right school district so that when you purchase you won't have to uproot your children and our school districts determine resale value. Prices and mortgage rates are going up rapidly so if your husband likes his job you won't want to rent very long. These cities have won awards for best family cities in the US, and have many parks, sports activities, dance schools, etc.

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by garyhitchcock

Your going to be in sticker shock from Grand Rapids, I'm sorry but best to be straight with you. The best schools by far are in the Coral Springs/Parkland area which borders Boca to the south and where Parkland was rated #1 in the US for public schools by Forbes. I can say an older 3/2 home or 3/2 townhome is going to be between $2000 and $2500. Your correct in your thinking to get in the right school district so that when you purchase you won't have to uproot your children and our school districts determine resale value. Prices and mortgage rates are going up rapidly so if your husband likes his job you won't want to rent very long. These cities have won awards for best family cities in the US, and have many parks, sports activities, dance schools, etc.

Hmmm coral springs seriously, pls I cant tell you how misleading your posts are....my sons friends graduated spanish river all at UF and FSU Some are attending UNC Chapel Hill, the schools in parkland are just like the schools in boca as we have friends in stoneman douglas and wow the stories her daughter tells us...pls show us proof like the report card and pls dont show us the forbes article that just doesnt hold any water...

[DaniellaG]

I'm from MI though not your areas. I am from Bloomfield Hills area if you are familiar? I lived in Boca Raton for awhile.
First and I don't be to offend you or be rude but I don't understand your housing budget because 1-2000 a month is a huge difference. Renting a home in a nice area for 2000 would be very rare. Probably a townhouse for 2000 in Boca which could be 3 bedrooms. Private owners you have room to negotiate but they also want 1st,last,security regardless of income or credit. If you want to rent from a private owner I would call a realtor and explain what you are looking for and for them to send you some listings so you can get a feel. Though often the pictures are not accurate in my opinion.
Since I feel safety is a huge issue in FL overall Boca to me is the safest. You mentioned West Boca and I am clueless on directions but the area where Broken sound and Woodfield is I thought is Central? I think that area is nice but also comes with a price tag. Boca is not a respectful or kind hearted place. I have lived many places and Boca is the rudest place I have lived. It is not because of the money issue because I have lived in wealthier areas. I am not sure why people are not considerate of others in Boca. You didn't mention Jupiter but you may want to look into that to.
When would you find out about the location of your husbands job because the commute could take a toll.
Growing up we used to vacation in FL and I have such fond memories of Lion Country Safari in West Palm. It is an activity for the whole family so I always suggest that to others.

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by DaniellaG;

Since I feel safety is a huge issue in FL overall Boca to me is the safest.

Just to nitpck a bit.... but the OP is coming from Grand Rapids, so most of Palm Beach County will be statistically safer, with notable exceptions.

[Swimmom32]

I would chose Jupiter over Parkland if that is the route you would like to go

[DaniellaG]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

Just to nitpck a bit.... but the OP is coming from Grand Rapids, so most of Palm Beach County will be statistically safer, with notable exceptions.

That may be true I have no clue about Grand Rapids. Where I am from in MI and the nearby cities are much safer then PBC. So for the OP moving may give them a safe feeling. In comparison to where I lived the crime is high in PBC.
On Parkland isn't it a small area and borders on part of West Boca that is not desirable and Coconut Creek which is ok?

[ladyalicemore]

JJ, I don't know Michigan traffic but disagree with suggestions that your family should live in Jupiter with a daily commute for your husband to his job in Boca Raton. The traffic between the two places is not as bad as S. Broward Cty or Miami, but is still very bad. I live and I work in East Boca and everytime I end up on I-95 during rush hour trying to get to an appointment on time, I thank my lucky stars I don't have to do it daily. Drivers are very erratic down here: many are tourists in rented cars looking for street signs or missing exits, etc.

Boca is an OK place to live. It took me a while to get a sense of my neighborhood, but I learned during Hurricanes Andrew (1992) and Wilma (2005), which happened to be very destructive in my neighborhood, that my near neighbors are very good people. People here keep to themselves except in a crisis but in a crisis we do become a neighborhood.

Parkland is fairly close by to your husband's work and may work for your family if you want horses, or a larger amount of land to live on. It kind of gives me the creeps these days; I think it used to be nicer.

PS: I should add that I have worked in Jupiter, commuting from Boca Raton and found the commute quite taxing. I really only know the Abacoa part of Jupiter itself and it really is beautiful. But it is about 40 miles, or maybe more, from where I live in Boca.